Hard Work & Lady Bug Wishes

This week of physical therapy has by far been the most challenging and best, yet.  Nicole, my therapist is doing an excellent job and is working her ass off to get my ankle to 'normal'.    She listens to how I am feeling and she pushes me hard.  She provides treatment that she knows will allow me to meet my goal of completing the 5k in March and walking without a limp.  I am off my crutch, so that goal has been crossed off my list.

As a result of the hard work, I have been walking my best (not as much of a limp) and it's felt great.  Even folks at my office have commented on how well I am getting around.

This past weekend, I went to another one of my favorite trails, Lake Chabot.  I set out to complete one mile on the flat side of the trail, but ended up on the rolling hill side of the trail finishing 2.5 miles.  It's the most I have walked since my 5k training began.  I can't even lie, I was in pain near the end and thought I would have to use my crutch the rest of the day.  Thankfully, I didn't need to.  After elevation and ice, the ankle felt okay.

The following day, I decided to hit the pavement at the Alameda Bay Farm trail.  My ankle told me it had had enough.   After a long day the day before, wearing a little heel in the evening and now walking some more? Oh no!  I took a 20 minute walk and sat my butt down and waited for mom to finish.  I kicked back and enjoyed the beautiful day.

While waiting, I began doing some of my pt exercises and taking pictures.  Low and behold, I am sitting cross-legged and I look down at my shoe and a lady bug has landed.  My instinct was to shake it off.  But I opted to let her crawl around on my shoe for a bit.  I saw the lady bug as wishing me continued healing and happy training.  She landed on my right shoe; the ankle in recovery.

Back to Zumba!

My road to recovery is going well.  I'm making excellent progress in physical therapy and my limp is slowly turning into the 'sashshay' my mom says I have when I walk.  It feels great!

The best part of my recovery is resuming my regular fitness activities; ZUMBA!!  The thought of returning actually came during a PT session.  One of my new exercises is similar to a move done in one of the zumba routines I was familiar with.  I shared it with my therapist and let her know 'it' was happening.  I was going to zumba!  She didn't say I shouldn't go, but she didn't say I should go, either.  She just wanted me to be smart and not hurt myself and to listen to my body. 

Going back to class felt as though I had never left.  Hearing the familiar songs and knowing some of the choreography helped, too.  My friends/instructor were glad to see me as I was glad to see them.  Listening to the music, shaking my body, and just moving in a way I hadn't been able to move for in a while felt great! 

I had a blast. 

I'm so glad zumba is back in my life.

If yo want to find a zumba class in your area, check out www.zumba.com and click 'find a class'.