I'm back up and mobile again. Watch out!
After about 36 hours of pain killers, I moved over to straight up Vitamin I (Ibuprofen) and am still taking it about 2-3 times per day to keep the inflammation down. 3 days after surgery I was up on my feet all day for a wedding reception. After 15 hours, I sat down and took a peek at it and was a little alarmed to see that all the bruising had drained to the bottom of my foot. All the purple color that was normally just lightly all over my foot was influenced by gravity and formed a thick dark purple line at the bottom of my foot. I talked to a nurse friend of mine and he said it was nothing to worry about. (This was later confirmed by my doctor.)
Stitches came out on Monday, hit the plane on Friday and back in town on Saturday night. I'm able to ride the bike, hit the gym and do anything else as long as I don't put too much weight on my toes. I need a few more weeks of recovery to get back to running or lunges.
The pain is largely gone, though it's still a little sensitive. I'm easing into things again -- I have no desire to push myself back into a problem by pushing too hard, too fast. Snowboarding/skiing season is still a few months away.. lots of time. :)
Monday, September 29, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
Glacier Doesn't Suck
For our honeymoon, Meg & I spent 10 days hiking in Glacier National Park. We spent the first few days with our good friends Jen and Eric, then got some time to ourselves.
Unfortunately, as soon as the paddle and saddle was over on Sunday, the weather turned on us. We had just enough time to get over to the Many Glacier side and get in one short hike before the rain started. But in the end the rain probably worked out for the best as we saw a lot more of the park than we would have through multi-day hikes. If you'd rather just look at all the photos, you can find them at: http://flickr.com/photos/86674201@N00/sets/72157607233218815/
On Monday, we saw a Grizzly and her cub about 5 minutes into our hike to Iceberg Lake. The lake had dozens of large blocks of snow from the surrounding snowfield still floating in it. As we got home a few clouds appeared to be coming in. Apparently they where the harbingers of 4 days of rain and cold temperatures. The rain started just as we ducked into the tents.
Unfortunately, during the night I learned that my 10 year old tent's rain fly is not as waterproof as it once was. It appears to be ok during a light drizzle, but during periods of a steady rain the water soaks through the fly, runs along the poles and then drips into the tent. Fortunately that spot was right on the center of my face, and woke me up in the middle of the night. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have noticed until my bag was soaking wet. Stick a rain jacket under the drip, move closer to Meg and I'm good enough for the night.
The next morning I bought a space blanket, some hair bands and a little rope and fashioned a backup rain fly that worked just fine. (Though it may have been a bit loud in the breeze.) Over the next couple days Eric, Jen, Meg and I hiked several waterfalls and many other day hikes along the Going-to-the-Sun road.
After 4 days of hiking and sleeping in the drizzle, we spent Jen & Eric's last night with us in a cabin at the KOA. (Showers, laundry and a nicer bed for a night were well worth it.) After they left, we headed over to Sprague Creek campground and got ready for a break in the weather and a 2 day backpacking trip.
Friday and Saturday were (as forecasted) nice and sunny. We caught the bus to the Jackson Overlook on the Going to the Sun road and started hiking the Gunsight Pass Trail. Day 1 was 11-ish miles, 2,000 ft of elevation gain and a lot of beautiful photos. After a while, I got a little tired of all the beauty around me. How many photos of waterfalls, beautiful ridgelines, mountain goats and trees do I really need? It's pretty ridiculous when you can point a camera randomly and get a fantastic shot.
We camped over night along side a beautiful lake and hiked back to Lake MacDonald lodge the next day. We saw a Pika, a Hoary Marmot and a bunch of horses along the way. We also got in some canoeing and had a good time by the camp fires.
We saw a lot of Glacier National Park, and had a lot of fun. We both highly recommend the area and will probably try to get back in the future.
