where is the line?

Yeah. So. Was getting psyched about seeing friends (impending visitors chez-nous) and going snowshoeing this weekend. Really psyched.

Because:     I    LOVE    SNOWSHOEING.  Seriously. Guaranteed happy if I’m warm, dry, and snowshoeing. And I almost never go.

So, yesterday doing exercise DVD (that I’ve done before) which involves jumping (an imaginary) rope. My ankle started to hurt a tiny bit. Felt stiff, really. So, I stopped jumping and did squats instead. Fine.

Then, when the exercise was mountain climbers, I thought I’d try them. Ankle still felt stiff. And I thought, well, what about the “walk it off” thing guys do in football? Sometimes that works.

So, kept jumping and then BAM, I felt real pain. Stopped immediately and thought – oh, crap. Snowshoeing! I felt a hot pain in a very small space on my ankle, which reminded me of the pain I felt in my right ankle when I’d apparently chipped the bone.

So, I did the rest, ice, compression, and elevation thing and took Ibu and hoped (and hopped) for the best (e.g., extremely short-term injury).

So my question is, where is the line between pushing yourself during a workout, and overdoing it? Hmmn?

From what I've been reading, strengthening supporting muscles (like calf, ankle, quadriceps, hamstrings) may reduce my risk of future injury, and is an approach I intend to pursue.

Nevertheless, I wish I could actually SEE the line between pushing myself through a tough workout vs. pushing myself too far. I’d be very happy to stay on the good side of it. Really. But, clearly, it evades me.

You?

xo biobabbler