The Long and Winding Road (ahead...)

It's been 6 weeks since the surgery. What a great week! I did 6 workouts, and managed a total of 16 miles of running. I did two strength workouts, stretched 6 days and on the foam roller 6 days. There were many painful moments and reminders (shoulders down and back...breathe...feet straight...work through the pain to the end...). Today was my first adventure outdoors in the park. I loved every step of the 3 mile run. It marked the true beginning of my training for the 50. Rick rode alongside of me, which is also part of my plan. I really need him to support the longer runs, and what better way for him to do that than with a nice bike ride with his wife? His presence gives me a sense of comfort I cannot get running alone.

This week is also the first full week of working with my new program. I've talked a lot about my trainer, Keith. If any of you watch the Biggest Loser, for me, Keith is my Bob Harper. When you click with a trainer, never leave that person. I "clicked" with Keith the very first time I met him in Hawaii. A trainer/coach relationship is about trust. Not only trusting your trainer, but allowing him/her to instill trust in yourself. When you have full and implicit trust in the program,your training and your own abilities, you can achieve anything. I don't say that lightly. This was probably the most important take away from my Ironman. Trust. For the new reader, you should know that I did not know how to swim when I started my Ironman dream. I did not own a bicycle. I had only dabbled in 5 and 10K's. I was hardly the vision one had when thinking of an Ironman. Today, I am a changed human being. I have learned to trust.

So, when the email arrived from Keith announcing my new program, I remembered that I had to trust. He is as passionate about his work as I am about mine. We both have a role to play in this adventure, and we both trust each other to execute to the best of our abilities. I can't even begin to tell you how much I learned from him during Ironman training. Now, I trust that I will learn so much again about myself, and what it means to be human. My body has evolved and aged, and I have gained much wisdom since Ironman, but I remain fearless and fierce in my determination to trust both Keith, and myself. I am so excited for the next chapter, and to start down that long and winding road to the finish line.

Week Two

Just over four weeks post-surgical, and I'm feeling like the surgery was a success, and I will be able to work out the "kinks" and start to ramp up a running program. This week, I was able to increase the mileage by 50% to a whopping 11.6 miles! Perhaps the best part of the week was I did three days in a row of three miles each. Albeit a little slow (38 minutes), but got the job done. The pain in my toe is slowly dissipating, and is truly a reflection of the surgery. No hint of the hallux rigidus pain (those of you who know will know I am referring to the nightmare of bone pain...burning pain...impervious to Aleve pain). There are new issues cropping up, but nothing I did not expect. Because I have favored the left leg so much for so long, my right knee clicks when I climb stairs. I sent a quick note to Keith to see about corrective exercises that I can employ to help get the body square again. Need to address that soon before it turns into a full blown problem. Goals for next week are 15 miles total, and my first run outside on uneven terrain. I've been a bit leery of outdoors until the foot had healed a little bit more. Most of you know I live 1/2 mile from Umstead Park, which is the actual course for the 50 mile run. What better way to train than on the course?

Week One and Motivation

It was a great recovery week. Much better than I had anticipated. Sure, day one and day two were rough. Why shouldn't they be? By day three, I knew the doctor was right when he said 2 forward, 1 backward. I had to take Wednesday off. The foot was sore and a little swelling was noticeable next to the incision. But, that turned out to be the right thing to do as day four and day five were kick ass for someone recovering from a cheilectomy! Started the week with a very slow 1.6 miles, and ended with a 2.5 mile jog in 32 minutes. I was very pleased. Being ever vigilant about my biomechanics, I am noticing minor issues. My right knee clicks when I climb stairs. I know that's from favoring the left foot for weeks, and will no doubt disappear when I finally get my weight evenly distributed. I'm limping a lot less though, and moving through space a little quicker. I am very happy that the pain I experienced on Friday was comparable to the pain I had the week before surgery, so I know it's healing.

That brings me to the motivation part. Usually, I am highly self motivated, and don't need too much to spur me in to action. Training for Ironman taught me how to take myself out there and pound out a workout. Today, I found new motivation in a strange place. The dressing room in Dick's Sporting Goods. Oh yeah, nothing quite like the annual excursion to purchase the summer's swimsuit to bring it all in to sharp focus. Liposuction came to mind. I left with the new suit, and new found motivation to run my ass off. On to week two! My goal is to hit a 5K by Friday.

The Longest Mile

....is the first mile. Especially after double foot surgery. Today was my first step on to the treadmill. A familiar place. I stashed my water bottle in the usual cubby hole, turned on the TV and tuned to CNN (which held my interest this morning...normally does not), and pushed START. I quickly discovered that walking is not fun or pain free. I had assumed that jogging might be easier since I wouldn't be "pushing off" with nearly the degree of flexion. Gee, wouldn't it be easier to simply bounce up and down in a jog? My hand reached out for the speed control and started to tap it. 2.5, 2.8, 3.0, 3.4, 3.5....OK that's enough. The jogging was going pretty well. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I remembered the surgeon saying "OK to walk/jog". Then, it slipped right out of my mind. I was enjoying my new found freedom so much I kept going for 30 minutes. I ended up with 1.6 miles. Normally, I would say "big woop" and slap myself for such a wimpy run. Not so today. Big celebration! I packed my gym bag for another try tomorrow. 1.7?