59Carol's Journal, 27 January 2019

Celebration Time! I am so pleased I could do a Happy Dance!!!

Back story or this just won't make sense! 7 years ago I began training to do a half marathon. I am a slow and steady runner essentially I consistently did the 13 miles in 3 hours. I always trained 4 months or more ahead of time to slowly build myself up. At the end of a number of years I had completed 6 half marathons.

Then 'disaster' struck. The continual pounding on the pavement, my weight which ranged from 170 to 210 during this time, and my stride lead to tearing the Achilles tendons in both heels. This is painful to say the least. I could have mitigated the damage if I didn't run injured. In the end I absolutely could not run a step due to the damage.

I did the 'rest' cure for months. No real progress. For about 3 years I saw a physiotherapist on a weekly basis. Little progress. This was making it hard to enjoy my day to day life as I found even short slow walks would 'cripple' me up for a day or two. Most evenings I could barely walk. This is going on for years. Xrays indicated that I had severe calcification on both tendons. So definitely not my imagination.

Fast forward to this past July. I decided that I would take my feet in hand. I wanted to be able to do things again and not have to bail out of outside stuff. Far as that goes I couldn't do the stairs to my basement either -- two trips a day was the max.

So I put together a daily yoga style routine that focused on balance which meant it focused on my feet. Working deliberately every single day on getting more movement in my ankles and strengthening my ability to do a variety of balances. Then I added a 20 min daily 'free dance' (I'm a 70s girl so like that!). The whole routine is an hour long. I walked slowly half an hour once a week on carefully chosen flat surfaces. More recently I have increased that walk to an hour and do a 5-10 min outside stroll daily. I am also incorporating a few more strength based exercises every other day that includes lunges and squats.

The Celebration?? I have been walking pain free most days and am constantly surprised at how I am not crippled by evening. Today I ran a few steps for the first time in years. I could do it. No immediate shooting pain radiating from my heel. And yesterday I walked for 80 min!!! I am winning the foot battle!

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1147 kcal

Fat: 39.05g | Prot: 69.44g | Carb: 133.08g.   Breakfast: Whole Milk, Honey, Kombucha, Poached Egg, Yam, Tea (Brewed). Lunch: Pickled Turnip, Salmon Cakes, Birds Eye Stir-fry Vegetables. Dinner: Nachos and dip. Snacks/Other: 365 Greek Yogurt Plain, Tea (Brewed). more...

3207 kcal

Activities & Exercise: Walking (slow) - 2/mph - 15 minutes, Dance (square dancing) - 20 minutes, Stretching (yoga) - 30 minutes, Sleeping - 9 hours, Weight Training (moderate) - 26 minutes, Resting - 13 hours and 29 minutes. more...