I made the decision to have the ankle surgery - May 28th to be exact. I've been asked what the surgery is called and I don't know. The surgeon will go in, move my Achilles tendon aside and cut off off the excess bone that's a problem. There is a portion of the bone on the posterior side (back, under the tendon) and the medial side (inside of the ankle) at the insertion. None of the surgery deals with the tendon so recovery time is pretty fast.
I'll be in a walking boot for 3 or so weeks. That part kinda sucks... I am at the mercy of the rest of the world to take me places... I can ride my bike indoors, which is good. :) I can walk the dog - also good.
At the appointment I was concerned this wasn't the best course of action - that waiting longer was a better idea... however, the thing is, I might be waiting a year. I can wait or I can be done with this and running - lightly - in 8 to 10 weeks. I'll take the 2+ month recovery time thank you.
Yes, I do feel like I'm being impatient. However, the two doctors I have seen about this estimated a couple months of no activity would fix me. I've been on ice since January - no running since December... everything else (cycling, swimming, elliptical, etc) all ceased in January. It's nearly May... I hit a plateau after 2 weeks on the heel lifts. I feel like I've tried everything... heat, ice, stretching, strengthening and topical goo- I've tried doing, I've tried not doing. I've tried meditation and yoga. This isn't to say there hasn't been some improvement - there has. But I stopped improving. Time to pull out the big guns. :)
In the general scheme of my life, this is just one aspect that I feel like is in a holding pattern. Maybe by moving this forward I'll get movement in the other aspects. If not, the main area that helps me relieve stress, connect with nature and spirituality will be back. Running, cycling, hiking - all of that has been on hold because of this injury and it's been very challenging. It's forced me to find other ways of dealing with stress, of connecting with my Higher Power and of finding ways to exercise.
I have also learned the value of balance. I do not believe I have found balance - but I know I need to strive more for balance - physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. The injury was initially caused by not recovering and rehabbing - a muscle imbalance. I pushed the pain out of my mind - an emotional imbalance - to achieve a single goal: mental imbalance?
Someone told me a whole back I was "paying the piper" and I agree. I ran through the pain of my injury so I could do my first marathon. In January and February it was absolutely worth it. Now, I'm not so sure. In the big picture, is 4 months of running, biking, etc that big of a deal? No, not really. But, in the end I'll get surgery and I'll be adding another... 3 months *total* to the recovery time. I trained for a year for a marathon for which I am spending 7 months in recovery. That is a mighty big price tag. A guy I know says "the juice isn't worth the squeeze" and I want to make sure the juice is worth it in this case - that I learn my lesson. And move forward and enjoy each and every run and ride - because I now know how precious they are.
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