Acceptance
When you get to a certain age, it’s more than likely that if you’ve been involved in outdoor activities for some time then you will have had some injuries. Some may be minor like sprains or pulled muscles and some more serious like breaks or tears.
Personally, I think I may have had more than my fair share! I’m quite good at falling off bikes, slipping on wet grass, tripping over a rucksack etc. I once badly sprained an ankle just looking at a route at Crag Lough in Northumberland meaning I couldn’t follow my leader up his chosen route and he had to abseil down to retrieve his gear while I hobbled back to the pub.
I’ve had four surgeries since 2017 and each has taken significant time to recover from. As I write this, I’m still in rehab from a high tibial osteotomy I had in November last year and it’s looking like it will be another four to six months before I’m fully recovered (if at all).
When you’re younger, you bounce. When you’re 60, you don’t. The body recovers much more quickly in its 20s and 30s and you can often push through or find ways to mitigate your injury. I’ve found that’s not so easy when you get to a certain age and compensating for an injury only leads to another somewhere else.
The problem is the older you get, the more time it takes to recover. Plus as you get older, you hear the tick of the clock a bit more loudly and the to do list isn’t getting any shorter. It’s frustrating but you’ve just got to try and embrace the process and take the time to heal. I’m now starting to enjoy doing less in terms of pushing myself. My body doesn’t really want to be pushed. I’ve slowed down and to be honest, I’m quite liking that. Pottering about, eating cake and scones, looking at routes I’ll probably never do. I’m coming to terms with that. It’s about changing your outlook and accepting it.
But I know I’ve still got a 7a in me somewhere!