Back In the Saddle, Hopefully (Soon)

I have been steadily improving. A week ago, I was at the point where I could walk without a limp. This was much earlier than I thought I would be on my feet and encouraging, because it meant I could start the gentle stretching and use of the leg that would help with healing and assist me in minimizing scar tissue. Last Wednesday I went to the gym and tried the elliptical machine. It was too early to be on there for long, I could tell. I did five minutes and moved to the rowing machine, whcih would mostly use the muscles from my hamstrings and quads on up. At that time, my muscles were still compensating around the injury; my lower calf, quads, and glutes were picking up some of the slack, as was my lower back. So I continued with the regimen of ice, hot baths, gentle stretching, and anti-inflammatories. I also added some systemic enzymes to keep my C-reactive proteins down, and steambaths at the gym. I swear by steambaths for just about everything that can go wrong. You really can work an injury back into shape with some effort. Of course, time is definitely necessary too.

On Thursday, I was able to do a half hour on the elliptical machine, and on Friday, I was able to do an hour. So I have been on the stair stepper, and have gone running a couple of times, and I am just about back to normal. I will give it until this weekend to be safe, and then I'll start playing tennis, but no more than a match a day and a maximum of three or four matches a week (if that, even) for a while. But the first match I play ought to let me know if I am ready.

For the next week, I'll move into longer runs, light weightlifting with my leg muscles, and stationary bikes as well. I think the stairstepper was the thing I was the most apprehensive about and I handled a half an hour of that with no problem. I still haven't walked to work yet, but that's only because I haven't awakened early enough (curse you, daylight savings time--*yawn*), and my kids haven't gotten ready early enough to take the school bus. Since I'm able to run with no difficulty, walking a long distance should be a breeze.