Third Time's the Charm

Third workout back! 17 weeks, 1 day post-op (original)

The incision site in my heel has healed completely, so I did this workout barefoot. Some interesting challenges are presenting themselves. Walking is still extremely painful, and I use crutches for partial weight-bearing most of the time. Since the bone structure of my foot has changed, I am walking on a part of my calcaneus (heel bone) that I have not previously walked on. I can't even begin to describe how hard this is, or how much pain medication I've been taking to get through it. My right foot now has a normal arch in it, while my left foot is still almost flat and overpronating. It will be six months before my left foot is operated on to match my right. I still have very limited range of motion in my right foot and ankle, so walking is more like a painful hobble. On the bright side, the wound site has completely healed and turned into a barely visible scar. I am very pleased with that. It had been a gaping hole for such a long time, I had no idea how it was going to go back together and stay there.

I was looking forward to tonight's workout. My body felt great after the last one I did on Saturday, with light soreness. I'm not pushing my workouts too close together yet because my immune system is still very weak and I don't want to make myself sick. All of those surgeries and all that anesthesia was really bad for my body. I'm also still sticking with the 8 kg for strength work. No point pushing it yet. I had a yummy (and very colorful!) pre-workout soup consisting of ground beef with fresh garlic and onions, rainbow carrots, mixed cherry tomatoes, white and red kidney beans, and quinoa in beef broth with some freshly ground black pepper, oregano and basil. The whole family loved it!

Joint mobility

Three rounds of 1-2-3 press ladder
(no pull-ups this time because I don't have my assistance band back at home yet)

Three rounds of:
-Standing windmills, weight overhead, bottom hand with palm flat on the ground at the bottom of the movement (can't believe I've maintained that flexibility after 4 months on bed rest!), 5+5
-Cossack lunge, bell by the horns, 5+5
-1-arm swings, 5+5
-Straight leg deadlift, 10 (again, surprising flexibility)
-Renegade row, anchored hand on a step stool, challenging because of lack of flexibility in right foot, 5+5

Joint mobility and stretching

I had quite a bit of pain medication earlier, so I'm not feeling any pain yet. I'm happy with how I feel and how the workout went. Challenging but not beyond my ability. Getting there, slowly but surely! Definitely a success.