Off the Back Again.....: From Fit to Fat in Less Than 6 Easy Weeks

July 1st - Well, we'll see if that title is accurate. It's been over 5 weeks since I started this episode of down time. No riding, no walks, no runs, no nuthin'. (Not even a real shower!) Foot surgery can really slow you down. Well, I did get into pushups and situps a bit. (400-500 each per day, but 'd rather be riding!)

It's funny how one can adapt and start to put up with almost anything. When I first started this downtime, I think I was pretty darn fit. Almost 3000 miles in the first 5 months of the year. Plenty of long rides and able to deal with it. I knew had the foot issue, so got it (reluctantly) taken care of. But the time off seemed to be something harder to deal with. I do want to return to my past state of fitness, but at the same time, see how someone could easily drop into fatness. If you can't, you don't. And if you don't, you get used to it. And get out of shape. ~too easily~ I just hope when I start riding again, I don't find that I'm too far "off the back", as the blog says. I want to feel anxious to be out there and get into it again! It's summer, with long evenings and (mostly, except when it's foggy) nice weather! It's not the time to be sitting around! I do get real jealous of many friends who are in Europe this summer riding, seemingly all at the same time! Dave, Eric, Ana-Sophia, Dan, Lauren, Jeff....all taking these great trips with lot of riding! The Alps, the Dordogne, the Dolomites, the Pyrenees, Tuscany, Switzerland. Arghhh....I want to be there too. What a temptation! Well, with the stitches coming out, let's get better And then I'm up for the challenge!!!!

I have learned to respect my feet a bit more. They are tender, but necessary instruments. They take the pounding, but can't heal like a simple cut on a finger. Depend on them, we certainly do. So take care of them. From picking to poking to cutting to real surgery, it's been a slow evolution of foot repair progress for me. Hopefully, the time off will now pay off and I'll be able to get back into shape real quickly. More later..........

July 15 - There's a chronology below, but I'm back! Got the stitches out over a week ago, starting riding a few days later and have hit the hills again a bit too. I'm ready for more!

The AgOnY of DeFeEt - Chronology

MDR, May 2013.....hotspots on ball of foot on hot days....bought footpads for bike shoes to relieve stress
Summer, Fall 2013 - bearable....no real problems
Winter 2014 - removing "warts" on occasion with "sharp implements", but the problem was brewing below the surface (bursitis)
March 2014 - More pain in FLA when it got hot, but bearable
April 2014 - used wart remover (liquid) - opened up scar. It's like it drilled a crater in the ball of my foot and it's not healing! This can't be good.
April 27 - Wildflower Century - 40 miles in the rain, cold - the beginning of the end (infection?)
April 29 - Tuesday night GPC ride.....can't deal with the pain anymore. I stopped riding and called Kaiser for an appointment.
May 2 - Kaiser minor surgery (bursal sack drained). One week off. Boot, crutches, no showers.
May 10 - Back on bike (earlier than suggested), back to showers, but cleaned it 2x/day. Ramping up for MDR...still some pain, increasing swelling, and still weeping open sore.
From May 10 to MDR - About 350 miles, with Sacto bike trail (some pain), Diablo day (very painful end of ride when warm), but I need to be persistent and ready for MDR! (Consider dropping out?? Never!!)
MDR - May 22-25 - 4 days of riding....289 miles....progressively more painful....to the point where I had to quit with 40 miles to go into Santa Barbara. Every bump on the road was painful. Even walking after was somewhat painful and foot swelled.
May 30 - Kaiser check - more liquid squeezed out, but no infection. "Keep off it". This time I listened. No more riding. Tried a couple of short walks. Still painful. Still swelling. Still weeping. This ain't right.....
June 12 - Kaiser visit.....not good....come in tomorrow for surgery. Uh-oh.
June 13 - Kaiser surgery. Boot, cast, crutches, no showers, work at home, conference cancelled, work-at-home for next 2-3 weeks.
June 26 - Kaiser checkup. Cast off, big bandage off. Looking good, but one more week for stitches. Keep off it and keep the small bandage on. Still no showers.
June 30 - Back to work on this Monday with boot, crutches.
July 3 -Got the stitches out today. Yeah! Seems like a big step. The doc said "still take it easy for a couple of days. Wait until the scab heals." I thought.....what? I'm good now! Why wait??!?!
July 4 - We went to Sonoma and I took my bike thinking I might now be able to get a ride, but things still hurt. So I was good...no rides. No pool. Only beer drinking.
July 6 - Still in Sonoma, I went for a 10 minute walk....the first steps still hurt. The scar tissue was kind of uneven on the ball of my foot and the top of my foot felt very weak...I couldn't stand on my right foot with tip toes, as it was too painful. Hmmmm...ok, a few more days. I got home and decided to give it a go with a short ride.....my first in 6 weeks! I just went down to the Richmond Marina, but it felt pretty good to pedal. Standing on the pedals (for hills) was another story. That also hurt like it did standing on my toes. Not the ball of the foot - that seemed to be healing - but the top of the foot. Maybe it atrophied? Not sure, but I figured as long as the incision is healing and not painful, I wasn't damaging anything and it was just a matter of time.
July 7-13 - More rides, with eventually some hills on Saturday (July 12) and very little pain...only from the still slightly swelled foot. I ended up riding 7 out of 8 days for about 130 miles. Yeah! The pain was less, the swelling less, the scab almost gone and I'm feeling better all the time. I even had a nice ride with some folks who hadn't done the MDR in14 years and that was fun getting back together! It's now July 14th (Bastille Day!) and I'm taking a break, but feeling like I'm on my way, thanks goodness!