Reviving the blog

It's time to bring this blog back to life. I think the timing is good, right after competing at the Alumni cross country meet this past weekend, my my first race in 23 months. I'll follow up with a race report in another post but first there's some gaps I need to fill in.

First of all, the big question; where are am I at at the moment? The short answer; in good enough shape to run a 29:28 at Franklin Park. Training-wise I've been running around 45-50 miles for the past few weeks and even started running some track workouts about a month ago. The important thing is that the Achilles is feeling good but I'm still being a bit cautious and intensionally only running 5 days a week to give my foot some recovery time.

I know it seems like my recovery process has been pretty slow, especially if you consider that in my last post, which was over a year ago, I was raving about how I was starting to feel like a runner again. Back then I was thinking that it wouldn't be long before I'd be able to get back to some solid training so 20 months after the surgery it's obvious that things haven't exactly progressed as I was hoping to. I could definitely try to analyze everything that happened during all this time but that might take a while so I'll just try to sum things up in a hopefully not too long way.

Back in June 09 I was very happy with my training. I was riding 120-130 miles a week on my bike, even doing a couple of 60+ mile rides. In addition to that I was running 1-2 miles, 2-3 times a week, I was going for physical therapy 2 times a week and even had the occasional session on the elliptical. In general I was very motivated, feeling like I was in pretty good shape and excited about getting back to regular running.

Things took a different after my summer vacation in Cyprus. I didn't really do much for 3 weeks, which was pretty much what I was expecting as I wanted to enjoy my vacation and wasn't really in a position to worry about losing fitness. My summer laziness alone shouldn't have been a big deal but what got me into trouble was that I got a little impatient as soon as I returned to the Bay area. I had been very patient up to that point but suddenly I was really anxious to get back to running and pushed myself more than I should have. I was starting to feel good and thought I could both start running longer and faster at the same time, which I did without much trouble at first. Unfortunately my legs, particularly the calves, were still not strong enough and the faster pace put too much stress on the Achilles. One thing I started regretting about my laziness in Cyprus is that I neglected the stretching and strengthening exercises which I had been so diligently doing in physical therapy over the previous months. In retrospect that could have been one of the reasons of my setback as I lost some strength and flexibility and probably paid for it when I tried to run faster.

With the Achilles flaring up again I had no option but to take a break from running and shift my focus towards increasing my strength and flexibility. It was a frustrating thing to do as it felt like I was going back to where I was 4 months earlier. The frustration was followed by a significant decrease in my motivation levels. I did a decent job with my strengthening program and did as much walking/jogging as I had planned but besides that I didn't feel motivated at all to do any additional cross training. I could barely get myself to stay on the elliptical for more than half an hour and didn't manage to get any good bike rides either. Eventually I felt that I was so out of shape that I didn't see any reason to cross train. Two or three months later I slowly started getting back to running but I took things really easy this time, taking my time to progress from jogging at 10min pace to something I could actually call running.

It wasn't until late last year / beginning of this year that I was able to get back to putting in some decent runs. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing from then on but at least things were heading in the right direction. I was gradually able to handle longer runs but I couldn't get myself into a consistent training regiment. In part that was because I was being cautious and didn't want to ramp up mileage quickly. Also on a few occasions the Achilles would feel tight at the end of a run and I would give it some time off to make sure I wouldn't have another setback. These definitely sound like legitimate excuses but I can't say that I was giving this comeback my 100%. As much as I hate to say it I have to admit that at some point running was no longer my top priority. When you are only trying to run 3 or 4 times a week it doesn't seem like a big deal to skip a run and when you are not exactly in shape and don't have any real goals it's easy to let other things come in the way of running. It was kind of a weird situation overall and it took me a while to bounce out of it.

I can't really isolate a single turning point but I did get more consistent eventually, about 2 months ago. I guess the alumni meet gave me some motivation and seeing how Schmeck was falling behind in his training I started thinking I might have a shot at winning our bet. If it weren't for the alumni meet I would have probably waited a bit longer before starting track workouts and definitely wouldn't consider racing for a while longer. I think it helped though to start doing some faster stuff as I finally started feeling like I was getting more fit. In the end time kind of run out and Schmeck managed to come on top but I have to say I'm very pleased with the progress I made over the last couple of months.

