It doesn't get easier, you just get faster

So far BDv.36 has started out WAY better than BDv.35 as I'm not in the hospital! BUT I'm sneezy hacky lethargic so bleh. My cardio hasn't been where I wanted this week, but I've kept up my hand workouts and strength training, and I'm consistently faster walking. Pilates is rockin. The quads/hams co-contraction is steadily improving as my strength and hip stability improves. Dang when I first started running I was spending a lot of time strengthening and stretching my hips; it seems a lot of the population that sits  for a living already has weak tight hips, so again I feel like I'm doing the same things again. And I am.

The biggest thing I learned from race training was that is doesn't get easier, you just get better, faster. That's still how I see things. After a year of recovery, and with so far t go, I was worried that I would get discouraged. Maybe someday I will. But now I'm not convinced; I'm working just as hard as I was before I got hit and I think that's made the difference. I've been through things that took a lot of effort but paid off big in the end, like vet school, and it's just a way of life for me. Yeah it sucks that I'm working as hard as I was before just to get back to baseline, but life ain't fair for any of us and you'll never catch me playing the victim.

Sertoma 5K is this weekend, my first race 2 years ago, where I placed 3rd in the 30-39AG. I was all psyched up to do it, but Snakebyte's got a soccer game sooooooo priorities. There's plenty of other 5Ks for me to come in last still this year. ;)

Nic found this place on my birthday, Rotary Point by the Vermilion River! The graffiti says "Keep on keepin' on" I love it.

Last thought is on health and nutrition. Blatantly, it'd be incredibly easy for me to get fat right now. I lost a lot of muscle mass very quickly due to denervation and I can't burn calories the way I used to. My lifestyle's more sedentary, temporarily anyway, just because of circumstance. I'm finally back up to the weight I was before - 106# - and I guarantee it's not all muscle. BUT keeping track of all you guys running, racing, talking about exercise and fitness, keeping up with the major tri races this year; it's all been instrumental in helping me keep a healthy outlook on eating. I cook for real now, I focus on whole foods (though I still have this sugar craving I can't kick!), and I don't calorie count but I do stay aware of what I eat. I have to go easy on myself too - I honestly thought I was fat before! - but I've really learned what's important. It's about being healthy, not about how you look, that counts. I really wish our society wouldn't put so much stress on being so clothed all the time, because I think if women knew what real women looked like we could stop a lot of problems such as poor self esteem and bulimia. As it is, the only scantily-clad women we see are media-touched-up super thin women. What are we supposed to think then? Of course we believe that's the ideal, we don't have real life to compare it to. So I thank all my balanced strong healthy connections for keeping me on track by example.  Have a great week!