My Gimpy Life: The Bootless Experience
It has been almost 6 weeks (exactly 6 weeks on Saturday) and I can’t believe I am saying this, but time has flown by! Like I promised in my previous blog “Counting The Days“, I am doing everything but sitting on my tush wishing for the days to go by. Let’s go back to a little over 2 weeks ago….
On May 13th, I made an appointment to see my ortho doc because, in the hustle and bustle of everything, I completely over looked the fact that my spring turkey hunting season was 1 week away. Hunting in a boot would be a huge challenge, but I also didn’t want to do further damage to my foot just for a turkey. Dr. Holmes made my day when he not only told me that turkey hunting would be ok, but he also wanted to to start working my way out of the boot and running again in 2 weeks. Woo-Hoo!!!
That night I was bootless for the first time in 4 weeks and to say I was nervous to walk without it would have been an understatement. I took off the boot, put on my left shoe and sat at the bottom of my stairs for a solid 10 minutes before I stood up. And when I took the first step I almost biffed it. Who knew that you could loose THAT MUCH strength and mobility in just 4 weeks? WOW.
Day by day I increased my time out of the boot and by that Sunday (5 days later), I was FREE and wearing matching shoes again!!! Oh left shoes – I missed you so. Now that the boot was off, it was time to get my strength, mobility, balance and endurance back. What a humbling experience when you can’t stand on one foot for even 3 seconds without tipping over.
With turkey hunting only a week away I had a goal to hit. I worked my ass off to secure a PRIME hunting spot and I wasn’t going to let me foot stand in my way (LOL) of getting a gobbler. So now it was time to work just as hard to get my foot back in shape for the hunt. I made it to every ART, chiro, laser treatment and acupuncture appointment and did my rehab exercises religiously. And by opening morning, I was in tip top shape. And it paid off:
27 pounds, 10 1/2″ beard and 1 1/4″ spurs and all done with a broken foot!!!!
Now that I had my gobbler on it’s way to the taxidermist, it was time to focus on what was next – running. I was cleared this week to try running and the fear of it was creeping up. What if it hurt? What if I hurt my foot again? What if it was super hard to get back into? What if once I tried it, I didn’t like it anymore? (those were just a few of the 8 million thoughts going through my head).
This past Tuesday I figured it was time to lace up my shoes and just do it. And I did. It was incredible how my legs remembered my stride and how my lungs went right back to rhythm with my feet. Although my pace was much slower, my body naturally glided back into it. 3 miles down and I felt great, but I listened to my body and kept the run short and sweet. And I’m glad I did, because the next morning, my foot was not happy. From the lack of movement for the past 6 weeks, it was to be expected, but wow – my foot was sore and tender. I was half expecting to go right back into running and everything would be hunky dunky (Walking Dead reference) but my body is telling me a different story. I haven’t ran since Tuesday, but to be honest, I am ok with it. I feel like my foot may need a little more time before I hit the pavement again. And I need to really listen to what my body is telling me at this moment and honor it. The road will always be there…I just want to make sure that I am able to join it again soon. So if that means 1-2 more weeks run free, so be it. I will just have to place my running shoes next to the door so they are ready when I am.
