Possibility Tour: Day 8
Lanigan, SK to Sheho, SK
Day 8 – Wisdom on a bike. – the body is not meant to be stagnant.
Our first few days we were stopping every 20km to rest, hydrate, and relax our butts. There was certainly some conditioning that needed to happen but overall I felt great- mentally and emotionally.
As the days have progressed we’ve been doing a bit more each day and going a tiny bit further between breaks and snacks. Thursday we took a rest day after 5 days of constant cycling and our 500km achievement.
Friday- back on the bike, we took off like a bullet. Our first break was at 50km. Our bodies felt powerful, ready, hungry, and wanting to ride. We had a fantastic day and ended feeling strong, not drained.
Today we did 90km before lunch! Our best day yet. Again our bodies felt primmed and loving the movement. There was a new rhythm in our peddling and a force we didn’t have last week. It was almost like our bodies wanted to ride, to push, to exercise- to be in motion.
I’m probably writing the common feeling most athletes have done their sport …and any of them reading this will say, Duh?! Of course, there is this feeling that happens when you set your body in motion.
I subsequently am just feeling this for the first time… and at such an accelerated rate that it feels important to take notice. It has been rapid and highly measurable the increase in our stamina and performance… and only after 1 week.
This got me thinking about how the body was truly built for movement – not stagnation. Yet we live in a society where everything is done for us. We don’t gather our food, catch our food, or even cook our food these days. We don’t walk enough, move enough, or exert anymore. We are sitting at desks and chairs, watching TV, computer screens and our phones.
If you think about it, your body wants to move. It wants to be active and move. What’s so evident is that once you start doing it the body quantum amplifies itself. It gets faster, stronger, and primmed for more action, strength, and possibilities.
When you move your body consistently it conditions it to do more. Yes, starting is the hard part, the aching muscles, the huffing and puffing, the off-balance, and even uncoordinated. But I’m profoundly sharing that the body wants to be active and craves to be ‘doing’. That much is evident.
Put your body into some kind of motion every day: yoga, running, swimming, dancing. Yep, you’ll be awkward at first but the body is so adaptable and wants the movement, it will be a short time before it’s craving more.
You can do exactly what I’m doing with any of your activities and ideas. Just start slow, visualize yourself doing it. Pace yourself, trace your progress and you’ll be amazing at what you can achieve.
Today- 139.4km cycled
4hours and 48 minutes
5100 calories burned.