It’s Still Plenty Good…Even With Accoutrements
When I was a kid, I’d ride my bike down a hill at breakneck speed, sitting straight up on the seat. Look ma! No hands! Just me, the bike, the wind, and oh-my-god freedom.
When I was a kid, I threw a softball further than any girl before me – almost as far as the record-holding boy – and held the grade school record for more than 10 years.
When I was a kid I walked everywhere. I played cops and robbers, kick the can, flashlight tag, and kick ball. I loved jump rope (Who put the cookie in the coo-cookie jar?), cheerleading (I was the back bend/cartwheel/handstand queen, not to mention I had a set of lungs that could outscream any “We’ve got the spirit” taunt from the other side), soccer, broom ball, ice skating, snowmobiling, and swimming in the lake (actually swimming, not skinny dipping, which came later in my childhood...:))
When I was a kid I could do most anything without assistance. To borrow Great-Great-Uncle George Gjertson’s review of most things in life – including lutefisk and unwashed underwear – my body was “plenty good.”
Now? Well…my body is still plenty good. It just needs some assistance.
As you know, I only mention products here that I believe in, and I’m not paid to say what I say. In fact, none of the manufacturers have a clue that little old blogger me is even talking about them! I just like to pass on my experience with the stuff I love and loves me back.
Right now, I’m really loving my Pattstrap. Because of my arthritic knees (which, for those of you new to my blog, need to be replaced but I’m biding my time), I’ve developed a fun little disorder called Iliotibial Band Syndrome, which in turn aggravates my tensor fasciae latae muscle, giving me a true honest-to-god pain in my ass.To combat this, I use and ADORE the Pattstrap, a simple little piece of non-latex band I wrap around my thigh or just below my knee, depending on which part of the tendon is hurting. It’s a godsend.
I also use a tennis ball to work out the kinks in my ass, often stopping during a cardio workout to roll around with it on the floor, as dirty nasty as that sounds. But it works! I’ve also stopped a bike ride and sat on a rock or a metal guide post along the road to work out those ass kinks. A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do when the pain strikes, you know?
I love Perform Better’s foam roller and am considering investing in this Trigger Point Performance massage ball. I’m pretty sure my butt and thighs will hate me for a little while, but they’ll thank me later. Especially when I go to bed and they’re happily at rest on a pillow and warmed by a Thermaphore heating pad.
On to the arthritic wrists and “tennis elbow” (again, both wrists need to be replaced or fused, which would make me look like a mannequin…although without the anorexic skinny part and jutting nipples). I use (on the bad days) what my kids call “floaties” and wrist splints. I look tough with my wrist splints on, but I can’t type for crap. It takes awhile to get all the Velcro in place, but once I’m dressed and ready to go, I’m feeling fine.
I’m telling you all this in hopes that someone reading this is looking to re-inaugurate their body as “plenty good.” We age, we get arthritis, we aren’t kids anymore. I’m not a cheerleader in the physical sense, but I certainly know how to shout out to my weight-losing friends. I would love to ride a horse again, but not with the same abandon as when I was 10. I can’t throw a softball a gazillion feet, but I can toss a ball to my grandkids. I ride my bike with both hands on the handle bars and thank god I’m still able to peddle 10, 15, or 20 miles. I don’t skinny dip or ice skate, but I trust my grandchildren to do that and tell me not to tell their mother.
With the help of a few “friends,” I can still be active. Some day those friends might include a cane, a cast, and even a few bionic parts. Whatever. I trust that even then my body will still be plenty good.
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