Death By Frisbee

For weeks now I've been going to Yoga on campus on Monday and Wednesday. Each time I've left it, I've noticed people playing ultimate frisbee. I used to play ultimate frisbee with the campus club. Back in 1982. I don't think I've played since then. With the couch to 5k thing, I've found myself feeling really good. Ultimate frisbee requires running and walking, and some throwing, and it's fun. So I showed up about 17:00 yesterday to see if they were there, and they were. I tossed the disc in a circle with them for a while, then joined a game. Wisely, no one passed to me, but I did try my best to block. I can barely run, so I wasn't effective at blocking either. But it was a hard work out for me, and I enjoyed it a lot.

In the end, it was far more painful than what Brian has me do. I was a little worried I might have hurt myself. My ankle made some weird pops and felt really sore. I strained the inner thigh muscles on my right leg pretty badly. But, it all passed. If it is swollen today, I can't really tell by looking at it.

The group meets Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 17:00. I think I'll plan on being there to play on Thursdays. The Mondays and Wednesdays are in between Yoga and Couch, so perhaps I'll just take pictures of them for a little while on those days. They also play on Saturdays at 13:00, but not this Saturday as they will be in a tournament in Las Vegas.

Couch To 5k again

Yesterday I did my second couch to 5k. I was a little surprised I made it, not because of the first, but because of my lunch. Lunch made me feel bad.

But I made it. Brian got back from Albuquerque in time that he made it too.

I wore the five fingers again. I put the left on first, and it was tight. My foot was swollen. But the right foot was swollen too when I put that one on. Interesting.

On the first day, but the end of the first 60 seconds of jogging, my left foot hurt. It was the hurt of tired, the hurt of having overworked weak musclles. I made it all the way through last night without that hurt being nearly as intense. I improved a lot in two days, which I expect given the way things havce gone for me.

I'm supposed to do it again tomorrow or Saturday on my own. I might very well do it twice before Monday comes around again. It's a 20 minute work out, and not hard, and I like the way it makes me feel, even if I do complain a lot about the sore muscles.

In other news, I'm wearing shoes again today. Myheels are getting too dry, and wearing shoes has proven to be easiest way to moisturize them.

Yesterday's yoga made my left arm numb. It's sadly common for my arms to go numb if I exercise my shoulders. And yesterday's class really hit the shoulders hard.

Couch To 5K

Yesterday I did day one of the Couch to 5k. It was five minutes of walking, which I was able to do at a normal person's walking speed, then we alternated running and walking for 20 minutes. All told, it was at least 2100 meters.

My foot rather quickly discovered that it was weak. Very very weak. But I managed to do it all. I started out up front and by the end I had migrated half way back to the middle group.

I wore my five-fingers. I want to learn to run barefoot, so why not start learning that as I relearn to run. I limp today because of mild soreness. Very mild soreness. I expect that tomorrow will be a bit worse. And tomorrow I do it again.

Good news?

Since the start of 2011 I have good news. I can stand on my toes! I can also walk almost as fast as normal people can walk.

I made a new years resolution: to go on a five mile run.

Starting Monday Dr. Borchers is doing a "Couch to 5k" program that I definitely plan to attend.

I'm in yoga classes two or three times a week now, depending on the week.

The Mountain Isn't Coming To Schlake

I started this because I went to to the doctors office about a cyst, and after the blood tests they felt that I didn't have two months. I had more blood tests. My lack of progress has receeded quite a bit. I still feel amazingly better (for instance, I've had a minor couch recently, but I'm not bedridden and deathly ill as in previous years), but my numbers are bad. Something like spontaneous pancreas failure bad. I shall have to work harder, and eat better. Dr. Borchers has chastised me in the past about my love of chocolate chip cookies. I guess, though, that I should never give him the chance to do that again. Last night, instead of going out to eat because I'm lazy, I stayed home and ate cooked greens (though with a bit more bacon and bacon grease than I know I should have) and a soup of beets, beet greens, chicken broth, and egg noodles. Today I'm probably still in deep trouble despite my wonderful meal last night, but at least I have frightening fluorescent orange urine. My breakfast today, rather than a burrito purchased in the Hispanic Food Triangle, I'm eating green leafy vegetables. For lunch I have carrots and a cucumber. Hopefully I can be strong.

An Update Is Needed

I haven't posted because I've had little good news to share. News is still bad, but it is sharable news.

My third-grade nurse (who had to remove a pencil eraser from my right ear) felt that seeing a physical therapist about my ankle would help. My surgeon didn't send me because he thought I'd recover on my own through my activities. Overall, however, the problems and pains have been problematic in my own eyes.

When I had my appointment today Kelby was surprised at how much mobility I had in my ankle. I still get the feeling that I'm much more recovered than the average fat and lazy person would be, despite how fat and lazy I am. I think my ankle is in terrible shape, but I measure it against my right ankle, which is in great shape. But given his reaction to my condition, my surgeon was probably pretty correct about how well I'd do on my own. I'm just not happy enough with my own progress.

Long pointless meandering story short: I have physical therapy now, twice a week, and he's going to be aggressive with me. I like that. Today I had to do multiple exercises to exhaustion. The one felt like exhaustion would never come, but when it came it was fast and painful. In yoga I do standing poses on one foot to strengthen my ankle. In PT I stand on one foot and trhow things against a wall then catch them again. I think PT is harrder. In yoga I have to be still.

The actual referral to PT lists "wants to run" as my reason for needing PT. Over a year ago I was on tack to go running with Dr. Borchers, but my surgery killed that idea.

Walking Sometimes Happens

I've gone on a few walks since I last updated. Nothing major. Nothing as long as what I've posted about. More often short walks about a mile long. The walks haven't been bad, but for the past three weeks I've been doing therapeutic yoga, where therapeutic means torturous. Of course, since I judge the success of an activity by how badly it messes my ankle up afterwards, the yoga is a clear winner for helping me. I'm definitely making a lot of progress from the yoga at the expense of being crippled after the sessions. The last session on Sunday hurt my right foot too, so I've been limping on both of them. (It was a massive toe cramp.)

I feel like I'm on the cusp of being all fixed. Stair don't quite work out like they did before this happened, but they work out pretty well compared to how they have been working out these past few months. Walking sometimes happens naturally and fluidly. I did a little left-footed warrior-3 in yoga. (I flailed around like a tentacle covered Lovecraftian windmill though.)