Baby steps

So, I still haven't gone for a run since I messed myself up almost 2 weeks ago..

..though I'm still getting out on the trails a bit.

See, when I did the stupid 25k run a few hours after my back went pop, I didn't really realise what the problem was...or that it was a much more severe version of something that's been plaguing me for more than a year. All I knew was that it seemed to be mostly ok while running, so I ran.

I'd planned to take some down time after that "race" anyway, and did so - I'm terrible at just lazing around, though, so I went for a few gentle walks with Tank on Sunday, and did some pull-ups n my rock rings in the livingroom. I did shy away from doing offset hanging knee raises, as my back was still quite tender.

Come Monday I was back at the office, and with the power of the internet constantly in front of me, I started doing a bit of searching to see if I could figure out what I'd done to myself.

Paging Dr. Google...paging Dr. Google..

Within a half-hour I'd stumbled on something that not only seemed to fit the symptoms I'd had since Saturday, but also the persistent, burning pain and cramping I'd had in my left glutes, hamstrings, and hip since somewhere around March of 2019.

Spondylolisthesis. 

Basically: I broke a bit off a vertebra, and now it can slip out of place.

So the pressure of the displaced vertebra on my nerves explains the wandering, on-again-off-again pain in my left hip, butt, and leg, plus the lack of flexibility I've been dealing with. I used to be able to fold in half and put my palms flat on the floor; for the past year I've been unable to reach past mid-shin without bending my knees. The worst part is sitting in the car; I'd started to suspect over the last couple of months that it might be something spinal, since I could ease the burning pain in my left glutes and hamstrings by dropping my seat back and laying closer to flat. This rather confirmed it.

For some reason I felt like a spinal injury should probably not be ignored.

Unable to see my awesome RMT, chiropractor, physiotherapist, or osteopath due to the pandemic closing all their practices, I started scouring used sites for something that my RMT had suggested when I texted her about how I'd managed to hurt myself this time. I'm rather embarrassed to say how often those conversations happen..

In any case, I managed to find what I was looking for (at a price I could mostly afford) for sale in Brantford, where Tank and I picked it up on Saturday.

And it sort of stows out of the way..

I got quite a bit of relief from my first use, and have been on it daily since.

Though I can't say it's the most comfortable thing in the world; it's not nearly as nice as the one my RMT has.

The relief from the inversion table hasn't been as marked since that first day, but the back pain hasn't been as bad overall, either. I'm told that this is pretty much as expected for my issue. My reading on the subject also suggests that there's no real treatment for what's wrong with me, apart from rest and strengthening my (already regularly-worked) core musculature to support the slippage. It seems if things get really horrible then spinal fusion is the final resort, but since it has a very poor historical record of proving any relief to patients, that's not a road I really want to contemplate.

So I'm in a bit of a weird place right now. My back has been improving, and I now know that I ran 100km reasonably well last year with it at least partially messed up. That ought to be comforting, but I know I've made it much worse now, and being over forty I'm not sure how well I'll be able to bounce back from this. 

And while I'm enjoying going for more walks with Tanker, I'd really like to be able to run trails again.

I've been trying to take care of myself as best I can - limiting myself to walking on my lunch instead of running, and modifying the strength work I do 5-ish times per week to include more yoga and less stress-inducing bending of my spine. I'm now to the point I can function pain free basically all day, though every now and then I'll move wrong and the pain will flare.

Yes, I've even been doing yoga.

While I know this isn't something with which I should trifle, patience is not my forte, and a nagging part of my brain keeps telling me that I managed to run 25k within hours of the acute injury, so why not go for a run anyway?

I keep trying to shut it up, but on Wednesday, when I found myself out for a lunch walk on a beautiful day (after the stupid mid-May snow finally blew away), wearing running shoes..

Oops.

I ran across an intersection. It was hard to stop my legs when I got to the other side, but I did so. Then I ran another road crossing, and then another. I finished by running along the side of my office building, with a bit of a walk to "cool down" after.

The longest "interval" was about 100 steps.

Then, I waited to see the fallout. My back didn't seem to protest, though; it's still not perfect, but it didn't really seem to get worse.

I haven't tried again yet. The weather was better than expected when I got home from work yesterday, but I went for a walk with Tanker instead. Today is not only my usual day off (though that really just means I didn't do a strength workout this morning before heading to the office), but it's hosing rain out there. Tomorrow is supposed to be the nicest day of the year so far, though, so I may just try pushing my luck a little..

