Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Continuing on with responding to queries readers have asked, I thought I’d share a bit about my athletics—what I do.  If you read yesterday’s blog entry, then you got a pretty clear picture that I don’t sit around much, instead preferring to relax by doing things that keep me active.

I keep myself physically active for a number of reasons.  One, I’ve never been one for sitting still for lengthy periods of time—have too much energy.  Getting me to sit through an entire movie can sometimes seem like a huge accomplishment.  Secondly, due to the severe injuries I’ve sustained during my life, if I don’t remain in motion, everything tends to lock up.  So, though I’m usually able to leap tall buildings in a single bound (not really), if I’m sedentary for too long, my past injuries catch up with me, rendering me stiff and sore, making the simplest task a painful chore. 

For this reason, I’ve engaged in Pilates several times a week for the past thirteen years.  Pilates is an excellent cross trainer for my running and helps to keep my core super tight, providing me with the abdominal eight-pack I need to help support my lower spinal injury.  In addition, there are times I’ll use weight equipment, but I much prefer old school forms of working out that require me to use my own body weight as resistance.  Also, by not being dependent on fancy gym equipment, I’m able to incorporate my workouts wherever I am whether there’s a gym available or not.  I also do a ton of walking, hiking and running.  Every month, I run anywhere from 30-50 miles and put in as much mileage with walking and hiking. 

Pushing my body’s physical limits has always been a pleasure for me.  Ever since I can recall, I’ve been strengthening and training my body to be the strongest and best that it can be.  I do this because I like it.  Course, the fact that I enjoy it makes working out less of a chore, since I’ve had to remain physically fit since I was 14 when first struck by the car that almost paralyzed from the waist down.

I realize that my level of working out is above the norm.  Most would consider training seven days a week, often more than once a day, to be sheer madness.  I’m not obsessed…well…unless you consider that I enjoy maintaining a certain amount of mobility and quality of life to be obsessive.