DavidUK’s AchillesBlog

Long time no post…so here goes…

August was a month of holidays - a week in the English countryside and 10 days on Huntington Beach in sunny SoCal. Lots and lots of walking, very different terrains (rocky / hilly tracks and beach!) so some good range of exercise for my ankle. Still very stiff in the mornings and after car journeys etc, and a lot of swelling during / after an 11 hour flight. I feel i am making progress - although i have not yet had a chance to see my doc with regard to the stitches which are still clearly there. Still not sure to what extent the swelling is ‘normal’ and to what extent caused by the stitches (one of which is still trying it’s hardest to push it’s way through my skin!)

Yesterday was my first day back in the gym. An hour on the exercise bike and 30 mins fast walking. I have now started interspersing long periods of walking with short jogs - walking at 6-6.5 km/h and then breaking into a jog at the same pace for 30 secs to a minute. I am getting no adverse effects, although my physio is intending to hold me to mid-October (six months post-op) before running. I think i will be well head of that schedule - i can feel my calf getting tired but no ‘pain’ as such. I take tiredness to be a good thing, the calf is working and so it can be (slowly!) strengthened.

I am also doing single leg heel raises - whoopee! Obviously not geting very high off the ground, but a good 2-3 inches. To be honest i am not stressing over this particular test / exercise - if i can work on the running / cycling i reason that the calf strength will come in it’s own good time.

So - good luck to all, maybe i’ll update when i actualy see my doc about the stitches.

daviduk