I had to come up with physical goals for next year this afternoon.
The Ninja asked for them. I tried to defer a question on them to Nighean Ruadh but she pushed my right back to The Ninja. I squirmed and coughed and tried to come up with something different, but in the end I sat down and drafted them up.
What came out of them was somewhat surprising.
They are not fully approved yet and so I will not really discuss them except in generalities, but they came down to strength and speed for use in Iaijutsu and Highland Athletics. This strikes me as kind of amusing as this is not something I would have ever predicted about myself 10 years ago, or even 6 years ago when I moved.
They included things like types of distances, number of games, and some things around Iai. The relatively amazing thing to me is that, with a great deal of work, they are things that are (I think) obtainable.
To be clear, they are hard. They will stretch me. They will make me work harder than I ever have in my life on such things. But what I have come to discover is that the hardest things - like an endurance run I never thought I could do - make me the strongest when I am through with them.
So I am hopeful. And a little scared. This will be good.
But it will be harder than I think I can possibly anticipate.
Best of luck. I think I have just become comfortable with getting old and fat these days. Not quite couch potato fat of course but seems hard labor is no longer enough to keep me trim like it used to be.
ReplyDeleteThanks Preppy. I am deathly afraid of diabetes at this point and exercising helps me deal with this. But yes, getting old is not for the weak of heart.
Delete"I have come to discover is that the hardest things - like an endurance run I never thought I could do - make me the strongest when I am through with them."
ReplyDeleteI think your words sum it up nicely TB, I have long been trying to get into the right mindset to improve physically but that step I find the hardest even knowing that once I start the feeling, both mental as well as physical, will be well worth the effort. Good luck upon your quest, maybe your reports will help myself improve my own mindset and do something about my rotundness!
Thanks for the kind comment John. I can tell you I would not have expected to feel that way after I started either Highland Athletics or Endurance Runs. I just wanted to survive them. What came out of them was the feeling I described. I sincerely hope that I can help to inspire you as others have inspired me. We are all in this together.
DeleteTB - i have no doubt you have scared yourself half to death! but i also know that you like to figure out and learn boundaries...and you like to push them. i look forward to watching you meet your goals. and then new goals will be set for the following year. and you will just keep meeting them.
ReplyDeleteyou are like a chihuahua....you sink your teeth into something and you do not let go. and challenging yourself fulfills you. so set the challenges and then share the results with us...we can all learn from it.
sending love! your friend,
kymber
Thank you for the super vote of confidence Kymber! One thing this is teaching me is that I can do things that I set my mind to. I am hopeful I can have this cross over into other areas of my life.
DeleteMuch Love, TB