That was kind of a long summary I admit. The last question I guess would be, what's next? Well, I haven't exactly figured that out yet. The important thing right now is to remain consistent and keep putting in more miles. I still need some time to get my base fitness back up to a good level so I probably won't get into any more races any time soon. We'll see, I'm playing things by ear for now. At least for the first time in quite a while, I'm being optimistic and getting excited about the future.

Once again, a runner

A monumental day! I think I can now call myself a runner again. Technically I have been "running" for the past 2 weeks but today I crossed the line from jogging to actual running. I had started doing some fast walking on the treadmill almost a month ago, gradually adding some intervals of light jogging until I managed to jog my first continuous mile 2 weeks ago. My jogging pace was only marginally faster than walking, though, I was walking at 12:30 - 13:00 pace and started jogging at just under 12:00 pace. For the past 2 weeks I have been jogging a mile every other day and gradually increased the pace but didn't really get much faster than 11:00 pace. I didn't have any issues with the Achilles but trying to get my legs moving again felt a bit awkward at first. Not surprising I guess after not having run a step in 4.5 months and still lacking strength in my legs. There was steady progress of course but no dramatic changes from one day to the next. The last few days I have been feeling stronger but I was still cautious and didn't try pushing myself much. Well, today I thought it was time to take a leap to the next level. It was a pretty good day overall, I managed to get myself out of bed early enough to ride my bike to work and had a really good ride on the way back. I'm either getting stronger or finally started figuring out how to climb hills on my bike as I was doing a really good job at it. I ended up back home around 8PM, finishing off a total of 32 miles on the bike, and despite having worked my quads quite a bit I was pumped about going for a run. As soon as I got home I switched out of my biking and into my running clothes and headed down to the treadmill for the usual mile. So far I had been doing some walking for a few minutes before starting my jog but this time I jumped right into it. I started at slightly faster than 10:00 pace for maybe a minute then brought it down to about 8:30. I kept it steady for a while and dropped down in the low 8s for the last couple of minutes. I felt like I could easily go faster but I thought it would be smarter not to get carried away. My legs are getting stronger and cardiovascularly I think I managed to keep myself in good shape. Sure, I still have ways to go but for the first time since the surgery I got a glimpse of how it feels to be running again. And what a great feeling that is. Never take that for granted.

4 Months

4 months have come and gone since the surgery and I'm staring to feel like my return to running is fast approaching. I know of course that I still have ways to go before I can get back to a regular running routine so perhaps I shouldn't be getting too far ahead of myself but it's good at least that I'm almost ready to take the next step. I met with Dr Oloff this week and he was happy with my progress, everything seems to be going according to schedule. I've been cleared to start doing some fast walking and gradually progress as tolerated to some light jogging. I got on the treadmill once this past week and walked a mile, starting at 20 minute pace and progressing down to about 13 min pace. A few times I tried to jog a couple of steps, just to see how it felt, and the result was rather encouraging. I didn't feel any pain but trying to run did feel a little awkward, which shouldn't be surprising I guess. I think my Achilles could tolerate some light running right now but I first need to build some more strength in my left leg, especially in the calf. I'm still not able to fully do a single leg calf raise on my left foot and I need to be strong enough to push myself off the ground before I can start running. Hopefully I'll get close enough by the end of this week but I'm definitely not gonna rush into it. I've waited long enough so far and I don't mind waiting a few more weeks to ensure that I don't have any setbacks. After all it's not like I'm gonna jump into running right away. I'll probably start with jogging a mile every other day and gradually build up the mileage and intensity. I'll continue to cross train until I get to the point where I'm running sufficient mileage, which of course won't be happening any time soon.

