working out and stickin' with it!

Earlier this spring, I started working out quite frequently. Many times in the past, I'd exercise a few weeks or so, get burnt out and fall off the band wagon. This time was different - I was working out consistently for at least 2-3 months (a record for me) and even signed up for my first 12k. It was the healthiest I'd felt in my life!

I'd mentioned before that I took a pretty good spill during that 12k and my knee was on the mend for at least a month, putting a damper on my workout routine. Well after a month, then we were super busy being out of town for graduations and such and trying to catch up on housework and laundry during the week. Then I just got downright LAZY.

A few weeks ago, I finally had enough of my couch potato-ways and started walking again and dreadfully showed my face at the gym after 3 long months. Things were finally starting to look up - my coworker and I were walking up to 4.5 miles at lunch everyday and I start feeling the difference in my jeans and extra energy throughout the day.

One very hot day when we were getting ready for our walk, I changed into into a pair of old, worn socks and my beloved New Balance tennis shoes when I developed some pretty knarly blisters on the balls of my feet. I thought, "no big deal, I'll just take the weekend off to let them heal and get back to it on Monday." Monday came around and it got worse. Of course, I didn't want this to be another excuse for me to once again fall off the band wagon, so I pushed myself again on Tuesday - to the point of barely being able to walk. My feet felt like they were on fire!! I'll spare you the details of what I did to those blisters, but now I have to sit around waiting for them to heal completely.

Needless to say, I've had a lot of time to think. My New Balance's have always been a little stiff and I generally always wear my tennis shoes until they are worn out (gasp, 3-4 years), not the average 500 miles that are recommended. It's very likely my shoes played a big part in the blisters considering I've had them over a year (but they still look brand new!). In the back of my mind, I knew I had put a lot of miles on them, so I went out this weekend and bought these new babies! I've never worn anything outside of New Balance. A coworker also gave me some Spyroflex for my blisters (I need to get my hands on some more!). I'm so excited to finally get back on my feet again. There is a 12k this October I'm considering signing up for to help motivate me to get back to it!

Have injuries kept you from your workout routine and if so, what do you do while you're on the mend?