Heartless Weights

This morning, after noting that the wood stove held only embers from the night before I reached for the remnants of a corrugated box to rekindle the fire. As I opened the door to the wood stove I was fascinated as drops of blood splatted upon the corrugated I held in my hand.

Nose bleeds are a side effect of the drugs I've received but to date I've only had the most minor of issues; this was a real surprise. Susan recommended I sit down and tilt my head back, this only resulted in my ability to spit up blood. Pretty much ticked off I rolled up a piece of tissue, shoved it up my nose and headed down in the basement to lift some weights.

Weights have no heart, they don't care if you're healthy or ill, happy or sad. They of course are devoid of anything except mass, form and the words “York Barbell Company” on most of my weights. Yet they have the ability to taunt you because you can never win against the weights. Hit your personal max and there is always another five or ten pounds that will be added that you will fail at. I accepted that a long time ago yet this morning was an eye opener.

This morning, with a plug in my nose I got mad enough that I thought I could push some weight. In reality all I managed to push was an expectation in the wrong direction. On the bench press, I ended my morning struggling to do a single repetition with a weight I would have warmed up with just a few months ago.

You might think that I'm discouraged but in fact it quite the opposite, I have a renewed passion for the weights and goals to work towards.

Later in the day, with my foot feeling almost normal I decided I'd attempt a short run. It lasted a half mile, my foot which felt fine when I started, shot bolts of fire from my arch to my toes. Time to quit.

The process of recovery is more complicated then I first thought, I will not stop testing my limits but I will learn to understand and adapt, it is after all just another challenge.

Be strong, be happy ....... Mike