In the midst of a busy life, it's easy to get absorbed into day to day distractions, and you miss many opportunities to be present. This is one of the big benefits of getting outdoors, for me. That ability to just be there, taking it all in.
It's easy to take a lot for granted. Sometimes you've just got to look up. This last week has been wildly busy. At home, at work and my little sister has just had her first baby (very cute).
Amongst all of the day to day, it's been challenging to cut some time for me in all of it. I can feel it. But I'm actively working hard to ensure I still do my daily rehab exercises. It's all too f*cking easy to say 'I'm busy/tired and I'll do it later'. The temptation is strong to put it off, or skip it as it's pretty boring stuff. But I have stayed on the path this last week.
I managed to get out onto the trails at the weekend to put in a 9km speed hike. I had a little reaction in my heel and ankle, but that is the farthest I have gone anywhere on my feet for months. It was good for the body and the soul. I can see the way back, but I cannot take it for granted. There is a LONG way to go.
My rehab exercises are showing progress in strength, but can definitely feel the ankle mobility issues are still there. The heel still feels on the verge of slipping into constant pain, but the pain-free periods are getting longer each week. I think this is progress, but it still feels early, and there is a lot more work to come.
My eating has now switched. I've begun Alternate day fasting last week and have done two fast days then, and again so far this week. It's not easy to get started on that again, but already I can feel it starting to kick in. At the moment I've been unable to do any fasted cardio, but that should be coming back in next week. The excess weight has started to slowly move, but this is a long term play so dropping a Kilo through October puts be where I aimed to be (now at 103kg)
The main thing is not taking anything for granted. I have plenty of time, but that runs out quicker than you imagine. Already I am focusing on a 50km in April and a 100km in May (announcements to come), and seeing if I can really see how fast I can do a 100km when I'm injury free and having had a strong training block (unlike the shitfest I experienced this year).
I'm not taking the dieting for granted. I need to drop weight for the 300kg. The 90kg target is not easy for me, but I have 10 months to drop 13kg. Doable but needs me to start to get the new behaviours in place now, before i start to push the training. Every excess kilo I carry matters to my body and my energy levels. Over 300km of running. It matters a significant amount to my joints, my injuries and my clothing (as running gear is pretty snug on me).
I'm not taking the running for granted. I have a LOT of miles to cover in the next 11 months. Thousands of them. I aim to pick this up intelligently as I base build, work on raising my VO2 Max fitness again, form and speed. I have a large set of lessons already learned, but need to execute them in a way that doesn't result in injury breakdown. I'll be back to cardio sessions imminently and targeting a return to run/walk/run on the treadmill within the next fortnight. Start small and build consistently from there.
I'm getting top-drawer advice from a world-class sports physio. I am listening to everything she is telling me, and taking none of it for granted. Now it's about executing the plan. A plan I wrote here. This Plan had to shift for September and October due to advice from Physio. So the VO2 Max element can be pushed to November; but this whole lead up to the end of this year is my Rehab Phase anyway, so I'm focusing on the rehab outcomes which are slowly starting to happen. I'm taking nothing for granted, despite the immense day to day priorities I've had recently, and that is feeling good. Thanks for reading...
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