just coz i’m sore and injured most of the time doesn’t mean i’m not also feeling great at the same time! …which i am! i mean, i don’t think I could feel better!
i wonder how many ppl can understand?
(photo of Rad smiting Jen at the end of another satisfying day-long Jordan Jam.)
like, most of the time i groan when i stand up. sometimes i wonder if it means i’m now old. but then I remember that i have ALWAYS groaned when I stood up. people used to marvel at the sounds i made when i stood up at age 25. i think i used to hurt more and be sore more back then. i used to have to stretch and get massages. now i don’t even notice. but i’ve always made sounds — it’s like in karate when they break a board hiii-yaa!!!
i have bandaids on almost all the time. it’s not that pain goes w pleasure but that being sore and injured isn’t necessarily regrettable. it goes w doing stuff. it’s not hardly ever bad-sore, bad-tired or even bad-injured.
even getting sick probably applies. i hate getting sick. but if you’re doing stuff it’s gonna happen. …and stresses and glitches are probably healthy in the long run.
i’m doing enough in enough diff ways that i’m always kind of favoring something — like if you use all your fingers a lot it makes sense that one of them will at all times need to be spared a bit while it heals.
it’s kinda like my equipment: it’s all trashed but it all works and it’s all being used and also being constantly repaired or juryrigged-while-in-use.
maybe this relates a bit to how Jen seems to often ski or bike until she actually falls over. lately, i’ve been stopping skiing when i feel my legs giving out. i don’t wanna beg for getting hurt or be foolish. how can you ski when you can’t stand up or make a turn? …but actually that’s when a whole new phase of “good” skiing can kick in. i suppose they call that Type 2 Fun. or 3? actually, it kinda just feels like life. like when skiing 35 miles of backcountry in a dark-to-dark day. you go beyond the limits of normal outings several times over. so that you’re just living along on the trail. …and even when i’m tired the next day all i really wanna do is start doing it some more.
work is similar. each day you work til you’re tired and you try not dip into reserves or run a deficit. but sometimes… working past the fumes state is a thing, too. John F knows all about that!
at the same time, we can’t risk disability. we’re not just skylarking and a doc can patch us up later. this isn’t “hold my beer.” no. working hard and suffering glitches keeps everything working great, better than otherwise.
so being hurt or tired or breaking stuff doesn’t usually mean a bad time or the end of anything. you solve, adapt, and keep moving. …ideally w/o losing any time. like Verlen always said “keep it moving.” of course, it’s sweet to have a clean run. i do try to plan well. being a smooth operator is awesome. not forgetting stuff. riding a clean CX race w no errors or technicals is what you want. but you also want to push the ragged edge. in training you want to be crashing some or you’re not trying.
