Felt my leg ache a little as I was running a sprint up the hill. And I felt my melanoma scar scream when I was doing straight arm crunches. My shoulders hurt as I did burpees and worked out with weights. My lungs burned while I was running A-frames across the stadium. My knees balked as I was doing box jumps. I creaked more than an old house in a hurricane. I felt my age.
So, you ask, why do I do this to myself?
Simple.
A little pain early means I don’t have a lot of pain later. My blood pressure is normal. My heart rate is low. My blood sugar is normal. I take no prescription drugs. My waist is what it was when I was 16. I have energy when I shouldn’t have. I am more focused and am better at setting goals.
I’m not Superman. Nor am I a natural athlete. I’m a normal man who has made a choice to live a healthier life.
Sitting on a couch is easier. If I had my way, I’d sit on the couch and drink Cokes until I weighed 250 lbs. again. But I keep thinking about the people I saw in my grandmother’s nursing home. The ones who were just zombies and staring into space.
There’s a big difference between being alive and living. A little pain at 5 a.m. reminds me that I’m truly living.