July 28: When Dr. Jake Reappears

Yesterday afternoon, the foot felt almost good.  Well, I know all about that and then hurting myself in new and unexpected places, so I didn't push it, not at all.  Today, though, I had to go to court.  My nice shoes aren't as roomy as the tennis shoes I've been wearing 98% of the time since you-know-when.  With a compression sock under my dress sock and a swollen foot to boot, the shoe was very tight and the foot felt bad.  I walked gingerly all day.

Not having heard from Dr. Jake for a week and assuming he was on vacation, I decided to email Dr. Fagan, another podiatrist I saw at some point on this journey.  I logged in to my Kaiser account and was pleasantly surprised to see an email from Dr. Jake.  "No fracture," he said.  I guess it's a sprain.  I wish there were a way to wrap up the foot where I hurt it to keep the swelling down, but compression sock is the best I can do at the base of the toes.  I should also work on rest, ice, and elevation part of RICE course of treatment now that I know it's not a fracture.

Fracture or not, I'm riding.  Twenty-eight days and counting.  A slight change in plans, no Marin/Mt. Tam century -- we're going to Santa Barbara that weekend.  People from VeloSF are doing the Leipheimer Gran Fondo on October 1.  I'm seriously considering riding with them.  It's a very hilly century, which should be good training and a good gauge of my condition in preparation for Solvang Fall Double.

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My Left Foot, etc.

Somehow left foot blogging has usurped bike ride stories, which migrated to MY OTHER BLOG perhaps taking up temporary residence there until my next birthday.  Who knows what I'll do with it thereafter.

Unfit to ride in as a carpool passenger because it requires more walking than I can handle, I resumed driving in.  Jessica suggested that I practice walking gradually by parking the car farther than a block away from the building.  (Caution: bike content ahead)  I ran (very much figuratively) with that suggestion and parked in front of VeloSF.  During lunch hour, I went to the gym and spun for 52:25.  The foot felt better after the ride.  I was quite encouraged and walked back to the office comfortably.  As I walked to the car after work, however, it was two blocks too far and the the still undiagnosed (paging Dr. Jake Lee) "stress fracture" bugged me again.  But it's not as bad as it was late last week when it was sore to the touch.  It seems that recovery process for this injury will be the same as with the ankle: a gradual improvement with occasional setbacks.  I can live with that because I have to.

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A Few Changes

This is still me.  Messing around with the design -- the old one seemed staid, Victorian, and looked oddly indoors-focused.  This one is more outdoorsy.  I also added a photo of a Llewellyn stem.  It's not my stem, but I like the picture.  Mine has identical design, but it doesn't have polished stainless lugs.

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Biking and Hiking

I broke my chain climbing Pinehurst this morning.  I walked the bike up to the top in my cycling shoes.  Jessica came with the car and the dog and my tennis shoes 15 minutes later.  She parked, I stashed the bike in the car, and we walked the dog on a single-track trail in Oakland hills, I, now shod in tennis shoes.  We walked out about a third of a mile and back.  Not sure what possessed me to attempt this, but the foot has felt significantly better, as I've been nursing it for the past couple of days.  During the walk it felt OK.  I made sure to walk cautiously and slowly and came through unscathed and inspired.  But no brisk mile-long walks on hard surfaces in the near future.  Not yet.

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Gulp...

I swallowed my pride and at Wayne's suggestion rearmpitted myself with a crutch.  OK, walking feels better with a crutch, but what a step backward in the recovery process that is.  I can walk short distances without pain and seemingly without damaging myself if I walk very carefully, carrying my foot as a club.  Because of the crutch and careful walking the foot hurt less today than any day in the past week.  But that's because I am nursing the injury, not because it's better.  Dr. Jake has suggested an x-ray and it looks like I'll get one tomorrow.  Not looking forward to what it may reveal.

Fingers crossed.

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Now What?!

Pain is not responding to Arnica or Advil and there's some swelling at the base of the toes.  Perhaps I can try an analgesic that starts with a different letter of the alphabet.  Though short-term it won't be much use, as it appears I have given myself a stress fracture, says Wayne.  All that enthusiastic walking coming up on the toes and going from relatively little walking to walking over two miles from carpool to the office and from the office to the bus was too much too soon.  Treatment: immobilization!  Wayne recommends going back to a crutch -- waaaaaah!

Good news is that it doesn't affect my riding.  Because soles of cycling shoes are very stiff, they don't allow the foot to flex and the foot is effectively immobilized.  A silver lining.

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Incremental Improvements

Complaining about the weather had the desired effect.  Even though it drizzled in the morning again, the fog lifted in the late morning and stayed away the rest of the day, making the afternoon ride with Jessica a pleasure.  Our intrepid forecasters are predicting a warming trend.  Perhaps this will motivate me to ride in early mornings with my friends again.

The hole in the foot seems to be shrinking, but very slowly.  It also feels a little shallower.  Surprising how walking differently, something that felt good at the time, has made me feel so bad.  Jessica swears by Arnica gel, so I used it last night and this morning, with little noticeable improvement.  I am back to hobbling and am contemplating driving to San Francisco again, as I don't think I can walk half a mile from carpool drop-off to the office in the morning and from the office to the bus after work.  Of course I can continue cycle commuting.  Mercifully, this ache does not affect my riding.

A good thing, too.  Jessica said many times how glad she is that I ride double centuries rather than run marathons.  I am too.  I wonder how long it takes runners to start running after similar injuries.

A Santa Rosa TV station runs ads for Snoopy's Home Ice Arena, an indoor rink 75 miles to the north.  This makes me muse about getting back on the ice.  How would that feel? Physically? Psychologically? Emotionally? Three months ago, I told my friend Steve that I thought of playing very stationary tennis in July, which could still happen, especially if this damn base-of-the-toes pain ebbs soon.  I've also talked about skating before 2012.  I fully plan to do so.  Maybe even before I get on the court.

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