My Garmin watch caused my injury

I love my Garmin watch (it’s a Garmin Venu 3S for anyone wondering). It is a fantastic fitness and lifestyle watch that helps me track my activities with ease. Plus, it helps me stay on time for my Physio consults - most of the time.

When my partner gifted me the watch for my birthday last year, I was over the moon. I loved the step counting aspect of the Garmin watch. As it was my new year's resolution to walk more, I set a goal on the watch. 7k steps a day. A goal big enough to get me walking more, but not daunting enough like the 10k steps where it would be unattainable on busy days.

As someone who hadn’t walked this daily distance regularly, I found myself wandering around the house to get my daily goal, just so that I would keep my daily streak on Garmin alive. When I hit the 7k step goal, the Garmin would light up and fireworks would go off on the screen. 

By the time I got to my 70 day streak, I started to notice a pain in my left heel. It came on mildly at the beginning of the walk and it warmed up. I brushed it off – just as any hypocritical physio would do. Then, it got worse. Around my 90 day streak I was starting to limp. I could no longer walk barefoot without pain. Classic insertional Achilles tendinopathy.

This injury came on because I changed my loading - I was walking more regularly than I had my entire life, and I was also doing more steps barefoot than previously too. 

The pain was becoming quite unbearable.

“Caz, why didn’t you just stop walking?” you may be yelling at the screen.

Simply put, I was addicted to keeping my streak alive. I also loved walking. During that time I felt what probably all of my clients feel when I tell them they might need to reduce an activity that they have grown fond of.

So, what am I doing now? I’m finding new ways to enjoy moving and to keep consistency in my exercise routine. I am also doing rehabilitation exercises to improve my body’s resilience to these injuries.