The Incredible Lift My Podiatrist Gave Me

Many of you have applauded me for being very enthusiastic about my fitness quest. But there was a dark cloud for me. It was the pain in my lower legs/ankles (mostly from tendons, I'm told) during jogging. It happened a few minutes in and caused me discomfort that subsided a few minutes after I finished.

This was a barrier to me being all I wanted to be physically. Now, I'm over 300 pounds still, and jogging probably could have been a bit much for me, but I suspected that it was something else. The rest of my legs did fine. This part of my leg would fatigue long before the rest of my legs.

I have high arches--very high arches. You can limbo under them. They've never really been addressed, until now. I decided to take advantage of my wife's work medical coverage and seek out an opinion from a foot professional.

Right away he saw significant problems with the way I walk. Friends have been telling me that I walk funny ever since I was in high school. Shoe salespeople could do little to help me.

I got my custom orthotics yesterday. They cost me $420! My insurance will pay for most of that, but boy, that's a lot money. A computer scans the bottom of your feet. They send the data away, and in a couple of weeks you get custom insoles to put in your shoes. They last a couple of years. I plan on mine lasting a hundred years.

I took them for a jog and I couldn't believe that I for once didn't feel discomfort in my lower leg tendons. The lower legs felt as the upper parts of my legs did. My legs were getting a work out, but there was no pain. I felt like I could go on forever.

This is huge for me. It opens up the potential for me to progress physically with no boundaries. I no longer have this problem holding me back. In short, I need feel I can get as fit as I want to. My jogging time can now start increasing up to a length I'm happy with, say twenty minutes or so, for now.

I've said before that there are probably a thousand things that led to my severe obesity. Bad feet was probably one of them.

Is My New Sport of Tobogganing Too Risky?

A sled for grown-ups that supports nearly 300 pounds. (New York Times)

I have to admit, sledding seems a little dangerous to my body. I weigh about 330 pounds, I'm middle-aged, and I hurtle down that hill uncontrollably with little hope of stopping or steering. On the icy slopes the other day, my back was compressed painfully over the smallest bumps on the surface of the hill. It's like re-entering the Earth's atmosphere on the space shuttle. Or at least I assume it is. 

Without my glasses--they fog up--I almost missed seeing two jumps some kids had built half way down the hill. Had I hit one of those I would have certainly injured myself, probably my back, possibly seriously, possibly permanently.

I've had adults tell me about their tobogganing injuries as adults. Tail bones that took half a year to heal, back injuries that never quite got better...it's all scary stuff. I currently use a large, basic plastic sled but I'm thinking about buying a foam sled for some padding protection for my back but that kind of sled is even slippery than what I have now and I'd go even faster. 

Another Eurosled adult sled. Weight capacity: 300 lbs. (Amazon.ca)

I have found some sleds that adults can use. I like them because they have steering and brakes--two things that are downright handy on a large toboggan hill. I'd opt for the "little kid" slope but my eight year old would probably be disappointed in me.

I'll be very careful. I'll check out the hill close up and try and find any problems. I might find ways of slowing down my sled and I might wait for softer snow instead of the ice that is there on our hill as of this writing.

My fitness comes from climbing up the hill over and over again but the fun comes from going down and spending time with my kids.

After Some Setbacks, I Now Feel Really Good

November was a tough month for me in that my level of hope was challenged by injuries to my knee and back. After an early November bike ride, my first that late in the year, the snow came and my back injury got worse. In September I had a ridiculous accent with cycling shoes indoors and fell on my ass. My back hurt but seemed to be on the mend, although ever so slowly.

I had a good jog in October that was 20 minutes, a very significant landmark for me. It was, in my mind, a real jog because that's what I used to do in the old days of being fit. But it was too much too soon. My previous record this time out was fifteen minutes and that was too large of a jump all at once. I did it because I felt so good up until the end of the run but I didn't stop when I got signals from my knee that it had had enough. It pushed it one minute further to meet my goal.

My knee has been troublesome ever since. Going up stairs and jogging seemed iffy on occasion. But I'm happy to say it's all better now. If anything, going up and down a large toboggan hill seemed to help. It certainly strengthened my legs in ways they weren't before. But I'm taking it easy with jogging just in case, doing intervals instead of one long jog. Even at home on my treadmill (my fitness safety net) I do a minute or two of jogging intervals to spice up an otherwise boring routine.

All runners will tell you it feels really good to run. Well, I'd imagine it feels even better for people like me who, less than a year ago, were confined to laying in bed most of the day. Doing it for even just a couple of minutes here and there, with ever-increasing speeds as my fitness improves, feels oh so good.

I should have seen a chiropractor from the beginning. I hadn't seen one before and I know more now about back problems and how chiropractors can help get things better in a week or two.

So I feel pretty darn good! The only problem is the snow is melting. I actually want it to come back. I was just getting the hang of sledding and I'd usually much rather go tobogganing than go for a walk.

Body Don't Fail Me!

I'm currently laid up due to my back injury sustained in late September when I got a pair of cycling shoes for my birthday and promptly fell on my ass when stepping on to laminate flooring. I'm seeing a chiropractor but it got worse when I did. Walking isn't even an option right now so I must wait and see how long it will take me to get better.

It's very disconcerting when this happens in the midst of a personal fitness revolution. It feels like I'm once again an invalid. Hopefully this thing will get fixed soon and I can go strong again. Stay tuned.