A Does Not Equal B (10 months)

Took my bicycle out today for its maiden voyage.  I'm here to tell you that 30 minutes on a recumbent bike is not even close to 10 minutes on a regular bike!  Five minutes into the ride, I knew that 10 minutes would be max today.  My left knee was awkward (it is stiffer), and it felt weird to pump the pedals. Came straight in and iced my left knee, just in case.  So far, so good.  I am encouraged to go out and do it again tomorrow.

I am also beginning this walking plan today from Arthritis Today--I think it will be totally doable.  http://www.arthritistoday.org/fitness/walking/tips-and-strategies/walking-plan.php?WT.mc_id=921walk 

(While writing this, I got a phone call that required that I go to the phone.  I could hardly walk; my muscles were so tight!  It reminds me of the early physical therapy days.)

"On the road again, just can't wait to get on the road again...."

I am approaching 10 months post surgery.  I have not fully recovered from that last setback following physical therapy, but progress is being made, and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

When I began this journey, I made of list of goals to reach after surgery.  I met the 2 and 4 months goals easily, and I now I am looking at my 12 month goal which was to be walking 5 miles/week in my neighborhood and to be riding a bike on the Greenline.  http://greatermemphisgreenline.org/    We live just a few blocks from an entrance to the Greenline, so I look longingly down it as I drive by daily.  I get excited just thinking about getting on it and exploring, especially in the upcoming fall weather.  Well, today I got a little closer.  Check out my new wheels!  This is an awesome bike with flat foot technology.  That means I can be sitting on my bike, and my feet are flat on the ground.  The angle of the design has me sitting a little straighter and the handlebars are higher so that I am not bending over, and therefore my visual field is greater.  I rode this in the store parking lot, and I felt like a kid!  It handled like a sports car bike would--haha, does that make sense?  Anyway, after I conquer my neighborhood streets, it's on to the Greenline for me.


I am trying to walk more, but I keep forgetting.   Maybe once I fully recover from my recent insult, I'll be more attentive.  In the meantime, I am expecting stronger legs, and that can only help with my walking.

Am I crazy?

Since my last post I have been dealing with my setback which so far has lasted 2 weeks.  The foot pain slowly subsided over 9 or so days while the calf pain increased incrementally.  It, too, very, very slowly waned, but I was driven back to physical therapy.  It was decided that because I had a vertebra in my back that was hypermobile, that the stretching probably aggravated an unknown preexisting problem that was exhibited by an irritated nerve that caused a cascade of symptoms.  I have had 3 super duper calf massages that have helped tremendously along with electrical stimulation and heat treatments.  I was told to eliminate all physical therapy type activities except one core strengthening exercise until yesterday.  I went back to my deep water aerobics class that made me feel fantastic, and today I walked in the pool.  My therapist even stretched me a bit today, and so far I have had no repercussions from that. I am sad that I got waylaid, but I am thrilled that things are going so much better now.  As bad as I was, I figured I might be down for the count.  I have lost a bunch of quad strength, but I can tell an improvement just from yesterday, so at least I am not starting back at square one.

Now to the crazy part.  I have put down money on a trip to Disney World in December!  Anyone who has ever been to Disney World knows that it can be grueling, even if you are fit!  Unfortunately for my family, I am one of those driven tourists that has to do everything, and do it well.  When my husband and I planned this trip, we agreed ahead of time that we might not do very much, and that would be ok.  We are even going for 7 days to increase our chances of doing more.  I just love the happiest place on earth, and once I got on the web site and saw all the things that are new since our last time there, plus there is a whole new park we haven't visited, I started filling up our days even though we were purposely not doing many things we have done or seen before. Each day during this setback I was wondering what in the world was I thinking when I signed up for Disney World.  So here's to the next 3 months of hopefully injury free time where I can continue to heal, continue to get strong, and increase by leaps and bounds the distances I can walk!!!