It's been a week since I badly twanged my right calf muscle, and while I am on the mend, it's still a long way from walking normally and without pain. Another week?
The good news – I have not lost any sleep over this. Every night over the past week has been comfortable; once lying down, I soon forget which leg was injured. But when I get out of bed to stand up, the pain begins. But then as soon as I take a seat, the pain eases. It's just getting about that's problematic. Work has been exclusively from home all this week, with only one live event having to be substituted for a teleconference.
But my mobility is getting better with each day that passes. Above all, I must return to symmetrical walking with a normal gait. By Tuesday morning, I could stand up with my weight equally distributed on both legs. At the moment, it's a bit of a shuffle, with my left leg now being able to swing forward to the point where the left toe is about eight or nine inches ahead of the right toe. It needs to be two feet ahead. Symmetry in movement, as my old dad used to say, is crucial to good health.
Things took a setback on Thursday when I ventured into the back of the garden to empty the compost bin. On the way, my right foot slipped on a wet clump of soil, an immediate stab of pain, and I fell backward, unable to stop the fall. So that day I didn't venture out to do some gentle walking exercise. I did today (almost 4,000 paces) and yesterday (almost 2,000 paces), but there's some way still to go before I can complete 12,000 paces in under two hours.
I am continuing to do those exercises that can still be done without the use of leg power, so press-ups, plank, weights and pull-ups continue. No squatting, no sit-ups, no back extensions. As it is, even before tearing my right calf muscle on December 7, I had already beaten last year's records across all of those exercises, only the paces still to beat. But now that looks unlikely.
The key is to finely balance overdoing it and resting myself into atrophy. As always, body feedback and intuition is all important; listening to what my body is really telling me. And the all important lesson that I should have learnt after an analogous event in the other leg – never break into a sprint immediately after getting up from a long spell in the seated position (bus or car). Running at my age requires a warm-up first. Having said that, I remember my grandmother running for a tram at the age of 73, so there's hope.
The healing process is miraculous. Every successive day is one day's progress along the road to recovery. Standing up to walk over to the sink with an empty mug is not the effort it was five days ago; one should be aware of every intimation of progress and be thankful for it; gratitude; alignment with Cosmic Purpose, and the battle against complacency.
Mind over matter; will yourself better.
This time last year:
A mind-blowing dream
This time two years ago:
Utter, utter gorgeousness
This time three years ago:
Hoar frost and proper ice, Jeziorki
This time six years ago:
Alcohol, servant not master
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