Nothing can stop weight loss in its tracks like a bad injury. That is why I am incredibly strict about stretching before and after a run, making sure I have the braces and straps that I need for my knees and ankle, and that my shoes fit snugly and correctly. So when I began to experience pain in my ankle and above my heel just a few minutes in to the run, I immediately started to panic and stopped the workout. That decision probably is what prevented further injury to my already injured ankle.
One of the most important things to remember about exercise is that you listen to what your body is telling you. If I had not done so, I could have easily been off my feet for much longer than two weeks. Your body knows what it needs or what is wrong, and will give you very good signs. The problem is that you need to know how to interpret those signs. Now, I am no expert, but I have a pretty good system to monitor myself during a work out, with which I decide how to proceed should I feel any pain. I go with Green, Yellow, and Red.
Green is, obviously, go. Green means little or no pain or soreness. As long as it is not worsened with the workout, or I know that it is simply soreness from a previous work out, I go about my workout as planned.
Yellow is cautionary. I often use it when I am experiencing a new pain, or a pain that is sharp, but not enough that I feel the need to stop. I may slow down what I am doing, and evaluate the part of my body that is hurting, or just ease up on the intensity for that work out. Essentially, yellow is my "be aware" level, but if the pain continues or worsens, it can go to the next level.
When I get to red, I immediately stop what I am doing. Until I figure out what the pain is, I halt exercising that part of my body, and go from there.
The day I injured my ankle, it was painful enough that I skipped past green and yellow, and went straight to red. While not painful enough to make me drop to my knees, it was enough to make me very concerned. My left ankle has always been weak, due to the ligament injury I sustained in the past. So even a little soreness can make me nervous. All throughout that day and in to the next, the pain, while tolerable, had me very worried. Not only was I concerned about the short term, not being able to work out like I was used to and gaining weight back, but I was also concerned about the long term. I was still on a high from my first 5k a few days, and now I was scared that I would have to stop running totally!
So I rested it, iced it, and made good friends with some anti inflammatory medication and ginger-chamomile tea. Side note, ginger and chamomile are naturally anti inflammatory, and so are great alone or used along with medication when you have pain or swelling! After a week, the pain began to ease off, and seemed to sit primarily on the outside of my ankle, where there was some mild swelling. Thankfully, after two weeks of rest and treatment, the pain was minimal, particularly when I used my ankle brace.
I decided to chance a run tonight, and automatically I started myself out on yellow. I took my time, paced myself, and stopped after every mile to sit down, move my ankle around, and see if there was any pain. While I was certainly sore for the first mile and a half, it began to ease off as I neared two miles. It was stiff from the edema that built up from the lack of running, and because I had perhaps rested it a little too well. I only had a few minor twinges, which have happened on runs even before the sprain, so I allowed myself to go as long as the pain hovered around the yellow mark. Although I felt quite energetic, and could have likely run another mile or two, I felt that even four miles was pushing it, and decided to head on home. It is better to be safe, and a little bummed out, than very sorry and injured!
The two weeks off from running gave me a chance to rest my legs, and really look at other options for cardio. It also gave me a chance to focus back in on toning and muscle building which, I admit, I tend to skip in favor of a heart pounding workout. I actually had a lot of fun finding new ways to burn calories. I put myself through a series of various punches and blocks from martial arts at a rapid pace, doing a set amount of reps for each. I did a bouncing workout on the mini trampoline for thirty minutes, and was surprised that it was a pretty good workout. I did not even have to lift my feet from the trampoline to get my heart going. After thirty minutes, I was sweating! I also made sure to watch the calories I consumed. With fewer calories being put out, I had to reduce how many I took in, but make sure that the calories I did consume were really nutritious and would keep me fuller longer.
It worked. Not only was I able to maintain my weight for most of the two week rest period, I was also able to lose a couple of pounds, officially bringing me to a new weight range. The 170s! Yep, this morning I weighed in at 179, and it sure felt amazing!
Perhaps the moral of this story is to keep calm. Injuries are going to happen. I finally had to realize it is not a matter of if, but when. Keep in mind, injuries do not always happen during exercise. You could step off a curb the wrong way, and twist your ankle. You could fall back, and break a wrist. You could get in an accident and hurt your back. Some injuries, obviously, are worse than others. Still this does not mean you give up! Do not let an injury disrupt your progress. Rest what needs resting, and use it as an opportunity to work on other areas of your body that need a little attention.
For every challenge you have, someone always has it worse!
Take it from me, do not let your mole hills become mountains!
Kristina
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