Road Back On Track

For me, the hardest part of having chronic pain is how unpredictable it is. It is like having a constant battle with the pain. One day I am totally fine, the next I might not be. Another part is, that the chronic pain is usually invisible, and someone like me, who have the strong "I can survive alone" attitude, others rarely know how I feel, what I have in my mind etc. I might have days, weeks, or even months when my pain is at a very low level, as minimal as possible. It is always there, but when it reaches a number near 0, I might not even notice it anymore. I have had those times now more than ever before. I am super happy about that. And then, all of sudden, something triggers my pain and it flares. The scary part of any flare-up is, that I never know how long it lasts. It can last just a few hours, or it can last days. Or even weeks, and or a month. And when I get flare, I always end up thinking if I could have done anything differently to avoid it. At that mome...

I am going to reveal a secret from my life! ;) The real reason why I take selfies after (literally) all my workouts, is not only that I am so freaking happy after the workout, and that I want to take selfies... I mean those are part of the reason. But the biggest reason is, that those pics are for me to see my progress. And those pics are there for me to look at if I start to doubt. If I ever start to think something like " What if I cannot get back to Taekwon-Do and hammer throw? " or " why am I even doing this? " Those are the moments when I just open my phone, look those pics, and remember why I started, and why I have not given up after any of my setbacks. Looking those pics also reminds me, that I have been able to get back on track after a long injury, not only once, but twice. The first one was my shoulder injury, surgery and some aftermaths from the surgery. The whole rehabilitation took over 4 years (2012-2016), and at the moment I decided " th...

I have two sports, and I am trying to get back on track in both. I have been writing a lot about hammer throw, but somehow almost nothing about my other sports ITF Taekwon-Do (I will shorten it later as TKD). And the fact, that I have not been writing about it, is a bit weird, as after all, sometimes I feel like Taekwon-Do is the one I want more than hammer throw. My hammer throw coach often tells me, that at some point, I have to make the decision of which one I want to do more. I know his opinion, I know what he thinks about me doing TKD, as it is martial arts and generally speaking involves higher injury risk than hammer throw. Even insurance companies have the "This insurance is not valid in these high-risk sports" , and then there are martial arts. So I understand his point of view, but so far my injuries are all from hammer throw. Which means, that injuries I have (had) has not only affected hammer throw seasons but also my TKD training - often even more affectin...