Starting weight: 225.6. Today’s weight: 224.4
Calories burned: 1,031 (Bootcamp workout and 1/2 run on track)
Average heart rate: 140 bpm.
Total Time: 1:09:50
Ow.
When muscles go anaerobic, they produce a waste product called lactic acid. Lactic acid is what causes your muscles to hurt. My muscles aren’t in particularly good shape, so I go anaerobic quicker than I used to. That means my muscles hurt more than they used to.
The bottom line? It hurts to sit down. It hurts to stand up. Walking from the car to the office today wasn’t exactly a bucket of chuckles either. Putting on my socks was a challenge. Typing doesn’t hurt. But give it time — we’re only half way through the week.
And you know what? I’m thrilled about it.
First of all, it means I am on my way to getting fit again. Second of all, I cherish pain.
You’re looking at me like, “um, ok…”
Let me explain. I don’t use a hot spoon to carve tattoos on my chest. Nor do I stick my finger in the garbage disposal on purpose. I only like good pain. I crave discomfort. I seek the kind of pain that helps me grow. Because there is an overwhelming part of me that craves security — my comfort zone. And by getting out there and hurting, I am pushing past it.
In the past, I tried to avoid it. That’s why so many people self medicate. They may have a voice inside of themselves that makes them hurt. To try to extinguish it, they might drink, do drugs, eat lots of sugar, binge, hoard — you get it. I have found the best way to shut the voice down is to shut it up. And the best way I’ve found to do that is to look it into the eye and come right at it.
That’s why I do a bootcamp as a form of exercise. That’s why I run marathons. That’s why I push myself. It’s mental training as much as it is physical training. It shuts up the voice in my head that tells me I can’t. Yes, I get slimmer. Yes, I get healthier. But I also heal mentally. This type of good pain is a wrecking ball for depression, anxiety and self doubt. I can tell you first hand — if you can push through mile 20 of a marathon, you can get out of bed in the morning when you are mentally exhausted.
Today’s workout was humid and I really felt out of shape. At one point we were running 150 yard sprints and at about the 5th one, I started getting light headed. But I told myself I could push through it. And I did. I am one of the most out of shape of all the people in my line (my son is in the line and he is making me look old and slow — which I am). I have set my sights on getting back to line one (the line with the best athletes in it). I will get back there — one step at a time. And on the good news front, my knee held up today — although I am still favoring it.
Knee pain is not good pain. Just for the record.