Housebound

My foot has finally recovered enough that getting from the locker room to the pool, and back again, no longer seems like an impossible feat, so I’d decided to try swimming this weekend. But, alas, 11 or so inches of snow has foiled my plan. The main roads may be clear today, but my driveway is not, and there’s still the pool parking lot to navigate. About the last thing I need to do is fall and break something else! So, my return to swimming has been postponed. I’m about a half mile short of my revised, as of mid-November, “distance swum” goal for 2009. Of course, under normal circumstances, those few yards would be accomplished easily; but the longer I’m away from the pool, the more daunting they become. And the weather just makes it easier to be like a bear and hibernate.

New Shoes

The big boot in which my left foot and lower leg have been encased for the past three weeks has been replaced with a smaller ankle brace that is designed to be worn with regular shoes. It’s certainly less cumbersome than the three-pound boot, but I had no shoes, except an old pair of bedroom slippers, that I could comfortably fit my foot into with the brace on. Since I doubted I could wear the slippers every day for the next six weeks, I had to go shoe shopping. I figured a slightly larger size in a wide width would work. When I entered the store, I expected to find an array of wide size shoes in their own special corner -- after all, women’s clothes are organized that way, but I soon discovered that while wide sizes were marked with a green “W” on the box, they were mixed in with all the other sizes, according to style. I also learned there were not many wide shoes in small sizes. If only I wore a 9, or a 12, instead of a 6. And since I was at a discount store, there were no helpful clerks to facilitate my search, but eventually I found some pseudo “running” shoes to try on. Of course, the companion shoe for my right foot was much too big, so I decided I should buy a second pair in my regular size so my feet would match. I didn’t really care what my feet looked like, but I was concerned walking would be more difficult with different type shoes on each foot, and they were on sale. Then I had to search for that pair. There weren’t any in my actual size, however, so I compromised with a half-size larger that’s a little long in the toe, but seems to fit okay otherwise.

The best thing about having shoes on both feet again is that riding a stationary bike is much easier. I cycled twice last week wearing my boot, managing an average speed of about 6 mph – 4 mph with both feet, 8 mph right foot only. Today, my pedal strokes were much smoother and I averaged 10-12 mph with both feet. That I soon might be riding my own bike on a trainer seems much more possible.

Considering 2010

Race schedules for 2010 have been announced, and there are a plethora of events to choose from. I could do one triathlon a month – maybe one a week – between March and October if I wanted to, but I think I’ll aim for 3-4 Sprints, starting with the Smithfield Sprint on March 27, and 1 Olympic. Set-up has eliminated the Patriot Olympic in September, but they’ve added a new Tidewater Olympic in June that will take place in the Buckroe Beach/Fort Monroe area of Hampton. My other option for an Olympic is Rockett’s Landing in July, but I don’t relish having to swim in that part of the James.