And the training begins....

YIKES! I haven't posted here in TWO MONTHS!!! Whoa... tell me it ain't so.

Life has been really good. The leg has been healing. Yes, "has been", and it still is. It's a loooong process. It's been 10 months since surgery. I'm crossing my fingers that at the one year mark since surgery, which will be August 19, 2011, I'll be 100% healed. For now, I'm enjoying greater flexibility in the joint, almost no swelling even after a hard run, and a much better ability to handle super long walks.

I'd say in the first 8 months since surgery, I got to 97-98% level of recovery, and now I'm gaining those last few percentage points. And, man, let me tell you, IT. IS. SO. SWEET.

I haven't been to the doctor in almost two months, and he told me not to come for another year either to him or to my physical therapist. YAY! for such good recovery that your doc discharges you months ahead of schedule, but...

...when he told me that, I wasn't entirely happy about the end of physical therapy. I was doing very well at the time, but I wasn't at 100%. And since I have a character defect wherein I constantly demand perfection from myself, even my ankles, I decided I was going to find someone else who'd help me get my ankle to its pre-injury state. So, I found a new therapist, who is super awesome. What she does is basically super gentle massage of the ankle itself for an entire hour. After I went to her for the first time, I left thinking (sarcastically), "WOW, I just paid someone to hold my ankle for an hour, can't I find something better to spend my money on?" BUT, I returned for the second and the third appointment, and WOW! in just a month, she has worked through so much of my scar tissue that the ankle is almost exactly the same size as my good ankle. Before starting with this new therapist, I was already starting to believe that my "surgerated" ankle would forever be 1 centimeter thicker than the healthy one(and THAT'S A LOT! My ankle joint is skinny). And I'm glad to report that I was very wrong.

In September, I'll participate in a triathlon to celebrate a year of successful healing from this stupid injury. I've been slacking in terms of systematic training regimen, but I have been running/walking/swimming/biking on a regular basis, almost every day. So, I'm in good shape. These next two months will be all about TRAINING. I'm very grateful that I have this opportunity. Living with no pain is fabulous. And being able to compete is even more so. I can't wait!

(i think this means I'm back to posting)