I haven’t written a blog with an update for some time for a
few reasons. In an attempt at full disclosure here are the reasons:
1.
I’ve been super busy. I’ve really poured myself
into some new clients this summer and it is exciting to see them having awesome
results.
2.
I’m not trying as much but I am doing a TON of
PT. I try to seek out the best help and advice on things when I need it and
Gina is awesome but almost an hour away. So by the time I drive there, get work
down and drive home, its usually 3-4 hours round trip in the middle of the day.
So I try to cram in a few things in the am, then off to PT, then home to fit in
a few things before the evening comes around.
3.
I’ve been frustrated with the process lately. If
you are reading this and wondering if you should do it then here are my thoughts
as of now. If you have to wonder, you probably need it. So get it done. I can
tell it will be worth it. I have less pain walking around in my heels already.
I can tell that as of now. I do get stronger every day but it’s a slow process.
I lack the strength to really toe off even while walking
right now, so running is a no go for sure. I can elliptical as of now. I should
note I am like 13 and 7 weeks post op on the two feet. I can do stair master actually
pretty good but I can tell it gets pissed a few times so I am reluctantly going
to give up that work to make sure I am being conservative.
Therein lies the issue for me. It’s confusing for sure what
is the “good” pain, the “bad” pain, and the “pain need to work through” pain.
Add to that I have had this done twice within three months and both healing
processes feel a bit different. So while I can learn from one, I can’t really.
I’m afraid to ask or talk to anymore doctors about the issue
because every time I do I find out someone has a harder standard to which I
should meet before running again. That becomes super frustrating.
First I was told: I have to do 5 single leg calf raises. I
thought, that was tough but manageable.
Then I was told: no, 10 is the best number… Damn… I thought.
(keep in mind I can’t do 1 when I heard this).
Then I was told 25! WTF……
No, no… its actually 3 sets of 25 with 15 seconds rest
between…. You’ve got to be killing me! In fact, give that a shot.
So I have stopped asking. LOL
Its dawning on me how long the actual road to recovery is.
It sucks. I feel pretty out of shape. I’m 10-12 lbs. up. I’m barely back to
where I was swimming. BARELY. I can’t hold the efforts for a complete set yet
but I am starting to see signs of life. I can’t really push off the walls
normal yet although close, I have to think this is part of the slower times.
The Bike… this one is interesting. I have been riding a lot
of rides in tennis shoes on my pedals. It kind of sucks so I invested like 20
bucks in some platform pedals and have that on my MTB. Tanya asked me to do a
100 mile organized ride with her and some friends. I told her I didn’t feel
like it because I only feel OK on my MTB and I don’t even have clips yet.
She convinced me to come and then basically dropped me… ugh.
I made it 64 miles into the ride with eh group but had to do the last 3 on my
own. It’s been a LONG time since I was owned like that on the bike. That wasn’t
a good feeling and although I finished in like 5:30 on my MTB I was ready to
retire for good.
I was able to ride in clips a few times but it was a lot of
strain on my claves. Interestingly making me rethink moving to the mid sole
cleat position as you can really feel how hard the regular shoes make your
calves work. That being said I think while in the midfoot position it would be
a bit tougher to stand and accelerate or sprint. Remember though, I’m not clipped
in right now so hard to say definitively but I will re look at this. The doctor
told me though I am getting a bit too far out over the front of my skies with
the regular shoes though and has told me to go back to the running shoes on the
bike. I hate going backwards.
So this is where I am. I’ve invested too much in getting
this solved so I am not going to do anything that goes against it healing, but I
realize it’s going to be a long road back. The reality is I couldn’t do the
things I wanted to do before the surgery anyway so it’s not like had I don’t nothing
I would have otherwise been racing well this year.
If you’re scared to get it done though, I wouldn’t be. Just go
to a doctor who is good and gets what you are trying to come back to.
I’ve also been really trying to think about controlling my
weight with diet instead of workouts. That’s going to prove to be pretty
liberating I hope in the end.
If I had to guess, I would say the end of July I can start
to think about going for a jog.
BTW, I searched everywhere for what the scar would look
like, I couldn’t find one so here you go. I had what’s called a “mattress”
suture. Looks freaky with the stiches in but when they take them out its ok. My
surgeon I guess has a good way of closing so it really looks good for what went
down there.
