Enduring

My attempted return to anything close to the fitness and form of last spring is progressing slowly. The muscles of the right leg and right side of the hip seem resistant to my attemots to build strength. The right knee is still a bit dodgy, sometimes feeling fine, sometimes feeling ready to throw in the towel and buckle. Overall I see the need to attack the issues on at least three fronts: strength, flexibility, and endurance. Add to that the additional impact work the orthopedic surgeon assigned me, and you have a recipe for a full-time endeavor. But my other responsibilities have limited the time I can spend, so the recovery continues at a pace much slower than I desire or anticipated.

A couple of months back I tried to push myself towards working harder on a return towards what I consider ‘normal’, putting a couple of endurance events on the calendar for this spring to force me to get out more. But life has gotten in the way and I have not been able to spend the time necessary to prepare for these events, leaving me wondering what is realistic at this point as the dates for the events draw close.

I did get an unexpected surprise this week which will, at least in the short term, free up some time for me to work on the recovery (as well as some yard and house projects that have been delayed for far too long). My employer reduced the payroll, so I have a bit more time for endeavors beyond earning a paycheck. And the time I have will be allocated differently. More work on the recovery, balanced by working on networking with friends and acquaintances in an effort to find a new challenge (read job) to pay the bills. Lat month I was able to get in a mere 280 miles or so on the bike, and I have almost 70 in the first two days of this month. Perhaps I will be ready for the first of those endurance events in a couple of weeks.