The gift of an injury.

by


(Ms. Gertie Gluteball. Still my BFF.)

Or, to give you what I’d initially called the post , The bigass silverlining I discovered to my workouts being derailed & my life-habits being tossed into a freakin tizzy (see? too long. hence the more adult title above).

As I chatted about on this post Im no longer running the Las Vegas RocknRoll half-marathon.

I talked a little bit there about all Id learned from this random injury & decided to gift myself this post as yet another episode of navel-gazing.

I wanted to share how, for all my whining & frustration (& inability to heal this thing quickfast&inahurry), Ive been repeatedly surprised what a gift this experience has been.

  • Being injured was a happy reminder Im not addicted to exercise.  To spend any time with me is to hear me say exercise is not my passion.  To my mind a passion is something one wants to constantly discuss, read about, watch movies about, view tv programs about–you get the idea.  My passion is helping people & that I can do whether Im temporarily out of commission or not!
  • I was stunned how much extra time I had in my day. For the first time I realized 30 minutes of cardio is not 30 minutes. There’s typically at least 10 minutes of whining beforehand (I wont be doing THAT anymore) & then a minimum of ten minutes spent in front of a fan to cool down afterward (gross? yes. true? yes This misfit is a bigbig sweater).  Some injured peeps might have chosen to spend the  time exercising in other ways.  I chose to spend it exercising my right to party not. I wrote fiction. I hung with the child. I made Barbie houses out of empty MetRx boxes.  I generally lolled about with sporadic intervals of ass glute self-massage.
  • I got grumpy, I felt the grumps, I forced my way through & found the other side. To say I was pissed about being a right angle is to put it mildly.  I wanted to run in Vegas.  I was out fees for a pretty pricey event. I wanted to meet up with other bloggers heading to Vegas.  I was in the position of helping people locate their workout mojo when Id have given ANYTHING to be able to workout. And I acknowledged all of this.  Loudly & in many of your collective ears.  Im completely certain what prevented me from turning to destructive, frustrated behavior (hello! New York Super Chunk Fudge!) is the fact I embraced my emotions. I allowed myself to fully experience what I was feeling and, as a result, was able to claw my way out to the other side.
  • I was forced to get creative & re-discover old coping mechanisms.  I dont do a lot of cardio—but I do it consistently. 30 minutes a day 6 days a week.  In the back of my mind I was always aware it kept my stress-level down, but I never gave it much thought until it was gone.  It was a gift to be forced to get creative and also to remember what had mitigated my stress in the past. Meditation. Reading for pleasure. Reading for education. Writing fiction. Writing poems.  I was happily surprised, once I quit grumping, how many resources for stress-relief I had at my disposal.
  • I laughed. Long and hard.  In the end I was forced to.  I gots me an injury which afflicts hardcore runners & cyclists merely from sitting too much.  I’d developed LanceArmstrongAss & hadnt been on a bikebike in decades.  And really what’s more humorous than that?

*glances up from star-encircled navel to see if anyone is still here*

I know from your emails & tweets many of you are my Brothers & Sisters in Healthy Living Derailednessment (technical term).

I look to you now to chime in with the gifts youve discovered in this forced situation.

Did you find your relationships improved because you simply had more time to spend on them?

Were you able to uncover a hidden passion/new hobby that you might not have explored were you CrossFitting away your day?

Do you wish this post included a giveaway of Gertie & her partner-in-crime Betty the Booty Ball?

Please to hit us all up in the comments.

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Comments

  1. “…I embraced my emotions. I allowed myself to fully experience what I was feeling and, as a result, was able to claw my way out to the other side.”

    Very powerful. We tend to muck it up… overthink this thing. Yet for those of us who are emotional eaters, the above sentence is the antidote. Period.

    Very powerful.
    Loretta
    =^..^=

  2. My passion is helping people & that I can do whether Im temporarily out of commission or not!

    I need to think about this more as I would say my passion is fitness and everything fitness 🙂

    Is is a passion or an obsession?

  3. I am completely off-track Miz from my knee injury 🙁
    I’ve eaten away my stress more times than I can count at this point.

    I’m printing this out.