A tiptoe through the trilliums would be lovely!

With trails beginning to re-open throughout the province, I can only hope the worst of this is behind me now. At least I finally know what the problem is, so I'm better equipped to come up with some management strategies. I can't give up hope of getting back to long days of rambling happily through the woods, but I'll try to take it slow and allow myself some time to heal.

Baby steps, right?

Finding stability

I've been stubborn and stupid, but I think I'm finally getting better..

So I can enjoy more of this.

It's almost 8 weeks now since I damaged myself running through the ice storm. I've basically had two issues: I've been unable to put weight on the ball of my right foot without pain through the outside of my lower leg - particularly when landing on my forefoot as I do when running, or when toeing off - and my tibialis posterior (right behind the ankle bone on the inside of my right leg) has been really grouchy at the severe over-pronation I've had since I blew my ankle to smithereens back in February.

No bueno.

I worked with my osteopath on the lower leg issue to try to address what we thought might be a peroneal tendon issue, but then my coverage for the year ran out just before my DNF at Seaton Soaker. Somehow it seemed to get a bit better after the race, which is definitely not what one would expect from a tendon issue that I'd run on for more than 5 hours. My osteo also suggested I try some stability shoes, since it was clear that my right foot was over-pronating (rolling inward) quite badly when I walked and ran.

I resisted. I'd tried stability shoes back when I first started running and had very poor experiences with them. Having trained myself (at great effort through the spring of 2010, coming off another injury) to run on my forefoot in neutral shoes, I've never really looked back. I also have rather a large stock of neutral running shoes on hand, and running shoes are EXPENSIVE. I decided to try to strengthen my hip, glute, lower leg and foot muscles to try to correct the pronation without mechanical aid.

It didn't go super well. I continued to run, but only occasionally - like twice per week.

Far cry from the clockwork consistency I usually maintain, shown by 3 pre-injury weeks at the top.

It simply hurt too much to run more frequently, so I'd end up just doing my Wednesday post-work run down through Cooksville Creek Valley and maybe go out and hit a trail (or, you know, jump into guiding someone for 20km..) on the weekend if I could. It was all I felt I could do, while the clock ticked ever closer to the Niagara Ultra. I didn't seem to have much in the way of improvement with the pain in the outside of my leg (though there was some), which made it difficult to do much in the way of calf strength exercises - essential to ankle stability. I worked my glutes and hips, did heel drops and walked on my toes as much as I could bear, and did foot exercises in an effort to strengthen my collapsing arch.

Because that's not a great angle for an ankle under load.

I did eventually cave and try to buy some stability shoes, but they turned out to be ill-fitting so I had to pay to return them. I have trouble finding shoes at the best of times, which is why I buy extra pairs when I find something I like (and thus have so many un-used pairs of neutral shoes waiting in my stash). With nothing else on my radar as a suitable option, I decided to try a pair of insoles that are designed to help control pronation. Sticking them in the neutral shoes I already owned offered a bit of relief, but I was still having my best runs on the trails in shoes that offer a bit of stability.

Also: in calf sleeves. I'll get to that in a minute.

I managed to run on back-to-back days this past Saturday and Sunday, in a last-ditch effort to get some mileage under my belt before Niagara. 10km at Puslinch Tract, then another 6.66km (heh) on the Royal Recreation Trail on Sunday. Both went ok, though were not without their moments of wincing...and frantic flailing as the massive population of mosquitoes attempted to drain my last drop of blood.

Worth every single bite.

Nothing better for my soul than roots, rocks, rivers and sunshine.

I took Monday off as my poor leg and ankle were feeling a bit worn out after their first back-to-back runs in ages. I also resolved to take a different approach to running: I'd try much shorter distances more frequently, instead of the larger but rarer bursts of running I'd been doing lately. With the support of the inserts and a bit of strength starting to return to my right lower leg, I could feel the beginnings of my stride coming back...but only as long as I didn't fatigue it too much. I had to shake the stupid mindset that anything less than 5k or 30mins didn't really count as a "run" - totally a result of the Slowtwitch 100 runs in 100 days challenge, and certainly working to the detriment of my return to pain-free running.

