an interesting thought randomly entered my mind as I walked down the hill earlier today, on my way to pick up my car after it had been serviced… just over 6 months ago I had made the same trip, for the same reason, by bus. similarly, this morning I walked the 2.75km back up the hill after dropping my car off – 6 months ago that was an uber trip!
6 months ago I thought I was incredibly unfit, wondered how I was in a worse state than 2011/2012, and was feeling pretty down. I struggled to walk distances of just a few hundred metres, had seen the initial euphoria of sleep apnoea diagnosis fade away (my sleep was starting to be disrupted again), and was beating myself up internally. yeah, my diet wan’t ideal, but the drop in fitness, lack of energy, and huge weight gains seemed out of proportion with that.
today, despite my regular walks taking a backseat since returning to work, the walk up the hill this morning was enjoyable, and I felt no dread at the idea of walking back down this afternoon. my energy levels are great, my resting heart rate down, and 2.75km in either direction was taken quite literally in my stride. what a difference diagnosis, and subsequent treatment, makes!
if I have learned anything in all this then it is to not take good health for granted, to appreciate it, and if ever something doesn’t seem quite right then get it checked out! my type 2 diabetes was loitering and lurking for a while, and no doubt stealthily creeping along before that. I’m lucky that it has been brought under control quite quickly, but I can’t help wonder if the slight numbness in my thumb, toes and soles of my feet could have been avoided. thankfully that seems to be the limit of the damage done – and who knows, slight foot numbness might be an advantage for ultras and triathlons 😀