Speaking of cross training, this past week has been pretty solid. I started the week with a 29 mile bike ride on Sunday, got on the elliptical Monday-Tuesday and rode my bike to work the last 3 days of the week. Saturday was off as planned. In total I biked about 130 miles and spent a couple of hours on the elliptical. Here's the summary:

Sunday - 5/17
29 mile bike ride

Monday - 5/18
1:30 on elliptical

Tuesday - 5/19
Physical therapy
30:00 elliptical
1 mile fast walking, some jogging


Wednesday - 5/20
Biked to work
~32 miles


Thursday - 5/21
Biked to work in the morning, biked to PJCC for physical therapy, biked back to work and home in the afternoon. ~38 miles

Friday - 5/22
Biked to work
~32 miles

Saturday - 5/23
Off

Back on the open road

I'm not quite ready to start running again but last Sunday I stepped outside for my first post-surgery bike ride on the road. It was pretty exciting to be doing something outdoors again. It's not really the same as running but at least time flies by a lot more quickly when there's a change of scenery, making it easier to get a longer workout. I was a bit concerned at first about riding outdoors but I didn't have any trouble with it. The riding was actually smoother since with the clip on shoes my feet were not jostling around like on the stationary bike. I didn't have to make any sudden stops and opted to stay on flat ground so I didn't really do anything that would put too much stress on the Achilles. I rode 18-19 miles on my first ride last Sunday and rode once more on Tuesday, making it to work on my bike, about 32 miles round trip. The only drawback of starting to ride outside is that it made cross training more boring and I had to force myself a couple of times to stay on the elliptical for long enough. It ended up being a good week though, the best ever since the surgery. I spent about 3.5 hours on the bike and almost 4.5 on the elliptical in 6 days, with Saturday being a planned day off. Timewise that's about the same as running a 70 mile week which is not too shabby. If you even consider that I've been going for physical therapy 3 times a week and on those days I usually end up spending about 3 hours in the gym, plus I do a lot more stretching and strengthening exercises on a daily basis, it all adds up to a fair amount of time spent in training and rehab. One of the goals I had set for this recovery period was to go diligently through the rehab and do a decent amount of cross training and I think I'm easily meeting if not exceeding my expectations. For someone who hasn't run a step in almost 4 months I actually feel that I'm in decent shape. I know it's gonna be a while before my legs can handle a decent running volume but in the meantime I think I'm doing a good job at keeping the cardiovascular system functional.

Here's a recap of what I've done since the last update:

Thursday - 4/23
Bike 40 min

Friday - 4/24
Physical Therapy
Bike 35 min

Saturday - 4/25
Day off

Sunday - 4/26
Bike 25 min

Monday - 4/27
Elliptical 30 min
Bike 30min

Tuesday - 4/28
Bike 30 min
Elliptical 30 min

Wednesday - 4/29
Swimming 45 min

Thursday - 4/30
Elliptical 1h 30min

Friday - 5/1
Bike 1h

Saturday - 5/2
Day off

Sunday - 5/3
Day off

Monday - 5/4
Physical Therapy
Bike 15min
Elliptical 35 min

Tuesday - 5/5
Elliptical 1h

Wednesday - 5/6
Physical therapy
Bike 45 min

Thursday - 5/7
Bike 20 min
Elliptical 1h

Friday - 5/8
Physical therapy
Elliptical 1h

Saturday 5/9
Day off

Sunday 5/10
Bike ~19 miles, 1:30

Monday - 5/11
Physical therapy
1h 20min elliptical

Tuesday - 5/12
AM: Bike to work, 17 miles, 1:09:45
PM: Bike from work, ~ 14.7 miles, ~55 min


Wednesday - 5/13
Elliptical 30min

Thursday - 5/14
Elliptical 1h

Friday - 5/15
Elliptical 1h 30min

Saturday - 5/16
Day off

Some numbers

I thought about putting all the details of the workouts I've done over the past few weeks in my last post but I figured it was worth breaking into a different one. No interesting stories here, I guess this is mostly for my benefit to keep track of what I've been doing and help me stay motivated. I realize that the times I had for my swimming workouts might not be very meaningful (they don't make much sense to me either) but I put them here so I can see how much I've been improving.

Sunday 3/29
Swimming
150 warm-up
800, 600

Monday 3/30
Swimming
150 warm-up
5x200
4:01, 4:03, 4:25, 4:15, 4:19

Tuesday 3/31
Strengthening and core work at home.

Wednesday 4/1
Swimming
2x1000
22:57, 23:50

Thursday 4/2
Lifting

Friday 4/3
Swimming
150 warm-up
800-600-400-200
17:35, 13:33, 9:08, 4:14

Saturday 4/4
Nothing

Sunday 4/5
Swimming
3000
65:12
1K splits: 21:21, 43:18 (21:57), 65:12 (21:54)

Monday 4/6
Nothing as far as I can remember. Probably worked out a bit on my fitness ball.

