After rehabilitation on both knees and one foot, I have learned that the rules of workouts and competitions have come due for a reckoning.
The good news is that swimming and cycling are unaffected, as neither is hard on the joints. Kickboxing and running, however, need a little adaptation.
It’s time for orthopedic shoe inserts. I knew a long time ago these were coming, as my feet are board-flat. Even the little inky prints of my baby feet on the birth certificate have no arch. The stage was set early as far as eventual medical intervention was concerned.
It’s taken a few weeks to get accustomed to the odd firmness in the shoes, but now the inserts are working well. I think the inserts will help with speed and distance and also help stabilize my knees, which have stage one arthritis. The arthritis won’t stop my running, though it will change things. I don’t run distance on concrete or brick surfaces, which leaves some races completely out. I avoid races with steep bridge climbs and difficult trail courses. I am fine on asphalt, macadam, and trail surfaces that don’t have steep climbs, holes, or water hazards. I have done races up to eight kilometers so far; a 10K is coming up in 10 days.
It’s taken time to reflect on the need for a change in direction. I had some time during 12 weeks of knee rehabilitation, moving from angry to feeling sorry for myself to accepting the idea that I could go back to who I was, but maybe not where I was. I was not starting over, I was starting differently. More importantly, I was not giving up. I was stepping back in carefully but with determination. Slower than I was before, but still willing to do the hard work.
So now I am back, signing up for races a month ahead instead of three or four months ahead. I am racing twice a month for now, hoping to add a third race each month. I am trying to enjoy the competitive moment, instead of hanging up the medal and thinking, “OK, done. Next?”
How about you? If you’ve been redirected by injury (and I say redirected, because let’s be honest, none of us will ever admit to being stopped by it), how did you work your way back?
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