On Tuesday, a few things happened. First, I got an email from my osteopath asking how I was doing - really just a courtesy follow-up, but it got me thinking. The only pain I was still having when walking and running was just below my right knee on the outside, right at the head of my fibula (the smaller of the two lower leg bones, which runs from your outer ankle bone to the outside of your knee). It would only happen when my knee was bent; I could do straight-leg calf raises with no problem. I did some searching around the internet, and turned up some tales of fibular subluxation - basically the top of the fibula moving out of position, and pressing on the peroneal nerve, causing pain up the outside of the lower leg. 

This would totally explain why the upper outside of my calf would hurt when pressed on (like laying on my right hand side in bed, or foam rolling). With some more searching, I found some mobilization techniques and a kinesiology tape application for the issue. Since I keep some tape at the office, I gave it a try, taping the head of my fibula forward after mobilizing it. 

Just one half-length piece of tape.

Relief was not 100%, but it was instantaneous. I tested my leg with some bent-leg calf raises, and it was like a damn miracle! I hated that it had taken me so many weeks of suffering to come to this point, but at least I'd found a working diagnosis of the issue (which had previously ranged anywhere from a previously un-diagnosed fracture in my ankle through sciatica) and a working solution. I wondered if my long runs in calf sleeves had felt better due to the compression helping to properly position the head of my fibula..?

I also came to the conclusion that I simply was not going to be able to strengthen my ankle enough to stop the painful over-pronation with the insoles alone, and found a couple of likely candidates for stability shoes that might a) fit me decently, and b) provide enough cushioning for an ultra on a paved path. I ordered them, and then - with my fibula firmly taped - set about putting my new "run less, but more often" idea into practice.

With my first Tuesday Night Trailrun of the year!

I kept it short: just 3.5km on a smooth, flat trail. My knee and calf responded fairly well, but I stupidly wore a pair of shoes that I selected for their cushion...but also happen to be about the least stable footwear known to man. I might as well have been running with a tennis ball strapped to the sole of each foot, and my poor tibialis posterior rather suffered for it.

I stuck the insoles (which I'd also neglected to wear) in a more stable pair of shoes, and packed up my kit for Wednesday. I couldn't miss Global Running Day!

Or the chance to run some of my favourite bits of trail.

With the tape assisting my fibula and the insoles supporting my arches, I could definitely feel my stride starting to return...but my tibialis posterior was still sore, and my right calf - which had been severely under-used as of late - was definitely worn out from my return to forefoot running. Feeling a bit mithered after runs on 4 out of the prior 5 days, I fully expected to take Thursday and Friday off...but then my 2 pairs of stability shoes turned up. I tried both on to make sure they fit, wearing them around my office for a while as I walked and sat at my desk. I knew the one pair would likely be good for me as it was essentially a shoe I already owned, only with the addition of a medial post, but wasn't as sure about the other.

I believe these will be my Niagara Ultra shoes.

So, I ran again on Thursday night to test them out.

Could they make the medial post a little more obvious?

It was only 2.6km, but it was almost as magical as the taping application had been. Without even adding the supportive insoles, the Brooks Ravenna 9s kept my arch from collapsing and the slightly higher hell-to-toe drop than I'm used to (10mm instead of <8mm for the rest of my shoes) gave my tight, sore calf some relief as I trotted around our neighbourhood for the first time in ages. The cushioning turned out to be much plusher than I'd feared when just walking around my office; like a heavy-duty suspension, it needed the load of a running stride to bring out its best aspects. I ran 95% pain free, even if it was only for 15mins or so.

The face of someone who thinks they see a light at the end of a very dark tunnel.

I feel like an idiot for having waited so long to get myself into some stability shoes. Apart from not wanting to spend the money (and gawd knows the two pairs that just came in cost a pretty penny, and the insoles weren't cheap either) and having SO MANY PAIRS of neutral shoes already in my stash, I was also stubbornly against the idea: it felt like admitting weakness, that I wasn't strong enough to keep my errant foot under control.

I realise how foolish that sounds. I used a brace for my wrist after I broke it, to support it while doing strenuous activities while it healed and regained strength. Why should my ankle be any different? I can't expect it to be the same as it was before after undergoing so much trauma in the last few months, and I can't get too down on myself for not being able to correct it completely with a few weeks of glute and hip workouts. For that matter, there are elite runners - people with more amazing talent than I could ever hope to possess - who run in stability shoes because their biomechanics require them. I do hope that I'll be able to return to neutral shoes in the coming months and years, but for now (at least) I need the extra assistance of a medial post in order to keep from doing more damage.