Tuesday 4/7
Swimming
300 warm-up
10x200

Wednesday 4/8
First day of physical therapy at MORE. Worked with the trainers for about an hour then swam for about 20 min.

Thursday 4/9
Swimming
1000-800
20:25, 16:49

Friday 4/10
Physical therapy

Saturday - 4/11
Nothing

Sunday - 4/12
Nothing

Monday 4/13
Physical therapy
10 minutes on bike. First time on a bike so I was pretty cautious.
Swimming
2000
1K splits: 18:31, 19:01


Tuesday 4/14
Bike
15 min

Wednesday 4/15
Physical Therapy
Bike
20 min

Thursday - 4/16
Swimming
25 minutes


Friday - 4/17
Physical Therapy
Lifting
Achilles felt a bit sore so I opted out of the bike or swimming.


Saturday - 4/18
Nothing

Sunday - 4/19
Nothing

Monday - 4/20
Physical Therapy
Bike
30 minutes.

Tuesday - 4/21
Bike
40 minutes

Wednesday - 4/22
AM
Physical Therapy
Bike 30 min

PM
Swim 30 min

A long overdue update

It's been a while since the last post so an update was long overdue. The last few weeks have been rather eventful but I've had little time to write about it. My recovery has been going well, it sure is a long road but things are progressing well.
Over the last 3 weeks I gradually eased out of the walking boot and today was the first day I didn't wear at all. Walking without the boot felt awkward at first and for the first few days I was walking pretty slow, even slower than the first days on crutches. The lack of flexibility in my Achilles and strength in my left calf were the main limiting factors. Things progressively got better and by now I can almost walk like normal. My Achilles still gets a little stiff if I'm sitting down for a long time but after taking a few steps it loosens up and I can walk without a noticeable limp. I have to attribute the improvement to a large extend to the physical therapy sessions which I started a couple of weeks ago. I have 3 physical therapy sessions a week and I'm doing a lot of strengthening exercises on a daily basis so I've been spending a lot of time in rehab. I haven't been swimming as much mostly because between having some busy weeks at work and spending a lot of time in physical therapy, I didn't have the time for it. On the plus side, I started working out on the stationary bike so I can now have some variety in my cross training and the option of a workout which relates more to running. Overall I'm happy with the progress I made so far and I can only hope that my condition will continue to improve at the same rate. The most optimistic estimates put me back in my running shoes in about a month, which is starting to seem so close. It's hard to believe that it's been 3 months already since the surgery.

Wishing I could run

It's been 9 weeks since my surgery and until the last couple of days I made it through without letting the fact that I can't run get me down. Perhaps that wasn't the hardest thing to do while I was on crutches since running is not the first thing on your mind when you can't even walk. Even after I started walking though, I managed to keep a positive attitude and think of the bigger picture. Any other time I was injured in the past I couldn't get out of my head that as long as I was sidelined I was losing fitness day by day. The most frustrating thing is that there was usually a lot of uncertainty on the period of time I'd need to sit out and that can drive you crazy when you are eager to get back to running. My current situation is somewhat better in that respect since I have a better idea of what the recovery time frame is. This will be my longest break from running ever but knowing that ahead of time at least allowed me to prepare mentally and so far I hadn't though about running much. On Friday evening, though, I went to watch the Stanford invitational and started feeling the need to run again. As I'm getting close to the track I see lots of people running and getting ready for their races, meanwhile the radio starts playing Tom Petty's "Running down a dream", and I can't help but wish I could be racing myself. It hasn't helped that the last couple of days the weather has been sunny and in the 70s (I don't mean to make the Boston people jealous), the kind of weather that makes you hate yourself if you are not outside. Anyway, writing more about this won't help either so I'll move on to what I've been doing this past week...

