Tuesday, July 15, 2008

CHALLENGES

A group of my girlfriends have a challenge going: do something each month that stretches and scares them.

Since this is a group of athletes, the challenges are pretty much athletic in nature: hit a new PR for a distance, do a triathlon, cycle a time trial, do a different kind of race.

Me with my Achilles tendons, my challenge for this month is to clean out my closet and cupboards. Definitely a stretch and scary..... we have so little space in the RV, it's all at a premium, and I tend to accumulate stuff, and what will I do with the stuff I clean out of the storage space???

I got the closet done; cupboards are next. The closet only took 2 hours. I had to store my hiking backpack and all its contents in the backseat of the car, which we rarely use, to make room in the closet, which I do use.

I think my scariest and most difficult challenge, though, is sitting out this Achilles issue. I'm afraid losing my cardiovascular fitness. Running, walking, and even biking are out. Swimming.... well, I don't swim strongly or fast enough for it to count as aerobic. It's more like stretching. I asked the PT about pool-running and she was afraid of that much resistance causing dorsiflexion and extension of my feet, so that's out.

I'm getting stronger with my pushups and PT, but I am going to need to build my aerobic base back up when this resolves. I'll probably be out for another month at least. Then I need to rebuild slowly, being extremely careful of my tendons and guarding against too much too soon, to walking 8-10 miles at a time, to be ready to start the AT in the spring over mountains with a 30-pound backpack on.

I find this very scary.



3 comments:

ShirleyPerly said...

Without a doubt, that would scare me too. But perhaps now is the time to work on your swimming so that you can improve and get a good workout too? When I do speed work in the pool, my HR gets up there. Perhaps not as high as running or cycling but high enough to consider it a good workout. In fact, after an hour, I'm usually pooped!

Sunshine said...

Good luck with rebuilding!!!
Well, and cleaning out closets, too.
Thanks for your comment.. and I like you too! Good luck with the nutrition project too. (Yea, You! You can do it.)

Jade Lady said...

Quite a scary thing. I know it must be hard not to do strenuous cardio..but safetly now, I hope, will pay off later..be patient w/ your body.