Exercise is the only thing I know to cure pain from the past. The rest of this blog post is a summary of my latest workout. I’m sharing this to help motivate you and to understand myself.
Each workout has an intention or a purpose, and in the end, something important is learned. Very few workouts are exceptional, some are average, and most are rough, but all are transformational.
Here is the latest footstep into my fit to live journey…
Workout:
How Did I Feel Before the Workout?
Relief! After a very hectic few days where I deviated far away from my habit of exercise to attend a very moving LevelUp conference. Then, last night, I spoke at a fundraising event called: “The Secret.” The gala was in support of the Boreal Centre, a local initiative to help children who fell victim to sexual abuse.
I went into this workout with no expectations. I just needed to move to do a quick housecleaning of my nerves.
What Was My Intention?
My wife, a couple of great friends and I teamed up to run in a local United Way fundraiser. This 5k run usually is quite fast as it’s run on the tarmac of a runway, so I hoped I would place first in my age category. But deep down, my real intention was to just clear the leftover cortisol buildup in my body.
What Workout Did I Do?
- Running race: 5k run at a 4:13 minute/k pace.
How Did I Feel After the Workout?
So friggin’ awesome! While I did not finish tops in my age/gender category, I placed 3rd. It was my fastest 5k I’ve run, so I cannot complain there. But this early Sunday morning run was just what I needed.
About a kilometre into the run, I knew I wasn’t going to run quite fast enough to place 1st. I could feel that my body was not as responsive at usually is to a run. This is a direct result of not eating and drinking enough water yesterday. Plus, the stress from my speaking engagement yesterday wore on me and likely stole a few energy stores.
What Did I Learn?
I learned that life puts us in a succession of different things that we need to conquer. We cannot avoid them, we must go through them. While these past few days were quite tough on my mental and physical being, I grew up a little bit more.
Plus, I relearned that I love to run for fun.
The Story Behind This
Fitness means much more than toned muscles, physical strength and endurance. Building an intimate connection between your mind and body is the true definition of fitness. Life can be tough on you sometimes, and it is only made tougher if that connection is missing.
True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.
Wilhelm Von Humboldt
I spent many years trying to recover from the the fallout of childhood sexual trauma. My mind was continually trying to disconnect from a body that didn’t feel my own. It wasn’t until I discovered exercise that I was able rebuild that connection and become someone whole and worth living for. Every workout is just another chance to get a little closer to who I really am.