My Training and Thinking Blog

"...it seems like I'm in a negative-by-default state of mind, and it bugs me because that's not the way I want to be. I'll write in the blog, and try to stay 'up,' but I'm afraid that I may not succeed..." (me, Robert Wein, January 2012)

In the summer of 2009, after I woke from my medically-induced coma, they didn't know if I would ever walk again. Well, I've shown them. I am walking, and now I'm aiming to walk 5kms at Ottawa's famous Race Weekend.

This blog will track my thoughts about my training, and also offer me a space to share some of my other thoughts and insights.

Thank you all for your endless support to buoy me up!

Saturday, 28 January 2012

All the way...and then some...


Today, when I arrived at my personal training session, I announced that I wanted to start with Burpees.  (For those of you unfamiliar with Burpees, see the YouTube video below.)


When Laurie, my trainer, asked how many I would like to do I said, with confidence, "40".  She looked at me, eyes wide, and said, "okay, we'll start with 5."  No doubt she was thinking "holy cow, this guy can't do 40," but she kept that to herself.

And so we started, but after the first 5 I thought, "there is no way I'm going to get to 40 today," feeling dejected, I looked at Laurie and said, "I don't think I can do 40 after all."

Well Laurie did not agree with me at all.  She may have been skeptical at the start, but she wasn't letting me off the hook.  Long story short, on I went.  

Burpees are difficult for me to do because, according to medical science, a person who has suffered a brain injury like I have is not physically supposed to be able to jump.  Not at all.  When I jump sometimes both my feet leave the ground, and sometimes only one does, and sometime they don't move far at all.  Until today I thought it mattered that I get both feet of the ground, but the reality is that when they do it's a gift.


What does matter is that I am able to get down to the ground, complete a push-up, and then stand-up again.  It takes strength and coordination to do that.  Not bad for a guy who was told he may never walk again. Getting off the ground is just a bonus.


So I focused on the important parts of the burpee, not the insignificant jump at the end, and before I knew it, I got to 20...

...and then I started thinking: "all the way, and then some..."

I got myself to 40!  But then I thought, "well, 40 is the 'all the way' part...where's the 'then some?'"  

So...I GOT TO 42 BURPEES!  That's all the way and then some for you!


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5 comments:

  1. Zoey30 January 2012 at 14:21

    Great job Rob! All the way and then some. Hooway! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. El8 February 2012 at 13:45

    42 burpees is AMAZING, Rob!! I'm going to be a puddle after 40, but a deal's a deal, and 84 it is!!! I'll let you know if I make it to 90 for the "and then some" part ;-D

    ReplyDelete
  3. El20 February 2012 at 09:31

    Okay, I almost threw up at 47, wanted to stop for a shopping break at 63, but hung in for 84. Your inspiration would have kept me going to 100!!!

    ...thankfully, I didn't have to do 100...yet!! :-) Keep up the great work Rob and thanks for keeping me in shape :-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Unknown20 February 2012 at 09:46

    This past weekend I did 10 (I think, but I can't remember how many). I don't think that I'll be able to do anywhere close to 40 for a while, because each and every burpee is one hell of a challenge, and the more that I do, the harder that they are.

    ReplyDelete
  5. El23 February 2012 at 19:48

    But you keep doing them and that's the important part!

    ReplyDelete

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