Slow Down, but Don’t Stop–Coming Back From an Injury

January was a great month for me fitness wise.
I decided to jump right into my fitness routine after a 3 month stretch of injury recovery, stress eating, and finding my husband’s full time work and grad school schedule did not allow much time for me to work out.
I was out of shape and feeling sluggish, jiggly, and out of breath with even a short run, but it didn’t take me long to start feeling better again.
I started by making it to boot camp 5 or 6 times a week.
I added in running a few miles after boot camp.
I worked out harder with every class.
I hiked with my kids, making sure their fitness became a priority for me too.
By the end of the month, I had logged 72 miles of running and hiking.
I did one of my craziest workouts ever and did 28 burpees in 2 minutes.
I felt like I was on top of my fitness game!

But I also wasn’t doing the best to take care of my body as I pushed myself so hard.
I wasn’t foam rolling.
I wasn’t stretching after every run.
And when I started to feel those twinges of pain in my back, I ignored them.
I didn’t have time for back pain.
So even when the twinges became more than a whisper and turned into a shout, I kept going.
Turns out, I should have listened to my body.
The first week of February found me flat on my back, hardly able to get off the couch.
Every sneeze was agony.
Pulling up my pants, getting out of bed, even driving was torture.
Worst of all, I was totally sidelined from working out.
I was so frustrated.

My original back injury is 20 years old.
And doesn’t bother me nearly as much as it used to, or go out with the same kind of intensity.
But given the way I had been pushing my body, and the way I ignored the signs that trouble was brewing, this time it was worse than it had been in 6 years.
Boy was I mad at myself.
After 2 and a half years of boot camp, of getting to know my body better than I ever had before, how could I let this happen?

I think sometimes I loose sight of everything but the finish line.
I get so consumed by my end goal, that I don’t pay attention to how I am getting there.
Whenever that happens, and it’s happened quite a few times now, I hurt myself.
It’s not coming from a bad place.
My adrenaline is pumping, and I just feel so strong and powerful, like I can do anything.
It feels really good to be in that place.
I guess the thing that I have to remember is that while I am pushing myself and training hard, I still have to take care of my body.
I still want to be active when I’m 85.
So I better take care of myself now, right?

I know a lot of my fellow boot campers are struggling with injuries, coming back from one, or dealing with a re-occurring one.
I feel your pain.
And I know your frustration.
What we need to remember is that we are in this for the long haul.
So, if our bodies need to rest for a bit, we do it.
But we don’t stop.
We come back.
We take it slow.
But we keep going.
And as we modify exercises, and walk instead of run, we don’t get down on ourselves.
We remember this:

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Whatever happens, don’t give up the fight!
Just keep on Living Fit!
Greta