Fun & Fitness over 50

I've said it before, I like pain. Lest you refer me to counseling or even intervention, I must elaborate.

The kind of pain I like is that well earned pain obtained from exercise to the point of muscle failure. In this case, the pain is desirable in that it indicates athletic progress is being made. Torn muscle fibers will repair themselves and overcompensate so that they are stronger than before.

So, I like the pain for that reason, i.e. I know I'm getting stronger.

The kind of pain you don't want is injury pain, joint or cartilage damage. That indicates a problem that must be remedied.

Since I went skiing on Wednesday my hamstrings have been killing me. The left leg in particular feels like it want to cramp up although it hasn't. I've never felt this after skiing or biking before. Usually it's the quads.

I wonder if it's because of the falls I took Wednesday or perhaps doing a too challenging run before I was properly warmed up. I was really exhausted after my second run of the day and had to take a break before I could continue.

So this is a new one. But an additional reason that I like proper skiing soreness is that it reminds me of the pleasure of the activity, a "euphoric recall" if you will.

I'm looking forward to my next opportunity to generate some "pain".