The good kind of hurt

So recently I dusted off my unicycle and decided to learn how to ride it once and for all. I've had it since I was a kid, but due to a variety of reasons I never really learned to ride it.

I spent a few days getting a feel for the balance, just holding onto something and keeping my balance. Then yesterday, I started moving.

Now when you start out on a unicycle, you generally get your self up on it, balance yourself, lean forward, pedal a half turn, and fall off. I did plenty of that. Luckily when you fall off a unicycle, you almost always land on your feet.

I progressed quite well yesterday, managing to fairly reliably get myself all the way from one side of the patio to the other before falling off.

Now as I said, you almost always land on your feet when you fall off a unicycle. The reason for this is that you're already in a standing position, so when you fall off, the unicycle just squirts out from under you and you're left basically just standing there. Most of the time.

It's the rest of the times that are a bit more painful, and I had my share of those, resulting in my share of injuries. They're all minor though, a few cuts, scrapes, bruises, twisted ankle, etc.

Now it may sound weird, but it actually feels kinda good to hurt. It's been a long time since I've done something that's made me ache the next day. When I'm doing my weights or bicycling it's easy to get to a plateau where I no longer feel the suffering burn the next day, and as a result tend to progress a lot slower. It can be difficult to find a new challenge that puts the pain back in your life.

I think I've found that challenge again.