It was, in all dimensions, a great training week for me. I did two leg strengthening workouts and visited the acupuncturist on Friday. Actually, this was a pretty tough acupuncture session in that Dr. Yan decided that I’ve progressed to “graduate” level: he had me sit in a chair while he put the needles in my knee. Wow. Let me just say that there are very few moments that you truly lose your breath (meeting my wife was one of them)…this easily makes that list. It was stunning, but, as with other treatment sessions, the initial pain goes away quickly and the healing process continues.
Running: 42.5 miles, including one 9 mile run! I’ve been careful to incrementally increase my mileage, roughly 10% per week. I’m thinking that I’ll get up to about 45-ish miles this coming week. Wish me luck. I really need to be training regularly by next month…so far so good.
Now, as before, I have a couple articles that are well worth reading about wounded warrior care. They are both generated by NPR, and part of a series on the impact the wars have had on the young and wounded in America. The first is about yoga’s ability to reach soldier’s unable to physically take part in the activities they enjoyed previously….
Great story on yoga as part of Wounded Warrior care.
And the second is about the toll that daily-wearing of heavy combat gear takes on the body.
Impact on soldiers – weight of their gear.
In fact, and this is not at all a joke, I am 1/4 of an inch shorter now than I was before the two deployments. I was 5 foot 7.75 inches tall in 2002, and was 5 foot 7.5 inches tall in 2007…documented in my medical history. Frankly, it’s not a sacrifice of any measurable comparison to what others have given…but a more extreme case/extension of the phenomenon that I experienced could have bad long term effects (serious back issues).
Both are worth the read and proper reflection…
All my best & Keep moving forward, Matt