small victories, I suppose

You've got to walk before you can run, and you've got to be able to swing your leg over your bike before you can ride. At the crash + 2 week point, at least I can walk.

Perhaps in theory I could ride, doing what I did to get from the bike path to the car in which I got a much-appreciated and very generous ride home (enormous thanks to the trail walker who drove me): lay the bike on the ground, step over it, then lift he bike. But that wouldn't be so smart on San Francisco streets, where an emergency stop could put me in a painful orientation, and I very much doubt I could climb any significant hill without clipping in my left foot (allowing that leg to do all the work). And I don't want to do that due to the emergency stop thing. So that suggests the trainer, but I can't lift my leg over that yet. Perhaps I should install a body harness with pulleys mounted on the ceiling. That would probably work.

But walking is improving. I don't need the crutches any more, and can limp back and forth across the house. I've not yet attempted down stairs without support, but upstairs is okay.

My energy in the morning is better. I still get tired in the afternoon, but can rest, since I'm working from home. I'm more comfortable getting to sleep than I was: no more dread at awakening in pain. But I'm not sleeping continuously through the night.

Another positive is I've been off caffeine longer than I can recall in many years. I've taken one week breaks occasionally, further in the past then I'd care to admit, but it's nice to give the adrenal system a rest. Will I go back to my morning tea, even the 50-50 expresso I occasionally have when I get to work? Certainly the tea. Maybe scale it back from 3 large cups of natural black tea and substitute 2 of decaf. Caffeine has diminishing returns. A little dose goes a long way. It becomes tempting to push it further, because when you do you feel great, but then you lock it in and that becomes the new baseline.

Physically, a personal goal is to be able to do the clamshell move. I lay on my side, legs bent 90 degrees, and raise the upward knee. Left knee up and no problem. I used to do this exercise against an elastic band. Right leg up and I can't raise it at all, at least without pain I'm not willing to risk. I need to stick to my exercises of spreading my legs from a seated position, without gravitational resistance, using only a yellow Theraband as resistance. That gets those neuromuscular pathways firing, keeps the pipes flowing. I also do the complementary exercise, which is to squeeze a ball between my legs.

Maybe I'll do those right now...