2/10/14. The post where I try to win a gold medal.

2/10/14: maybe it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, but as I expected, my foot woke me up at 2am to remind me that the weather was getting colder. And that it was raining.  I was awake for the next four hours while my foot shared its innermost feelings about the weather. The pain was still only around a 7, but it was just enough to keep me from going back to sleep. Thanks, foot. No, really. Three hours of sleep seems like just the right amount to start a long, busy work week.

I got myself ready and drove to work, and was in the parking lot before I realized I had left my computer at home.  (My work computer is a laptop with a docking station, which is very convenient when I need to do work at home, but not so convenient when I find myself at work without the laptop.) I briefly considered going back home to get it, but quickly realized that if I went back home, I probably wouldn't return. So I stayed at work, hunched over my cell phone to answer emails and review documents.  Holy eye strain, Batman!

I went to my PT appointment expecting to start mirror therapy, but my PT decided I needed one more day of strengthening exercises first.  After my Saturday walk, I felt emboldened to try the treadmill again, and went about eight and a half minutes.  That may not sound like much, but it was twice as long as my last try. At the end of my appointment, my PT told me more about the upcoming mirror therapy, but you'll have to wait until my Wednesday appointment to hear about that.  He also talked a little more about how they want me to set my short-term goals, and the theme again was moderation. He explained that because of my hyper-sensitive sympathetic nervous system, I am not getting enough oxygen to the tissue in my foot and it is possible to exceed the tissue's capacity if I do too much.  But I need to do enough to keep my brain and SNS occupied and focus their attention away from my foot.  So I have to figure out just the right amount of activity.  Sound familiar?  He also said I should be focused not on how my foot feels while I'm doing an activity, but how I think I'll feel several hours after doing it.  My future prediction skills are a little rusty at present, so this is going to be interesting.

I don't have the equation solved yet.  Four hours after PT, my pain is up in the 8-8.5 range and rising, and it's clear that I overdid it.  (I think we've established previously that I am an overachiever, and doing PT while I'm obsessively watching the Olympics is probably not the best idea.)  We're both still learning - I'm learning to know my limits and my PT is learning that I can't be trusted to know my limits.  Between the two of us, we'll figure it out, though.  In the meantime, if they ever add walking on a treadmill while wearing a harness as an Olympic sport, I'll be the early gold medal favorite.