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