On the PCP, I felt that the trade-offs were always pretty clear; I worked out EVERY day, rain or shine, no matter how little sleep I've gotten, or how much, or what other activities I subjected my body to. Likewise, I stuck to the diet, no matter what sugary, carby garbage friends and co-workers shoved my way. PCP was linear.
The past week's soreness and fatique have been a wake-up call. All the stuff that I ignored or essentially shelved on the PCP--sleep, stretching, and coping with stress--has a MUCH bigger impact on my progress on the KFB. Some of that I chalk up to how out-of-shape I was pre-PCP; I could stomp blindly ahead with workouts and diet on 6 hours of sleep and still see tons of progress. But now, the starting line is in an entirely different place. I began this journey near my physical peak--to push further, I can't ignore that little list of 'shoulds' I put up on my blog last July: more sleep, better protein, and consistent stretching.
Yesterday, I stayed later than I wanted at work, then went directly to a Peace Corps 50th anniversary party I had committed myself to attending--my second of the week. Unlike the first, there weren't many diet-friendly options; all of the protein came with mandatory carbo-packaging: empenadas. I had 2 of them, just to get in the protein grams, along with some raw carrots (good) and corn-bread (bad) for 'veggies.' Aside from a few sips of cranberry juice, I stuck with water. The party went late; by the time I got home, I was exhausted. Worse, I didn't have access to the gear I needed for pull-ups and Kung-Fus. The apartment buidling's gym was closed, and it was far too late to go 'hang out' in the park.
I contemplated doing everything but the bar-dependent exercises, but then I stopped myself. Really, what would be the most 'skillful' response? Staying late at the party wasn't very gong-fu; however, neither was working out until 1:30 a.m. then logging 5 hours of sleep, then getting up and trying to tackle the stresses and challenges of the day ahead. Unskillful decisions are not math--yes, they have a multiplicative impact on your day, but they don't equal out to a positive in the end just because they are negative. So I skipped yesterday's workout, and basically did Day 27 and Day 28 same-day; I did my Day 28 jumps along with the workout, mindfully at my bran muffin and slurped my caramel delight in the afternoon, and hung out in WAFB this evening, all after getting a fairly good night's rest.
Maybe there's a lesson here from meditation. As our thoughts wander and get tangled up in the random laundry lists our mind spews out, it's best not to fight or push them away, but just let them go and return to focus on the breath. As we make less than ideal decisions, is it really best to try to scramble to 'catch up'--to sprint back to the point where we strayed from the path, then sprint to where we think we should be? Perhaps it's better just to stroll back to the path with the same attention with which we walk it.
My stretching and levels of (in)flexibility are still pretty atrocious; however, I did manage to touch my toes on the twist-leg forward bend, as well as the half forward bend. Possibly for the first time since I last sucked on my thumb.
One more thing I realized this week: on the PCP, as I knocked out increasingly difficult leg exercises, I would inevitably wake up with painful leg cramps in my calves--a direct consequence of nil stretching. So far? Nada--none. Not a single episode.
Onward to Day 29.
This is really interesting. I think you're right that "strolling back to the path with attention" is the right way to go. It's easy to compound a "lapse" by getting caught up in emotions around it -- guilt, recrimination, regret. My meditation teacher always said, "Don't make it worse by getting upset, just come back to the breath." Not always easy to do, but a good reminder.
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