It was a rather hectic week at work so I didn't do that much. I swam on Tuesday, extending my longest swim to 1500m (it's possible that this is 1500y as I'm not sure if the pool at Club O is 25m or 25y long). On Wednesday I didn't feel like swimming when I got to Club O and thought I'd lift instead. After lifting, though, I decided to go for a swim after all and did a short workout, doing a 150 warm-up, then swimming 200, 150, 100, 50 as fast as I could and finishing off with 100 cool-down. I haven't lifted in a long time but still managed to bench 3 sets of 6 repeats with plates although I was pretty sore the next few days. I didn't do much on any other day of the week as I wound up working late and with the pool closing at 9:30PM I didn't have time for a swim. Next week I'm taking the boot off and hopefully I'll be able to start doing some biking (on the stationary bike at least). I'm definitely more comfortable with swimming now but it would be good to get some cross training variety.

Back on my feet!

Last Tuesday, 54 days after my surgery, I took my first steps without crutches. I doubt there will be a bigger milestone than this in my recovery process. Sure, I still look forward to walking without the boot, getting on the bike and ultimately starting to run again, but nothing is as important as the ability to walk. There are some fundamental things that we take for granted and we can only appreciate after spending some time without them. It will take some more time of course to get back to walking normally but at least I now have my hands free and I can carry stuff, which makes a huge difference. My walking abilities are not too bad actually, I was pretty slow the first day I was back on my feet but I'm walking more comfortably now and I'm mostly limited by the clunky boot on my foot. A little over a week and I'll be back in my own shoes. Now onto the past week... I went swimming on 4 days and swam more each time compared to the previous week's sessions. Wednesday was my best day, swimming almost a mile in total and breaking my longest interval record with 1K interval. I swam that 1K in just over 26 minutes, which I'm guessing puts me in the slow jogger category in equivalent running terms but if you consider that I could barely swim 100m-200m without a break when I started I've definitely come a long way. I was hoping to put in a couple more swims like that later in the week but I came back home from work early on Thursday, feeling a bit sick and was still a bit under the weather on Friday so I took 2 days of complete rest. I went back for a swim on Saturday morning but was a bit lazy and only stayed in for half an hour. Still a good week overall, I couldn't expect to be doing much more at this point.

A good start to the week

Last week was not that great as far as training goes. I only swam Monday and Tuesday and worked out on my fitness ball Wednesday and Thursday. I wouldn't say I was slacking since it was mostly work getting in the way or the pool being way too crowded for me to swim in. I suppose I still did a lot more than what the average person on crutches would do but I like to hold myself to higher standards. I'm trying to make it to the pool on weekdays or get some other kind of workout on days I don't manage to swim. I'm not obsessing much about working out on weekends and I'll gladly skip a workout if I have something else planned. It's not that I'm obsessing much about my training in general at the moment but if on any given day my options are between sitting on the couch at home and going for a swim I feel like I owe it to myself to do the latter. In any case, things got off to a better start this week with a nice 40 minute swim. I didn't have anything planned for the day and since I hadn't swam the last 5 days I figured it was worth driving up to Club O. I had a good session, swimming something over 1K. That's probably really unimpressive but I'm only using my arms, I don't know much about swimming, which means my technique is probably horrible and I can't make a flip turn (I made a couple of unsuccessful attempts, maybe I should try it out some more) so I'm wasting a lot of time each time I get to the end of the pool. I feel at least that my swimming abilities are improving and I'm getting more comfortable in the water. In a few weeks I should be able to start biking so who knows, maybe after all these I could give a triathlon a shot.

Swimming!

I'm about a week late posting this but it's still pretty exciting news. Last Wednesday (March 4) I went swimming for the first time since my surgery and finally got a real workout. I don't think I have ever been excited about swimming, in fact I always dreaded heading to the pool, mostly because it was associated with me being injured. Funny how your perspective changes when you can't even walk for 6 weeks. Being able to swim suddenly feels a lot more liberating, even though, in my case, getting in and out of the pool is quite a process. Between switching from my street clothes to my swim truncks and back, I had to take off and put on my walking boot 3 times (which has a bunch of straps and flaps to remove). Making my way with crutches from the locker room into the pool must also look rather entertaining. I'm not complaining, though, and I've actually been feeling very motivated to work out these days. I went for a swim 5 times so far, going every day since I started except the weekend, when I didn't feel like driving up to Club O, and today when I got held up at work and didn't have the time to squeeze a swim in. Even on those days I worked out a bit at home, doing some strengthening and core stuff. So I no longer feel that I'm a lazy bum, like the first few weeks post-op.

