7-months

The foot and ankle feel fine. There is still a bit of numbness on the outside of the foot, but that will come back as the nerve endings repair themselves. Every once-in-awhile, I feel a sharp quick pain across my foot. It's a nerve coming back to life!

I'm able to run, but still not as fluid as I did pre-injury. It's still a bit "clunky" when I get fatigued. The 1/2 marathon is probably not a reality this year, but I can do my CrossFit workouts. I ran a Crossfit "Murph" today. 1-mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, 1-mile run. It's one of my favorite workouts as it completely depletes me. The last mile I had to walk part of it because of conditioning, but the Achilles held up just fine. My running gait was a bit off near the end, but I completed it.

My running shoes are by far the most comfortable shoes for me to wear. My work boots get a bit tiring as they don't offer the support that my running shoes do. So...looks like I'll be buying new work boots! I still have a bit of trouble getting my fire boots off after a call because of the scar tissue, but that has become a bit easier with time as well.

See you at the 8-month mark! Running and walking are awesome!!

I passed my pack test!

The pack test is to get our wildland firefighting card to fight these type of fires on a federal level. It's also part of our physical that we have to pass every year if we want to keep doing what we are doing as firefighters.

What is the pack test? It's a 3-mile walk with a 45-pound pack that has to be completed in 45-minutes. Actually, we get a bit of an extension to 46:30 due to a higher altitude. This year I completed the test in 44:12.

Why is this exciting? Because just a month ago....I failed it. Due to the pain in my lower legs as I recover from the Achilles injury. The right calf is still a bit atrophied and the pain shooting up my shins became excruciating. I had to stop at the 1 1/2 mile mark. This last test started off the same with the pain, and I became concerned I would fail again. But...a miracle at the 1 3/4 mile mark...no more pain! My cardio was just fine...so I knew I would make it. Yeah baby! It's done until next March!

I've come along ways since August 15, 2008. I have a long ways to go, but the progress is there. Albeit slow, the progress is still there. Since there is no weekly gains, I will updated monthly unless there is major breakthrough or setback.

Ohhh....my wife and I are pregnant with our 2nd child. See what bed rest can do! : )