There's Hope!

Well it's been a long, long road with this bum foot, but I'm happy to say I think I'm finally going in the right direction!  After spending the last 7 months doing everything from physical therapy, to buying stock in KT Tape, to using plantar sleeves and Strausberg socks, to orthotics, and not to mention "das boot", I finally took the plunge and got a cortisone shot.  It's too early to say if this is the miracle cure because I still won't try running for a couple more weeks, but this is the first time I can "hit the floor walking" first thing in the morning instead of sounding like a wounded animal.

I got the shot on Monday afternoon, which was uncomfortable to say the least.  I walked out of the doctor's office feeling great, since my foot was so numb I couldn't feel anything.  Unfortunately the numbing spray wore off and I was suddenly thrust into one of the top 5 pains of my life.  Seriously, it was that bad!  Lucky for me I had a hidden happy stash of Vicodin, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't pay it a visit.  The next morning when I got up, I was afraid to even step out of bed.  After a couple little tests, I gingerly stepped down, and couldn't believe what I felt: nothing.  No pain. I know part of that was probably the residual Vicodin and Motrin floating around my body, but I was very encouraged by this!  Over the next few days I really took it easy, even though it was feeling pretty good.  My foot was still quite puffy from the shot, and I definitely didn't want to do anything to cause damage.  Yesterday I swam, and this morning I biked with no issue.  I'm not going to say it's 100% pain free, but it's a significant improvement since pre-shot, so I'm hopeful!

So what else have I been doing with all my down time?  Well, it got a little too chilly for kayaking, but I've been continuing to swim 3-4 days a week.  And finally, after going to my gym for a whole year, I finally branched out and went to the weight room.  Now I'm incorporating strength training and the elliptical into my workout routine, which makes me sore, sweaty and happy.

A couple weeks ago I went to North Carolina to see my good buddy Scott complete his first full Ironman distance triathlon at the Beach 2 Battleship in Wilmington.

Me & Scott at the swim exit

Feeling unmotivated?  Go watch one of these.  Watch people exhausting every cell in their body, and then digging even deeper, to achieve their goal.  It's inspiring and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't awestruck, humbled, and impressed.  I don't think I would ever even consider doing that distance, but it definitely gives me something to think about!

We chased Scott down the highway!

Scott was amazing and smashed his goals with a time of 10:24, which is good because I warned him that since I was driving 14 hours from Massachusetts to see him, I expected great things!

And since spectating was such grueling work, we then rented a beach house after the race to rest and recharge!

Views from the beach house

Fall is my favorite time of year for riding my horse, and I've been lucky to get out on some beautiful fall rides.

Brigham Hill in Grafton, MA

Recently Julia decided she wanted to get into mountain biking.  I hadn't been on my mountain bike since I bought my road bike in June, but decided to go out on some fall rides.  We went to the Upton State Forest, along with Jackie and Mike, and I forgot how much I love it!

Flying down Park Road in Upton - weeee!

We loved it so much that the following weekend we went back out, in the Douglas State Forest.  This time Julia brought her husband Tony, who hasn't been on a bike in 20 years!

Altogether now:  "awwwwww :-) "

He's clearly a natural, because I wouldn't in a million years have ridden this route if it was my first time on a mountain bike.  I never did check in afterwards to see if he could walk or if he's even still speaking to me, but at the time he had lots of smiles on his face! In any case, proof that we made it back alive!

It was a race against the sunset trying to get back before dark!

So there ya have it.  Running? No. Vacationing? Swimming? Gym-going? Riding? Mountain biking? Yes! I'm truly hoping that my next blog post will be full of complaints about how sore my legs are from running!