Hmmm ... okay. So I haven't posted here in quite a while. When you look at the last time I posted anything of substance, it's really been a while. But here's the thing: I haven't worked out in more than 6 months. And by "work out," I mean run, bike, swim, walk, and any other exercise that increases my heart rate and is habitually practiced. I've had bouts here and there - did some amazing cross country skiing (the best workout of all time, I am convinced) over the holidays and again a couple weeks ago in Wisconsin. I have taken my dog on long, brisk walks. But none of this amounts to a regular schedule that is doing anything to help my health.
What's more, I haven't stretched or done any kind of resistance training in at least as long. Now, my legs and back are paying for it. I feel stiff and, honestly, OLD because I haven't been moving and I haven't been tending to my joints and muscles. Enough is enough. The excuses I may have been able to justify a few months ago are no more; it's the dead of winter here in Minnesota and not only am I feeling old and rickety ... I'm bored. So what better time to renew a regiment?
When I started running a couple of years ago, I remember reading all of these blogs and being warned that getting started would be a process. Advice hinted that this would happen - that I'd go through a period of feeling stagnant, but eventually feel a renewed need to start over, finally understanding how important running is to my life, my wellbeing, my happiness, my sanity, etc. I am at that point. Let me tell you, my sanity and happiness have paid almost as much as my body.
I should mention that something happened last fall that will alter my resurgence into the *running* world. My knee began seriously acting up, even on short, easy walks with the dog so I finally went to the Orthopedic Dr. In short, my 10-year-old reconstructed ACL has basically failed, which means inevitable pain and a high potential for needing another surgery in the future. Instead of jumping right for the surgery option, I began seeing a physical therapist, who told me in no uncertain terms that I should never run again. She gave me really good reasons, and for a while I believed her, but now I'm starting to wonder if I can honestly omit a really enjoyable form of exercise from my life at the spry age of 27? I've scribbled out a pro-con list in my head in the past month of pondering this advice.
Cons: my knee will probably get worse; I could be damaging my future bone and joint health; I run the risk of a more serious injury, which I'm not really prepared to deal with.
Pros: It sounds like I will need surgery no matter what happens; running is one of the few forms of exercise that I can do anytime, anywhere, which increases the odds of me sticking with it; running still challenges me - a lot - and overcoming that challenge does much more for my self esteem than I ever intended; I enjoy the process and I absolutely am in love with the feeling I get after coming in from a long run; and, finally, it provides me with goal-setting possibilities that drive the rest of my life. I accomplished so much in 2007 and I firmly, firmly believe it is because I rooted myself in large running-related goals that helped me learn how to dedicate myself to all the goals in my life.
Yeah, the cons are pretty huge - health is nothing to mess with, I know, and the fact that the possibility of compromising my health ranks so high is more than concerning. But I know that the same possibility exists if I sit around and do nothing, as I have been. I fear that's what will happen if I am not able to embrace running again because, frankly, it's the easiest and most enjoyable sport I have access to on a daily basis. Swimming is fantastic; I just know I won't do it every day. Same goes for biking and skiing and going to the gym. Running is my constant.
Tonight, I'm headed to an Anytime Fitness near my house to test out the facilities - I'm not in love with the low-maintenance gym concept, but I it's really close to my house and a little cheaper than the other gyms. We'll see. I'm also checking out our community center, and I know another nearby community center offers lap swim on Tuesday and Thursday nights, which I am definitely going to start taking advantage of. It's going to be hard to start back at square one, but I'm excited to have purpose again ...
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That is a very interesting post, you have a lot to weigh out. I will say that I do not believe Running is the only way for you to feel fulfilled in your fitness lifestyle. I read that post and I think you should focus on cycling. Run a little here and there and race short course tri's and duathlons. This way you limit the amount of running stress you put on your knee without giving up quality fitness. Just my two cents.
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