Recruiting

Yesterday was my youngest's 11th birthday.  Tater is my child who is most unlike the others.  She is overly sedentary, tends to be physically weak, and emotionally immature.  She'll catch up, I know.  It is all about growing up, but also about gaining maturity.

But that physically weak thing, that I can do something about.  For her birthday, we got her a grown up bike.  It is what she wanted, and we've been building up the expectation for it for at least a month. When she got to see it, she was so excited she wanted to ride it right away!  The bike was accompanied by a ding-ding bell, and an adapter bar so it will fit on my car's bike rack.

Today, weather permitting, we will be taking a ride together.  Of course, I woke up to sunny skies, but a very strong wind, so today's bike ride may be limited to a 10-block jaunt down the street to the library.  But it will be better than nothing.  My intent is to take her riding with me at least twice a month.  These will be the long 10 mile rides, if I can work her up to it.  I want to start her out well.  She's just hitting the front edge of puberty, and that was when I started to put on weight and become doughy.  I don't want that for her. 

She will be my first fitness recruit. :)

DigiFit and BeColorado

I work for the University of Colorado.  Out this way, we like to think of ourselves as the most fit place in the country.  It's probably close to true.  Lots of Coloradans are outdoorsy and busy people; they are more likely to be fit than not.

Except for me, of course.  I'm still a lump of potatoes, for the most part.  I'm getting better about getting up and moving, or at least biking.  The ankle/leg still are not up to par and won't be for months, so walking is out of the question.  But so far, biking is going well.

The university has implemented a "Be Colorado" campaign, intended to get those of us who aren't being so good to ourselves to be a bit better about getting exercise, and ultimately, to be healthier.  I already do many of the things that I need to do to stay healthy, at least in the eating department.  I eat decently, not too much junk in my diet, and I recognize that what I put in my body is important.  This doesn't mean I don't occasionally have that piece of cake or package of candy, of course, but I tend to shy away from the junkiest junk (potato chips).  I usually get plenty of sleep, and I am an active person, overall.  I unfortunately work a sedentary job, however, and that's definitely not good for me.

Be Colorado teamed up with DigiFit to provide university employees with a way to monitor and encourage our workouts.  If I work out at least moderately 30 minutes, twelve times a month, I can actually get paid for it.  The DigiFit app for my Android phone helps me to keep track of everything, and it automatically uploads it to the website so I can get my little payment for being good.  I used the app for the first time this past Thursday, when I made a 10-mile bike ride over the course of an hour and 3 minutes.  The app ran while I biked, giving me periodic updates about my speed, my average speed, and how many miles I had gone.  Very cool.  When I was ready to take a break (I usually take a break halfway through and eat a little something and drink plenty of water), I just paused it, then resumed it when I was ready to go again.  When I completed my workout, it calculated my totals and uploaded them right to the Be Colorado sight so I could get credit for it.

The app itself, which I could not get a screen shot of, shows my time, miles, current speed, average speed, and the calories burned.  This information all gets uploaded to the website and I can see it as a graph and a map.  Very cool.

I liked hearing how far I had biked, and it also helped me to determine when I should either take a break, or turn around and go back.  I find that a 10-12 mile bike ride is about right for me for a "heavy" workout, but I can't do that kind of biking every day, at this point.  This past week/weekend I was able to bike four times.  The first was 10 miles, the second 10.5, but the third was only 7.  I was really worn out.  Today's bike ride was only 2 miles.  I just didn't have much left for it today. 

But you know what?  That's okay.  I was out there, I was moving, I was working, I was DOING IT.  Even if others can bike laps around me, I'm still biking laps around the guy sitting home in his easy chair. 

The weekend is over for me, and that means I probably won't ride again until Friday.  Then it will be three rides in three days.  Besides, we're going to get snow again this week.  No biking in the snow!

Never Waste a Nice Day

The bike path on a spring day with a front rolling through.

After ten days of really not-so-nice Spring weather, which is perfectly normal here, I finally was able to get back out on my bike on Friday.  The weather was warm, in the mid-60's, the sky generally sunny but with some clouds, and there was no wind.  I rode 14.5 miles, my usual route.  My knees are still angry, but I ignore them and push on.  The ankle is twinge-y afterwards, but during the ride itself it does not hurt.  Biking, fortunately, is not weight-bearing, so doesn't put the kind of pressure on my leg and ankle that walking would.