The most important part is that I'm finally able to get back to some running consistency. While I'm taking today off, I've now successfully run 3 days in a row, and 5 out of the last 7!

This is the best things have looked since mid-April.

I'm nowhere near completely cured, but I'm definitely much closer to it than I was at the beginning of this week. I've made an appointment with a chiropractor for Monday to see if he can assist me with proper alignment of my fibula, but even after the tape came off in the shower last night (after clinging tenaciously for almost 3 days) I don't seem to be having any regression. I'm moving better than I have in over a month and a half, and I'm so grateful to seemingly be on the right path at last.

Damnit

Welp, I may be buggered.

Thanks to this crap.

I was hopeful last week that I could get through this build in training without messing myself up. It was all going pretty well, really...up until the stupid ice storm that set in on Saturday.

I wanted to get in 10 miles, and so I picked a bit of rail trail very close to home that I could just go out and back. Two problems: first of all, the ice pellets were forming horrible slush puddles and snow that meant there was no such thing as a groomed, stable surface for me to run on anywhere.

All of the footprints are mine, though I did see one other fellow out running on my first lap.

Then there was the brutal, gusting wind driving ice pellets into my face across the open fields beside the main trail. So, in order to hide from it, I hit the side trails..

Very pretty and much more sheltered, but not exactly easy on the stabilizer muscles.

I made it through the 10 miles I wanted without messing myself up, then we braved the weather (probably stupidly) to go to show in Toronto. Having survived the round trip on icy roads, it was with no joy whatsoever that we surveyed the freezing rain falling the next day. We nearly drowned between the car and the grocery store, while almost being tossed off our feet by gusts of wind. Nevertheless, I wanted to do my final long-ish back-to-back runs before a stupid 18k road race next week, so I managed to convince myself to get out for a run around our block.

I was just about to step out the door when we heard a bang that seemed to shake the whole universe.

Umm, that doesn't look right.

Nope - definitely not performance.

A huge chunk of our Manitoba maple tree had broken off and fallen on our shed, with the tops of the branches resting on the roof of the house. Fortunately, nothing seemed to be damaged apart from the shed, and since I was already dressed to go...I went.

In spite of a distinct lack of sidewalk anywhere.

It was kind of pretty..

I ran around our block 10 times, wearing trail shoes and actually managing not to slip very much despite not having bothered with spikes. I even felt ok when I was finished, and was quite pleased with myself for getting it done in the face of truly terrible conditions.

Including a jacket that I'm not sure can even be legitimately called "water resistant" anymore..

Where it all seemed to go wrong was Monday - a fairly awful day. We awoke to the same awful road conditions of the night before, with added freezing time. We clearly weren't going to work as our street was unplowed, and we needed to get a tree service to come as soon as possible to get the huge limb off the shed and roof before it snapped and took out the rear windows of the house.

By late afternoon we'd finally been plowed, and even did a little shopping for a new shed. I also decided that, since I was feeling ok and the roads were now fairly open, I'd go for one more short, easy run to try to clear my head a bit.

Sweet, merciful PAVEMENT!

..and apparently that was the last straw, because since then I've been having real trouble with my right peroneals. I tried taking Tuesday and Wednesday off, which wasn't too much of a challenge since the weather continues to be cold and crappy, but it's supposed to be a wonderful spring weekend and I'm not sure I'll be able to run at all...let alone go frolic in the woods.

So, everyone else get out there and enjoy the lovely weather. I've got a bit of advice on how I might be able to address this awful pain and weakness in the outside of my lower leg, so with any luck, maybe I'll be able to join you..

Please..?

I've got every available appendage crossed that I haven't messed myself up too severely - it will be absolutely crushing to go from my return from a torn up ankle to sidelined again by a stupid bit of tendinopathy, especially after all the work I've put in to try to make my stabilizer muscles stronger. I'm hoping this is just a momentary setback, as race season is fast approaching..

400

Like a few runners I know, I'm a little...specific...when it comes to mileage. By that, I mean it gets my hackles up when I fall just short of a nice, round number.

Yes, even when it's completely meaningless.
I could have run another 2sec and 0.01km..

So it was mildly frustrating when I realised I'd run 394.3km for the year after logging my outing at the Valentine's Fatazz. Still, I thought, I'd just make it up the next day after we went snowboarding.

