Injury – Walt in PA

Over the past few weeks I've been dealing with some personal issues that have shuffled around my priorities a bit. I know the posting frequency around here has dropped and the last couple of Slimming Down Dad Podcast episodes have been late (I'll be recording the one that was supposed to post this morning, later on this evening) but I'm every bit as determined as I was when I started down the path of losing weight and getting healthy. With that said, I recently had someone comment that it sounded like I was going through an early mid-life crisis. I suppose that could be partially true. I've been spending a lot of time in thought, turning over different aspects of my life to inspect them, and I've determined there is a lot more to being happy and healthy than just shedding pounds. I've identified the areas in my personal life that need changing and am in the process of doing just that. In a way it sort of feels like a bit of a life reboot. It hasn't been easy but I feel more at peace than I have in some time. Physically I'm not feeling all that great but I'm getting through. I've developed what feels like Achilles Tendinitis in my right foot. Yesterday I was scrambling through the house and slammed my foot into the training wheel on my daughter's bike. I don't think I broke the toe but it is still pretty tender. In case you were wondering, it was on my left foot. Do you know how hard it is when your body wants to limp due to pain in opposite feet? As if that weren't bad enough, I think I have what WebMD describes as Tennis Elbow in my right arm. I've been dealing with it for a couple of weeks and it is getting better but it has slowed me down some in the gym (reduced grip strength in my dominant hand). I can modify my gym time to work around the Tennis Elbow but the foot pain has been challenging. I traded my outdoor run on Tuesday for a treadmill session. It was less impact and almost pain free during the workout but there was inflammation afterwards that made me regret it. Yesterday I took a recovery day and didn't do any cardio at all. Today I'll be hitting the gym like usual. My cardio will probably consist of elliptical work. It is low impact and feels like it provides some helpful stretching in my right foot. I don't know if I'll be able to handle my bruised toe grinding in my shoe as I churn along but I'll find a way. Worse case scenario I'll abandon the elliptical and work on the rower instead (great workout and shouldn't bother my feet). And here I thought going from 5 days of exercise every week to 6 would be a piece of cake....