  4. I, too, am injured Miz!

    IT band stuff.

    I think I have put on 10 pounds in the past few months because I am mad I can’t run so I spend most of that time eating LOL.

    I need to be creative. FANTASTIC POST.

  7. I’ll admit I’m addicted to my workouts, and I have no intention of changing! Back on March 31, I broke my ankle. Yes, it slowed me down considerably and driving with my left foot while my right leg was propped up on the passenger seat was uncomfortable enough to keep me from unnecessary trips.

    There were many things I couldn’t do, but I considered it a challenge to see what I COULD do. And I emerged with a renewed reputation as that-crazy-lady-at-the-gym-who-works-out-even-with-a-broken-ankle.

    As a result of keeping active, my ankle healed in record time. Because of some really aggressive stretching and rehab exercises I did, my legs and ankles are stronger than ever.

  8. While I don’t wish injury on anyone, it does me good to know that you experience some of the same frustrations that the rest of us mere mortals do. By writing about it, you’ve helped (always with the helping :-)) normalize that behavior. It’s not a character defect, it is a normal human thing that is an equal opportunity pain-in-the-ass.

    Thank you for sharing your search for the silver lining. I do believe you have found it.

  10. So good. I’ve been down and out for quite a while now and I’m just now creeping back a little bit at a time. I truly miss working out (really Ryan?) but even more than that I’ve been missing the daily effort to improve on what I did yesterday. I realized that daily exercise, although my desire, may not always be a reality. And I couldn’t allow myself to go completely nutso while I was out of commission physically. I took up some reading as well and found that my passion is working to become the best version of myself… whatever that is. Hence the new direction with the blog, etc.

    Thank you for this post. I think I relate to every bullet point… and doubly on being a super sweater.

  11. Such a great learning experience!! The times I have been injured, I get really frustrated at FIRST, but then you learn how to work around it. I do still exercise, I just force myself to find new ways to do it, which I think benefits me mentally and physically. But whether you choose to work out or not, it’s still a great lesson in how to cope and still get what you need. So happy for you. 🙂

  12. When I have a day off or extended time away from the gym I’m always amazed at the extra time I have on my hands. But rarely do I take the time to appreciate it. Boy, do I love your perspective!

  13. I was sidelined abruptly by an injury last spring, and I really REALLY struggled with finding ways to keep the stress level down. The extra time was nice… no three to four hours out of my Saturday morning plus recovering all afternoon. That was nice, but the stress was an issue.

  14. I am a blogger who is also on injured reserved.
    I am struggling these days with this:

    I was in the position of helping people locate their workout mojo when Id have given ANYTHING to be able to workout

    I have stopped blogging.

  15. This is valuable insight to share. Many of us who are so dedicated or just emotionally tied to our physical goals and activities can feel disconnected when not allowed to keep with our routine or completing a set goal. It’s great that you see that not being able to meet your goal at this present time allows you to enrich yourself in other ways. I’d like to add that this may be a chance for your body to rest as it actually will benefit, so that if you train again for this goal you may actually feel stronger the second time around. I find with running, it is mostly mental so long as the body keeps upright.

  16. Perspective is everything and you are making the best of your situation. ABSOLUTELY love this post!!

    Will miss your face in Vegas but you will be with us in heart and mind!
    Hugs Amy

  18. Carla, as always, you have the most amazing attitude & see the light & laughter & fun in it no matter what. yes, there may be some grumpy in there too but aren’t we all allowed that! 🙂

    It seems my passion may be fitness along with spreading the word of it & how wonderful it can make you feel… BUT, hearing you talk about all the things you did in place of it.. well, LIFE IS SHORT & TO BE LIVED & you have embraced that Carla!

  23. Hm, I don’t think I’d call it a gift. Maybe that’s because I’m going on 6 years, but I’d say it’s definitely a curse. Sure, I realize that exercise isn’t my life. But still–the ability to do it again would be a great gift! 🙂

  24. Wow. I’m not injured and I always try to distract myself from feeling with food.

    Ah ha moment for me Mizzy.

    Thank you.

