My last post on the subject of my ilizarov op was last November. At the time I wrote that I had begun attending a gym and was well on the way to full recovery.
So what’s happened in the 8 months since then? I’m still a very keen gym user, I go three days per week whenever possible. I’ve even got into ‘spinning’ which is the high intensity bike exercise class. I went on a diet after New Year and have, so far, lost more than 2st.
I’ve also started running. I had to wait 12mths after the frame was removed to be sure that the new bone was strong enough before impact sports such as running. Because it has been so long since I did any form of running (other than dashing across a busy road) it was suggested that the ‘Couch to 5k’ programme may be worth a go.
The programme follows a 9wk course of thrice weekly planned runs that gently build up your stamina. I’m now in week 6 and thoroughly enjoying it. There are a number of podcasts and smartphone apps you can get that give you the programme and audio queues whilst running. I chose the Get Running app for iPhone. The audio queues tell you when to run, when to walk and give you updates at regular intervals and it does all I could ask of an app.
When I started week 1 I struggled to do the run 8 sets of 1 min, walk 1min 30secs. But now, 6weeks on I can run 20mins in one go and thoroughly enjoy it. If you’ve ever fancied trying to get into jogging then I can heartily recommend the Couch to 5K programme.
So that’s about it for me. Even knowing what I know now, I would have chosen to go through it all. I no longer have back or knee problems caused by the short leg and, whilst it was at times horrendous, the long term benefits justify the pain.
I’m much more healthy, much slimmer and feel younger. The only downside is that I’ve needed a new wardrobe!
Well done you – it’s been a tough journey but so glad it was worth it