2013

Merry Christmas!!  I've written a lot of reflective posts in the past year, as surgery and the subsequent recovery makes you look at where you've been and where you're going while challenging you in the present.  This is slightly different, as in order to move forward completely, you can't keep dwelling on the past, but you should try to learn from it and apply those lessons to your future success. 

I love being with my family.  Russ is almost (and has always felt like) my family, so he counts in a lot of situations, but it has been super fun to come home to Washington so much more now that we live in Colorado Springs.  I'm extremely grateful for the extra bridge games we've gotten in and the multitude of puppy pictures I've been able to take, among other things.  I've learned how to value family time over almost everything else in the last few years, but this year has taught me even more about how wonderful it truly is.  Make that trip home, even if it costs a few extra bucks.

Soreness comes in different forms.  Every athlete knows this, but not every athlete consciously recognizes when the different kinds of soreness are happening.  Some types you should be grateful for: My single-leg dumbbell RDLs with a band around my hips have had my glutes screaming for mercy since I did them for the first time on Monday!  Other forms of soreness need to be paid attention to.  That little nagging hip flexor super tightness has me resting on Christmas when I might have pushed through in the past.  Soreness is not soreness, and going through major injury has me extra aware of when I should be getting more rest vs. getting my workouts in anyway.  I've immensely enjoyed the normal soreness that has come with normal fall training this year.  I haven't trained normally in the fall for two years because of my surgery, so body parts that forgot what an entire year of javelin training is like have been complaining (shoulders, intercostals, adductors, etc.).  For normal soreness, be grateful!!  In response to abnormal soreness, be careful. 

Those are the two major lessons I'm thinking about today, as I listen to the bridge tournament starting without me and have already taken photos of the dogs in Santa hats.  What are the biggest lessons you've learned this year?  Merry Christmas :)