Need Some Motivation After Injury

sarahfowler38

A little background: (Sorry it's long...question at the end, you can skip ahead)
So last March, I developed plantar fasiitis. For those who don't know what it is, it's heel pain basically. It started slow, but progressively got worse. In the last couple months, it got to the point that I couldn't do any physical acitivity and I would still be limping around by the end of the day. I finally went to see the doctor and tried a bunch of stuff. Before the wedding, I was in physical therapy. It didn't help. I wear a brace at night, it didn't help. I finally got referred to a podiatrist. Right before Christmas, I went into see him and he said he wanted me to try X, Y, and Z before we went any furthur. I was frustrated because I had already tried almost everything he recommended. It also seemed like he really didn't believe me, so I was really frustrated.

So I went back yesterday for my 3 week check-up and he was hoping I'd be better, but alas, I wasn't. He decided we should try a shot of steroids into my heel. Before they do the shot, they do an ultra-sound in the area to see where the inflammation is.  As he's doing this, he's really surprised at how inflammed it is. Shocking that I was telling the truth!! Anyways, I got the shot. It's still a little painful, but I was told that it would be like that for a few days and hopefully by next week, I should be feeling good enough to start working out again. Obviously he warned me to take it slow.

My question is, has anyone had an injury that eliminated working out? How did you get back into a rhythm? I'm really worried that it's going to be hard to get myself back into the rhythm of working out. I'm excited to think that I may feel good enough to do so as soon as next week, but also, even the thought of working out makes me exhausted. You would think the 15 pounds I've put on since this injury started would be motivation enough, but the thought of getting out of bed early to work out or doing it when I get home from a long day at work is exhausting!!

lclemence

I feel you, Sarah! I developed a stress crack in my heel about 3 months ago, and had to wear a boot for 6 weeks. I have JUST been cleared to do a "back to running" program that basically limits me to no more than 5-10 minutes of running/walking for the first 5 weeks. It's been awful. 

The best thing I've found to do to help develop consistency is to set up a workout schedule on a calendar on your computer (Google Calendar works well for this), then print it out and tape it to your fridge. Every day when you complete a workout, cross it off on the calendar. If you don't complete the workout, you don't cross it off. Once you get going and you start to see all those workouts crossed off, it will motivate you to keep going. I do this to train for road races and it works for me every time. Just helps to have something visual to look at every day and feel that sense of accomlishment when you get to cross off that weekly long run. It also helps to plan the week ahead. 

Good luck, and don't feel discouraged! Start off slow and be sure to build your way back up. You won't be able to go to right back to where you left off before your injury, but the body has great memory, and once you get over the dread of getting started, it will get easier each day.