The past week has been non stop craziness. My family painted and hung pictures all weekend long in my hubby's office and got the house ready for the hurricane that is involved with moving. The movers showed up early Tuesday and stayed until midnight. The path of chaos was in every room, littered with stacks of boxes, scattered packing paper, various piles of trash, and items of "why did we keep this?". Navigating each room was an obstacle course of other things strewn across everywhere awaiting its final destination in our new home. It has been overwhelming, mentally and physically. I am one who likes routine, and although I am not the neatest person by any means, chaos to this level drives me bonkers. This is move #9 since I've been married, so I am pretty seasoned at this. In the past, I would work tirelessly, past fatigue and reason for about 7-10 days till everything was put up and set in place in perfect military wife style. This one has been different, add a dog, and older children have been overwhelmed to the mix and all of us have needed time away from the chaos, and we have taken a lot more breaks than in previous moves.
My last workout was Friday, I ran, did yoga and weight trained, and I always have felt great when I finished. With the move, these past few days I had been eating badly or barely at all, slept poorly and was grumpy, fatigued and irritated. I had my old mindset in my head, just blast away and get everything done, and then you can resume training. My best friend Hope, had called and asked how my training was going, and felt myself get agitated...didn't she know I just moved? I don't have time, I need to get stuff in order and then I can start again, next week. She calmly explained, that there will always be something, and if you want to succeed in your goals, you have to prioritize what you want. Even if you do some core work for 5 minutes a couple times a day, it isn't that much time spent and it is something. As much as I fought against it and got more agitated, I sat and thought about it, and I knew she was right. She usually is. Most people struggle with succeeding in their fitness goals, because they are looking for the perfect storm, that time when everything is in place, when they feel fantastic and full of energy, nothing is going on and in the real world, that usually never happens, ever. There is a great saying out there that says, "If it is important to you, you will find a way, if it is not, you will find and excuse".
I did not feel great yesterday, I was tired, but I carved out 30 min, pushed my clothes away on the floor and did CXWorx in my bedroom....and you know what? I felt better. Today, I wanted to take a nap and was tired of looking at piles of stuff...instead I went and weight trained for an hour...lifted some pretty heavy stuff and got my HR up. For a couple hours after, I had more energy. I knew, above all, I needed to run. It was in the 90's today, so I waited till after dinner...and with some added encouragement from some great friends, I laced up my shoes and did a little exploring in my neighborhood.
Was I tired? Yes. Did I have boundless energy? No, but as I ran, I could feel myself feeling better. Was it my best run, hardly, a shorter run than I had been doing and clearly not my fastest. But as I ran, and took in the new sights...lightning bugs lit my path, the humid air was different here, hard to explain, but less "thick" than in Florida. The sidewalks are uneven and canopied by trees and in the dusk had an eerie feel to it. There were dog walkers, some power walkers doing some sort of arm workout as they moved and there was a ton of traffic. I walked up the driveway sweaty, but feeling accomplished. I have never regretted doing something, but I have regretted doing nothing.
Even when your world is turned upside down with no visible end in sight, take a step back and re-evaluate your goals. What do you want to accomplish and what will it take to reach your goals? The training, the work is the journey, if you want something, you have to put the work in to reach your goals, stop making excuses and when you have days you may not feel like it, do something anyway because then you are making progress. Invest in yourself by doing the work..You will never regret it. What are you doing to get yourself closer to your goals?
Friday, July 5, 2013
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Yola
The people we encounter during our lives help to shape our thoughts, opinions and behaviors. I have heard recently that the 5 people you spend the most time with are who you turn out to be most like. Now I don't know if that is true or not, but I do think that there are certain special people who awaken a thought or a feeling in ourselves that had they not been there would have never happened.
Today was unremarkable, very much like most Wednesdays I woke early to prepare for my cycling and core classes. For the most part the same members came to workout with me. I even played the same music I used several weeks before to motivate the class.
Every Wednesday there is a woman in the middle row of spin class. She comes in quietly, takes her seat and begins to work even before class has started. Her name is Yola. She is beautiful. I cannot begin to guess her age due to the fact that she has kept her body in amazing condition. My only reference is that she has mentioned having a daughter older than I am.
