Michelle Cerino talked to Vera Koo about knowing the limitations of your body, especially as you age. Find out what brought this lesson home to Vera, and what she learned from this experience, in this post originally published by Women’s Outdoor News.
When I spoke with Vera Koo this summer, she mentioned that she came home early from her sporting clay lessons because she had hurt her wrist. If you shoot a shotgun, you might wonder how someone could injure their wrist doing that. In Vera’s case, it didn’t happen during her lessons. She actually hurt herself earlier, while preparing for her CCW renewal. This story reminded me of something Vera has talked about for years: how important it is to know your body and take care of yourself.
As you probably know, Vera is very dedicated when she sets a goal. This time, she was practicing for her concealed carry renewal, which comes up every two years in California. Since she hadn’t used her handgun in a while, she felt a bit out of practice. So, in her usual way, she went all in: 400 rounds on the first day, then 300 rounds after a few days off, and another 300 after that. That’s at least 1,000 rounds with a production gun. Looking back, she thinks she was already worn out by the time she went to Houston for her lessons.
After two days of practicing sporting clays, with a lesson in between, Vera realized something was wrong with her wrist. She called Carlos, and he reminded her of a lesson she learned 30 years ago, so she decided to head home.
A Lesson Learned
Back then, Vera was competing in Steel Challenge and working on her speed draw with a coach from the Philippines. When she mentioned pain in her elbow, he just told her to take aspirin. She kept training for another week and a half until Carlos returned from a business trip. When he saw how bad things were, he told her she had to stop. Vera had to admit she was injured. She couldn’t even hold her handgun, and the injury was so serious that she couldn’t shoot for a year and a half.
Now, if Vera even suspects something is wrong with her body, she listens and does what she needs to do. She knows rest is important. This reminds me of all the articles she’s written about understanding and taking care of your body.
Knowing Your Body
In her article “Why You Must Exercise if You Want to Shoot,” Vera compares our bodies to cars. She says that just as cars need regular maintenance to run well, our bodies need care too.
“It is important with any exercise program to give your body time to recover. I aim to exercise four days a week and allow my body to recover on the other three days. You must determine your body’s tolerance, and do not push your body beyond its capacity. Overworking your body and not giving it time to recover from workouts can cause injury, doing more harm than good.”
Vera wrote “When Your Friend Won’t Listen to Good Advice” after a friend hurt her ankle and needed help. Since Vera had a spiral fracture in her leg at age 66, she knew exactly what her friend was going through.
“The Chinese ways of healing focus on eating, sleeping and medicine, in that order. I did precisely that. I stayed focused on my recovery, refusing to wallow in self-pity.”
Just last month, in “Behind the Scenes,” I shared some of Vera’s beauty routines and how she takes care of her body even while she sleeps. Vera feels you have to keep the muscles you use often warm when you sleep. Vera strongly believes this is what’s allowing her to keep shooting all these years.
Vera is very open about her advice on caring for yourself, including knowing your body. Perhaps that is why she is still competing in a shooting sport at almost 80-years old. Oh, by the way, she passed her CCW class. Big surprise there.
追踪顧方蓁生活動態。
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