Dirty girl, get your head out of the gutter! I’m not talking about the naked kind of streaking or those blue balls. I’m talking about daily exercise streaks and getting the Peloton blue balls. Okay, most people call them blue dots, but blue balls is more fun to say. Plus it makes a better headline, so go with it.
Anyway …
Last week, I earned my 104-week streak badge on the @onepeloton app. #iykyk. For those unfamiliar (I’m looking at you, Mom), it means every day for 2 straight years, I completed some form of movement. That’s 730 days straight, without missing a single day.
Go me!
Most of those days involved a few back-to-back strength classes plus some form of cardio — either a spin class, tread class, cardio class, or boxing bootcamp. Other days were active rest days — a walk outside or on the tread with some stretching or yoga before and after. But whatever it was, for 730 straight days, I moved my body in some way, shape, or form.
Admittedly, some of those active days were ugly. Like, really ugly. I struggled, stopped, and modified because, for nearly all of that 104-week streak period, I was dealing with a mysterious illness (not coronavirus) that was kicking my ass day, in and day out.
Pre-COVID, I was strong, lean, and healthy (even with my autoimmune disease). I was in the gym by 5AM six days a week for a cardio or spin class before hitting the weight room and sauna. I also went to [solidcore] a few times a week, which became my obsession (and saving grace) when the gym closed in the early months of the pandemic.
But then I got sick.
It wasn’t COVID. It was something else. Something that was wreaking havoc throughout my body and that no doctor could diagnose. I lost strength, muscle, and all endurance. I was constantly exhausted and in pain. I gained over 40 lbs. virtually overnight. There were other complications, too — cognitive, hormonal, gastrointestinal … I talked about it a few months ago in another blog post (here) when I finally learned what was making me sick — toxic mold.
It sounds vain, but it was devastating for me. [I talk about why in my earlier post here.]
Just before it got really bad, I bought a spin bike. I couldn’t afford a Peloton, so I bought a cheaper bike and downloaded the Peloton app to take classes. I needed something to hold me accountable and feel connected to other people, even though I wasn’t leaving my house because of how I looked and felt. Peloton gave me that.
I can be a little obsessive (read my post about collecting trophies and badges here), so when I saw that you get a blue ball (dot) every day that you complete at least one class of any kind, that became my goal: To get a blue ball every day. As silly as it sounds, it’s what motivated me to keep going even on the days when I could barely get out of bed and all I did was walk, stretch, and meditate.
I’ve had autoimmune flare-ups before that have knocked me out for a few days at a time, but this was very different. It affected me just as much mentally as it did physically. At times — many times — I felt hopeless and beaten. But Peloton helped.
It took the better part of a year to figure out what was happening to me, and then another six months to fix it. After a massive (and costly) home remediation project and months of detoxing, I’m slowly starting to feel like myself again.
I still have a long way to go, but I’m finally on the road to getting my body and mind back. As @fitxkendall says,
So, yes, celebrating a virtual badge is silly. Collecting blue balls is trivial. But the meaning behind those blue balls and those badges is significant. It means I showed up. Even on my hardest days, when I struggled and cried, I showed up. I kept hitting play for 730 straight days, and I never gave up.
Now watch me keep going.
-LJDT
