For several years in a row, my youngest was diagnosed with pneumonia. It came as no surprise that the onset fell on anniversary (5th, 6th & 7th) of Tom’s death. As an ex-pediatric ICU nurse, I knew all too well how bad it could get. As a result of this knowledge, I used everything in my skill set to insure his recovery.
Until my own diagnosis with pneumonia, this past month, I had no idea just how much the illness could affect your heath and well being after the acute phase has ended. For the most part, I feel much better. However, I am still coughing in spite of finishing my course of antibiotics 2 weeks ago. *cough* It’s frustrating.
This past week, I re-initiated my OCR training efforts once again. I am making progress, albeit minimal at this point. Nonetheless, I am encouraged – most days. Rather than self-bash, I am making an attempt to celebrate the little successes as much as possible. This requires a fair amount of effort as I easily fall back into comparing my fitness level to the Juls of yesteryear, especially where running is involved.
Small successes this week include:
- being able to hang from a metal ball or cylinder for several seconds before losing my grip,
- successfully figuring out a secure footing technique for rope hang (which will eventually allow for a rope climb),
- 5-mile trail run (with a bit of walking), and
- completing 30 burpees (broken up into sets of five).
I know; I KNOW!
It’s not much … but I can’t afford to let myself get hung up on how much more progress I need to make. I just have to keep the effort up and make as much progress as possible (without getting injured) between now and June 9th. Hopefully, it will be enough to have a fun and successful Spartan Race. Time (and training) will tell. Until then, I am simply going to hold on to each and every little success and not give up.