Recovering from Injury

Today it was suggested to me that I should write a blog about my recovery from injury which sounded like a great idea and has actually proven to be quite therapeutic!

About me: I never used to exercise, I was very overweight at 18 stone and didn't like going into gyms because it felt like everybody was staring at me, which they probably weren't! Then five years ago I plucked up the courage to go to a military fitness class in a local park, it was very hard work but I stuck with it and gradually got fitter and lost some weight. I realised that I enjoyed running and started training with Chris Lee just over a year ago, mainly because I wanted to run further and faster.

Running: I love running! I'm sure I'll be reminded of this when I'm grumbling mid-training session when I finally get back out there! Running is great because I get to be out in the fresh air (whatever the weather!) and it burns lots of calories. I also like challenging myself by entering into events like Tough Guy and the Beachy Head Marathon, both of which I had to pull out of this year due to injury but there's still next year. However, earlier this year I knocked 22 minutes off my 10k time by finishing the Dorney Dash in 59:30 - I was ecstatic, all the hard training sessions definitely paid off.

Boxing Circuits: I was glad that we had started doing boxing circuits before I got injured because it meant that I could continue training, and work out some of my frustration. It meant that I didn't completely revert to my old coping mechanism of binge eating, although I have to admit that copious amounts of chocolate were consumed from time to time. For which penalties were paid!

The injury itself: Many years ago I decided to buy myself a snakeboard, which was fun until I came off it quite spectacularly and twisted my left ankle. Which wasn't much of a problem until I started exercising when it would collapse fairly frequently, however after a couple of days it would be back to normal. Unfortunately that was not the case after it collapsed during an exercise class in June, and I ended up having a Brostrum lateral ligament reconstruction operation in October.

The rehabilitation process: I am not exactly the most patient person when it comes to being restricted as to what I can do exercise-wise. However I have a good Consultant/Physiotherapist/Trainer team who manage to keep me in line. The plaster cast came off last week and I now have some physio exercises that I can do in between the weights sessions down at the gym.

Today's session: Since I've had the operation we've been alternating strength and endurance weight's sessions. Today was a strength session, items of note:

Sit-ups on a ball: 270 reps - I really don't enjoy sit ups, so this is quite an achievement.

Chin Ups: My aim is to be able to do these unassisted and today was a significant day, I was back on the proper bar and apparently was given "minimal" assistance.

Tricep Dips: This is my next challenge, I really struggle with the easy variety at the moment and we're now aiming to be able to full "proper" ones sometime in the future. I'm not committing to any timeframe on that!!

Bench Press: This has to be my greatest achievement in the weight's arena so far. Today I bench pressed 60kg, which I'm reliably informed is very good - and to be honest the bar looks better with the big plates on it.

Thought of the day: Being forced out of your ‘comfort zone' is a good thing... honest!

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