Unfortunately, as soon as the paddle and saddle was over on Sunday, the weather turned on us. We had just enough time to get over to the Many Glacier side and get in one short hike before the rain started. But in the end the rain probably worked out for the best as we saw a lot more of the park than we would have through multi-day hikes. If you'd rather just look at all the photos, you can find them at: http://flickr.com/photos/86674201@N00/sets/72157607233218815/
On Monday, we saw a Grizzly and her cub about 5 minutes into our hike to Iceberg Lake. The lake had dozens of large blocks of snow from the surrounding snowfield still floating in it. As we got home a few clouds appeared to be coming in. Apparently they where the harbingers of 4 days of rain and cold temperatures. The rain started just as we ducked into the tents.
Unfortunately, during the night I learned that my 10 year old tent's rain fly is not as waterproof as it once was. It appears to be ok during a light drizzle, but during periods of a steady rain the water soaks through the fly, runs along the poles and then drips into the tent. Fortunately that spot was right on the center of my face, and woke me up in the middle of the night. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have noticed until my bag was soaking wet. Stick a rain jacket under the drip, move closer to Meg and I'm good enough for the night.
The next morning I bought a space blanket, some hair bands and a little rope and fashioned a backup rain fly that worked just fine. (Though it may have been a bit loud in the breeze.) Over the next couple days Eric, Jen, Meg and I hiked several waterfalls and many other day hikes along the Going-to-the-Sun road.
After 4 days of hiking and sleeping in the drizzle, we spent Jen & Eric's last night with us in a cabin at the KOA. (Showers, laundry and a nicer bed for a night were well worth it.) After they left, we headed over to Sprague Creek campground and got ready for a break in the weather and a 2 day backpacking trip.
Friday and Saturday were (as forecasted) nice and sunny. We caught the bus to the Jackson Overlook on the Going to the Sun road and started hiking the Gunsight Pass Trail. Day 1 was 11-ish miles, 2,000 ft of elevation gain and a lot of beautiful photos. After a while, I got a little tired of all the beauty around me. How many photos of waterfalls, beautiful ridgelines, mountain goats and trees do I really need? It's pretty ridiculous when you can point a camera randomly and get a fantastic shot.
We camped over night along side a beautiful lake and hiked back to Lake MacDonald lodge the next day. We saw a Pika, a Hoary Marmot and a bunch of horses along the way. We also got in some canoeing and had a good time by the camp fires.
We saw a lot of Glacier National Park, and had a lot of fun. We both highly recommend the area and will probably try to get back in the future.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Surgery day one....
As some of you may or may not know, I was scheduled for foot surgery this afternoon. So far everything seems to be going well.
For the last year or so, after about 20-30 minutes of running my left foot would start burning, getting worse as I continue. Cycling would also cause pain and snowboarding was excruciating after several hours. After I stop pounding my feet, it would eventually stop hurting but sometimes it would take quite a while. Last time I talked to my doctor, we tried modifying my orthodics and that instantly did the trick for a few months. (It allowed me to get back on the track for a while.) But eventually, the pain came back.
After some discussions and a sonogram, we pretty much concluded it was either compartment syndrome in my calf pinching a nerve, or a Morton's Neuroma. I then had to move overseas so further work with my doctor was pretty rough. But, after some research and closer attention to my symptoms, I figured it was probably a neuroma.
This afternoon Meg & I walked into the Dr's office where a marble sized bunch of stuff was pulled out of my left foot between the 3rd & 4th metatarsals. A good chunk of it was my nerve but there was also a lot of scar tissue as well and it was pretty large. From the doc, it appears to confirm the diagnosis.
Recovery? Well, I'm on some pain killers now and stuck in a bed for the next 24 hrs or so to keep the swelling down. But I should be able to get back on my feet in a day or two, back to work on Monday, cycling and other low/medium impact in a week (as long as I can put up with the pain) and running shortly there after. We'll see how it goes, but overall, even it if takes months to get back to running, it's probably better than 2 years of running in pain.
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