So I’ve been getting back to basics and doing things for me. Really, truly reminding myself that focusing on oneself does not mean I’m an asshole or a narcissist.
I’ve been signing up for 5K races on Races2Run.com and have rediscovered why I enjoyed running & races so much doing XC as a teen. After a 10+ year hiatus I’ve run 4 races, including one in late april with both my big brother and nephew where the kid ran a great 5K time for a 10 year old.
I’ve also started doing Hill Workouts at the old course for the 1st time since high school. If you want something that’ll make an in-shape person wheeze like a 90 year old smoker at the end, Penn State Hill Workouts will do it. 😛 Quarter up, down, half up, down, three quarter up, down, all the way up, down. Drink, stretch, repeat, only now there’s no coaches pushing me and no gatorade buckets at the top.
Oh, and don’t put your hands on the top of the pole in the photo. It’s covered in bird shit…… heh.
I’ve also been unplugging myself, leaving the phone for emergencies, and spending time outside, enjoying the weather, friends, family, which sadly I feel like people forget to do. Hell, look around at a restaurant. You’ll see entire families out to dinner, all looking down at their phones instead of enjoying eachothers company. It’s just odd.
Oh, and I’ve been trying to get the old guy back into shape and outside as much as possible for his age. He turned 12 this March, and has lost a ton of weight since wintertime. I’m not entirely sure what he thinks of the new puppy, but he seems to tolerate her when they’re both together.
Heck I even went out, bought a basketball and started hitting the courts again for the first time in years. After losing nearly 15 pounds at some point around the tail end of 2014 / early 2015 I’ve started seriously eating right, have stuck to it, thankfully gained weight back and have felt great as a result. I’ve begun hitting the gym at work and actually utilizing the personal trainers that are here everyday, 50 feet from my desk, whom I can work out with in our full gym for free. Amazing that I didn’t take advantage of this for the first ~7+ years I worked here. The stretching and mobility training alone have been a godsend for a lanky dude with CP. Why I didn’t do this before I do not know. Stubbornness. Bleh.
As one trainer said to me when I came in to get stretched out on race day “Jesus, you were going to run a 5K with your back and legs like this?! That’s suicidal.”
Laura, on this very blog once commented that “I think your stubbornness defines you far more than your physical situation.” And honestly, she was right. That said, stubbornness can be a trait that’s either virtue or vice, and that applies to so much more than just stretching.
