Cross-training

I haven’t been to Cobble Hill Mountain in months. First there was the inflamed quad muscle. Then the inflamed patellar tendon. And now a pain in my foot, where the pinkie toe meets your foot. This one has been by far the hardest one to solve. It’s kept me even from walking up the street and back. I can’t even ride my bike because it makes my foot hurt more. I have been sidelined by injury, and I don’t like it.

I was fitted for new orthotics last week and hope they will help. I also got some advice from the orthotics technician on what kind of shoes to get. I am frustrated and upset about not being able to go hiking.

So instead I have started swimming again. I am not a skinny woman. And things haven’t been helped by one of my medications that has caused me to gain weight. Not a few pounds here and there, but 40 pounds. Or more. I feel like a stranger in my own body, this carcass hanging off me like a stretched ball of skin.

Finding a swimsuit was a challenge but I did find one that fit. Then there was a whole anxiety of being seen in a bathing suit. But surprise – I didn’t care how I looked. I put on my swimsuit and felt good. I got in the water and felt good. I got out of the water and took off my bathing suit to rinse the chlorine out and I felt good. Swimming makes me feel good, even if I’m only doing 700 m right now. It was a revelation, as I’d been worrying about being seen in a swimsuit for months. Ever since my sister went back to the pool, the idea of going swimming has been percolating in the back of my mind. Now due to my injuries I’m back and I love it.

I do pool running, kick, and swim laps. I love to feel all my muscles working in tandem to propel me through the water. I feel like I’m back in action. I don’t have to worry about my foot or my knees. The water supports me, and is a low-impact environment. So I go twice a week and hope that building up swimming muscles will help me in the long run to start training for the 12 km trail run I signed up for that’s being held at Cobble Hill Mountain in August.

I’m not sure why I signed up – I was excited, I think, to do something on my local mountain. I felt confident that I had 8 months to prepare for it. But we’re halfway through January and I can only run in the pool. I’ll have to make the most of my pool sessions, and maybe with new orthotics and new shoes my foot pain will recede. I’ll have to start on flat trails like the Kinsol trestle trail just to keep my foot happy, then move to the steeper trails on Cobble Hill Mountain. Perhaps I’ll also be able to ride my bike again, great exercise for my quads, hamstrings, and calves. All the muscles I’ll need to power me through the trail run.

But I want to savour the good feeling I have when I go to the pool. I get anxious about finding a locker and getting space on the benches to lay out my stuff. But when I get in the water all that anxiety disappears. It’s just me, cutting through the water for my 700 metres. I hope to get over 1000 metres in a few weeks. Don’t want to overdo it too soon – can’t afford another injury! But I know I’ll be able to do more by then.

This is all to say that the challenge you avoid may be the best thing that could happen to you. My joy of swimming was completely unexpected. It’s something I savour every day.

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