This too shall pass. On inside of my left arm courtesy of the talented Shane at Alternative Ink
Some of you may recall that last summer I was training towards the Lisburn Triathlon when I sustained an injury to my right knee, ligament damage (courtesy of those lovely people in Ikea). Running was extremely painful and I ended up having some private physio to try and get me through it but in the end I had to pull out. Advice was to rest and see my GP. A subsequent x-ray and other examinations (1 of which had me doing a “duck walk” in just my boxers – still not sure this was wholly necessary) later and I was referred for NHS Physio. Finally my appointment came around last week and the news was positive. In preparation I had been out running to test my knee – my first run since last July. I wanted to be able to provide a decent assessment of how things were progressing.
Seemingly rather well was the answer. Damage appears to have healed well and despite some yelping and laughing as I was poked and prodded, the session was most worthwhile. Bio-mechanics are fascinating.
So what next? Well, having lost just about all my fitness in the space of 6 months, I had to do something. During my rest period I had been depressed at not being able to compete in the race, frustrated that I couldn’t train, made a lot of excuses for not training because I was worried about my knee. Through not training I also became less focused on diet and was putting off my return until after Christmas. Fear of my injury, lack of motivation and putting on weight had me very frustrated. My main problem as time went on was that I was making excuses. I was putting off a return. I needed to get back.
So last Monday, I set about that task, building up my running again using the C25K iPhone App, starting at week 2 as I simply couldn’t bring myself to be right back to zero. The week went well – one evening run and two freezing 6.45am runs, I had my physio appointment, I did 2 upper body gym sessions and got stuck into week 3 last night. A gym session this morning before work and things look like they have turned the corner. I’m back.
Fitness is about motivation. Most of the time it’s not to do with motivation during the activity, more just getting over the threshold and starting. It’s too easy to make excuses. If you are reading this and thinking “I’ll start next week” or “It’s too cold”. Stop it. Excuses are easy. Make a plan and start ASAP. And in case you need a little extra motivation, check out the video below.
El Fell 