ELEMENTS - Featured Writer Jennica Hirrlinger

I haven't seen Jennica much this winter.  I think we were both busy staying warm by the fire and drinking way too much hot chocolate.  I think so many of us go through this transition from winter sedentary blues to the fresh air chill excitement of Spring.  Thanks for sharing.
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It’s been a tough winter and I’m starting over.  My muscles ache from inactivity and  my running shorts are a little too snug for my comfort these days. It’s been pretty challenging to get back into it but I NEED to get back out there and get moving.  But, it’s hard to get out of bed when it’s so warm and cozy.  

I am becoming more motivated daily though as things around me are changing.   Honesty though, for the last few days, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about running and biking and even swimming in the freezing water that is starting to melt and flow down the rivers.  I sat watching and listening to the river recently and in the rushing of the water I could hear my body and my heart repairing itself from my illness induced hiatus.  This change in the weather, as cliché as it sounds, is rejuvenating me.  It’s as if nature is slowly creating a starting block in my soul  and the pull of the universe is gently forcing me to take my place on top of it.

I went running the other morning and it felt so good!  Well, it felt . . . hard, but it also felt good.  Oh, that burn in my legs and in my lungs and the cool air on my face and the heat of the sweat down my back.  I love those contradictions in athletics;  The complete elevation of success after the agony of pain we put ourselves through.  It motivates me.   I love that exerting myself makes me more aware of my senses and the way my body moves through the atmosphere in those early morning runs.  I can feel the strength of the elements power through me as I focus on my breathing while I stroke, pace or pedal through a workout.

So, here I am.  I’m in the worst shape of my life but I feel strong in the knowledge that, at some point, my body will remember , the earth will continue to remind me, and the training pains endured will pay off and I will be free again.  Free, from the ache of inactivity and free from the physical limitations and I will step up on the starting block, push hard off of it as the gun fires and see where the elements will take me.

As a side note: My daughter has started a rock climbing class and when asked how she was doing so well she replied “ I just want to be as tough as my momma!”  Now, If that’s not enough to motive me…