Now on to the actual swimming part. I can't say that I've been pushing myself much but I think that I've been getting some decent workouts. I started with a 15 minute swim and progressed to about half an hour. I'm also gradually cutting my breaks shorter and increasing the actual swimming time. I know it doesn't seem like much but things are tougher when you suck at swimming and cannot even use your legs. Even in just a few days I've noticed some improvement so hopefully I'll be better and stronger soon and I'll be swimming more. I don't expect to become a competitive swimmer any time soon but what's important is that I'm doing something to stay reasonably fit.

Cast-free

I had another post-op follow up with Dr Oloff today to check up how my recovery is progressing. Everything seems to be going well and the doctor even said my foot looked better than he was expecting. There's not much swelling and the incission has healed nicely. I was expecting that I would get another cast but I ended up leaving in a walking boot, which has both advantages and disadvantages. I almost got the option of choosing between getting another cast but getting rid of the crutches then switching to the walking boot in a couple of weeks or going straight to the walking boot but sticking with the crutches for two more weeks. In the end Dr Oloff thought it would be best to go with the walking boot mostly because the skin on my foot was a bit irritated and the boot would allow it to breathe better. It would have been nice to get rid of the crutches but at least I can now take a shower without a cast. My foot certainly appreciated getting a good wash after being covered up for almost 6 weeks. I can also take the boot off at night and replace it with a splint, which will make things a little more comfortable. The best news though is that I can now get in the pool so I can finally start getting some exercise again.  Tomorrow I should be going for my first swim. 

1.5 feet on the ground

I'm closing in on 5 weeks after the surgery and an update was long overdue. I had every intention to post some more regular updates about my progress but I never got it. The truth is life isn't very exciting when you have to walk around with crutches so I can't say that I had much to write about.

There haven't been any dramatic changes since the first days after the surgery, just a gradual and steady improvement.  My left leg is still in a cast and I still need crutches to walk around but as you may have figured out from the title I can at least put some weight on the operated foot. I was on a non-weight bearing cast for the first 3 weeks and spent a lot of time trying to balance myself on one leg. It took some getting used to and for the first few days it felt like I was getting a workout everytime I had to walk. Not a bad thing I guess since I spent most of my days lying or sitting down. I think it helped improve my upper body strength along with my sense of balance and coordination, getting to the point where I could comfortably walk a decent distance. 

I changed over to a weight bearing cast about a week and a half ago so things are even more comfortable now since I can stand on both feet. It took a few trips to the doctor before I could get a weight bearing cast as they had to push my foot up to a 90 degree angle before I could stand on it. My foot was pretty stiff the first couple of times I replaced the cast and I went through a few intermediate stages where they kept pushing my foot further up each time. They got it up to a 90 degree angle eventually and I gradually started putting weight on it.  I was supposed to be putting only 25% weight for the first week, which basically meant my foot was touching the ground but pretty much just used for balance, with all the weight on the crutches. I'm now at a 50% weight so it almost feels like I'm walking normally, with some support of course from the crutches. Next week I'll start using only one of the crutches and a week later I'll be crutch-free. I'll be walking with the cast at first then getting a walking boot for another couple of weeks so I'm looking at almost another month before I'm walking around with my own shoes on both feet. 

It goes without saying that all this time I've been eager to get some kind of exercise. It's tough to do much when you are standing on one leg so I was fairly sedentary for the first 3 weeks. I did some crunches every now and then but nothing particularly demanding. I made it to the gym once and even had the bright idea of trying to work the stationary bike with one leg but that was rather unsucessful. I guess I'll need to wait a couple more weeks before doing any form of cross training. In the meantime I'm trying to stick to an almost daily program of core work and upper body strengthening. 

That's all for now. Hopefully I won't take another month to post an update. 

The first few days

It's been 3 days now since my surgery and my recovery has been going well. I haven't experienced any side effects from the surgery or the medication I've been taking. No drowsiness, nauseousness, stomach pains or anything. I only watched out my diet on the day of the surgery, just to be on the safe side and not because I felt that I'd get nauseous from eating something. The day after the surgery I was already back to my regular diet.  

