A Hike!

I went a hike last night.  It was just about 1 whole mile of rough, but mostly flat, terrain.  Today I was stiff and sore, and very tired.  I assume the recent ankle surgery has a lot to do with that.

I need more goals!

It's been more than a week now.  I'm still sitting a lot.  I need to go back to standing, but I'm uncertain about that.  Probably next week, when the surgery is two weeks old, will be a good time.  I get the stitches out Thursday of next week.

I need more build-up goals.  Goals to build me up to my other, more difficult goals.

1) Weightlifting needs to happen again.
2) Hammock on top of the mesa in Water Canyon.
3) Climb up and out of Copper Canyon again.
4) Trek from South to North Baldy.

ONE WEEK OF FREEDOM!

I'm a few hours shy of one week of freedom.  I had surgery a little after noon on Monday of last week.

Within a couple of days the hives that have covered my body since they put the plate in nearly four years ago cleared up.  My ankle hurts, but it gets better every day.  I can only imagine that when my ankle is healed that it won't be in constant pain.  It's been sore and inflamed since 2010, and that has definitely stopped as well.  I accidentally bumped it today, and while it hurt (recent surgery) it wasn't nearly the deep bad pain that it would have been last week through the past few years.

My pedometer reads 374805 steps in 71 days.  1357 of them were taken so far today.  Roughly 5729 steps per day.   And now it reads 0 steps.  So today is going to look a little light.  This whole week has looked a little light, really, since I don't walk much and spend my time laying down and wincing in pain.
                                                                                                                                            
I need to get back to this project, Death By Mountain.

My blood pressure has been very bad in the past month or so.  I didn't feel bad, so I was assuming that it high because everytime I had it measured I was at the doctors office, and being at the doctors office makes me livid.  But I measured it myself not at the doctor, and it was still bad.  I've put on a lot of weight in recent months.  Weight is bad.  That needs to come off.

Goals:
1) Float from Escondida to San Antonio.
2) Visit Devils Elbow again.
3) Visit Turkey Creek Hot Springs without breaking my leg.
4) Try again to take up running, but succeed this time.

John Brook's has been selling me grass-fed USDA Organic beef.  It isn't as good as what I can drive to Albuquerque and buy at Whole Foods, but it is half the price and doesn't require me to drive to Albuquerque to buy it, so it's definitely a great deal, and I'm very happy.  On the other hand, John Brooks isn't doing well on getting in USDA Organic berries, so trips to Albuquerque are still needed.

Goal 1 has become ever more complicated, but I shouldn't give up.

Goal 2 might be stupidly hard.  Normally it would be a one day in-and-out, but a flash flood last year scoured the upper canyon and destroyed the lower canyon.  Devils Elbow is probably intact, but I've heard from a witness that the way there is a treacherous wasteland of debris.

Goal 3 is scary.  But I want to.

Goal 4 has been tried several time since breaking my leg.  It has had many crippling setbacks.  But all those setbacks probably originate from that plate, and the plate is gone.

I have a pair of non toe-shoe barefoot shoes.  I think I like them.  I stepped on a cholla the first time I wore them though.  That kind of sucked.

I suppose I should mention my inflamed lungs.  They aren't inflamed anymore.  They were inflamed, probably, from September through January.  I got really sick in September, and I just never got better.  I often have lingering coughs, though, so I didn't think much of it.  But it kept lingering.  In December a doctor figured it out.  It got better pretty quickly.

Better and Better and Better

Over the weekend I went to the swimming pool and I got in and I swam 550 meters before stopping for a short rest.  I swam 1000 meters all total again, with minimal downtime.  The pool was filled with lap swimmers, and no open swimmers, so they never started open swim, so I didn't do any water treading.

Since my last update I have more than 84430 steps.  I say more than, since I kept walking after I updated, but reset it the next day.  Those steps are lost.

I haven't ridden my bicycle much in months.  But as of last week I on it again and while the first day was hard, I quickly got in the feel of things.  My strength is improving rapidly.

Lifting has been very hard.  But with my newfound sense of feeling good, I think it shall continue again.

My impression is that last year was pretty much a wash in terms of my health.  Finding out towards the end of the year that my lungs were inflamed appears to be the turning point.  Once that started to get better, everything got better.

I'm feeling highly motivated to get back to doing things I like.  Such as biking, and hiking, and trying again to return to running.  And I want to float down the Rio Grande from Escondida to San Antonio.  I've never done it.  I've gone whitewater rafting in the Taos Gorge, but never a leisurely float.

So much failure

I show 922685 steps over 168 days.  That's pretty good I guess.

I still have pain.  I don't have as many bizarre side effects.  Lots of pain.

Months ago I gave up trying to exercise because of the pain and complications.  My health has gotten worse as a result.

But now I'm trying to give up trying to give up.  A week ago I felt good enough ride my bicycle a few miles, something I hadn't done in months.  I've gone swimming twice.  Today, for 1km and then I treaded water for 30 minutes.  I had intended to tread water for 60 minutes, but it was boring.  Really boring.

Time To Give Up

I can barely walk.  The doctor says my kidneys have declined dramatically in the past three months.  I think diet will win soon.

I suppose I should mention, I never had surgery.  That's why I can barely walk. My steps are surprisingly at 918696 for a trip of 144 days.  An average of 6379.83 steps per day.

Steps, Surgery, Etc

I should update.

My steps are 297835 over 41 days.  About 7264 on average.  My steps had been way up, but I also crippled myself.  I'm having surgery on my ankle again next week, so steps will continue going down again.  But hopefully after this third surgery I'll be free and clear to walk, run, and jump rope without pain.

Weight lifting is still sporadic.  I took a week off and just got back into it on Monday.  Everything hurts.  It feels like I managed to nail every major muscle group in my recent return.  Surgery is probably going to interfere with weights again for a while.