  25. Whole post was great as always. And I agree with it takes more time than the actual exercise.

    But my favorite line? *glances up from star-encircled navel to see if anyone is still here*

  26. Now I’m jealous.

    Because, while I soldiered through my injury -and still do through the long healing process- I haven’t done the journey nearly as well as you.

    You are great teacher.

    But I did learn things:
    I learned I am still adaptable and persistent.
    I learned how to ask for help. HUGE for me.
    I learned that exercise still is the key to maintaining my weight as I’ve gained back 30#. (NOT a good thing)

  27. You are so right that exercise takes more time than the actual workout…hmmm, maybe that’s why some things in my life have fallen by the wayside, like reading books and cleaning my house? LOL on the latter! 😉

    I wonder, when you are healed (soon soon I hope), will you go back to the same exercise routine? Or mix it up a bit? Hope for your sake that you will be able to run again!

    • great question. MIX IT UP (she shouts :)). While it does seem lots of this was triggered by my sitting (a lot. I tend to work/write for at least 2 hours in the morning. sometimes three. then more at night) my new plan will be mixing it up up up to prevent carpel tunnel of the arse reoccurring.

  28. I’m not an addict, but since exercise replaced smoking as stress relief, I’d have a hard time giving it up. That said, I’ve been doing a lot less than I used to. Because it’s nice to have more time, and I don’t need it to be an obsession either. I just need to get some every day.

  29. When I was out of commission for back surgery earlier this year, I had a similar revelation. I, too discovered that I wasn’t an exercise addict as I had feared. (I had planned on jumping back on the elliptical as soon as I could get on my feet…in reality, I was QUITE happy with taking a full 8 weeks off of exercise (two weeks MORE than even the doctor advised!).

    Additionally, my relationship with my husband improved because I was forced to give up the ‘I’m strong enough to do anything on my own’ attitude an RELY on him. For just about everything. I hadn’t realized how much my SupaStrong! act was driving a wedge in between us. Now I’m not ashamed to ask for help, even sometimes when I don’t need it!

  30. Sorry to hear you won’t be able to go to Vegas but I really admire your strength. You always amaze me in how you see things in such a positive light no matter what. I hope you heal up quickly but in the mean time I’m glad you are finding new ways (or old ones) to feel better emotionally. That sure is what it’s all about no matter how we go about it. *hugs*

  31. The world revolves around me, right? So that is why your post was destined to happen 🙂 I am facing (raging at?) my very own injury of sorts because I decided that running on a really rocky, slippery, very hilly, unstable trail would be a good way to spend my Friday afternoon. My IT band and some little muscle near it (my PT/sister kept rattling off the correct name) disagreed and I was out of my two favorite gym classes Saturday. And I whined. Like a 2 year old. After lots of praying (my husband probably more fervantly than anyone-because of the whining, no doubt)it seems to be hurting less; enough to give Interval class a try later this afternoon. If I limp out of there early, I may have to come back here and (be an adult)learn how to somehow find the silver lining. It’s gotta be there somewhere, I just don’t want to have to find it 😉

  37. This post makes me just love you 100000% more than ever before, and believe you I loved you a lot to start out. You are so insightful and soooooo good at making that lemonade.

    What amazes me is how do you manage to stay all six-pack abby (even in your sad tutu poze) while not doing cardio for so long. Are you eating a lot less? The biggest reason I am terrified of injury/illness is my fear of regaining all my weight in a flash. Which would happen. Since I am quite attached to my food.

    So I am curious. How you are managing to not do that.

    I hope your booty gets better really quick!!!!! Are you getting physical therapy/bodywork besides Ms. Tennisball? I hope so.

  38. Injuries are a bummer!!! I was just diagnosed with Tennis Elbow ~ I started physical therapy yesterday. It’s amazing how much you need your right hand/arm! This is my 3rd exercise overuse injury since last January. (Knee, chest wall contusion and now the arm).

    When I went to the doc for help with the arm. I asked her what was up with all of these injuries and she said, “Well what you are doing is a whole lot better than getting…sitting on your butt, watching TV injuries. Those lead to death!”

    Kind of helped me be OK with what’s going on!!

    Keep focused!

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