Thankful and Healing

Things I'm thankful for today:

#1 I am not in any pain for the first time in a year. Honestly, I've gotten so used to being uncomfortable that it kind of freaked me out. 

#2 Physical Therapy. I love it. I've been going for the last few weeks to fix a problem with my shoulder. It was causing constant, painful headaches for about 6 months. Today, I have no headache. It's pretty amazing. My PT also told me that my ankle is strained tendons and nothing more serious. Very happy about that.

#3 Taking a long walk in the sunshine with my Moon Dog. It has been warm and sunny for two days now, and I am loving it. Went for a 3 mile walk with the pooch this morning, and it was pain free! Amazing. 

So, the last few weeks have been pretty rough. I was in a lot of pain and feeling pretty run down. My body felt like a 90 year old (or how I imagine it feels, anyway). I've been trying to exercise while also resting both my ankle and my shoulder. I'm trying to focus on letting my body repair. The final tournament of the season was last weekend, and I can finally relax a little and focus on feeling better. I have to admit, I have been pushing myself even though I should have been resting. 

I've been careful with my eating and with my movement. I have been doing everything I need to do to combat my medical issues and staying well hydrated. I feel better. Not 100%, but so much better than before. I already feel so much better.

I've also been trying to stay positive and calm. I've been meditating regularly. I usually follow my own plan, but it's seemed like too much work lately. I don't want to have to think about it, so I found a guided meditation app that looked like what I was looking for. I wanted something simple and something that would keep me consistent. It's called Headspace, and they offer 10 days of 10 minute meditations for free. I just completed day 10 (admittedly it took me more than 10 days - life doesn't always cooperate). It's great. It's simple and consistent, and I don't have to think about it (or anything else). The subscription fee is really low, and I plan on subscribing and getting even more meditation packs. The calm I feel is totally worth it. 

So, that's it. Nothing too exciting. It's been a week of healing. Exactly what I needed.

Set Backs

Ah, setbacks. They happen to all of us, and if you're like me, they happen when everything is finally going well. I came back from vacation, had another great week of workouts, and finished the week with a swimming/patterns workout at a lake. Patterns practice in water = so much fun.

Then Saturday morning, I woke up ready to run. I've had a new pair of running shoes sitting and waiting for me to break them in. I was excited to get out there.

But, first I needed to walk the Moon Dog. We have great walks most mornings, and it's a great warm-up for running.

Let's just say, I didn't get to the run. Moon wanted to play with a loose dog. He pulled. I was standing on broken pavement. My ankle rolled. Bad. I was on my knees in the gravel. Moon was running down the trail. I wasn't sure I could stand.

I managed to stand, limped to my car, and called Andy. Then Moon Dog came back, and I got him into the car. My ankle swelled really quickly. By the time Andy picked me up, it was the size of a softball.

I was upset. I hate being injured. I hate not being 100%. I couldn't do anything for several days, and I was frustrated. I definitely had a pity party for myself. Tuesday was the worst because I had to miss TKD. We have no class next week. I am hopeful that I will be able to go back for the next class.

It's getting better. Wednesday, I was able to walk on it for a bit. Yesterday, I managed a .6 mile walk with Moon Dog. Today we bumped it up to 1.3 miles. It's a little sore, but otherwise not too bad.

I took several days off. I did a little swimming, which hurt a little but was nice because I could stay off my foot. Wednesday, I did an upper body workout. I couldn't do anything really heavy, but it was nice to be moving again. Yesterday and today have just been walking. I'm trying to ease back into exercise, and not do too much too soon. So far so good.

I think the hardest thing about set backs is dealing with my head. Logically, I know that a few days (or even a week) off is not a big deal. I'm not losing any strength. I know I need to rest and let it heal. I know it will be worse if I do too much and re-injure myself.

But, even knowing all of this, I was still pretty down for several days. I have to keep reminding myself that it will be okay. I can still be active. It just takes a little more planning. It's not easy, but it could be much worse. I'm just glad it's healing quickly.