It's 4am and it's hot as balls in my bedroom. Bleary-eyed, I'm vaguely aware of the melted pile of sweaty kitten snoring in my face. He needs his teeth brushed. Cat breath is awful but at this time of day, so is mine. Waking up I'm realizing how much everything hurts. It feels like I was in a car crash. Since that's not the case it's just a day that starts with a fat sack of suck.


Fine. Maybe I overdid it yesterday. Maybe I'm just old. Maybe I slept weird. In terms of proper form, I never got the hang of sleeping.

My mood is miserable.

It's time to fix that. My mood will only be as low as I allow it to.

Dragging my sweaty ass out of bed I'm thinking of a recent memory of running around on the beach in the middle of the night, doing dumb shit with one of the coolest people I know.


My mood is improving. This is a good start. Thinking of something pleasant is a great way to start to take control of how the day will go. I need to get moving if I'm going to make the most of today. No more dwelling on the ouch. "Ouch" has no place here. Remembering the sound of the water on the sand and the distinct thud of being pelted with a kelp head is enough cheer for the moment.

Pressing play on the tune machine and jumping ahead to some random track is a gamble. The lottery pays off with Sir Mix-A-Lot's Let It Beaounce. Awesome.


Everything still hurts.


Let's fix that with a bit of spite. Did I do anything yesterday that would warrant this? Are there any real injuries? Is anything broken? No, nope, and a whole lotta nada. Looks like it's just general soreness from years of hard work, heavy lifting, and old injuries that have long since healed but still like to show up as reminders of a life well lived.

None of that matters. It's all in my head. I am the master of my domain and I will not be defeated by a little (or a lot) of discomfort.

I can do this. I've done it before and I'll do it again. The first step is movement.

My usual breakfast is simple, black coffee and an apple. Today it will be supplemented with 1/4 dose of pre-workout, and enough spite to hit the treadmill. After all, cardio is king.

10 minutes of light warm-up to get the blood moving. Now my joints are functioning smoothly and most of the ouch has been burned off. Time to increase speed and push a little more. 20 minutes of running and I'm back on track. Reset and refocused.

Today will be awesome because anything that says otherwise can go to hell. Short of a physical barrier, I make the rules.