I thought I would write about exercise. All my life I've seen exercise as a chore, something to get over and done with. I've actually really struggled to enjoy it and I'm sure some of you will agree with me!! Now think about the added difficulties that come from being deaf, and how much more challenging exercise is, which can make it even harder to enjoy or get any enthusiasm to get out and do it!
I've tried various pursuits over the years, I love to swim but it makes me really anxious as once I've taken my hearing aids and glasses off I feel very vulnerable. I can't see the clock to read the time or hear people talking. I did recently after months of thinking about it, try out wild water swimming and absolutely loved it. The organisers were brilliant going the extra mile to make it work for my needs and this time I was prepared with my prescription goggles. They went through the course rules etc with me on dry land instead of in the water and it was fantastic. Because there were hardly any people there I felt more comfortable not being able to hear than in a busy swimming pool. It was exhilarating being out in the open and I plan to go again.
I've also tried yoga and Pilates but they always make me feel nauseous. I remember one yoga class I went to and the instructor said "close your eyes" and then she looked at me pointedly and said "close your eyes", I guess I should have told her at the beginning I needed to lipread. Anyway, it's very difficult trying to lipread doing the downward dog. Enough said.
I have also tried Crossfit and the people in my class were amazing, the instructors taking the class made sure I could see their lips move and that I understood so I couldn't get out of doing any of the difficult WODs claiming I hadn't heard...!
I've tried classes online and on DVD but have never really got on with those, it's hard trying to exercise and read subtitles at the same time!
A couple of years ago, I did a triathlon. It was very scary and way out of my comfort zone. The organisers were made aware and so I left my hearing aids with my bike and joined everyone at the pool. I couldn't hear what was going on but I'd been through the practice run so was prepared. While I was in the pool, they had signs to tell me how much further I needed to swim and then I got out of the pool and ran to my bike, popped my hearing aids and glasses on and continued. It really took me out of my comfort zone but I'm so glad I did it.
I've never felt I could completely relax with exercising and so that's why running (or jogging very slowly in my case!) has been my go to exercise. When I was growing up, my parents were marathon runners and so we ended up running together doing 5k and 10k races when I was living in Kingston. We did the Great North run together a couple of times, the Great South run, and of course, the New York marathon, the year after 9/11. I then didn't do any exercise for a long time until a friend introduced me to parkrun. I've now done 70+ and while I wouldn't say I love running, I always love it afterwards! It's great getting to know the parkrun community and when we are back at parkrun, myself and a couple of friends are going for the parkrun alphabet challenge - completing a parkrun beginning with every letter of the alphabet. I'm hoping to reach 100 parkruns by the end of next year.
I'm signed up to do a 100k walk next May (It was postponed this year) and I'm actually really looking forward to it. I'm going on my own and I'll be walking/jogging London to Brighton. I'll be walking through the night as well and hoping to do it in about 40 hours. I may jog some of the way but we will see. This is a challenge that I really wanted to do for myself, and I know I will be able to 'relax' more. I'll be with a group of people walking through the night so I won't be totally alone but I love it when it's just me and the countryside!
That's not to say running doesn't come with it's own issues, I've been in races before when people have tried to overtake (Yay, I wasn't last!!) and I hadn't heard them. I did think about putting 'I am deaf' on the back of the t-shirt, particularly if I'm running on the road but I stick to pavements generally as I can't hear cars behind me. I was jogging along a lovely forest route listening to music on my headphones when I became aware of a horse rider behind me and they were shouting at me to move across, I apologised and pointed to my headphones. I play music very loudly on my headphones and sometimes I wear headphones because then people think, 'oh she can't hear' because she's listening to music and they understand. If I didn't wear headphones, then they wonder why I've been really rude and not stepped aside. Sometimes, I've even taken my hearing aids out to just really enjoy the silence and to appreciate what's around me.
While being deaf can bring additional challenges when it comes to exercise, I don't let that get in my way. No easy excuse not to exercise because I can't hear or lip read while running, cycling or swimming, I'm not letting being deaf hold me back!
(The photo is one of me during the triathlon at East Grinstead.)
