Still In Pain?

Injuries and pain can make exercising a challenge.  No brainer, right?

Well, I’ve been dealing with injuries for five years now.  Guess you could say, “It’s the cost of doing business”.

I hate to complain, because complaining is fairly unproductive. There is one instance that I’ve discovered where complaining actually is effective.

If it causes you to do something positive about it.  This is a tough one. Misery loves company. Another no brainer, right?

So, saying that to ask you this, “How many times have you exercised this past week”? Carpe diem!

It’s Completely Up To You

What you do today is completely up to you.  Always has been.  Always will be.

Yes, everyone has obligations that must be attended to.  Yes, there are things that come up unexpectedly – and sometimes these events are tragic.

Yes, it’s difficult.  Yes, it’s overwhelming.  Yes, it’s confusing, frustrating, painful and on and on.

Thank you for listening.  You may have thought this was written for you.  Well, sort of.  Mostly though, I write to myself.  So, please don’t take offense to the tone.

If we can’t talk honestly and openly with ourselves, we probably can’t with anyone else either.  And even more than Halloween, that scares the heck out of me.

Pain Update

Pain update.  Short and sweet.

Yes, the pain is still nagging me, slowing things down, tempting me to become very discouraged.

Tempting me, and I shudder to think about it, to quit.

Quit?

Yes.  Quit.

This has been going on for years.  YEARS!

Being 50 years old and achieving and sustaining a world class fitness level is not easy.

Why work so hard, so long, so quietly?  You know there are many, many people who know me well and have no idea I went to Finland for the 2009 WMA Master’s Track and Field World Championships?  So yes, quietly.

So why then, all this work?

Remember my big goal?  To see our son graduate from High School in ten years.  No man on my Dad’s side has made it past 60.

What’s your “excuse”?

Damn the Doubt!

Damn the Doubt!

First pain, then doubt.

Add in the underlying concern about expenses in both time and money, not only to travel to Finland, but the constant preparation.

It does wear on me.  A lot of things wear on humans.  We are all carrying a heavy load.

Yesterday’s “walk, stretch, slow jog, stretch combo”, for about 35 minutes, was relatively pain free.

A far cry from the previous day.  This added some hope, to what could have been a hopeless day.

Heading out for another run before Church, so I better get going. 

Make it a GREAT Sunday, because if you don’t, who will?  If not today, when?  Seriously!  Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂

Ever get a perfect health score?

Ever get a perfect health score?

Friday’s strength test and core test proved one thing in particular.

A decade worth of hard work, persistence, determination, goal setting, set backs, failures, successes, sweat, pain, motivation,  lack of confidence, confusion, stress, progress, injuries, rehab, physical therapy, core workouts, speed work, and endurance work.

Plus, stretching, flexibility training, 5k’s, 10k’s, 400 meters, 800 meters, 1,500 meters, obsession, surrender, thinking, smiling, hoping, visioning, praying, playing, involving family, sacrificing family, nutrition, reading, studying, working full time, volunteering, dreaming, sleeping, lying awake, and probably many more – but I better stop now.

The result?

A perfect score!  My physical therapist determined my core was a perfect score of 21 out of 21.  She used a test used on professional athletes to look for imbalances and weaknesses.

The leg strength test showed my right versus left leg was only 2/10ths of a percent apart.

The staff at Florida Hospital Rehab awarded me the “Most Symmetrical Person” they have ever seen there.

What all of this means is that the efforts have yielded extra-ordinary results.

Life is like that.  You reap what you sow.

I’ll try to not forget that simple truth.  Even though I’m easily distracted.  “Oh look, a bird”!

Make today a day to at least consider your physical health and ask yourself, “Am I investing in my health”?   Carpe diem, jeff noel  🙂