Today is supposedly my "off day," however, as I've clearly indicated throughout this rather rough first week, the last several days have actually been a series of "off days." The good news is that I finally feel that my left arm is getting better. I'm about 90% sure that I will be good to complete my workouts this upcoming week as long as I move forward steadily, not necessarily easily, and don't put any unreasonable strain on my body.
This first week has been a definite eye-opener. I had no idea that my body would not respond the way I thought it would when I put a lot of stress on it all at once. When I was a kid, I remember being able to drop whatever I was doing at a moment's notice, run outside for a 200 yard sprint, maybe ride my bike for 5 miles, then play basketball with my friends for a few hours, and then lift weights on top of all of that if I felt like it. I was a very active kid. I guess I've been out of the spontaneous, rough and tumble workout mode for a little while, and apparently I need to ease back into things. I think the strain and weeklong cramping of my left bicep was just my body's reminder to me that I have to move methodically with my body and not just on a whim. Lesson learned.
That's all for now, unedited plus typos and all. Peace.