I do miss walking, for sure.  But right now walking is off the exercise menu.  I don't know when it will be back on the menu.  I still limp if I walk too fast or if the surface is uneven.  I don't necessarily favor the foot, but I'm also very careful to look where I'm walking, so I don't accidentally step off the side of the pavement or into a hole.  There are still certain movements that bring sharp pain, and I learned long ago to never ignore or discount sharp pain.  Stiffness and achiness is one thing; sharp pain is not something to mess around with.

I don't know how much of the sharp pain is from all the hardware in there, or just ligaments and other soft tissue readjusting itself.  There is still a lot of soft tissue damage, a lot of healing remains.  But I will keep biking, and work on that leg, until it is as good as the other one.

Saturday's bike ride was a bit more of a challenge for me than Friday.  The weather was still warm, but a busy Friday and ten days since the last time I'd biked had taken their toll.  And, there was a brisk wind, probably about 10-12 miles per hour, as a front was moving through.  This made for really great cloud-watching, but not so great when trying to pedal against that wind.  I did ten hard miles, fighting either a head- or cross-wind the entire time.  I don't regret doing it, but my thighs are sore today.  I'm going to put off riding today, and hope to get more bike rides in later this week.  We are, of course, supposed to get another round of snow/rain/cold over the next four days, so it's a good thing I won't have time to ride.

Brass mile marker on the bike path.  There is a marker ever half mile.

Back At It

Thursday my doctor gave me the all-clear to do whatever I wanted "as tolerated."  This, to me, means, if it hurts a little, it's still okay, so go for it! 

I couldn't wait to get back on my bike, as you well know.  And the weather was going to cooperate, too.  It was in the mid-60's by mid-morning Friday, so I loaded up my bike and headed to the greenway.  Finally got to use my new bike rack, using the adapter bar for my bike that I got for Christmas.  It fits nicely, although I had to make some adjustments to get it just right.  I drove to the flattest part of the greenway, parked and got on my bike.  There was a moment or two of trepidation as I flexed my foot and pushed off for the first time, but once I was moving, I was fine.  It felt wonderful to be moving like that again, and my legs fell into rhythm and I had no trouble.  I rode at a moderate pace for about 2 1/2 miles, then took the trip back at a more leisurely pace.  I didn't want to overdo it, and to be honest my knees aren't all that happy for me right now.

Today I rode 9 miles, the first half working the legs pretty hard, the second half a much more lazy pace.  The legs feel fine, the ankle feels fine, so I'm going to work back up to my 15 miles over the next week or so, weather permitting.

It feels great to be up and moving again, great to be active.  Now I can get back to my plans of getting back in shape, losing a little weight, and overall just taking good care of myself.  I need to do this for myself!

One More Week...

One more week...

On Thursday I see my surgeon for the second followup from my December 31st surgery.  It has been ten weeks since I broke my leg up there on the mountain.  The cast has been off for just over three weeks, and unless I'm outside of the house, I am going barefoot/in socks.  I go up and down the stairs, sometimes foot over foot, but usually one step at a time.  I definitely have a limp, unless I walk slowly and with shorter steps, then it is virtually unnoticeable.  The leg itself is still swollen from the knee down,some days worse than others, and the ankle and foot are swollen as well.  I expect that will be the case for months.

In a week, I hope to be on my bike again.  I may only go a few miles, rather than my usual 15.  I may stay in one very flat area, rather than to risk inclines or declines.  But I'm going to be on my bike, and I'm going to be riding.  My right knee, from months of non-use because that leg had to be non-weight-bearing, is back to its creaky, painful state.  The first two weeks in the cam boot were so painful to my knee I didn't notice any pain in my foot.  That right knee is the worst of the two, and it had benefited the most from the biking.  It has gotten better over the last week, likely just because I've been getting around more, putting that knee to more use. 

The weather is supposed to cooperate this week.  We had snow yesterday, but it's a spring-like snow.  Wet and melting right away.  We're supposed to have temperatures in the 60's and touching 70 most of the week.  Friday morning, I'm going to load my bike onto the bike rack on my car and drive up to the bike shop and let them air up the tires and give it a looking over.  It's been sitting since right after Christmas, I'm sure the tires need at least air.  After it is given a clean bill of health, I'm going to drive to the flattest of our green spaces and see how I do. 

Will I overdo it?  That is likely, but it is also just as likely that I'll push my limits and stop when I should stop, and come home to ice the ankle and maybe the knee, and rest up.  Then I will do it again on Saturday.  And maybe on Sunday. 

