It’s been a couple weeks since my last update, and that’s a good thing. I’ve been busy ramping back into “training”, and have been establishing a consistent schedule despite the broken foot.

In the past two weeks, I’ve gone from taking my first steps to comfortably walking and jogging on the Alter G treadmill. I’m swimming regularly, riding the stationary bike, and lifting twice a week; the structure is very similar to what I’d follow during a typical week of tri training. Although I’m not cleared to walk or resume full activity just yet, I’m quite confident that I will be when I visit the doctor next week. If I’m not cleared next week, it won’t be long until I am.

Perhaps the biggest breakthrough was wearing (my brand spanking new!) tri cycling shoes for the first time over the weekend. I went for a short spin to test out how my foot responded to shoes, pressure, and clipping in/out – I passed every test with flying colors.

After walking on the Alter G at 50% of my body weight for two weeks, I’ve felt my stride come back rather quickly, and have noticeably less pain when I apply pressure through my foot.

So what’s next? I’ve run through a ton of scenarios for getting back to fitness and racing – best case, worst case, and everything in between. For now, all of that hinges on my appointment next week. I’ve made tentative plans to participate in the swim leg of the Wildflower Long Course relay next Saturday – swimmers don’t need to run to transition, and I’d simply be able to exit the water and hand off the timing chip to the biker. Either way, I’m planning to head down there to spectate, and hopefully ride my bike on the course if I get cleared. Stay tuned!