Saturday, December 13, 2014

Recharge or Retreat?

I have decided I don't like being injured. No one likes being injured. I don't think I'm so special that I should whine nonstop about what amounts to a minor injury that is an inconvenience.

I would so dearly love to be able to tell you this journey is always easy. I'd like to be inspirational and upbeat and make you smile and laugh. Maybe I should only write when everything is sunshine and roses. That is not the reality though. I would not trade a step of this journey, the highs or the lows, but I would be a liar if I said it was always wonderful.

A bruised meniscus is minor, but I'll be the first to say it is NOT feeling so minor tonight. There was a part of me earlier this week that wished I'd stayed quiet and just continued on with my workouts like nothing was sore. This morning I was glad I'd said something. Despite the fact I am being careful and modifying when I need to my minor injury felt anything but minor this morning. I hurt pure and simple, but I was not going to skip my Saturday morning class.

Oh, I could have skipped class, might have even been wiser to do so, but I don't want to workout just when it's convenient for me. It's not going to hurt me one bit to focus more on upper body and core strength while I work with my instructor to rehab my knee and make it less likely this will happen again. I have a lot of upper body strength, if I might brag for a just moment, but I can always develop more. When the knee is better I'd like to think I could make it back on the deadlift board. My PR for a deadlift is 315 pounds. I'd like to go for 325 pounds. Not because any aspect of my life requires that I be able to be able to lift that much. The truth is I really love lifting heavy. There's also that 525 pound tire. I flipped it twice at the end of July. I want to flip it many more times and then go find a heavier tire to play with.

My attitude this morning during the workout was "grit your teeth and DO IT". I don't think I shined in any way shape or form, but there were no random gravity checks and for that I am grateful. The drive home I did what I normally do and replayed the workout, figuring out what I did well and what I could have improved on. If nothing else, by the time I am off the disabled list I hope I'll have my arm and leg movement coordinated for "almost dead bugs". Maybe I'll even have mastered hang tucks that are more tuck than hang. Possibly I'll have completed a rope climb. I can always dream.

When I started writing I was afraid I'd do nothing but whine, at which point I'd keep this post private. I am honest in my blog, but I don't want to whine. There's nothing for me to whine about. I made the choice to start on this journey, no one forced me. Many people have offered their time and provided the tools I would need to succeed if I chose to accept the challenge, but there was no one holding a gun to my head saying "do this or else".

I accepted the challenge to make my life my own. No one said it would be easy and when the bumps and obstacles come it is up to me to pull myself up and move forward. Of course I have support and I do lean on people when I need to, but to go along with my stubborn streak I have an independent streak. It's not that I don't appreciate the support, I absolutely do. I just don't want people to get tired of me, so I often stand on my own when a wiser person would ask for help.

My fitness highlight this week was in Buddy Training. I did single arm rows on the functional trainer with the entire weight stack. There was also my favorite song during the core finisher. Just what I needed at the moment to keep me trying to hold that TRX plank. Thanks Tyler, really. "Stronger" is my own personal anthem and hearing it re-energizes me.

I'll end with a photo taken several weeks ago by Tyler Tinker during a training session at Pride Fitness Performance. When I first saw it I looked for all the faults at first, oh for the day when focusing on the faults won't be my first reaction. Now when I look at it it makes me smile: that is one strong woman in the photo. Someone I am proud to be. There isn't any retreat in her face. Recharge maybe, but no retreat.



Thanks for reading!

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