A pair of orange trackers

Ever since I bought orange and white running shoes I’ve been transformed into an orange loving person.

It’s definitely the association. But orange things make me feel strong. They make me feel happy.

It was a very slow transformation from orange hater to orange obsessed. But it’s happened. Something about orange! And I just love these shoes.

I bought these shoes right after my ankle really flared up. I was training for a race and needed new shoes. I didn’t know I needed surgery or even that it was in my future. I bought them thinking I’d be able to wear them in a week and run all around my neighborhood.

Because of the timing of when I bought the shoes, they became a huge motivator. I had ankle reconstruction surgery. I wore these shoes to the surgery clinic and I wore the left one home while the right one sat in my lap. They were these white-brand new symbols of being mobile, and ultimately running again.

I had no conceptual idea of how hard recovering from this surgery would be. It wasn’t hard because of the pain. Don’t get me wrong it hurt! It’s the most painful thing I’ve ever been through too. But it was hard because of the time. I was off my feet for a monotonous 11 weeks. There were times I felt like I’d never be able to walk again or get around easily. I had times after I could walk of wondering if I’d ever walk without pain, and if I’d ever be able to run when I couldn’t even walk the length of my street.

These shoes were a reminder of getting around and running. They were a symbol of where I would one day be. I remember when I finally put on both of them for my first trip to physical therapy. I limped all the way into the office, but I was determined to wear both these shoes, not just one with my walking boot.

I’ve felt like orange needed a place here on MaMo. These shoes were such a big part of Ankle Recovery, which is the hardest thing I’ve done to date. So I’ve included orange on the blog. Every time I change some little thing, the blog feels more and more me. Orange was definitely needed here on MaMo because orange will always be a symbol of strength and a reminder of the difficult things I can accomplish.

Question

What’s your favorite color? And why?

Tagged as: ankle, PT, run, shoes