Working It Out Week: When It Hurts So Bad

Yeah...I feel you sis

I planned to write a post on maintaining relaxed and natural hair while working out regularly. I was going to discuss styles that would protect hair during your exercise and suggest affordable products to use. I was even going to offer ways to maintain a healthy scalp between hair washes. I was going to do all of that. But in my efforts to mobilize and get my behind off of the couch it hasn't been as easy as I would have hoped. In my new found sense of urgency I over did it. I hurt myself. And it's bummed me out. And there isn't a hubby hug or a "you got this girl" from my bestie that can lift my spirits.

I feel like my body isn't cooperating with my mind. My mind is fierce and can run a marathon right now. My body on the other hand can not. No matter what I try to do all I feel is pain. God awful, excruciating pain. There is so much pain that I tag teamed my daughter into a Zumba session the other night, fell against the wall holding my legs and got angry. I was angry at my legs for not doing what I wanted them to do. I was mad that I lost control over my breathing. Mostly, I was just mad at myself for the years of inactivity that made me this way.

Logically speaking, I know better. However, the quick learner in me wants to know a thing, figure it out, and execute it yesterday. Running does not work this way. This will not be mastered in a day or a week or even a month and for someone who has an innate need to complete a task it's beyond discouraging. And I don't give a rats azz that Rome wasn't built in a day or that my body wasn't made this soft in 24 hours I want results NOW! Actually, that's a lie. I don't care about the results...that will come in time. I'm okay with that. I just want to be able to do it...NOW!

When it hurts so bad I'm forced to listen to my body whether I'd like to or not. Right now it's telling me to take it easy. It's reminding me of all that I know to be true. Give your body time to recuperate. Workout different parts of your body as the lovely Tetekai commented the other day. Most of all I have to remember why I'm doing this in the first place. I want to be strong from the inside out. I want to improve my heart and lung functions. I want to improve my flexibility and mobility so that I'll be around longer. I want my ego to understand all of this and consider this just the beginning. I need my ego to have nothing to prove to anyone. Yet that's how it works so more than anything I'm sure my ego is hurt most of all.


What do you do when it hurts so bad? How do you recoup? How do you keep from being discouraged?