Sprain Reaction

After hearing the familiar click from my ankle during my last bout of exercise it set me off thinking about how lucky I am to still be able to rely on using walking as both a form of transport and a leisure activity.

A lot of people will credit the restrictions of lockdown for giving them a greater appreciation for several things we previously took for granted, myself included, as it was during this time I started to fully acknowledge how lucky we are to live near green space and how soothing trees can be. However, thanks to an earlier incident, I was already grateful to still be able to refer to myself as a walker.

About 7 or 8 years ago I sprained my ankle in a prosecco-related incident at a party. The event was not in my home town so I was staying overnight in a hotel with the plan being I would get the train and then walk from the station to home. It shows how entrenched the idea of walking is to me as even with a sore & swollen ankle I didn’t even contemplate using any other means of transport ie phoning a taxi or asking someone else for a lift. Walking is such a part of my DNA, and I’m a stubborn mule, that I carried on with the plan as if nothing had happened. Of course the walk from the station took at least twice as long as usual but I did it. This wasn’t done to prove a point though, it just genuinely didn’t occur to me that there was any other option.

I think I naively assumed that I’d just need to rest for the remainder of the weekend and then I’d be back to normal. However after reading up about it, I realised that I hadn’t merely twisted my ankle, this was indeed a sprain and that the only way to recover was to keep it elevated and to rest as much as possible. Definitely don’t go walking.

I may be stubborn but I’m not a complete fool so once I was safely back home I took the advice and did indeed rest my foot. Thankfully even though this was pre-pandemic I was already occassionally working from home so I was able to carry on working whilst resting my ankle. Although looking back that first week or so was the easy bit as I knew I had to rest it and stay home so that was fine. The difficulty came in the in-between stage, when the ankle had recovered enough for me to go back to my normal rountine but it was still sore and I was not capable of my usual walking speed or distances. A short walk to the station or the shops was fine but I certainly couldn’t go for a hike and I had to allow at least twice as long as usual to get to and from the station.

Be Kind

While at the time my 12 weeks of recovery was tiresome and frustrating, looking back it taught me some valuable lessons. First & foremost it was a useful reminder that we never know what people are going through and so we should always strive to be kind. Externally I looked the same as always and so it would be natural to wonder why this reasonably fit looking person was hobbling along. Of course what they wouldn’t realise is that internally I felt the same as I always had and therefore would spend most of my walks shouting ‘come on, come on’ to myself and being bemused as people walking at what seemed to be a relaxed pace were still able to pass me with ease. Whatever a person looks like on the outside we never know what internal struggles they are going through and while it’s easy to make snap-judgements, I was reminded that we need to take a moment to override these thoughts and to be kind.

Another vaulable lesson I learned during this time was to fully apprecaite just how lucky I am I had only had a temporary set-back. I realised how much I valued having walking as an option, as a means of escape. If a train was noisy, busy or going slowly I simply had to put up with it, hopping out at an earlier stop just wasn’t possible. It helped me to apprecaite how walking is such an important part of my independence & how vulnerable I felt without it.

Finally I want to end on a positive note as I did make a full recovery. About 4 months after I sprained my ankle we went on holiday, there was a lovely coastal path and a long walk became part of our daily routine. Although I did have a moment of panic when I fell over on one of our holiday strolls! Before I got up my heart sank as I remembered the “helpful” comments from people telling me that once you’ve sprained your ankle once, you’re more likely to do it again. Had I already undone all the weeks of recovery? Thankfully not! Although I was so relieved by this then I immedialy said I’m fine and started walking off again (did I mention I’m a stubborn mule?) only to have to stop and ask if we could detour to a shop as I needed a plaster to stop my elbow from dripping blood everywhere.

It was reassuring to know that even with several weeks of no walking I was soon able to return to my usual pace. Even after this incident there have been other times following energy-zapping illnesses when I’ve not been able to walk as much but I’ve known that this would only be a minor setback. I also hope that this post will serve to reassure anyone who is not currently a walker but is considering it that no matter what you are capable of now, if you just give it a go and build up gradually, your defintion of what a long walk is will evolve and that even if you have to pause for a while you will be able to pick up the pace again. Just remember that the ‘be kind’ mantra applies to yourself as well as other people.

So as odd as it may seem I’m actually quite glad that my ankle still clicks from time to time as it reminds me how lucky I am and not to take it for granted when I get to see stunning views such as the one at the top of this post.

That’s how I stroll.