Thru Endurance We Conquer!

 Being released from the couch was the best feeling ever. Finally! I was able to get up and move and start doing things again. With the instructions to ease back into normal activity - emphasis on the ease in part! I was allowed to actually get up and go for a decent length walk. I could start riding the trainer again. I could even start cooking! I still had the small gas bubble in my eye, but that was fading rapidly. That was the biggest issue with starting to run - that little gas bubble dancing around. And after a week on the couch, the last thing I wanted to do was plunge right back into some high intensity and duration running. A great way to get injured for sure.  The first week after getting off the couch was just some longer walks and easy runs. Short runs, with permission to stop and walk when things felt tired. I was honestly pretty frustrated with how tired my legs were for having that week of nothing but "recovery." I was stiff, tired and my knees were still achin...

 I know more then a few people who think absolutely nothing about sitting around all day, not doing much of anything. I've never been one of them. I have to move - I feel better when I've done something during the day (outside the planned and sometimes needed rest days!) There's been a few times in my life where I haven't been able to do much due to health issues and I was hoping to avoid a repeat for as long as possible. The first was after the retinal detachment in my left eye back in 2011 and the second was following my mountain bike crash in 2019 where I ended up with the severe hemothorax. The first was a week of doing nothing, followed by a  few weeks of easing back into activity. I probably pushed it a little by racing the Xterra West Championships in Las Vegas a month after that surgery. The second was only limited in activity due to the hospitalization and need for portable suction on the chest tube! I would have been up moving quite a bit sooner had it not bee...