Sunday, September 08, 2013

Leaving "Mommy Mode"

I used to train. Really train. I mean really, really train. I lived for it. Breathed it, slept it, dreamt it,lived it.Planned my life around it for many many years.
Even after I was injured pretty badly twice in a short amount of time I found something else to train for, something else that I could do to my limit. To my potential. Or at least go down reaching for my potential.
It was the process that I was so enthralled with; the flow state that I lived to immerse myself in as much as possible. It was my preferred state of being.

But in 2000, after my last back injury I gave in, gave up to training and went into survival mode, or what I call "mommy mode". Basically I stopped trying to make progress in my physical training and just 'try not to hurt yourself son" mode. Or mommy mode.

It was a wise choice. The only choice really.Everything was broken in one way or another and had been for  a long time. I was lucky that I could move at all. Especially lucky that I could swing. That saved me.

But it's been a long 13 years of mommy mode and now I'm done with it. I can do all kinds of things I haven't been able to forever and that's empowering on a a huge scale. Especially now that I can walk. That is bringing of sense of freedom and security I hadn't really planned on.But it's realy and it's great.

And now I have a serious goal that I can train for; the two weeks of traveling and teaching coming up in just about 6 weeks from now in Croatia and Italy. I will have to walk and walk and walk alot for that trip and then turn around 4 weeks after that and travel to Israel and walk stand and teach again.

This time only for one week but it's a big trip nonetheless.

And part of me getting ready for it will be my walking training and today I hit the first important goal: One Hour of Continuous walking!  It's a bit hard to believe that is was just a little less that two weeks ago that I was amazed I could walk around my block without stopping with just a cane!

Sunday walk:
4345 steps

1.8 miles
1:02 time
1.8 mph

that seems a little short on distance but I don't really care. I just care that I walked at a decent pace for 60 minute straight with no problem then did these ; my first crawls


wasn't sure I could do them at all and they were very herky jerky but they got done ( 3 sets of 30 feet or so) and I can really feel all the potential this has for my knee rehab and ROM. Very cool.

so the goal has been met, and the first workout of the day is over. Some breakfast and some more squat position mobility/flexibility work!

datsit.
Sisu/



5 comments:

Morgan L. said...

Does this mean weight lifting???!!! Barbells and dumbbells and machines, oh my!

Diana said...

Life is good!

Mark Reifkind said...

morgan no it doesn't really. it means more hiking and stair climbing and bike riding and surfing and walking as long as I need to.

I don't care about being big(er) anymore. I really only like training with kbs and bodyweight.

this road towards strength AND, finally, lower body strength and conditioning is where I'm headed.

Morgan L. said...

Yeah, you've already been there and done that. For me, I can't get enough of the lifter's high. Everytime I lift, I get a high similar to a runner's high....

Tom said...

I've needed to read this. Thanks for posting it. I came off of a back injury at the beginning of the year, only to have nerve impingements in my arms, then separated a rib, and then bounced on my shoulder for an AC sprain. Been hesitant about doing ANYTHING and feeling old at 37. I've been following your rehab and this post made me get out and do some primal crawls, trail runs, and other work. It'll be a bit before my shoulder is clear for swings - but I'm back at. Thanks.

155 x 3 x 5, 160 x 3 x 5, 20 kg swings 5 x 8/8, floor pushups 40, 35

 Thought about going back to 5x5 for a hot second then my left shoulder  reminded me why I stopped doing them before. It doesn't seem to...