It's About Pain

I have not been as diligent about posting as I should have been. I think that blogging is an ebb and flow sort of thing. I have noticed that I have some nagging injuries these days. Mostly the culprit is my right hip. When I train heavy the hip lets me know about it. I am not sure if it is a result of my body telling me to slow down or the result of some injuries in my "bullet proof" twenties coming back to demand payment. I know I get a nice creak in my elbow from where I elbowed a man in the fist, while he was throwing a punch. (A dumb move on my part but probably singularly impressive to watch). The point of the day, pain management.

So here I sit attempting to battle to stay in as peak of condition I can get while maintaining a successful law practice. It is a hard balance. As I mentioned, I believe I will need to supplement my running with swimming to cut down on the wear and tear on my hip and calf. These are the two problem areas. Tonight I managed another 32 laps. To go with this I do manage to get my martial arts training in as well. To be truthful the running and swimming are tools to make my martial training more effective. That is the point, well for me it is. The running has its own goals but the reason for doing so was to be more effective on the mat. The surprising thing that running has brought is its own little addiction.

There is something that borders on spiritual about tapping the physical. It is the feeling of truly being alive and connecting to the universe. (If that makes any sense). I have never really be a very religious person, but sometimes when I am really in the heart of a great run or flying through techniques and I get that "perfect moment", I think at those times I truly understand spirituality. Because the feeling is beyond simple satisfaction, it is as if I have tapped into something more. To get there through, there is a pain barrier that has to be broken through first, at least for me. It may be because I am now in my 40's and I can't quite get rolling with out a little bit of discomfort. Once I get there it is worth the little pain barrier.

This has been a bit of an affirmation. Why do I beat myself so relentlessly? By most accounts I am a fairly intelligent man, some might debate it but I like to tell myself that anyway. The answer is that beating myself down is worth it. When I can get those singular "perfect" moments it justifies all of the pain. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Happy running or swimming or fighting or what ever your poison happens to be.