I took the plunge. Yesterday after spinning on the trainer for 45 dizzy minutes, I decided to go downstairs and try to run on the treadmill. I ran barefoot. 3 minutes. About a 14 minute pace (It's not about speed....yet). Pain? No, not really. Some slight throbbing of the Achilles, but seriously, I no longer trust myself to rate pain on a scale of 1-10, and quite honestly I have difficulty distinguishing from the heel bone and the Achilles. I do feel the bone, and my guess-- after talking to others who have broken a bone, had bone surgery, lost part of a bone-- they still feel the bone afterwards for quite awhile. It's not painful, but rather a constant reminder. A few hours later I could feel my ankle/heel area stiffening up, so I went on a bike ride with my 8-year old. Not as easy as you might like to think. He, like his father, is a risk-taker. So we rode a lot of over-grown trails and then up a nice steep hill (on the road). It did, however, loosen me up. BTW, I wore my Trek Sport Fivefingers.
Fast-forward to today, a morning that was no different than any other morning since I've been on my feet post surgery. I rode Phat Shirley out to my favorite horse trails (Infirmary Park), rode around, and then rode home. About 16 miles. The nice aspect of cycling is it really requires me to ride evenly on both sides. No gimping around allowed. And again, with Phat Shirley, speed doesn't matter. Courage matters, which I am slowly regaining. I do a lot of thinking out on the trails, be it running or cycling, and it never fails to amaze me how my self-perception and self-confidence is intrinsically tied to running. If I liked tattoos, mine would say "I'd rather be running" or, since I seem to lack courage at the moment, a license plate that says, "My other car is my running shoes." Courage.
Anyway, when I returned home, I stretched, hopped on the treadmill for (get ready...) 4! minutes at a slightly faster clip. Barefoot. Again, I am slowly regaining the courage.
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