My New Steed

So here it is...thanks to a seller on Craigslist, I was able to procure a top of the line hardtail mountain bike (meaning single suspension in the front) for a reasonable price.



Had a good time kicking up dust this morning with my friend Charles and got in 15+ very hilly, hot miles in at Westridge Canyon.

Appointment with my new sports medicine doctor is this Friday. Hoping for good news. Took to wearing a walking boot on a part-time basis in the meantime. The last doctor who prescribed it did so upon my request. Told me as long as there was no pain, that there wasn't a need for one. I just asked for it to help aid in the healing process.

Sexy, ain't it?

Hitting the Trails

Ok, so it ain't running. But I missed the trails. And thus far, the sport of mountain biking has eluded me.

Until today.

Given my current sorry state, I decided now is as good a time as any to start. However curious as I was before, mountain bikers to me were mostly guys who abruptly interrupted my zen state of trail running. But any excuse to get dirty and get back on the roads was definitely welcomed.

My friend Charles graciously lent me his "commuter" mountain bike, which was a far cry from his nice Specialized Hard Tail. Sure it was lacking front/rear shocks and proper off-road tires, but the main goal was to just get my feet wet and get an idea as to what I wanted in a mountain bike should I go in that direction.

It was a great time and a great workout. We hit up the very familiar fire roads of Westridge to Mulholland to Sullivan, then back again. I've seen the scenery a million times, and yet it was sweeter still today to get away from the urban jungle. I'll spare you all the intricate details of today's ride. Put it this way, I'm perusing Craigslist as we speak right now for a proper, used mountain bike.



After the ride and lunch, it was laps at my mom's condo with Sara and Charles. Still not anywhere close to Phelps yet, but getting closer to him than the sinking anvil I was when I started. Yes, that's right - "cross training" is in full effect y'all.

More importantly, I've eluded swallowing the bitter pill over getting injured (so far). Gonna make lemonade til it comes outta my ears.

Update: Broken

The official diagnosis of the foot that ails me (per a write-up by the Radiologist):

FINDINGS: The included osseous structures of the left foot reveal focal edema to plantar aspect of the cuboid with small incomplete fracture margin compatible with developing stress fracture. Adjacent lateral cuneiform surrounding the intact cuneocuboid ligament demonstrates mild edema without discrete fracture margin most compatible with stress reaction. There is no evidence of significant degenerative or inflammatory arthropathy. The flexor and extensor musculature and tendons of the dorsum and plantar foot are unremarkable without evidence of myositis or tenosynovitiis. (huh?)

(more simply stated)

IMPRESSION:

1) developing stress fracture of plantar aspect of cuboid
2) stress reaction of adjacent lateral cuneiform

So it's not the metatarsal as I'd initially thought. But I finally have a diagnosis. So now what? Well, this part is somewhat nebulous at the moment. The orthopedist I saw (not my first choice by the way), basically lectured me about the perils of running and suggested alternate aerobic activities (yes, yes - cycling, swimming, etc) with a meek qualifier of "I know you love running..." and "yeah, it's good to exercise but...". Ok, whatever man. Just let me know when I can get back to my self-destructive exercise again (see his thoughts in the article I posted a photo of).

He proceeded to drop this gem (and I'm paraphrasing here), "...so for the next 6 months, lift, swim, cycling - whatever you need to do to..."

...wait, WHAT?? SIX months?!

He seemed a little baffled by my injury actually and told me to use the pain in my foot is the gauge, but he'd recommend taking a significant amount of time off from running to let it fully heal lest it fully fracture and break. OK, while semi-successful in scaring me shitless, I think I'm going to seek another opinion from a sports medicine doctor who can give me something more to work with and a clearer path to the road to recovery. I may also look into getting a walking boot to hopefully speed that time up too.

So that's the latest kids. On the shelf even longer until further notice. Remember when I tempted fate when I wrote this little diddy? Nice one Billy. Nice.

More cycling/boxing/swimming for me until further notice. I'll check back in when there's another update. But no running for me in the foreseeable future.

Damn.