As class begins and we settle into a nice warmup pace I start to coach form on the bike. Hers is already perfect. Around 15 minutes in I am beginning to see the signs of fatigue, slumped backs, raised shoulders and facial expressions you wouldn't want to see in a dark ally. Yola, however, has a slight smile. She is gasping for air. She does not back down.
After class, everyone files out. Completely spent and thanking me for a beast of a workout. I will see them next Wednesday. Yola follows me across the hall for my next class, core conditioning. This is where today separates itself from every other Wednesday. Today Yola is the only person who stays for core work. She asks with a bit of a sad look in her otherwise brilliant hazel eyes if I would like to go home. She wanted to stay and so did I. The last two standing we were.
We did 30 minutes of one of the toughest core classes I have ever taught. There were no "lower" options. She did not need them. We just put our heads down and did the work. And when it was done I asked her how she was feeling. In a slight Polish accent she replied:
"I am hurting. My leg is healing very slowly. The doctor told me that it will take 6 months before I can be 100% recovered. He told me that if I don't move I will not be able to move. I cannot let that happen to me."
Yola finished a bike ride with her riding group. She was on her way home with her husband. She noticed that the day was a beautiful as they get. Sky was blue, air was warm and she had not been dropped by the group. That was the last thought in her head before she woke up in tremendous pain at Tampa General Hospital.
Yola had broken her femur in 3 places, her nose was broken along with her right orbital socket. She suffered a separated shoulder and severe road rash. The damage to her body was extensive and devastating.
Today marks 4 months from her crash. She is still in tremendous pain, but she smiles because she knows that nothing can stop her. And she will not limit herself. Her mind is made of some kind of metal stronger than steel. It must be.
She made this Wednesday a day that I will never forget. There will not be a day that I don't think of her strength and determination. I will think of her, but more importantly I will put those thoughts in motion. I will do the hard things. I will not stop. Ever.
Today was unremarkable, very much like most Wednesdays I woke early to prepare for my cycling and core classes. For the most part the same members came to workout with me. I even played the same music I used several weeks before to motivate the class.
Every Wednesday there is a woman in the middle row of spin class. She comes in quietly, takes her seat and begins to work even before class has started. Her name is Yola. She is beautiful. I cannot begin to guess her age due to the fact that she has kept her body in amazing condition. My only reference is that she has mentioned having a daughter older than I am.
As class begins and we settle into a nice warmup pace I start to coach form on the bike. Hers is already perfect. Around 15 minutes in I am beginning to see the signs of fatigue, slumped backs, raised shoulders and facial expressions you wouldn't want to see in a dark ally. Yola, however, has a slight smile. She is gasping for air. She does not back down.
After class, everyone files out. Completely spent and thanking me for a beast of a workout. I will see them next Wednesday. Yola follows me across the hall for my next class, core conditioning. This is where today separates itself from every other Wednesday. Today Yola is the only person who stays for core work. She asks with a bit of a sad look in her otherwise brilliant hazel eyes if I would like to go home. She wanted to stay and so did I. The last two standing we were.
We did 30 minutes of one of the toughest core classes I have ever taught. There were no "lower" options. She did not need them. We just put our heads down and did the work. And when it was done I asked her how she was feeling. In a slight Polish accent she replied:
"I am hurting. My leg is healing very slowly. The doctor told me that it will take 6 months before I can be 100% recovered. He told me that if I don't move I will not be able to move. I cannot let that happen to me."
Yola finished a bike ride with her riding group. She was on her way home with her husband. She noticed that the day was a beautiful as they get. Sky was blue, air was warm and she had not been dropped by the group. That was the last thought in her head before she woke up in tremendous pain at Tampa General Hospital.
Yola had broken her femur in 3 places, her nose was broken along with her right orbital socket. She suffered a separated shoulder and severe road rash. The damage to her body was extensive and devastating.
Today marks 4 months from her crash. She is still in tremendous pain, but she smiles because she knows that nothing can stop her. And she will not limit herself. Her mind is made of some kind of metal stronger than steel. It must be.
She made this Wednesday a day that I will never forget. There will not be a day that I don't think of her strength and determination. I will think of her, but more importantly I will put those thoughts in motion. I will do the hard things. I will not stop. Ever.
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