Treadmill walking today. Cold and breezy outside, so i opted to get some walking in, inside.
The first time i tried the treadmill 2 weeks after my surgery,so 3 weeks ago, i made it .25 of a mile and that took me 18 minutes. On that attempt i had to hang on to the side supports, and it seemed like i
had forgotten how to walk even. I was limping very strongly and afraid of falling off.

A few attempts on the treadmill since then, hanging on to the sides and feeling like i was limping strongly. A few walks outside, to get some sunshine and some confidence. Then today back on the treadmill, and it seemed like an actual 'workout'.
My speed today was 2.6 and i only went 1.5 miles, but i am looking at measures of improvement, and today was so much better than my first treadmill walk.
The speed was 1 mile and hour faster, I felt smooth and confident. Even confident enough that i walked with a 2 pound weight in each hand for the first 20 minutes, and finished a total of 35 minutes.

Today gave me hope that i will, eventually, get back to 'normal'!

Been doing Recumbent bike and some walking.
On the recumbent, up to 4 miles without wincing every time my knee bends!!
Walking: sigh….. Up to 1.5 miles at a 21 minute pace. Walking is harder and apparently uses some
lazy muscles much more than the recumbent, because i had a number of whiny muscles while walking today.

But i think i will be able to meet my goal for my first post surgery half marathon in November.
10 months away, i should be able to do this. I plan on walking the whole thing, no more running.
But still looking forward to meeting my goal!

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.”

― Walt Whitman

My quote from Walt Whitman today.
It was sunny and in the 50's when i got home from church, so i excitedly chose to take advantage of the conditions and walk outside. I live at the edge of all residential, so behind my house are fields clear to the Oquirrh Mountains on the west edge of the Salt Lake Valley.
Today they were snow capped, the sun was out, and a cool strong breeze. I felt wonderful getting outside and being in the sun.
I only made it .86 of a mile, but that is my farthest distance since the knee surgery. Since i have been limping for 11 months before the surgery, many muscles start to ache when i focus on an even gait.
And by the time i got home my knee was very stiff and sore.

But what a beautiful morning, so grateful i was able to get outside and be a part of it.
This journey back to an active life, even mildly active,  is going to be longer than i thought.
Today helped me look forward with a hope that has been diminishing.

I know this is the right time for him, but baseball season and the Yankees will just not be the same

without the Captain!!

Recumbent Bike - Sort of

For about a week now I have been asking my Physical Therapist if i could try his recumbent bike.
Well yesterday, he agreed and let me try it. Mistake!! Every turn of the pedal was very painful.

But today i decided i needed to get on track and using the advice of my PT, i 'converted' my upright
stationary bike into a recumbent by placing a folding chair behind it and reaching out to the pedals.
It actually worked very well, but was still painful for the first 10 minutes or so.
I held on so tight that my fingers started aching.
The result, 1.5 miles in 18 minutes, and i am thrilled with that. Yes, my knee is SORE!!

New Outlook

I decided to change the name of my blog today. In October i started it by calling it "Starting of a Cycling Journey".
But today is 2 weeks post knee replacement surgery, and i am expanding my outlook to starting of many kinds of journeys. While running is not going to be one of them, i am googling 'walking friendly' half marathons. It appears i still have many half marathons available to accomplish!!!

It is going to be a long road. Today i am 'up' to 1/2 mile walking on the treadmill, at a 35 min pace.
And 'up' to 8 leg lifts and 6 wall supported squats. But i am looking forward with high hopes.

My knee replacement surgery was not a 'total' knee, as i had originally planned. I got a second opinion in December, and went with the new Orthopedic Specialist. I had a uni-comparmental replacement.
They do a CT scan with Dye in my knee to get a 3-D look at it and measure me for custom replacement parts. That all appears to have gone fine, it is the necessary smoothing out behind my knee cap and the plate screwed into my bone behind the knee cap that is giving me actual pain. Everything else is tight,
but appears to be working!!

I haven't journaled anything, but need to start so, i will start keeping up with this blog, now that i can sit in a chair with my knee bent!!!

My first crash today!!!

I decided to experiment on the Mountain Corridor bike path (which thankfully is separate from the highway). There is one spot that has dried and muddy run off from the field next to it. Two semi dried batches in a row. As i came up on the first one I thought to myself 'i wonder how much control i will actually have on drying mud ruts' so i rode through the first patch, Almost losing control. It was tough to hang on, but i regained control - almost - but not conpletely. The second patch of muddy ruts was worse, and i lost it. went over my handle bars hard! The only saving part is i landed off the paved trail onto a small mound of soft silt, on the side of my head!

I was dazed, startled, confused, and covered with dirt as i slowly got up. Two drivers on the adjacent highway stopped and a sweet gentlemen about 70 - 75 and dressed in a suit hurried across the patch of weeds and dirt that separate the trail from the actual highway, and asked me if i was ok. He picked up my bike and asked if i needed a ride home. I kind of just stared at him, a bit in a daze and also starting to feel pain in my head and neck. I tried brushing myself off, and trying to settle my glasses back on my face but they had gotten tweaked out of shape. I told him i was ok and would walk home, in retrospect I realize we were kind of in the middle of nowhere that must have sounded ridiculous to him. The other driver was a middle aged woman with a hispanic accent, she also came and asked if i was ok, then asked a couple times if i wanted a ride home. I replied to them both, thank you for stopping, i just need to walk it off. 
Arghhh, i was in a daze, but i had my phone and called my son to come and pick me up.
Walking while waiting for him i experience blurred vision on the edge of my peripheral vision, my head started pounding, and my neck was getting increasingly stiffer and painful.

When he pulled up i handed him my bike and got in, feeling great relief at sitting down.
The first thing he said 'i knew this was going to eventually happen. I watch cycling videos and old people shouldn't ride bikes!!'
I replied, i knew it was going to happen sooner or later, and now it finally has.
I am typing this 10 hours later, i couldn't go to work because my neck was too painful to even walk or
move much. It is still quite painful, but my headache and dizziness are mostly gone.

It was a beautiful day, I am mostly disappointed i did not get to finish my ride as there are probably not too many nice days left before the cold weather arrives!