Progress

Yesterday I was listening to a Kate Bowler interview with theologian Miroslav Wolf about what makes a good, meaningful life. She said, "When we look at the reverse of this sort of happiness obsession [in US culture] and we look at what it means to live with what the world views as losing--illness, pain, grief, suffering--what what do you think that flourishing might look like when we are, on the surface, losing in the game of life? Wolf's and Bowler's thoughts on this are worth pondering. 

One that thing that flourishing means to me is re-inhabiting my body and reclaiming some physical strength. Tomorrow (July 28) marks one year since the terrifying flight home from Germany with what turned out to be pulmonary emboli, plus COVID to boot. I can't describe how weak I was during the flight and even after I was hooked up to a massive oxygen flow in the hospital. I couldn't walk or lift my butt off the hospital bed. Turning over in bed was a Herculean effort. 

When I left the hospital 13 days later, I barely recognized my body. I was stunned by how much my muscles had atrophied. Previously, I could easily do 3 sets of 10 squats with a 20 kg/44 lb kettlebell (I did this mainly for spinal health and to prevent hamstring injuries). The first time I tried doing some squats at home last fall, I could only do 2 or 3 reps. I could barely do overhead presses with my 8 lb. weight. My sputtering attempt at doing some strength training at home fizzled. But, as I've written previously, I then started weight and strength training at Kinetic Fitness. 

Since my first strength training session on April 4, this is how far I've come. I think I've earned my first muscle selfie. 

Since I'd never really done strength training before, I'm pretty sure I now have more upper-body strength and a stronger core than I ever had as a runner, and my lower-body strength is getting there.

I remarked to a friend that I feel the same way about strength training as I did when training for an annual marathon in grad school for 5 years: It's satisfying to see steady improvement. Even if other things are going haywire in your professional or personal life, with exercise you know that if you put in the time and effort, you will see results. In grad school, I watched my race times drop and shaved anywhere from 1 to 9 minutes off each marathon, peaking with a 3:18 at Boston. I can't run anymore, but each week I'm lifting heavier weights, plus I'm getting stronger and faster on my bike. It's hard to believe that nearly a year ago, taking a few steps left me utterly winded. Progress isn't infinite or inevitable, but I'm savoring it for now.