I am anxious to get moving again.  I'm anxious to be on my bike, wind in my hair, my muscles doing what muscles are supposed to do.  It may be a while until I can ride that 15 miles again.  But I'll be closer than I am today, and I'll still be circling all those people who are just sitting on the couch. 

And that will be good enough for me.

If She Can Do It...

...then so can I.

As I write this, it is snowing heavily, and we are expecting about a foot of snow by the time it is all done sometime after dark.   Not really great biking weather, no matter what kind of bike you have.  But, that doesn't mean I'm not thinking about it, or thinking about other news in the area that involve athletes and fitness.

I live in Colorado, the home of several Olympic athletes and medal holders, including Lindsey Vonn.  A week or so ago, she landed poorly during a giant slalom run in Schladming, Austria, trashing her knee in three very painful ways.  She had to spend nearly a week waiting for surgery, which was performed in her home town of Vail, Colorado, by the doctor who has kept her healthy since she was 13 years old.  I saw the film of her fall, and clearly heard her crying in pain.  Kinda sounded like me when they moved my ankle up on the mountain back in December.  OW.

What is remarkable about any of this is that she intends to ski in the next Winter Olympics, which is less than a year away.  She has to not only heal from the surgery and the broken bone, but she needs to rehab from that, and then work out until she is in Olympic shape again.  I realize she's young, just over half my age, but even so, this sounds really ambitious.  Not that I doubt she will make it.  I certainly do not doubt it at all.  Lindsey is a powerhouse skier who has worked hard to be where she is in the world standings.  

And if she can do it, set the goal and make the goal (which she has had to do before with injuries), then there's nothing to stop me, right?  I'm already well on the way to recovery, after the maddening weeks of the leg being immobilized by the cast.  I'm already walking without crutches, and the movement in my ankle is twice as good as it was the day after the cast was removed.  The swelling continues to go down, day by day.  My goal is to be on a bike by first of April.  I may beat that; if I am cleared to wear a regular shoe when I visit the doctor the middle of March, then I will definitely beat that date.  I may only be able to ride on flat surfaces at first, but that's okay.  There are plenty of flat trails around here.  I will probably be sore, and I will probably need higher-than-usual doses of ibuprofen.  

My knees miss biking.  My legs miss biking.  My face misses biking.  Soon.  Very very soon.

And I leave you now with the last picture I took before my fall.  Why not, right?

New Treads

In anticipation of my return to freedom, I bought myself some new treads.  The cast is due to come off later this week, if everything looks good in there (won't know until the xray), and I have just about worn out my old New Balance 993's.  I learned years ago the importance of wearing good shoes, and I'm lucky to be in a business where I can wear my tennis shoes to work every day (with jeans).  My very first pair of New Balance 993's were pricy, about $150, but I'd been having problems with my feet and went to a better shoe store to have my foot measured and get a decent recommendation for a supportive, sturdy, and well-fitting shoe for my foot type.  I'm on my third pair of 993's in about 8 years.  They last a long time, they give my feet the overall support they need, the treads hold up in all the walking I do, and run in sizes big enough to accommodate my over-sized feet.

My current pair are pretty worn, both inside and out, and it was time for a new pair.  I went to my favorite website for New Balance shoes, Joe's New Balance Outlet, and took a look.  I usually get my 993's for about a third of the cost of buying them in the store.  And if there's a sale, I do even better, and often get free shipping. But after wearing the same shoes for so long, I kind of wanted a change of pace, so I put in my size in the shoe finder, sorted by price (low to high) and saw what was available.  I think I've found a new love.

These are fashionable, with a slight wedge heel, and leather and mesh.  They have big cleats on the bottom compared to my 993's, and are a more all-around outdoor shoe.  The wedge is going to be helpful as I wear the cam boot for the next few weeks, as it is a higher shoe than my current 993's.

And, they are pink!  I like pink.

The importance of good shoes that fit your foot properly cannot be emphasized enough.  My husband right now is suffering from a bout of Morton's Neuroma,  a very painful foot condition thought to be caused by wearing cheap shoes.  My husband is the king of cheap shoes...if it can't be bought at Walmart he isn't wearing it.  He is now paying for that.  When you're young, you can get away with cheap shoes.  But in your 50's?  You'd better be buying the good ones.

I'm looking forward to breaking these girls in.  Even if it is just one shoe at a time!