My Journey With Health And Fitness – Things Changed A Year Ago

I am trying to get 3 hours of walking done each day Monday – Friday. I was successful doing so last week and I burned past my calorie goal each day. The problem is every day it seems to get hotter here. For example I went for a walk at 11am today and by time I got back I was soaked in sweat. I’m trying to be strategic by getting a big walk (1 1/2 hour) done first thing then several 1/2 hour walks. I could wait until later in the day to do my final walk but then that interferes with social time by the pool. Sigh, I guess I just have to suck it up and get the final walk done.

It was exactly 1 year ago today that I came home from the gym and realized my ankle was bothering me. At that point I had been running 6.5-10 km every day and had been doing so for months. I decided after the fitness class that I was going to have to scale back a bit and just do a walk (it was really disappointing because I was on such a roll). I got just passed the 6 km mark on my walk when I felt a pop in my ankle and then shooting pain up my leg. I knew this could not be good so called home for a ride and then took several days off before going back to walking. I have never returned to running.

It would be months later before I finally got my ankle looked at. During that time it was somewhat painful (though not debilitating) and had some mild swelling. When I did break down and go to the doctor she predicted that I had some significant soft tissue damage. Turns out she was right and I had 2 torn tendons and a partially detached ligament. I started physio and am on a waiting list to see a specialist (not any specialist but one of the best foot and ankle injury clinics hence why I am still waiting).

There have been several changes that this injury has caused. I now where a brace whenever I am doing anything that I believe will cause me to need additional stability for my ankle (I always wear it during my fitness classes). I don’t really do any high impact exercises though on occasion I have tried some but wasn’t really confident I wasn’t going to do more damage. And, I gave up running completely.

Now remember, I really didn’t like running so it is odd that that change hit me the hardest. For me, running had me chanting in my head about how much I disliked running. Or I would be counting how far I had gone or after the 1/2 way mark how little I had left to go. But what that did was allow me to for an hour or so each day completely clear my head. There was no room for other thoughts to get in. Thoughts like panic about everything I had outstanding or how I was going to solve a problem. These are the types of things that are always in my head and I believe one of the reasons I suffer so badly from insomnia. This past year in particular I have missed that ‘free’ time in my head as I have had so much crap to think about. I truly hope once I have seen the specialists that there is a resolve to help me safely return to running.

So yeah, things changed a year ago and I am hoping sometime in the near future I can go back to where I was.