We all know how that worked out.

I did manage one tiny little run back on February 27th, which was just barely enough to relieve my angst at having clocked 99.7km for February up to that point. I finished the month with 100.3km and slightly less idiotic anxiety, but was still staring at an annual total of 394.8km and didn't really feel any closer to being ready to run. 

Things were still very swollen and unpleasant.

I had mentioned last week that I'd hoped to get out for another attempt, as things had been going quite well with the rehab exercises. Come Saturday afternoon I decided I was more or less ready - how bad could it be?

It started off quite well - I'd done my rehab work and my usual run warmup, and there was almost no discomfort when I set off for an optimistic 2km, mildly downhill trot on a smooth multi-use paved pathway. Unfortunately, things deteriorated rather quickly. 

It had begun so well..

By the end of the 2km, my calves were complaining and my ankle didn't really want to speak to me for the rest of the day. I knew when I got out of bed the next day I most likely wouldn't be trying again on Monday, and maybe not even Tuesday.

I tweaked the poor thing a little riding the trainer on Monday evening, and by Wednesday it was still sore. I finally decided enough was enough and gave it a really easy day: just a leisurely lunch walk (rather than the powerwalking I have mostly been doing), and I only did the mobility and balance portions of my rehab work. No hopping or anything even remotely plyometric.

It felt like defeat. I hadn't seen any improvement in my ankle all week, now 4.5 weeks past the date of injury and more than a month since my last run that felt...well...REAL.

The easy day must have paid off, though. I woke up yesterday with no soreness and renewed hope. Getting home from work and errands with just a smidge of daylight remaining, I decided to go for it.

"Please let this work out..|

Tanker was sweet enough to bundle up against the chill and follow me on his mountain bike as I trotted along the 2km route around our neighborhood, feeling my way along as I watched for any sign of weakness or instability from the damaged ankle. While it wasn't perfectly comfortable, things didn't seem to be getting any worse...so I actually pushed on to 2.25km, then 2.5, then thought maybe I'd just go for 20mins and then call it.

This? This felt REAL.

There was a bit of a nasty twinge from the achilles just as I finished, but overall it seems to have been fairly successful. There was a bit of swelling last night even after a soak in cold water immediately after I got home plus some hot/cold contrast in the shower later, but not too much. I made sure to warm the ankle up with some circles and flexion/extension before getting out of bed this morning, and while it's been a little bit tired and achy feeling today, I had no problems doing the full series of rehab exercises and a brisk walk this afternoon.

This ALSO feels like success.

If it feels good when I get up tomorrow, I may even give running another whack - I won't try on back-to-back days for awhile yet, but I really hope it won't take another 4 days off until I'm able to lace up again. It was so nice to get out long enough to really fall into a stride; to be aware of lungs and legs working in harmony to propel me along through the growing dark of evening, letting the muscle memory of a million strides take over to guide me. Uphills didn't feel great, and turning right definitely takes some careful attention, but the experience as a whole was like an inmate's first taste of freedom after long confinement.

Grinning like a fool!

I'm deeply screwed for the 100 runs in 100 days challenge, with just 9 days left and still sitting at 64 qualifying runs (they must be at least 30mins in order to count)...but that 20mins yesterday gives me hope that all may not be lost for my race season, and that's much more important than chasing spreadsheets.

Still, I hope the next hundred kilometers come a little more quickly..

High Hopes

And I don't just mean "I hope I don't fall from this high"

Climbing continues to be a total riot - Tank and I are having a great time exploring new routes at Grand River Rocks as our 2-week trial membership nears its end. I'm becoming a more confident and slightly less hapless climber, basically able to onsight anything up to 5.8 and starting to get the fundamentals of footwork and maneuvering on the wall under me.

Including big steps to tiny chips.

Going 3 times in 5 days - that was Friday of last week, Sunday and then Tuesday - may have been a bit much, though. After a particularly overhung 5.8 that took me a couple of whacks (and just falling the hell off it once) to send, I woke up with some soreness in my right middle and ring fingers that feels like the start of pulley strain. So, I'm giving it a rest so we can hopefully head back for the last day of our trial tomorrow. I'll really miss being able to climb as often as we have, but I do look forward to checking out some other gyms in the near future to see what other vertical adventures we can find.

Though I'm far from bored with what GRR has to offer!

