I completed another trip around the sun recently and my lovely wife thought it would be fun for us to do a 5K.

Actually, to be honest, I mentioned it to her in passing because the run was being held in a place I really liked.  It was to be a trail run, there was no entry free, and it wasn’t an officially “timed” event.  I thought it would be fun for HER to do it.  However, she had other plans and to celebrate yet another milestone, signed us both up.  Yay.

Keep in mind, I have not trained for a 5K, I hate running, and did I mention….I hate running?  But after much whining I reluctantly agreed.

I ran the first 10 minutes…but had to stop.  Exercise induced asthma got the better of me.  I finished the race with a time of 50 minutes…but ended up walking most of the way trying to catch my breath.

We left to head home and go to dinner with the in-laws and still I felt like my lungs couldn’t catch up and I could here wheezing deep in my chest.

We came home and I pulled out my nebulizer and gave myself a breathing treatment.  Just like that, I could breath again.

Tonight I decided I needed to start running stairs again for an upcoming trip.  10 minutes in my lungs were giving out.  While I was able to do 22 floors in 10 minutes, my lung capacity was holding me back.

As I sat in the car frustrated, it suddenly dawned on me.  I’ve had 2 major surgeries that took place within 45 days of each other.  While I think my body is in one place, we’re really just starting over.  I need to treat myself as if I’m starting to work out for the first time.  Push myself just a bit, but don’t get distracted with frustration.  Just like I’ve done in the past, I’ll build up my endurance and strength over time.

What do you do when you have a setback?  What’s your go to pep talk?  I think I’m going to have to go back to the YouTube motivational videos to get my head back in the game.  But 10 minutes on the stairs beats sitting on the couch so I’ll take it!

Till next time!