Having a Plan B is the Key

Posted by martin.parnell |
Having a Plan B is the Key

I love running! I started in 2002 at the age of 47 and until 8 months ago was still going strong. Then I had a pain in my lower abdomen and had to stop. The diagnosis…..a hernia. Well, in the current health care climate this is not a quick fix. My doctor sent in a request for an assessment by the surgeon and I’m still waiting for the date. My running schedule was suddenly in the garbage can so what was my Plan B? I started walking but was looking for something to get my heart rate up. The answer: biking. 

Checking in a dark corner at the back of the garage I found my road bike. It has been a while since it saw the light of day, however, after pumping up the tires and oiling the chain it was ready to go. My plan was to complete the “Horse Creek Loop” over the summer months. The route took me from my home, across the tracks, up Horse Creek Road South to the 1A. Then west to Grand Valley Road, north to RR280, east to Horse Creek road and south back to the 1A. This was my old marathon route and in total is 45km.  Summer came and went and by Oct. 31st I had completed “41” Horse Creek loops for 2039kms. 

As mentioned, the other activity I started to get back into was swimming. Heading down to Spray Lake Sawmills Family Sports Centre I was keen to get back to the lap pool. The problem was sometimes there were no lanes available. Time for Plan B! Instead of heading home and complaining that there were no lanes I took a sharp right and went into the warm water therapy pool. There I used the foam dumb-bells, swimming against the jets and aqua-yoga (make sure you take a breath). I read up on how beneficial warm water therapy exercise was and decided to turn my hot tub into a warm water therapy tub. I hear you ask “was that complicated to do?” The answer….NO. I just turned down the temperature from 105F to 95F and voila, a warm water therapy tub. 

There you have it. Sometimes things don’t work out so don’t stress out, just look for a Plan B. It may end up being better than your Plan A.

About the Author

Martin Parnell is the Best-Selling author of MARATHON QUEST,RUNNING TO THE EDGE and THE SECRET MARATHON-Empowering women and girls in Afghanistan through sport. He speaks on having a “Finish the Race Attitude – Set Goals, Overcome Obstacles and Achieve Outstanding Results” and has written for, or been covered by CNN, BBC, CBC, The Huffington Post, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Runners World, Men’s Journal, Canadian Business, and Maclean’s.

In a five year period, from 2010 to 2014, Martin completed 10 extreme endurance “Quests” including running 250 marathons in one year and raising $1.3m for the humanitarian organization Right To Play. In 2016 and 2018 he ran the Marathon of Afghanistan in support of Afghan women and girls running for equality and his film “The Secret Marathon” was released in late 2019. Find out more about Martin at www.martinparnell.com  and see what he can do for you in the long run.

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