One thing that I haven't been backing off on, though, is my ankle rehab. Day in, day out I'm working to get stronger and more stable. Wobble board exercises, calf raises, 1-leg squats, and lots of balancing on one foot.

Which I can now do for a solid 2 minutes, even while reaching my other leg out to the front, side and back.

As I've gotten stronger, I've upped the reps and difficulty, adding in exercises to address weaknesses as I identify them. This means it now takes me almost half an hour to get through the full routine, but the payoff is that there are fewer and fewer things I'm unable to do. Stairs no longer make me cringe, and I can stand on one foot while putting on a pair of trousers or taking off my socks. My range of motion increases, the pain and twinges wane, and I am tantalizingly close to being able to move from my brisk-paced lunch walks to something like an actual run.

As a matter of fact, just this afternoon I had a bit of a breakthrough. 

I could just barely do two last week.

Since one-foot hops are a major indicator of readiness to return to activity, I'm taking this as a promising sign. As of tomorrow it will be exactly one month since my last run, and my osteopath told me at my last appointment it would likely be at least two weeks before I could start running again.

That appointment was two weeks ago.

So, I'm thinking tomorrow may be the day. I have no idea how it will go, but I'm going to see if I can manage 5 minutes. If that feels ok, I might push it to a kilometer, or a mile at most. I don't want to do any harm, but I do want to know if I can get back out there. While I know it will be some time before I can get out on the trails again, I just want to feel like I'm getting somewhere.

Because you can only spend so much time pedaling to nowhere.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, folks - I need all the luck I can get!

Ups and Downs

So, I tried running on Tuesday for the first time since I tore my right ankle apart.

It lasted just over 3 minutes. It didn't feel good.

No bueno.

It was definitely optimistic to think I'd be able to run on a Grade 2 ankle sprain after just over two weeks of recovery, but I had to try. It was a gorgeous day, and I'd been stuck at 99.7km for February - it was driving me nuts. I did actually manage half a kilometer before I shut it down, and I don't think I did any real damage - it didn't get progressively worse, but it sure didn't get any better, either.

So, I've been trying to concentrate on and be grateful for what has been improving instead of whingeing on about not being able to run. It's actually a pretty decent list:

• I'm getting stronger at my rehab exercises. I can do calf raises and walk on my toes, balance on the damaged ankle for 2mins while extending my other leg forwards, backwards & out to the side repeatedly, and even hop from foot to foot without pain.

• As of Tuesday evening, I am now capable of doing all the kicks for the 4 main strokes in swimming, at least for short periods - I only used the pull buoy for a little more than half of Tuesday's 1,700m. Kicking on my back was too painful up until then and dolphin kick would become so after just a couple of lengths, but I was able to do a couple of 50s of backstroke without issue that night, and can now swim for as much 'fly as I desire. This gives me hope I might be able to try some water running...if I can handle the boredom.

This will not be my expression if you see me flailing my way to nowhere with a floaty belt on.

• I've been getting some pretty solid bike training in here and there, and as of last night I can actually clip my right foot out of the pedal with no pain if I'm careful!

• I have been walking a lot on my lunch breaks, and working on pushing my walking pace. This may actually be really good training for some of the longer races I had planned for this year if I'm still capable of attempting them. The lovely weather this week has helped, too - I had no intention of walking on my lunch today, but the sunshine drew me out even if it was windy and much chillier than it has been the last few days.

It was 16c on Wednesday to close out February!

Much more excitingly, I was able to complete my belay course at Grand River Rocks on Sunday, then go back on Monday and pass the test to become belay certified. This means I can top rope climb in the gym, for which we have a 2 week trial membership. 

The ankle won't hurt if I don't let it touch the ground, right?

Returning to top rope climbing after a 20 year absence has been a wonderfully fun challenge, and I'm grateful to be able to do so without pain - it's a fantastic distraction from what I'm not able to do at the moment, while offering its own rewards as I gain strength and expertise on the wall.

The best part of all is being able to share it with my sweetheart as he learns a whole new skill set and learns to push his boundaries to gain some vert.

So proud of this guy!

So, while I could still be crying about my fitness draining away, and how long it will be until I'm able to get out for a run - let alone go frolic in the woods on the trails - I choose to spend my energy working on my rehabilitation and becoming a stronger person, both on and off the wall.

It's hard to feel down when you're this high up.