Pain, What Is It Good For? - Blog #5

I am going to start this blog off adding a simple word to the Legendary Bruce Springsteen's hit song War.

Pain

What is it good for? Absolutely EVERYTHING

Say it again, pain

What is it good for? Absolutely EVERYTHING, come on

Pain, a word, that can carry so much emotion, so much heartache and then also much excitement and joy.  This week that little word pain has come to me in two of the very most extremes.  I know you are scratching your head and are saying huh?  So let me explain.

THE GOOD PAIN

I have stayed true to my word and I have continued to get up each morning to walk on the treadmill.  No matter how much it pains me to roll out of bed and 6:00 am I get it done.  I get an hour of walking in before I head off to work, about 3 miles.  After run/walk my muscles are in pain.  So as I reach down and rub the legs feeling the pain of the hurting muscles, however, have a sense of accomplishment.  Thank you pain, because of you I know I am pushing it, I am working hard.  No pain no gain, right!!

THE BAD PAIN

Going from such a high of my accomplishment and welcoming the pain into my life as I continue my path to healthy living.  Pain comes to me this week in a completely different way.  On Tuesday my co-worker, my friend, a brother, lost his life due to a heart attack he suffered.  What the heck happened...this great thing Pain that I have welcomed this week, that I had such joy receiving, has now come to me in a form I do not want.  To hear these phrases over and over all week, he has passed away, he was so young, he left 3 kids behind, his wife is now a widow...it is painful.  There is no rubbing away this pain.  Tomorrow will be the most painful day as we will bury our friend.

PAIN 1 MEET PAIN 2
On Saturday morning I decided to go for a long run/walk that I mapped out on MapMyRun.  It was going to be a 4.25 mile route. I was a very nervous but I put the shoes on and headed out.  I made it to the 2 mile mark, running a lot of it.  Then the muscles starting getting that pain and I really had to slow down and take a breath.  In that short time, that is all that Pain 2 needed.  I was overcome with sadness and even, yes, start to cry a little.  There I was half way through my walk, feeling the pain from my muscles and feeling the overwhelming pain from sadness.  I wished someone I knew would drive by, offer to pick me up and take me home.  But as I walked and pushed through these two pains, I realized, I needed this.  This was happening and it was good for me!!

THE ENDING
After walking about a half mile dealing with these two pains coming at me at the same time, I started feeling stronger.  Then the next song randomly played through my headset ... "Ooh Child" by The Five Stairsteps.  Hearing that, listening to the words, I knew there was a reason this song was playing now, it was going to be okay.  A blanket called relief was thrown over me and I realized I had to deal with both of these types of pains before I can come out on the other side.

So ask yourself again what is pain good for?  Absolutely everything, if you want to become a better person both emotionally and physically.

NOW FOR SOMETHING 80's (well close enough)

Have a rad day and an awesome week!!

-= Kurt =-

I AM BACK - Blog #4

After a whole year of no blogs, instead of I'll Be Back it is ...

And why would I not start the newest blog with a picture of one of the greatest action hero's of the 80s!!  An Action Hero who is also one buff dude but also a strong supporter of being healthy ... which leads into why I started to do these blogs again ... my motivation to get healthy!!

I figure I would continue to share my journey of losing weight and getting healthy by picking off where I left off last year with my weekly blog posts.  Entertaining the masses on this crazy journey!  So here we go....

THE MOTIVATION
Everyone who knows me know I am a very competitive person.  I love a challenge, I love the competition, I really love being number 1!!!  My work is taking the lead to get employees healthy with a challenge.  100 employees were provided a Garmin Vivofit.   The challenge...Start walking to compete with other employees on who can get the most steps.  Starting January 12th and going on for 8 weeks.  At the conclusion the employee with the most steps will be the winner.  Did someone say there will be a WINNER!!!  I was in!!!

DO I HAVE A PROBLEM?
Some might say, yes.  Those that do, guess you just do not know me that well, I am really just that competitive, where competitiveness is more like a drug.  Is that a problem, hell no, becasue I admitted it, I know about it and I know I gotta be first!!  So how did I get this way?  I for sure did not have a Dad who told me "If you are not first you are last."  So it was not in my upbringing.  My guess is being a winner is in my blood!!!  If it is in your blood then winning flows through your entire body!!  I guess in summary that is what makes me awesome!!

MY PROGRESS
The first week of the challenge is almost up and for those that are reading this your first questions, so are you in 1st.  The answer to that (as I bite down and clinch my fist) NO!!  However, has that motivated me to work harder and get to the top HELL YES!!!  I am in the top 10 as we speak, wait syncing my Garmin now...ok now top 8!!!

HOW AM I DOING IT
First week has been tough, well at least with my competitive addiction.  As the first day was closing I looked at the rankings, what I saw blew my mind, someone has 10k more steps then me!!  Of course I could not stand for that and went to the treadmill...at 11:30PM!!!  Yep had to squeeze as many steps as I could get to close out the day!!!  Nothing like working up a sweat and then trying to sleep!!  The rest of the week I have motivated myself to get up at 6am and get some walking in.  I guess we will see how long I can keep that up!!

IN CLOSING...Something 80!!!
As last year I always ended with something from the 80's.  Why you ask, well that was my childhood and I had so many good memories and cool things that happened during that time.  So it is another good motivator to end a blog on something fun!!

Only because we are talking about getting in shape how about we watch a true American Hero with his cartoon debut.

Have a rad day and an awesome week!!

-= Kurt =-