Finally Cycling Again
Ever since I was injured a year an a half ago, I’ve been unable to enjoy my second passion in life, cycling. I tripped at work and rolled my ankle so bad that I couldn’t stand on it. I had to go through physical therapy and even now it twinges a little at times. But this wasn’t the worst part. Because I was favoring this foot I wound up with Plantar fasciitis in my right foot which has been ten times more painful. I would wake up and dread putting that foot down because it would feel like I was standing on a thousand needles. Every morning I would cry, even before I stepped down. One time, when I thought it was getting better, I dared to go to the gym and work out on the elliptical. This used to be my favorite work out. I would just disappear into my music and wash away all of the stress. But not anymore. That one work out took me two weeks to recover enough to be able to walk normally. Now, one year and a half later, I’ve dared to try cardio again. You never realize how hard it is to do cardio without the use of your feet.
I’ve found a routine that works. I wear one type of inset for my work shoes, another for my work out tennis shoes, I stretch before working out, then extensively after and then put a foot brace on for an hour to keep my foot muscles from squeezing back up. Lots of work but I’ll take it.
So far, I’ve been on my bike three times in two weeks doing a four mile loop each time. We used to do rides up to 60 miles, so just being able to do 4 is a bit frustrating, but I’ll take what I can get. We, my husband and I, have even been able to go walking a mile a few days a week too. With this new excitement I’ve come up with some goals. I want to ride in the 2014 Bike for Sight ride which is usually in September and is a 24 mile bike ride out in Montgomery and is very hilly. I have three months to get there and I think I can if I train smart. For the walking, we hope to go to Akumal Mexico next May and need to be able to walk 2 miles a day. The condo we stayed at last time is about half a mile walk from downtown, making it a mile long trip, and the rest of the interesting things are about the same distance. It gives me some goals to achieve.
The picture is of a 2001 Celeste colored Bianchi Veloce which is what mine looked like when I got it. I need to take a current picture of mine. I’ve added blue colored handle wrap and blue wheels. Yes, I like matching things but I’m not super crazy with it.
I’ve been reunited with my bike. Together we will reach my goals of recovery and living a healthy lifestyle.
