“Used to be an Athlete…”

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Shared by Kristina Smedley

“Used to be an Athlete…”
 
I used to be a great athlete!
 
In high school, our volleyball team went to state 3 out of 4 years. Then, in our senior year, we won!
 
River vs Camas, both from SW WA, our top rival.
And we came out on top! We took home the trophy!
 
Later I was named the 2001 Dream Team Player of the Year.
And went on to play volleyball during my freshman year of college.
 
As an adult, I performed well in Crossfit, steadily improved my times in our ‘Year of 5Ks’, and got better and better at Orange Theory.
 
I’ve always been active and considered myself an athlete.
 
But all of a sudden that seems to be slowly ending.
 
And what they said about hitting 30 and then 35 and our bodies changing is definitely true. It’s not so easy to just stay fit these days.
 
Never has it been as obvious as it was today as I did our benchmark workout for the StoryAthlete 28 Day Challenge I’m participating in.
 
12mins. 4 exercises.
Pushups – Squats – Situps – Burpees
2 minutes each. Max effort.
And record the benchmark.
 
As an athlete, I really thought I could do better than this.
 
Standard Pushups – 12 (then switched to my knees for 15 more)
Squats – 63
Situps – 48
Burpees – 16
 
But turns out I couldn’t.
This is where I am right now.
This was the very best I could do.
 
I constantly have this underlying pressure that I’m not as good as I used to be.
 
I have this little nagging voice in the back of my head that I’ll never be ‘fit’ again. That I need to do something drastic to improve.
 
Today, as I felt a little disappointed in my benchmark workout, I oddly felt a bit of relief.
 
I know where I am. Now I have the opportunity to consider where I want to be.
 
It’s up to me on the type of person I want to be; to choose the type of athlete I’ll be in my mid-30s.
 
I’ll never be the athlete I used to be because that’s not my goal anymore.
 
These days, my goal is to be healthy. To remove excess fat that is extremely unhealthy for my organs and self-esteem.
 
To be active and able to participate in activities I enjoy in life. Hiking. Working out with friends. Going on adventures with my family. Being on the go all day long.
 
And to have tons of energy to pursue all my passions.
 
That’s what the adult version of being an athlete looks like for me.
 
To get there, I’m not eating refined sugar and I’m drinking a lot more water.
I’m participating in this 28 Day Challenge.
And I’ll create a post-challenge workout plan that works with my schedule and supports my new goals.
 
I’m choosing to operate from a place of empowerment, working towards who I want to be. This is a whole lot more effective than comparing myself to the past and constantly feeling discouraged.
 
My benchmark is set. We’ll test again in 28 days and I bet I can do better. And I know for certain that I’ll be approaching it with a much better mindset.
 
#MindfullyEvolving
#InspirationallyImpactful

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