A few weeks ago, around the end of November, I posted this video update on my Cuso Challenge Page. I was half way to reaching my goal of raising $4,000 for Cuso and I had just ramped up my training regimen by starting to work with a trainer in addition to the walking I'd been doing.
Then, on December 2, I slipped on a patch of ice on my walk home from work and fell with a thud on my derrière! Thankfully my backpack lifted up and served as a very soft cushion between my head and the steel girder of the bridge I was crossing. I thought I had escaped any serious injury.
However, after several days of every step causing pain, I decided I'd better visit a medical professional and find out what I was dealing with. X-rays revealed no fracture to the tailbone, for which I was grateful. Deep tissue bruising, I was told. Well, that's not so bad, I thought. Ah, but it can take three months to heal.
Three months! Will I be able to hike the Andes in three and a half months? I'm told I don't need to cancel my trip, that indeed, I should still be able to do the trek to Machu Picchu. However, my expectations around training will need to be curtailed.
So, I'm no longer taking the stairs at work. I'm no longer walking home from work or joining the Camino walking group on Saturday mornings. I'm seeing a physical therapist who tells me I can continue to train, but that I need to really pull back. A 30-minute walk is where I need to start and only if that doesn't increase the pain. I need to ask my trainer to adjust my routine to refocus on other areas for the time being. And we decided that swimming and water walking might be a viable option for now.
As we are approaching the Christmas holidays, I've decided to relax and enjoy them and let go of any expectations around being 'ready' for the trek. In the new year, I will start again with whatever capacity I have and do what I can in the time I have left. It is what it is and it will be what it will be.
Merry Christmas!
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