On the road to recovery

I saw the doctor today and he said I was ready to start my recovery. I haven't had any pain except a few twinges here and there, which he said was normal. Apparently once you've had an injury you are hypersensitive to any type of feelings - twinges, etc. - but they are not indicative of continuing issues.

I received a schedule to get me back to training. I am to start by walking 10 minutes 2 days in a row and then 20 minutes and then progress to very slow running. Cross training is highly recommended and he said I can ride as many miles as I want on my bike.

I started out with the 10 minutes walking on the treadmill today, and then I did my physical therapy which the doctor told me to do. Then I did 15 minutes on the stationary bike. No pain!

My knee seems a little sore now but it appears to be above where the stress fracture is. Nevertheless I'll make sure not to overdo it.

In other exciting news I got my sticker for my bike for the new bike room at work. It's a pretty large room and you use your ID card to get in. There are 80 people signed up to use the room but the room isn't big enough for all those bikes. It is not anticipated that everyone will be riding every day so we should still have plenty of room. There's even an air pump and a set of tools available in the room and an avid bicyclist with one of the state agencies will be leading brown bag lunches. Very cool.

Needless to say I'm psyched to start riding. Ironically, the day after I get my sticker and tell everyone I'm riding to work, an article appears about the bike trail I want to use. It's less than encouraging but I will still give the trail a try. I'll do 11 miles this weekend to see if I can do it, and then give the ride to work a try next week.

Meanwhile my two year old is sitting on the potty way past his bedtime but he IS using it. I gotta go see how it's going!

Out for a Spin

I managed to ride my bike about 5 miles today. I was able to escape while one son was sleeping and the other was at a birthday party, and my husband stayed home and took a nap after running a 17 miler. It was 90 degrees outside and there was really nothing else I could do. (Well, I could have taken a nap, too, but I didn't run 17 miles).

Riding my bike was just like when I was a kid. It was exhilarating. I rode to the bike trail and took it north to Route 161 and then rode back home through neighborhoods. It wasn't exactly like when I was kid; I was much more cautious riding on the roads.

I told my husband that in a week I might be ready to ride to work. My department is setting up a bike room where we can stash our bikes safely. I've already signed up so that I will feel compelled at least to try it. I have to remind myself that I have to ride back home, too, though. Or resort to taking the bus, which isn't so bad, after all.

Melt the Butter

Melt the butter cause I'm done - I'm as red as a lobster (in case you didn't get the joke). We went to Zoombezi Bay and had a great time.

There IS something wrong with my bike. It's not supposed to click when I pedal. My husband took it out again and confirmed that I really wasn't crazy (after I yelled at him that I really wasn't crazy - it was clicking and I didn't even change gears). Apparently there is something wrong with the gears.

So now I have to go back to the bike store to have them check it out. Lovely.

Two more days of vacation and back to work. I'm ready. I'm so worn out from this vacation I need the rest that only a state government job can give. No, really, any job is more restful than hanging out with my two boys. They are a blast but they wear me out!