Another milestone reached...

Flashback to August 2nd...
It was a hot summer day, and I'd taken Lagniappe out for a run on the C&O Canal towpath. The plan was a three-mile run on the towpath--a mile and a half out, and then a return. But it was a hot day, so I dogged it and didn't run very fast or hard. I used the excuse that it was too hot for Lagniappe, of course. No need to push it...I could always make it up on the next run.

But I didn't know that "the next run" would be a long, long way off. I had no idea on that nice summer day that in less than 24 hours, I'd be minus a foot and part of my left leg. None of us can ever really know what's right around the corner, and I'd assumed that I'd be running again in a day or two.

Fast-forward to today--January 13th, 2007.
I haven't been able to get up to a running pace since getting the new replacement foot despite being in the gym 5-6 days a week. But I've been working up to it. I started out on the eliptical machine about a month ago, and despite thinking that I was going to die the first day I went for five minutes on it, I've managed to double the time and now barely break a sweat. And last week I started walking on the treadmill. Nothing heavy--just ten minutes at a brisk walk at 3mph. The last couple of days I've bumped the speed up a bit, from the 3mph that the fitness experts set it on, to 3.5mph and eventually 3.7. That was the best I could manage.

Well today I took another shot at it, and this time I got it up to 4mph. And that wasn't too bad, although it was a fast walk--about as fast as I could manage at a walking stride. Still I felt like I could do better, so I jumped it up to 5mph. This was a slow running pace, but by holding on to the treadmill rails, I managed to keep up with the belt for a couple of minutes before a muscle cramp in my leg made me slow back down. However I just had to try again, seeing as how I'd come so close, so I bumped it back up to 5mph again. And it was working. I was almost running. So threw caution to the wind and kicked it up to 6mph and let go of the rails. I figured I'd either run or get bucked off the back of the treadmill.

And damned if I wasn't running.

I only managed to keep it going for about a minute--not even a tenth of a mile--before it started to really hurt and I had to stop. Sweat was running off my face like a waterfall and my leg was throbbing, but damn--I'd run.

I skipped the rest of the workout and hit the pool. All I could do was sit in there for an hour and let the jets play over my leg. I overdid it seriously, and hours later it's still pretty sore. I'll be paying for that short run for the next couple of days at least, but it was worth it. I ran.

One more milepost passed on the long road back. And when my leg stops hurting, I'm gonna do it again.