Back From The Felt

It was as if I had went bust.

Over the weekend I went back to the gym for the first time in nearly three weeks. I hadn't had such a long layoff since early 1992. Memories of being too sick to work out are just as intense as the memory of your final bad beat that ultimately destroys your bank roll. When you eventually return to the felt, you have to take it slow.

You ease back into things. You find easy games at lower limits, something to get you back in the saddle, so to speak. On Friday, I figure I worked out to about 80% capacity. I never let myself get so intense as to overdo it. It's difficult scaling your intensity down, just as it's tough to restrict yourself to lower limits if you're used to playing higher.

Back in 1992 I was a near-rookie at weightlifting. I had no concept of the phrases "over-training" and "cycling intensity." I got sick, but refused to stop working out. I put my body into a 3-month long period of fatigue that had me nearly convinced that Magic Johnson and I would be sharing hospital rooms.

Lose a little at poker? Play bigger to win everything back. Lose a little weight because you're sick? Workout even harder to gain everything back. Recipes for disaster. My bank roll of stamina was running on fumes. But if you can't learn after going bust, then you weren't meant to play the game.

I booked a small win at the gym. I worked out again on Saturday, once more at 80% intensity. On Sunday, I woke up rather sore; but I woke up with the ability to workout harder on Monday rather than over-tired and in need of more time off.

It's all one long workout.