Blessings and Curses

But first! My current top 5 country songs:

Anything Goes - Florida Georgia Line
Cheap Seats - Dallas Smith
Real Life - Jake Owen
Sirens - Lee Brice
Crash and Burn - Thomas Rhett

I tell you these because 1) I'm obsessed with them, and 2) I've put them on my RUNNING PLAYLIST!

Yes, you read correctly, running. I was released from physical therapy last week (!!) and instructed to keep my runs between 3 and 4 miles until the pain goes away completely. Each run has moved me closer to negligible fatigue and farther from leg-dragging pain!

Yesterday, I ran outside at a normal pace for the first time in six months. I smiled the whole time; I felt as if I were flying. I pumped my arms and yipped a bit... I probably looked slightly insane.

You all know this feeling.

A little tidbit I learned from PT (disclaimer: this is one therapist's casual comment, not a medical certainty, but it's something I like to repeat to myself): When recovering and after being cleared to workout, feeling some pain is okay and common. What really indicates healing is how quickly the pain subsides after exercise. Last Monday, I ran three miles on the treadmill and was pretty much out of commission all day. Any movement hurt. Yesterday, I ran three and a half miles outside with much less pain during the run (like hardly any), and it went away in an hour. Progress, not perfection.

Now for the blessings and curses: summer and technology.

We all know summer running is hard. We all know summer running slows you down. I am thankful for these facts - coming back from an injury, I'm going to be slower due to lost fitness... but I can also look at my times and not feel SUPER down, because I know some of it is due to the time of the year! Yay!

The curse part? Summer running is hard, and summer running slows you down.

I use a Garmin and RunKeeper on my phone to track my workouts - sometimes one, sometimes both (I'm a little crazy).

All the gadgets!

I LOVE being able to look back at past runs! I love being able to give myself a little boost of confidence after viewing my stats from a hard run, and I love being able to see progress! But... while it's true that heat can slow me down, I can also look back at runs from LAST June and compare. Yikes.

I'm working really hard on not comparing. I'm pretty sure I've commented on that notion 39,233 separate times on ya'll's blogs. What I want to remember is that feeling I had yesterday - that smile, that mid-run fist pump. Wish me luck!

Any country music suggestions?
Anyone else a victim of comparison?

Progress, Not Perfection

Whenever I hear the phrase "progress, not perfection," I usually think of weight loss. I think about being on a quest for new, clean, healthy eating while dropping pounds and living by the 80/20 rule.

However, a quick Google search will show you that this phrase applies to a lot of areas in life...

... like business. Think about trying to hit it off with clients. Sometimes they'll take the bait, sometimes it's just not in the cards, but as long as you're making progress, you don't have to seal every deal you attempt.

Ha Ha! Memes!

... like music. I recently wrote a post on musical performance, and practice is a huge part of getting better (thanks, MK Obvious). When you go through pieces, you won't hit every note every time, but it's about getting better over time that teaches you the dedication and determination needed to succeed.

Oh, Mickey, you're so fine.

... even alcoholism came up on the search with "progress not perfection in recovery." I clicked the link, and the site offered some great advice:

"... it does not mean that people should not be trying to be the best they can be. The point is that perfection is too high a goal and that people should aim for something slightly less ambitious. If the individual make an honest attempt at overcoming their character flaws they will be moving closer to perfection, but it is not likely that they will ever fully complete this journey. Humans are fallible, and the only important thing is that they try their best."

But what I realized is that this phrase can be a handy thing to remember even with events out of our control. Like my injury.

I'll be honest, I've had the occasional frequent daydream that one day I'll wake up, and my body hips down will be healed forever and ever, amen. Unfortunately, that's not how it works. It's a process of healing; it's not a snap-of-the-fingers fix.

I used to get extremely upset if one day I was feeling a lot better, and then the next day was absolutely horrible. I only focused on the bad, thinking I had regressed, and I didn't take into account all of the good days - all of the times I stood up and felt less pain, all of the walks I took where the pulls and stings wouldn't be felt until much later in.

Too often I look at my life under a microscope and forget to step back and see the whole picture. I'm staring at the missing puzzle pieces instead of standing up and viewing the beautiful image that's forming.

I should be thrilled that I'm progressing and forget my unrealistic desire of waking up with a perfectly healed body all at once.

A week ago, I took a walk. Pain in my hip came on 20 minutes in and grew with the remainder of the walk. Yesterday morning, I took the same walk. I felt flares of soreness that quickly went away and stayed away. It wasn't perfect, but I'll be damned if that's not progress. And definitely worth celebrating.

All the World's a Stage

As embarrassing as this is to admit, sometimes I get so wrapped up in fitness and activity and moving, that I forget it's not one of everyone's top priorities. What I mean is that some of us relate so closely with "athlete" (there go those damn labels again... I don't mean to bucket us into groups, so hear me out) that it doesn't always occur to me that others consider themselves more in tune (ha, it's going to be a pun so get ready) with other hobbies.

I'm talking about musical performance. (See!? I'm so punny).

I've been raised around music. My mother was a voice major for a bit in college and has participated in musical theater her entire life. I used to play the piano and cello. My college graduation present was to go to London to see The Phantom of the Opera.

via Giphy via Tumblr

I love music a lot, but I consider running and building physical strength bigger parts of my life. Others find their passion in singing or playing an instrument.

With the Tony's this Sunday and with my hometown choral society putting on a little Broadway show this weekend also, I thought I'd talk about this type of performance.

Being on stage is difficult. It can be nerve-racking and stressful, but it can also be fun and rewarding. And it has so many parallels with sport performance. The same focus and concentration used to shoot a basketball is used to hit a note. Memorizing football plays is kind of like memorizing Broadway dance numbers.

But he could do both... Giphy/Cheezburger

And in a lot of events, you're watched. Not only do you have to execute a certain "game plan," be it a song, a piece, or a play, but you have to do it in front of people. Free-throws are technically solo acts. There are spectators at races and an audience at a show. All the world is a stage - a real stage, football field, basketball court, running route...

Where am I going with this? I'm not sure, I'm kind of letting my fingers do the talking typing.

I think an important thing is to always remember why we do what we do. Why do we run? To compete with other runners or because we love it? Why do we sing? Why do we play the flute? Why do we drum? To out-sing, out-play, out-beat someone else? When the world is a stage, it makes comparisons easy. The stage doesn't display the work done alone, behind closed doors, on solo treks, in practice rooms.

I think the stage is where we should show the why.

Why do you do what you do?