The pain has been rather mild although I should probably attribute that to the pain killers, which seem to do a good job at masking the pain. I had been taking pain killers every time I started to feel some pain, which would happen every 4-6 hours. I was also using a cryotherapy unit, which is a cooler-like box with a motor that pumps ice cold water to my foot to reduce the pain and swelling. Basically instead of icing my foot I had this unit attached the whole day (I only plugged it off when I went to bed at night), constantly cooling my foot. I stopped using the unit last night and today I only took a pain killer in the morning and I'm still pain free 9-10 hours later. 

Everything I mentioned so far makes it seem like the surgery hasn't affected me much but it goes without saying that my mobility has taken a big hit. I need to be walking around with crutches for 2-3 weeks without putting any weight on my left foot. For the first 3 days my foot was just wrapped around with bandages and a splint on the back of my leg but today I had that replaced with a cast. Even with the cast, though, I can't put any weight and I'll rely on the crutches until I can switch the cast to a walking boot. Even the simplest tasks become challenging when you have to balance on one foot and can't walk and carry anything in your hands at the same time. One of the toughest situations is waking up in the middle of the night, needing to use the bathroom, and having to find my way there while half asleep.  At least I've gotten the hang of it by now and I can walk around rather comfortably whenever I'm fully conscious. I still spend most of my day lying in bed or on the couch, which doesn't take long to get boring.  I watched as much TV as I could take this past weekend but I'll be back at work this week (still at home but working nonetheless) so I'll have things to keep me busy. I'll be able to start driving on Wednesday so I'll even be able to get out of the house a little bit. 

All things considered I'm happy with how things are progressing. I still have a long way to go before I'm fully recovered but the worst part is over with. 

Surgery

I went back to Waverly Surgery center today and this time everything went according to plan. I was in at 6:30 am, in the operating room at 7:30 and on my way back home by 10:30. I was actually a bit surprised at how quickly everything was over with. I remember being rolled into the operating room and starting to doze off along the way then waking up in the recovery room a couple of hours later. I was fully concsious 5 minutes after I woke up, not feeling any drowsiness or pain (thanks to some good pain killers of course). I didn't have much trouble the rest of the day either besides having to deal with some discomfort from lying in bed all day with my leg elevated. I was able to walk around with crutches right away but was instructed to restrict my movements to only the necessary trips to the bathroom. It's good to finally have the surgery out of the way and knowing that everything went well. 

A break from daily posts ...

I haven't had much to write about for the last couple of months but I never got out of the habbit of posting daily updates. With my surgery coming up in a week I won't have any running to write about for quite some time so I'll only write whenever I have something that's worth mentioning. Look out for updates on the surgery and my recovery process. 

Friday, January 16, 2009 [0M]

I went to Waverly surgery center this morning for my scheduled Achilles tendon surgery but came out without even making it to the operating room. The reason: a small cut on my left ankle which I got from the soccer boots I was wearing when I played soccer last Monday. It was just a small open wound but my doctor thought it would be  best to postpone the surgery to avoid the risk of infection. I was literally 5 minutes from heading to the operating room when the surgery was called off. I was all prepped for it, had the IV on my arm and even had the lower part of my left leg shaved. I wanted to get the surgery over with so it was kind of annoying to push it back for another week but it's definitely better to be on the safe side. 

Thursday, January 15, 2009 [0M]

Wednesday, January 14, 2009 [0M]

Spent last night in London and flew to SF this morning. Long, long flight. 

Tuesday, January 13, 2009 [0M]

Flew from Larnaca to London. 

Monday, January 12, 2009 [0M]

Played some soccer again. It will probably be a long time until I play soccer again. 

Sunday, January 11, 2009 [0M]

Saturday, January 10, 2009 [0M]

Friday, January 9, 2009 [0M]

Thursday, 8 January, 20098 [0M]

Wednesday, 7 January, 2009 [2M]

Ran a couple of miles for warm-up before playing a soccer game. 

Tuesday, 6 January, 2009 [0M]

Monday, 5 January, 2009 [0M]

Sunday, January 4, 2009 [0M]

Saturday, January 3, 2008 [6M]

Rizoelia.

Friday, 2 January 2009 [0M]

Thursday, 1 January 2009 [0M]