Whining, injured, hurting...but not quitting.

Troy is a fantastic health coach.

So optimistic, isn't he?

I had to challenge his assertion. 

And in the end I reluctantly agreed I didn't regret it as I could eat my "skinny piggy" without guilt.  Not that I feel guilt, but hey.  Without the King begrudging me every bite.

The Prince of Athletics of the Central Highland, my son Charlton (aka Lad) with a Carolina Nastee Dog, bacon dill potato salad and a Mexican coke (made with sugar!)

Let's start off by saying my hand was sore, and my shoulder has a nerve pinch from hell resting in it.

Apparently I am not as strong as I'd like, since I whined a lot yesterday.

https://www.facebook.com/katie.cornelius/posts/10205076509085871

In six days, I lost my cardio ability to hike that dang mountain without stopping.

AND FITNESS FREAKS WONDER WHY PEOPLE QUIT.

Seriously?  I broke my hand.  Surgery was in question.  I chose to "be wise" and PROTECT MY HAND.

The King and I just had an extensive argument about this.  He insists that I did not lose my cardio ability.  I insist I did (I was there, I know I did.). He claims I didn't.

Just in case it's not clear...

Finally, he asks if I slept yesterday.  No, I was up at 3:30am and never fell back to sleep.  Was my body knitting a bone back together?  Yes.  Was my shoulder in pain?  Most assuredly yes.  Therefore, was my physical abilities compromised?  Yes, again.

Oh.

So the King informs me I didn't lose anything (look David, that's twice!) cardio-wise.  My individual performance that day was compromised by physical (and psychological) factors.  In other words, I had a bad day.

Score:  King, 1.  Katie, 0.

Sigh.

The moral of the story?  Don't break your hand.  Or get a pinched nerve in your shoulder.

I'm not quitting.

I finally downloaded "Warrior's Apprentice" last night, and fell asleep reading it (hence the lack of blog-first one I've missed.) I was immediately reminded why I love the character of Miles Vorkosigan, and I cannot wait to revisit the next dozen books, all lined up on my bookshelf:  He has a soundtrack mind.

The character himself has many physical limitations, which he amply makes up for with intellectual prowess.  I suppose being injured (so stupidly injured, it pisses me off to no end) it's given me another perspective on the quest.

Injury:  the number one reason people quit.

Injury:  the number one way to build mental toughness to get through to the goal.

Goal one:  a good push-up.  Wow-that is pushed back three months.

Goal two: touch my nose to my knee.

Hmm...that I CAN do.  Pain doesn't have to prevent me from continuing (and at least the pinched nerve is the same shoulder as the broken hand.)

Fitness Quest.  Keeping it real.

Making it Quick

Some things happen quickly.

Cedar Point's Maverick (of course.)

Other things take a lot of time.

Or just seem to take a long time...

I thoroughly expected to get fit quickly; I never expected to be winded on Thumb Butte ten weeks into the quest.

My heart was pounding, I was swigging water to keep up the pace.  I had run into a time crunch; once again forgetting just how far out my favorite hike was from town.  Determined not to waste a second, I threw myself into it.  So what if it was the steep side?  

Yeah-let that sink in.

So what if it was the steep side?

I willingly went left.

The air monster appeared, I pushed past.  Tomorrow I have a hard hike; today needed to be a good precursor.  I hadn't hiked since Friday, and that was more of a walk.

A gorgeous walk, but a walk.

A new resolve perhaps?  Deciding the fastest way to get to easy was to go through hard?

I'm tired of exercise being hard.  I'm tired of waking up hurting, wishing things were different.  Instead of crying, instead of whining, today I did something different.

I went after it.

In all things, this appears to apply.

Is this the difference between the 20% who love to exercise and the rest of us?  

Is it because they push hard to get to the easy? (I need to spend more time with Miles Vorkosigan apparently, seeing as just this one quote is changing my views.)

Whomever has my copy of Young Miles, please return!!  

This afternoon I completed a tough task out of breath but determined.  While the air monster had burned me before (and showed up just the same) I decided to get what I wanted and needed.  The hike down was a time of introspection; did the end justify the mean?  My hiker's cough started almost immediately, it's actually continued throughout the evening.

Yet I feel different.  Perhaps this is a type of exercise high; normally I feel nothing but drained.

Tonight, I feel alive.