I don’t normally start my blogs off with a picture however I found this one* to be particularly fitting given the subject that I am writing about today. 

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I  have taken a hiatus from writing in the last 2 months in order to deal with some health issues and to come to terms with some pretty major changes in my life.

As most of you who follow me on Instagram (@deboliciousness) and Facebook know I have been going through some issues first with my ankle and then with my back. Both of these issues have taken some time and medical intervention which included some time spend on crutches again but thankfully both have resolved.

Which leads me to this…

In January I saw my orthopedic surgeon again and he informed me that the unexpected and severe swelling that I had in my ankle at the beginning of the year was likely swelling from joints adjacent to the fusion. He also informed me that if I continued to run it would make matters far worse over time.

My first reaction was one of defiance. I did not want to resolve myself to the fact that running would no longer be part of the fitness regiment I had come to embrace so wholeheartedly.

I had never been a runner prior to my weight-loss and over the last few years I had come to not only label myself as a runner but had come to find solace, peace and life balance in the rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement.

As difficult to admit as this is I even went through a period of time where I said to myself inside “Well if I can’t run, how can I do things like a Tough Mudder or a race like a Triathlon ever again? It took me a couple of days of feeling sorry for myself to snap out of it and give myself a good shake.

Just like a photographer changes lenses on a camera to give a picture a different perspective I had to change my lens on my life, on my future and on my goals.

You see encountering unexpected turns like this is more common in life than not. When moments like this happen it is truly how you envision life and view alternative directions to get to your destination that will get you through.

I started researching options around the things I love doing and if I could still participate without running. I’ve been able to come up with the following:

• Boot camp – there is always room for adaptation in a boot camp environment
• November Project – this is not a group just for elite athletes but people of all abilities and physical levels (and one hell of a tribe)
• Boxing – although skipping and running is often used in training/warm-ups for boxing there are always other methods such as biking or rowing to prepare my body for a session (and my surgeon encourages the actual boxing)
• Triathlons – this was one of the things I was most worried about but it turns out that there are Aqua-bike events and all you have to do to qualify for one is do the swimming and biking parts of a triathlon. I would just need to find a runner to do one with me – Jerry Hughes?
• Tough Mudder – you can actually walk/speed walk the whole thing ~ you just have to finish under a certain time limit

Huh…

See? All it took was me changing my lens, gaining some clarity and viewing my hopes and visions a little differently. The path is never going to be easy but the end result will be worth it.

The benefits of this journey have been finding loves in my life that had never really existed before like hiking. It is also leading me to have the courage to return to biking again which is something I have missed with my whole heart.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing I hope that if you need to you can find a new lens to look through. I wish for you the ability to seek out new directions and new paths to lead you to the destination you want to reach.

Love D.

Photo Credit:

(Left to Right) Fox Wylde, Andy Briggs, Me

*I do not own rights to the picture used at the beginning of my blog