I'm back! Slow but sure, but back.

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Got up a little early this morning, got in my running clothes and shoes and actually got out of the house for a run. Which was my first run in over a month. The last time I ran was middle of June. The time off took it's toll: my wind isn't exactly where I want to be, and my legs did rebel some at the end. But by golly I still ran!

I took that time off to let the stress fracture in my right foot heal. And it appears that it did so just fine. I am not going to push it, give myself days off to recuperate, and probably not start an actual program for a couple of weeks. I know that is the smart thing to do and will do that.

I have not yet bought the new padded shoes I want and need. I was able to survive in my minimalist shoes for now, and will just have to stick with those for a while longer due to financial reasons, which does limit my miles, I can do 3-4 miles with sore toes, but that is my realistic limit. And of course it remains to be seen how sore my legs are tomorrow of course.

But all that being said, lots of cautionary notes. The most important thing is that I did get out and run today, and will continue to do so and eventually resume a decent running schedule. And that is a very good thing.

This week I walked

Dear James, Daniel and Emily

Last week I did some experimenting on what footwear worked for daily use. I also did some research on the toe arthritis. After that work I came to the conclusion that for me at this stage what I need is padding. Not so much the stiff shoe that locks my toes, no, what I need is padding to give my toes someplace to go.

Which meant that I settled on the daily wear of my good old Crocs. Which has been nice in the summer as I prefer them anyway. The only place I didn't wear them was on the ride to the mountains because I thought I would spend more time wandering around in the dirt, but I reverted to Crocs for the rest of the day.

So, while I might try a few short runs with my minimal shoes I know my future running lies in getting a new pair of Hokas. But that is for another day and week. Because this week was my minimal last week to keeping off the feet for recovering from the stress fracture. So maybe this weekend I can try a run, but have to be smart and stop the minute that pain flares at all (understanding which pain is which is an intriguing experiment.)

For now, this week I walked. Kim & I took a couple of evening walks. And today I got out on my lunch break. But walking is better than nothing. And it is also progress to now know what I can wear on those walks to avoid pain afterwards.