I just completed my third outdoor workout in eight
days. Last Saturday I biked 17 miles on
a hilly trail, realizing I had tackled a bit much for my first ride of the year. Monday I returned to Blue Mountain for a few
hours of skiing, complete with some hard falls on some challenges I wasn’t
quite ready for. Today I rode my Trikke
almost 7 miles in 37 degree weather, and felt about as fatigued as I did after
my epic 21 mile ride last fall.
When you’re out of shape, exercise doesn’t make you feel
energized and happy like the experts say it should. I struggled with my first rides last year,
often wanting to throw in the towel, but I overcame it in about two
months. I’m thankful I persevered and
got over that hurdle, instead of retreating back to my couch like I did so many
other years. I have to stay focused on
that, and I have to keep telling myself I’ll get over that hurdle much quicker
this year.
But the reality is, despite my best efforts with my indoor
kettlebell workouts, I have lost a lot of ground since last fall. And for now, exercise isn’t a whole lot of
fun. I had expected to enjoy the biking,
Trikking, and skiing this week, but I’ll be honest when I say it was more of a
chore.
So how do you push yourself through these rough
patches? How do you get yourself to keep
going when your lungs are gasping for air and your legs are turning into useless
stalks of rubber? I stumbled on this
helpful article over breakfast this morning, and its advice helped me through
my Trikke ride this afternoon:
Everyone is apt to like some of the ideas better than
others, but for me the most poignant advice is that we have to “get comfortable
being uncomfortable.” When my muscles
start to hurt, my heart starts to race, and I find myself dripping with sweat,
my gut reaction is, “STOP!!” When you
haven’t worked out in a while, this can feel like a decidedly unnatural
state. But it’s important to accept that
this is the price of progress, and that you just have to deal with it. It’s temporary. It will pass.
And you’ll come out a lot stronger for getting through it.
I had gotten better at accepting this last year, and even
embraced some of the times I got my heart racing because I knew that meant I
was making progress. But this year, my
body is back to crying uncle every time it faces the slightest challenge. So I will keep this advice at the forefront
of my mind, along with the memories of how strong and capable I felt last
summer. I will power through these first
tough workouts of the year, and I’ll bet in another month or two I’ll be back
here telling you all how energizing a good Trikke ride can be.
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You hang in there girl, you can and will do it! I can tell you -- from a warmer climate -- that it is worth the effort. I'm playing the climate card because I'm getting out more now, while you are still at the door, weather wise.
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