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I'm Walking (like a drunk!)

I can now walk without the use of crutches. Not fast. Not even close. It does in fact look like I have a serous damage to my cerebellum (small brain), but still. I'm walking! Yahoo!!.

I'm now able to control the contraction of my leg muscles, and much of the swelling in my ankle is down probably due to extended use of the muscles and their positive effect to the circulation. The muscle it selves has also regained much of it's original volume.

This is good! With this kind of progression I think I'll be able to start some careful biking pretty soon.

There's three bikes and fourteen left shoes just dying to be used, and I've also found the perfect candidate for my fourth bike. Three wheels and a helping motor!

Yes. This is So Much Better!!

Looking at some pictures from the Constitution Day, I realized that the color of my crutches does not at all go with my suit.

Also. I've been bothered by the weight. By all means. They're not heavy, but being a weight weenie everything heavier than the lightest thing around is too heavy. Since my girlfriend is also reading this blog, I'm not gonna go into any details, but the weight saving was 270 grams and $/gram factor was quite good too. Especially in bike terms.

They're looking quite good. All black. Not telescopic, but cut to my length. That way you also avoid that 'clicking' sound. Recommended to every W.W. that for some reason should be in need of a pair crutches.

Got a New Shoe!!

The New DonJoy MaxTrax™ ROM Walking Boot

The cast is off and the stitches are out. The scar was somehow bigger than I expected. I guess, after several years with ruptures and tendinitis, they had to open this one up a bit more than they would have with a less degenerated tendon.

So. Now I have this moon walker for additional four weeks which provides a protected range-of-motion. Right now I don't seem to have any motion at all, but it'll come. I have plenty of time. The tendon wont take a maximum load before january.



Here a nice shot of what it looks like now. The whole calve looks a kind of withered and I measured it to be more than an inch (!) smaller (circumference) than it used to be before the rupture. But OK. That's just a muscle and will be back pretty fast.

My Daughter's first Work Out

My girlfriend discovered this video clip of my daughter and my brother. The clip is from August -05, making her 22 month old. She takes great joy in many of my toys like the gym mat, gym ball, balance pad......... witch she has more or less claimed to her possession, but I never expected her to take over my running weights. I believe she'll turn in to be a great athlete! Hopefully she'll never be big enough for a 59cm bicycle!!

FlowerPower

Some of you've already caught wind of the fact that this blog is about to change subject for an uncertain period of time.

I will of course write about bicycling and track&field, it's just that.........It's kind of not much to write home about right now.

So. How about gardening? Here's some shots taken from my garden.

Enjoy.

'Jogging' with crutches

I figured it's about time to do some cardio work, but there's really not much I can do now that I have three legs. Cycling won't work. Yet. And of course running's out of the question. The plastered leg won't fit in a rowing machine. So I decided to do an one hour limp with crutches in rugged terrain.

Man that was tough! My arms and shoulders weren't set up for that kind of activity. Cycling and running is not among those activities that gives you a great upper body. That's for sure.

It was OK though. I broke some sweat and got some pulse. These first walks will be more muscular kind work than cardio, but when the muscles there and I can give a little more speed I'd guess it'll be as good as anything.

Maybe some Nordic Walking would have me more prepared for this.

Aaaargg

Not being able to walk properly is really a pain in the ass. Especially for the rest of the family. I promise you. My mood is not at it's best now and my mind has not yet 'tuned in' to a long restitution time. Hey. I can't even carry a cup of coffee!!

I'm starting to work out again again tomorrow, then of course with a totally different training program. Obviously there's also been a few adjustments to what track meets and races I'll participate in this season.

Yesterdays mail brought me some drugs that's suppose to promote healthy joint tissue and cartilage, lubricate joints and remove inflammation; permit muscles and joints to heal more rapidly.
This was ordered before the rupture, but I guess it won't come in any less handy now. How much I believe in these things I don't know, but GLUCOSAMINE, CHONDROITIN & MSM has proved to be quite effective on me. Now I'm adding some HYALURONIC ACID to see if I can boost it up even more.

This might sound desperate but I've been on glucosamine for quite some time now, and for those of you who think the effect has to be pure psychological? Well that's some huge psychological effect and far cheaper than a therapist.

This calls for a small break (I guess)

Complete Achillis Rupture



First, there's a pop or a snap. Then an immediate sharp pain in the back of your ankle and lower leg that makes it impossible to walk properly. It almost feels like you've been kicked, or even shot.
These are the sensations typical of an Achilles tendon rupture. The Achilles tendon is a large, strong fibrous cord that connects the muscles in the back of your lower leg to your heel bone (calcaneus). Your Achilles tendon — also called your heel cord — helps you point your foot downward, rise on your toes and push off your foot as you walk. You rely on it virtually every time you move your foot.


Well. That's what happened to me during a relay race Tuesday, just some 10m before the next stage it snapped of. I guess I won't be writing about bicycling and running for a while now.

The good part is that my tendon's now all cleaned up and will probably heal to a far better condition than it was before the rupture.


Funny thing is. Yesterday I had a doctors appointment where I was gonna discuss getting an X-ray of the tendon to evaluate the possibility of an operation to 'clean it up'. If I were to do that, that would mean financing everything from out of my own pocket. That's of course not an issue anymore, and also. It didn't cost me anything except for some pain relief an a pair of crutches. Only thing is. I wish they could do the right side while they were at it. That wouldn't take them more than 20 minutes extra.

Relay race



Did a relay race yesterday. SKJALG started with three teams, and I had the the third stage for the youth team. Wasn't too exited running for the youth team since that meant doing a 470m sprint stage totally alone. The other seniors where already leading by at least 350m. One thing is I didn't show my back to anyone, another thing is I didn't even see anyone's back! I did OK though. Doing another one Tuesday, and hoping for some better composed teams then. It's pretty tough to do your best when your body hurts and you're only racing against yourselves.

Great customer service

I recently published a story regarding a bad experience with some tights purchased from an online store.

The store just agreed to give me a total refund of the amount without me sending the tights back.

That's not bad!

Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy

ESWT - Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy . Having a shock wave of four bars to an already acking achilles tendon (tendonitis) does not neceserally strike you as a very good idea, but I mean to tell you. It works! (And hurts a little)

The discovery of the beneficial effects of ESWT came as German researchers were trying to determine what type of high-pressure pulses could be sent through the body to disintegrate kidney stones without causing harm to surrounding tissue. In laboratory animals and humans, it was discovered (with some surprise) that surrounding tissue would often heal back stronger.

If you have a chronic achilles tendonitis, tennis elbow etc. you should defiantly give this a shot. I feel much better after only one session.

It's a small world indeed!

Some time ago, I'd say around September last year, I caught wind of the fact that filtersweep and his wife were moving to Stavanger. I contacted them while they where still living in the U.S. and we e-mailed each other maybe a few times before they moved. And what do you know? They ended up living just a block away from my place. What's the odds of that? It's a small world

Well. Just minutes ago. My cousin called me to say he'd visited some friends he met in the States who just recently moved to my neighborhood. They came to talk about bicycling, my name came up. and............

It's a small world indeed

'Vomit training' has started

....and so also the risks of injuries. It's always been the same. When I start doing track and spikes early season. A lot of those timed 85% intervals would probably do just as good with sneakers instead of spikes causing Achilles tendinitis, like yesterdays work out did. This period is, for me, the most important period and any kind of injuries' a bit of a draw back.

Seems to me I'll have to step over Wednesday's track meet and rather focus on some later events instead. Let's see what my two trusted friends Voltaren Emulgel and Felden (Piroxicam) together with some eccentric exercise can do first.