1 mile, a cloud of dust and a shred of daylight at 5.5 months (with Video)
Hey everyone. I hope everyone is heeling well first off and foremost.
I’m currently at around the 5.5 month mark after surgery. My trainer gave me the go ahead to start jogging, basically a couch to 5k program. I’ve been working on that and made my first mile, sort of. I stretch and do all my exercises first and then jog at the end, followed by stretching again. I always start out with a 2 minute walk then I did:
Program 1 - 1/4 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk, 1/4 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk
Program 2 - 1/4 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk , 1/2 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk
Program 3 - 1/2 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk, 1/2 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk
So the jogging gets increased in increments like that and I made Program 3 this last week for the entire week. So I got a mile in with some walking mixed in and am slowly working my way up to 1 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk, 1 mile jog, 1/4 mile walk. The cloud of dust is my 4.6 MPH (7.4 KM/H) - SPEEDY!!!! I actually made it up to about 5MPH for about a minute. Now, I’m 6′2″ also, just for reference, so I can have a long stride, but I do keep it short as I’m trying not to really push off on the front of that foot. Five MPH felt like I was FLYING though.
And now ladies and gentlemen, the moment we’ve all been waiting for - the Shred of Daylight!!! My single heel raise. I’ve been trying and trying and my trainer told me to really start working on this, so I’ve been at it. He demonstrated and said for me to do it, I looked at him and told him that I’ve been working on it, but it’s evaded me so far and that was last week. He said to try it anyway and said he could see it come up a bit. It felt like you might be able to slide a playing card under my shoe, at most. So I went a week of working on it and today, it felt about the same, like it barely comes up. Seeing as how I can’t really see back there I took some video and YouTube’d it.
Holy MOLY!!!! I was surprised when I saw how high it came up. It really felt like nothing and I really had to strain to get it up, but when I saw it I couldn’t believe that I could probably shove a whole deck of playing cards under there, especially at that last push. My calf has a ways to go to catch up to the right one, but I’m getting there.
My next appt with the doctor is on the 7th (4 days from now). I don’t see him giving me the green light for any Plyometrics or fast running and I’ll probably remain on the program I’m on, but each day I feel like I get closer to the top of the mountain.
Wowwwzer Craig9er. Impressive running program and superimpressive single heel raise, we won’t see you for dust now. Congratulations!!
I’m in a similar spot at a very different time, Craig. I’ve given up on a “real” straight-kneed 1-leg heel raise on my left side, almost 4 YEARS after my second ATR. Every once in a while I give it a go, and it’s felt like I barely leave the floor. But a week or so ago, I tried slipping the toes of my other foot under my heel (barefoot), and I was surprised how far it got in. I just did it again and the whole knuckle of my big toe fits OK. (And I just played 90 minutes of indoor beach volleyball last night for the first time since Spring — 4-on-4, 3-on-3, and some 2-on-2 — and my whole body hurts! As usual, I was the only player over 30-ish, and I’m WAY over 30!
)
That wimpy but non-trivial 1-leg HR may help explain why I’ve been so happy playing sports and bicycling since that ATR healed. That and (I think) the fact that my Gastroc strength is impaired by my Soleus strength seems pretty close to 100%.
Anyhow, you’ve got nowhere to go but up from here, so Don’t Stop! Me, I’m still having discussions with my right knee to see if I’m going to keep playing volleyball or if I should take up something gentler.
. . . my Gastroc strength is impaired BUT my Soleus strength seems pretty close to 100%.
If you can find the setup switch that enables “AJAX Editing” you can give us 15 minutes or so to fix our own typos on your blog pages. Please!
Yay! That’s terrific, Craig. NICE single heel raise and awesome on the jogging. I think after this week, I will try something more systematic like you. Right now, I jog until I feel a twinge and then walk, repeat. Keep up the good work and thanks for the inspirational update! Let us know how the appt. goes!
Good going Craig!
In my experience, you should not be so concerned about running faster, or even trying yourself uphill. I’ve been doing that for some time, and I have much more pain from slow jogging and walking, than from running. I suspect it has something to do with landing on your heel contra landing on your toeballs, in combination with muscle atrophy around the ankle.
That being said, I also have an issue with my talus bone, and swelling and pain in my ankle that is not related to my ATR, so it could be that this is playing a part in my pain story with jogging.
When it comes to excercise the calf, I can recommend a skipping rope! I may look ridicolous doing this in the office, but if it helps me recover faster, I couldn’t care less
Norm - I have it turned not sure why it doesn’t work, I’ll look at it again, maybe I missed a setting.