Challenge - Day 8 (Progress & Stumbles)

Today I filled in a lot of holes I found myself in from Days 2 and 3.  I got myself caught up on my backyard hill climbs, my seated rows and my leg extensions.  I am now +1 on my calf raises, and yesterday got myself up +5 minutes on my winter trainer bike riding.  So, for all of those, I can settle into routine.  I've made up a lot of ground on my chest, arms and upright rows.  The biggest breakthrough came in my push-ups.

On the first day I struggled with the first three.  They were wreaking havoc on my shoulders and draining the life out of my arms.  As I wrote about them earlier in the challenge, "I had some reservations about those that was bordering on anxiety," it was somewhat daunting looking at completing all of this over 31 days.  A few days later I started making some progress, and my totals went up which was encouraging.  Then today happened...

Only a week ago I struggled to do the first 3 of the 42 push-ups I had to do, and then I fell in massive holes putting me down to -78 push-ups.  I clawed my way back though, and today I crushed down 81 total push-ups, bringing that -78 deficit to a +3.  I feel a bit of a strain on my right lat, but I expect that stuff to happen and will fight through it like always.

Even under such layers of fat, I can feel the changes in the fibres of my muscles.  It feels great, despite my tired body, but the feeling of how quickly I could turn around and leap forward with my push-ups is somewhat intoxicating.  Maaaan that shit feels good.

The last real holes I have to get a handle on are my stretching and focused breathing.  Those are easy though.  I made the conscious choice to sacrifice them a bit for now so I could grind out the real tough hard grunt work, and then settle into those two relaxing exercises as my reward for bustin' my ass with the tough stuff.

Thinking about yesterday and my observations with the indirect removal of sugars and how fast my body acclimatized to it, and then where I got myself to with my physical aspects of my challenge, I'm left once again fascinated by the capacity of the human body and the positive changes it can adapt to if some discipline and love is put into it.

I've spent more than half my life in a very pain filled messed up body, and have had most everything I love ripped away from me without choice.  (25 years this upcoming September 8th)  Through everything my body has been through, and what I have dragged it through despite it all, I have never lost fascination with the human body.  It is nothing short of remarkable.  I know what my body means to me, and unfortunately it took devastating loss in the snap of a finger to find out the real truth about that, but it's days like today that keep me grinding forward because even with all the pain and loss, I'm still able to pull off some bad-ass shit!