limits

from merriam webster's online dictionary:

limit
1. a. something that bounds, confines or restrains
...
7. something that is exasperating or intolerable

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I'm not good with limits. Not when they're set by things out of my control. I like to push them. I like to push my own limits, physically. Mentally.

Obviously, some physical limits I'll never exceed.

And I absolutely loathe being told I can't do something. That's a fairly sure way to make me give it a shot.

So I have been gritting my teeth and trying oh-so-hard to be patient and cautious with this healing ankle. To listen to my PT and my sport med folks, and to push myself gently within their constraints. But I am chafing at the bit.

The definitions I quote above would be good ones for my ankle injury. It has been a hard 5 months. I've missed most of the "after-work runs in the park" season. My plans for a half-marathon have been delayed and delayed, and then delayed again. I will be wearing this damn brace until Christmas.

I am just now allowed to run outside. In the daylight. With it taped. For short distances.

But. I. am. allowed. to RUN OUTSIDE. In daylight, for short intervals. On relatively flat ground. but ... it's not the treadmill. it's not the elliptical trainer. it's fresh air, outside, me, moving in space.

I signed up for a February 5k. I can't train for the half in time; my ankle won't take that kind of increased mileage. But still. I am allowed to RUN OUTSIDE.

I climbed in the gym twice in November. Easy climbs. Climbs where I could use my upper body and core strength and not rely on foot position. But things are improving.

And yesterday? I did some ankle catches. Not many. But enough to believe in the possibilities again.

And that?

The world is limitless.