COVID Training

COVID year really hit me hard physically. I’m guessing it might have done the same for you. Sitting around for a year got me way out of shape. So I decided it was time to get back to work. I started walking, then hiking, and was heading back to the gym right after I got through laying pavers for a new sidewalk. Awesome!

A few short weeks ago I was hiking the rolling Tennessee hills with a good friend who is training to trek to Mount Everest Base Camp. That’s saying it grandly. The truth was more like him waiting on me to slowly huff and puff ahead of him. That was the only way to keep from being left behind. Still, we did over seven miles on rough trails.

I was pumped until . . .

Change Of Plans

One Saturday I got up with big plans, followed by dizziness and a weird thump-bump feeling in my chest. I ended up going to the emergency room and walking in the parking lot, trying to convince myself to go in. Finally, it got ridiculous and I decided to get it over with.

One look at an EKG and the doctor told me to lie down and not get up for any reason. I had a form of arrhythmia. They called an ambulance and told me they were lucky to find one. COVID staffing problems had some people waiting more than a week to get transported. A trip across town landed me on a cardiac care floor where they declared me stable and left me all weekend.

Two heart procedures later they declared me cured.  Awesome again!

Not Done

My job was to take it easy. Until this week, that is. On Thursday I started cardiac rehab which involves exercising with a heart monitor to make sure everything’s okay. I knew I was in trouble when the nurses took it as an insult to be called nice. They were competing for the prize of who was the meanest.

The short story is the “nice” nurse kicked my behind. Only a few weeks ago I hiked for hours over steep hills. Now I’m starting over. It’s great to be moving again but wow! I’m shocked at how little time it takes to get out of shape.

As a result, I haven’t posted much. Sorry. Since this was the focus of my thinking, I decided to share a quote by my son-in-law’s favorite philosopher.

“Fatigue makes cowards of us all” – Coach Bear Bryant

Exercising Courage

When it comes to building courage there are many factors that come into play. Your spiritual foundation, emotional connections, mental discipline, and purpose set you up for success. But pure, simple physical exercise is hard to beat.

Runners don’t get depressed. They just don’t. Exercise solves sleep problems by exhaustion. Weight loss works better. You have the energy to do the things you want. Your mood brightens. Your body is helping you instead of holding you back.

That is, after you get in shape. I look forward to it. But right now my big goal is to keep going and resist public whining. (Since my superwife will edit this, this is reporting, not whining, Sweetie.) We’ll see how it goes. I just need to see life for the beautiful God-given opportunity that it is.

Here’s to the gift of starting over.

 

Photo: Montgomery Bell State Park by Dennis Ritchie