Stepping up the game

I’ve had a quite intense week with a lot of good things going on. Work, cycling, Italian class starting, back to my usual strength training routine, ramped up physiotherapy, and more. My PT exercises are such an important part of my fitness routine now. Going for real walks will happen again but only if I do the prep work to get back on track!

This has been such a good week with lots of improvements! Let’s get into it.

Monday

This was a decent start of the week! I got up early-ish and did 4,5 km on the indoor bike. I chose a random route (with Kinomap) across the border between Austria and Italy and it was VERY hilly. Some of these apps are set to just move you slower in uphill areas, but the default setting in Kinomap makes it a more natural cycling experience, so with uphills, the resistance increases. I like that, and it’s a nice challenge for my weakened legs! Now I have the courage to pedal more actively with the left foot too.

It was gym day, and a good one. I still do every second session legs and shoulders, and every second chest and back. All leg exercises are obviously still with resistance bands, while shoulders, chest and back is all a good heavy lifting program.

• Warmup with parachutes and push-ups
• Tricep pullovers, two dumbbells 10 kgs
• Barbell row, 32,5 kgs
• Dumbbell chest press, 12,5 kgs
• Flyes, 10 kg dumbbells
• Barbell chest press, 32,5 kgs
• (I must have done something more? Can’t remember)

So this thing with the dumbbell chest press – is it only a matter of mindset? Maybe. Today I decided to stop thinking and just do it, and I managed to do them almost properly for the first time. It was hard but I did it!

Tuesday

I went to see the physio and got some new exercises.
I’ve lost so much balance and stability that it’s almost depressing. Have you ever realised how much balance you need for simple walking? The lack of balance is what causes most of my walking problems. It’s annoying but at least it’s fixable. I’ll continue doing heel raises, single leg stands, resisted ankle exercises and more, and now we’ve added step-ups and slow walking with knee lifts. The latter are a lot more challenging than they sound after months of not walking!

Wednesday

I kicked off the day on the bike and did another 5 km along that Austria-Italy route. I’m not a big fan of such a hilly route – all the twists, turns and fast downhills make me dizzy and I have to look away from the screen sometimes, but I love the challenge with all the inclines.

It was a busy day! My Italian class started again.. I’ve missed it. Straight after my class a friend came over and on her way home, she dropped me off at the gym. I got a nice session for legs and shoulders while we talked about everything from cult leaders to Irish rugby culture to the recent tragedy at the Ironman event in east Cork. (That they let the event go ahead in those weather conditions is beyond me)

I got some good work done, and will get some more single leg exercises going forward.

• Single leg press with resistance band
• Clamshells
• Single leg raise (lying on back), resistance band
• Piriformis glute bridge
• Lateral raise, 6 kg dumbbells
• Upright row with bar, 20 kgs
• Seated shoulder press with bar, 15 kgs

The shoulder press was challenging, I’m so not used to using the bar for this. I was mostly happy with my performance but repped out after the 4th rep in one of the middle sets. Working the muscles to failure is a good feeling though!

Thursday

Thursdays are my new cycling days (used to be running days) and I finished the Austria-Italy route, the remaining distance was about 10 km. The rest of the morning before work was spent doing PT exercises.

This was the first day I went to town without crutches. I went to the slow tune session as usual. The people in the group have followed my injury struggles from the start and I was so happy to finally come without crutches. I felt so wobbly though. I feel good walking at home, but in town the pavements are going in all directions and where we have the tune session is an old-fashioned hotel with soft fluffy carpets that sort of made me feel unstable. Then, when I went back to the car, people probably thought I was drunk! 🤣 But that’s ok. I need to learn to walk again, and the challenge with uneven surfaces is good for me.

Friday

I had a wonderful kick-ass session in the gym today! Not much new but I felt I got into the flow and everything went so well. Also the dumbbell chest presses!

• Warmup with parachutes and push-ups
• Chest press with barbell, 32,5 kgs
• Flyes, 10 kg dumbbells
• Dumbbell chest press, 12,5 kgs
• Barbell row, 35 kgs
• Tricep pullovers, one dumbbell , 17,5 kgs
• Dumbbell row, 17,5 kgs

The barbell row weight was increased this time and I felt good doing them. This is an important exercise – when you have low bone density it’s super important to keep a strong upper back.

Saturday

Saturday was mostly about entertainment, although a lot of foot challenges were involved too. We went to a whiskey event at a somewhat local distillery where we have invested in a whiskey cask. They have events for cask owners now and then with tastings and more, this time at the new location where they are building a new, much larger distillery and brewery (they started as a brewery). The weather was fantastic to begin with and we enjoyed a beer and later a small tasting of some cask samples. It’s always fun to taste the first drops from a new distillery! Some of these were legally whiskey (it has to have been matured at least 3 years to be legally called whiskey in Ireland), some not.

The most challenging part for my foot was surprisingly NOT walking around or even getting up and down some stairs into the new distillery & brewery, but rather standing for so long during the tasting and tour. Who thought it was so exhausting for feet to just stand? At the end of the tour there was a steep flight of stairs to get up to the brewery, and I decided to skip that since my feet were already achy. But one of the tour guides was super nice, waited with me there and gave me a brief introduction of their production and plans for the new brewery. He also answered some questions and explained the process of making gluten free beer (there’s no valid reason for breweries to not make them!).

Sunday

Other than my physiotherapy exercises I’ve done my usual core/glute/hip workout, but have decided I’m going to retire this routine soon. I go to the gym three times a week and get the best strength work done there, so when I’m fully out and about again, I’ll use the Sunday to go for a longer walk instead or possibly some indoor cycling. I might just do some core strength at home but not necessarily on the Sunday. I started this workout in January when I had another foot problem, and have continued with it because it made me feel good, although later with the stress fracture, I had to replace a lot of the exercises to work on hips and glutes instead.

Today, despite miserable forecasts, is a wonderful day and since I’m now supposed to learn how to walk normally, we took the car down the hill to go for a walk! I don’t go far yet but it’s good for me to walk, especially on more challenging – but not too challenging – surfaces. A country road is definitely challenging enough, and if you knew how much I’ve missed walking on these roads!

It’s this time of the year!

Over the weekend I’ve worked a lot on my walking, and I’ve noticed a huge progress just in a few days. My foot is mostly just a bit sore across the perineal tendon and gets tired easily but nothing else really, all the other pain seems to have disappeared. The foot generally feels stronger, and I’m comfortable enough to walk a little bit barefoot too. Things seem to be going well! I’m immensely grateful and feel like I’m getting my life back.

Thanks Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly rundown link-up!