6 weeks out….

I guess I have it easier than some. 6 1/2 weeks out from surgery and I got a little impatient with the treadmill and last night decided it was time to move up to jogging. Carefully. A tenth at a time, with walking in between. With my 5 fingers. It felt great. I managed an entire half mile of light run out of a 2 mile treadmill walk followed by a bit of hot tub action.

I won’t lie, my surgery side glute was sore overnight, but today just feels tired. The only issue while running was some stability, some of the minor muscles are out of shape and got tired. No other fallout except that my knees feel great for the first time since surgery. They have ALWAYS ached from lack of running since high school, no one knows why but I suspect the cartilage needs the workout as much as everything else. I’ll try to walk a bit today, stretch and maybe hit the hot tub again. I’m weeks or months ahead of where they expected I would be, so no sense being stupid.

Oh, the shoes. I discovered 5 fingers about, oh, 5 years ago when I had a bit of outer knee pain after about 6 miles or so. Figured out the heel platform was causing a side thrust, and as I ran barefoot as a kid it seemed like a natural decision. Previously I tried the Nike Free, and while they felt great for about 300 miles they didn’t solve the heel strike and wore out too fast. (Hint: with no foam midsole 5 fingers wear out when you wear through them.) It took time to transition but I actually run faster in them. No lateral knee pain either, and I discovered that it is almost impossible to turn an ankle in one – most sprained ankles are caused by wearing shoes! But be warned, it looks like barefoot isn’t for everyone, and like I said it takes time to build up feet to carry the full load. Mine are close to wearing out, but I may buy a pair for trails – my current pair are very light and not really suited for the sharp rocks that are abundant on mountain trails.