by That was the mantra I came up with for my first foray into trail running back in ’05, training for Pikes Peak Marathon, and it seems just as apropos now as it did then. I’m relentlessly pursuing forward momentum…only instead of making it up 12 percent grades to the top of a 14er, I’m climbing back from injury.
I just got back from doc’s office. I’m glad I tried to go in with no expectations because the reality is just a little bit sobering. My hubby pointed out on the way home that the length of recovery says something about how bad my break was/is.
The good news is that everything is healing well. My incision looks good, my x-rays were great. My break is still healing. I got some clarification; what I thought were more temporary sutures wrapped around the area of the break above the section of bone with the screws is actually Kevlar wire encircling the bone that will be there forever. Kinda badass, huh? I also found out that the reason why the other side of that ankle hurt and swelled so much was that I did indeed have sprained ligaments to go along with the break. That made sense and explained a lot of the pain and bruising that seemed to last forever.
Dr. Hill gave me the okay to walk in the house without the boot on, which I will greatly appreciate (it means solo showers, not having to sit down to pull on pants, no putting on/taking off/putting on the boot in order to shower or dress or whatnot). I need to stay in the boot outside of the house for another month, so I still have four more weeks of wearing only one shoe with my outfits. But I can walk as much as I feel comfortable doing while I’m in the boot. I have to be very careful of rough or uneven terrain because the break is still healing and I could rebreak it if I were really klutzy and had a bad fall. Yikes.
Right now, I need to focus on stretching and flexibility and gradually getting my strength back. The doc told me some things I should work on and that most of what I’ll feel right now will be a lot of stiffness. I shouldn’t do to the point that I feel pain (discomfort yes, pain no). He said there was no need for physical therapy right now, that I was already doing (and able to do) much of what a physical therapist would work with me on right now. I’m going to see where I get on my own for awhile. He did say it’s going to take months to recoup all the muscle that has atrophied.
The BEST news is that I can swim, ride the stationary bike, use the elliptical trainer, row, even do some weight training. Doc told me to expect to do about one third of what I could do before my fall, so when Hubby joked that I could do 60-mile rides, he amended to say, “You can do one third of what a normal person would do.” lol
I will let pain and swelling be my guide. I have a full day today, so I’m saving my inaugural trip to the gym until tomorrow afternoon, and I feel like a kid in a candy store…what should I do?!?
I go back to the doc in four weeks. At that point, I will most likely be in a brace that I can wear with a shoe. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take a walk without the monster boot.
Ah well; until then, I’m going to really enjoy doing my workouts and finding my foot flexibility again! It’s all about that relentless pursuit….
