Last week I had one of the most pivotal moments of the year: I went back to the gym post-ankle surgery. I fought myself tooth-and-nail. I told myself I wasn't ready, that my ankle was too weak, that I didn't have time. Forget that I'd been in a gym routine before – I was so scared. My own worst enemy for sure.
I've been frustrated with my ankle pain post-surgery. 8 weeks of physical therapy and I am nowhere near where I thought I'd be. That being said, I realized how much I held myself back. I thought: surgery=no workouts possible. This was a lie to myself, of course. I COULD have done stuff earlier after coming out of the cast. Heck, I COULD have done things while in the cast. But I didn't. That's on me. I hate talking about excuses, because there aren't any. Physical limitations create even greater mental roadblocks. It's done – I can't beat myself up over it.
So in accordance to my 4 simple goals for the rest of the year, I went back to the gym. I do group training, and my very skilled and amazing trainers make sure everything is modified for me. To make sure I made it back to my first session, I told 2 people from the group that I'd be there. In the end, that's what made me go. I didn't want to go back on my word. Sometimes you need a little outside accountability.
I made it through the first workout without any extra pain. Lots of core work – dead bug, half kneeling chop and lift, band pull aparts, and seated battle ropes.
On my drive home, I started crying. I'm not a crier. But I was so happy. It was exactly what I needed: progress. The feelings of weakness I've had the past few months were replaced with feelings of strength.
Saturday's gym session resulted in a similar reaction. Swelling of emotion, though no tears. And a happy sweaty face.
I forgot how good med ball slams felt. I'm still feeling them today – 3 days later!
Lots of ice and elevation after each workout has helped with my ankle swelling. I'm having some pain with it, but it's not increased since I've been back in the gym, so that's great. I'm being very careful – I don't know if I can mentally handle anymore setbacks with recovery. At the end of my rope.
Here's to getting moving again!
