As you may remember, I recently made a Get Fit Plan in order to, well, get fit. The first step of my plan involved establishing consistency in my running routine. I did pretty well initially, but sadly, have had to sideline my running for now.
I injured my foot back in the spring during a hilly run out on the greenway. For a while, ice and Tylenol seemed to help, but within the last couple of weeks, my foot has gotten substantially worse. I am in agony and can barely walk the day after a run. Because the pain is along the inside of my foot, I have (unconsciously) started to walk on the outside of my foot. This has begun to cause problems in my calf and leg. I finally broke down and made a doctor’s appointment for the first week of July. And I have had to stop running. Even a short jog will inflame my foot for 48 hours afterwards. Once I have seen the doctor, I hope that I will be able to work running back into my schedule, but for now, it’s just not worth the pain.
However, in a fortuitous twist of fate, I am able to switch the focus of the Exercise pillar of my Get Fit Plan to another activity. My doctor recently prescribed physical therapy for my shoulder injury. This physical therapy includes working with a personal trainer-style therapist a couple of days a week. I have been doing stretches for my neck and shoulders, as well as upper body weight training. He usually puts me on the exercise a bike for a bit too, just to get some cardio going. Eventually, we will work up to using free weights so that I can continue my rehab / training at home. I have been wanting to incorporate weight training into my fitness routine for a while, but was somewhat confused about which free weight exercises would be the most beneficial, so this is truly a blessing.
With the Exercise pillar of my plan set for the time being, I have decided to turn my focus to the Healthy Eating pillar. I have already gained several pounds since I stopped running, so I really need to cut some calories and get some healthier choices in my diet. Over the next week, I am going to be putting together a lower-calorie eating plan for myself – it needs to be lower calorie since I am no longer running 15 miles a week. Hopefully, this will arrest my weight gain, and allow me to work healthier recipes into my regular diet.
In the meantime, I am going to try not to be too depressed by being unable to run. Hopefully, I will be back on the road within 2-3 weeks. Until then, I will try to enjoy all the extra time in my evening schedule!