LEARN

Kevin Kline plays a high school teacher at a prestigious boarding school in the movie, "The Emperors Club".  One of my favourite lines comes from that movie:

A day that starts with rowing is better than a day that does not.

I carry this over into my daily routine.  A day that starts with a dog walk is better than a day that does not.

I have to admit, when the provincial government announced that we were going into a lockdown phase last week, my attitude went down in the dumps!

On top of the 2 week lockdown announcement, I also sprained my ankle during my daily trail run.  

I was convinced that my routine was going to be shot - that the weather was going to be bad, and that I wasn't going to walk, workout or run for an extended period of time.

My dogs were lucky that first morning that it was pouring.  They didn't really feel like going outside either.  I took them out and they did their business quickly, and we retreated into the house soaking wet.  It was a good thing they weren't their usual energetic selves because I wouldn't have been able to keep up!

I texted my friends.  All of them told me to follow R.I.C.E. for my ankle - rest, ice, compression, elevation.  I had done this after I originally turned my ankle (after the 2 hours of yard work that I did when I got home), and things didn't feel any better.  I was really sore, and my injury was throbbing.

My brother is a doctor and enjoys running as well.  I sent him a picture of my swollen foot.  He sent me an article about treating injuries called M.E.A.T. - movement, exercise, analgesia, treatment.  He also told me about voodoo flossing.  This is the method of wrapping your injury super tight for 60-90 second stretches over the course of the day.

I hadn't heard of any of these methods before, but I decided to give it a try.

I woke up - went for my usual walk.  I wrapped my ankle so tight with a rubberiezed tensor multiple times during the day to get the swelling away from the joint.  I did my home work out as usual.  

2 days of doing this and my ankle felt about 95%.  There was some bruising, but the pain had subsided and I decided to go for a run.  My mood immediately changed.

I took the time to do some reading about what I was doing.  I didn't just jump into it blindly.  But I definitely learned something new.  It probably wouldn't be the treatment that I would recommend to everyone, but it worked for me.

Sometimes doing the usual isn't the best way.  Keep yourself updated!

An inquisitive updater.  Another way to define a daring optimist!

Send me a message sometime - I would love to hear from you!

MS