Just Checking In

No one probably reads this thing, but I haven't killed it off because it is a good record for me of my running adventures and of how I've been healing after the surgery. And so I am posting today just to record where I am with my ankle and with running.

It's been roughly a year and a half since surgery. I can run 3 miles non-stop at a solid pace (9-something min/mile). Well, being able to run that distance is not such a big deal. The big deal is that my ankle doesn't hurt before, during or after the run. Excellent.

I still experience soreness and tightness. But it's not at the site of the surgery, but sort of in the muscles and ligaments around the ankle joint. Also, it's important to note that both, soreness and tightness, emerge only after I push myself. For example, over the last few days I've ran, gone to a couple of hard yoga classes, attended a boot camp twice, and also exercised on my own in the gym. Not to mention lots of walking (in heels, sometimes) at work. I would lie if I said nothing hurt. No, I definitely can feel it in the ankle that it got a workout. But it's not pain... more like a sensation of the leg getting stronger.

In short, I am so much better today than I was a year ago (which was limping after anything remotely intense) or two years ago (which was crying my eyes out because I learned I needed a scary surgery).

I'd say the sweetest thing right now is that more and more I catch myself missing something. That sensation stops me in my own tracks. I dig deeper, start listing things I could have forgotten to do. Did I pay all the bills? Did I promise someone something? Is something due at work? And then it dawns on me: "Oh, that's right, the ankle! I haven't felt the pain! I haven't complained about the ankle in a while!" Well, I don't mind this kind of forgetfulness, haha! I'm alright with that. And I couldn't be happier.