changes are happening!

but not without pain...

Walking is getting smoother and faster. Yesterday I walked one mile in about 20 minutes (I google-mapped it when I got home.) I was tired when I got to my destination, sat for a few minutes, spent the next hour or so on my feet. When I got to physical therapy later in the day, I told of my exploits and my therapist thought it might be a bit much. As we went through the exercises she could see the fatigue in the leg, it was shaking.

Today the whole leg is sore -- the hip, the IT band, the quad, the hamstring, the calf, the ankle...and of course the knee but not the overwhelming pain. It was the hip that woke me up.

My take on this is that it is a good thing to have tired the leg muscles through exercise and targeted work and that the pain is reflecting the use. In my limited understanding of the body, this should lead to strength. Unlike the pain I felt with the damaged knee, where the pain did not lead to strength but eventually atrophy of the supporting muscles because they were not able to engage due to lack of the supporting knee.

This pain caused me to miss a morning yoga class that is within my current abilities but I had gotten up for ice for the hip pain and fallen back to sleep. I hope to reliably get back to my regular activities soon.