From 40,000 Steps a Day to Zero and What My Blood Test Revealed When I Finally Checked In With My Body.

I was training for a 100k ultramarathon.

Forty thousand steps a day. Long runs, early mornings, the kind of training that takes over your life in the best possible way. I was fit, I was focused, and I was genuinely loving every minute of it.

Then in January I broke my ankle. In two places.

One X-ray and the whole thing stopped overnight.

Eight weeks in a cast

There is something uniquely frustrating about going from that level of activity to being completely immobile. Eight weeks in a cast, then two weeks in a boot, then the slow and humbling process of learning to use my leg properly again.

Tendons that had tightened and started cracking with every movement. Muscles that had completely switched off. Sharp pains in places I had never felt before. And a foot that still, even now, does not move quite the way it used to.

The strangest thing was what happened to my weight. While I was in the cast and barely moving I actually lost weight. The moment the cast came off and I started getting mobile again the weight started creeping back on. Apparently this is more common than you might think, your body does unexpected things when you go from extreme activity to complete rest overnight.

Getting back moving

For the last six weeks I have been rebuilding slowly. Sunday parkruns in Worcester with my kids 2km at a time. Just getting outside, moving, and enjoying it.

Last night I went out with the Black Pear Joggers for the first time since the injury. I was not sure what to expect. Whether my ankle would hold up. Whether I would feel embarrassed shuffling along at the back.

It was brilliant. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. I jogged, I chatted, I made it round. I was moving again and that felt like everything.

I will be going back next week.

What the blood test showed

Before I started getting back into running I decided to check in with my body properly. I had a full blood test and the results told an honest story about what six months of inactivity had done.

The good news first. My thyroid is perfect. Blood sugar completely normal. Testosterone solid. Kidneys and liver all looking good. Vitamin D and B12 both fine. PSA normal. No H Pylori, no coeliac markers.

But there were a few things worth talking about honestly.

My triglycerides were above range. My HDL cholesterol, the good kind had dropped into the low zone. My DHEA was below range. These are not alarming results but they are not where I want them to be. And they tell a very clear story about what happens to an active body when it suddenly stops.

The good news is that these are exactly the markers that respond well to getting active again. Triglycerides come down with aerobic exercise. HDL goes up with consistent cardio. DHEA responds to movement and reduced stress.

In other words the prescription is to keep doing exactly what I did last night.

Why I am sharing this

I am not sharing this to be dramatic or to pretend I have had some kind of health crisis. I have not. I am sharing it because I think there is something really valuable in being honest about what happens to our bodies when life gets in the way.

I was fit. I got injured. Things shifted on the inside in ways I could not see or feel. A blood test showed me the truth.

Now I know where I am starting from. And I am going to test again in a few months to see how the numbers change as the running builds back up.

Tonight was step one. The Black Pear Joggers made it a good one.

See you next week.

Billy