Hello, my name is Jayne and I’m a jog-aholic.
I’ve always been active in various sports, but one evening in the middle of a co-ed softball game I blew out my ACL knee joint. I was in so much pain that I feared I might not ever get to play anything again.
Thankfully I found an amazing surgeon who repaired my injury, but the six months of required physiotherapy was completely on me. I faithfully did my leg lifts and stationery bike time, both which I have always hated and now loathe as a result of having them forced upon me. I like breaking a sweat in the fresh air, so when my doctor gave me the okay for weight-bearing activity I was off and running in every sense of the word. My girlfriend Jane (yes, same name, different spelling!) offered to go jogging with me so we did, half an hour every other day. My knee became good as new as I regained my muscle tone that had taken a half year off.
The following summer, I went on a two week vacation to visit my extended family. Since I was taking a break from all schedules, to me that included my jogging routine. When I joined Jane upon my return, I couldn’t keep up with her. When we finally stopped, my knee was throbbing and by the next day I was limping around the house.
“I only took a two week break!” I moaned, icing my knee and popping ibuprofen.
“That’s all it takes,” Jane smiled sympathetically.
That was twenty years ago. Unfortunately Jane’s husband had to take her away from me because of his job relocation, but I now have “workout” on my calendar, thirty minutes three times a week, vacation or not, running partner or not. The only exception I will make is during a particularly hectic week I will allow a workout to be carried over, but that for sure means I am running four times the next week.
At first I was motivated by fear that I would ruin all the hard work my surgeon and I had put into my dang knee, but now it’s a necessity to me. It has been not only my physiotherapy but also my psychotherapy. I don’t have to run, I get to! I get to have an entire thirty minutes to get my heart pumping, to meditate, to breathe in fresh air and listen to Coldplay on my phone. Jogging also has kept me in good enough shape into my fifties to enjoy my other favorite activities like horse back riding, tennis and rollerblading.
I’m an incurable addict.