So close...

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

A dear friend called me yesterday to see how I was doing with the news about Lance.  He has been going through a living hell as the result of a back injury he incurred last March and was visiting a doctor at the Clinic, but took the time to put aside thoughts of his troubles to ring me up.  He’s a special friend and the person responsible for getting me back into the woods.  I owe him a lot and I intend to deliver when he gets a clean bill of health and can do some exercise again.  I know he would benefit from time on the bike, kayak and a walk in the Adirondack woods.  Who wouldn’t?  Thanks, Henry.

During our conversation, he mentioned that he’s been reading the blog and was worried about the different tribulations I’ve been experiencing.

“You’re the Rock of Gibraltar.  You’re not supposed to get hurt,” he said.

I wish that were true, but as I wrote yesterday, we all get hurt and deal with soreness and pain if we’re doing something.  It beats the hell out of the aches, pains, and medical issues we’ll suffer if we do nothing.

I went to the park with the intention of seeing how much of the Survival Workout I could do with those aches and troubles.  I started with the inverse push-ups and when I passed 50, I started thinking seriously about 100.  Often times pr’s are set when the body has been trained hard and then gets a rest.  Well…I’d had a week off and was thinking that as I approached 90 reps.  At 95, I was moving slowly.  With my 97^th, I set a new pr and as I struggled through 99, I knew it would be close.  I lowered my nose to the ground and pushed on trembling arms.  As I inched up, I knew I was in trouble.  I needed to lock out my elbows to, in my mind, to reach 100.  I held and struggled to complete that last inch of movement necessary to accomplish the task and then…I fell.

So…99.9…but not 100.  I managed to do the rest of the workout without pain in the rib cage and certainly felt good about my efforts.  I know I’ll hit 100 some day soon and then I’ll need a new challenge so what’s the hurry?  Yes…I’ve still got pain and yes...I'm still loving working out.

Survival Workout:  60 minutes

Training Heart Rate:  100-150 bpm.

Calories burned:  600