I had a jogging dream the other night. In it, was walking along, then I thought, "how would jogging feel?" So, I tried it, very lightly. A gentle jog, just prancing, focusing on the form, not on speed. It felt fine, just right. Then I woke up and remembered that I wasn't quite there yet. After lunch with Howie, as I told him about the dream, I tried jogging. The attempt lasted one painful step. You can fake walking -- limping, compensating, leaning, reducing the load on the bad foot. You can't fake running -- too much weight coming down on each foot. With each running step, because of the momentum and the fact that we come down from a height, there is more impact on the foot. It'll be a while before I try running again.
On good news front, I took my first outdoor ride yesterday. As much as I've struggled in VeloSF classes, I had very low expectations, hoping I wouldn't struggle too much on the five-mile climb up Tunnel-Skyline (OK, there's about one-third of a mile that's flat). It went as well as I could have expected. I tried to spin, shifting down when grade increased, focusing on keeping my cadence up because I wasn't confident about standing up to pedal -- it felt awkward and hurt a little. Spinning didn't hurt a bit. I rode at a decent clip without overexerting myself, chasing riders I could see up the road.
I met Howie at the top of the hill and we rode along Skyline, freezing, under-dressed for this foggy, windy, mid-50s afternoon. We descended Joaquin Miller and stopped for coffee in Montclair. Fifteen miles and the foot felt good during the ride, though it swelled quite a bit after I took off the compression sock. Wayne said it would keep swelling for six months, as blood vessels repair themselves from the initial injury and the surgery, so this was not surprising. I am very encouraged.
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