New Ankle

So today I woke up starving. I'm actually working from home today (more on that in a sec) so my original plan was to sleep in a bit and go to the 7am Crossfit class (Ha yes, sleeping until 6:30 is considered "sleeping in" on a Monday for me). But nope, neither of those things really went to plan. My body was tossing and turning all night. I think the 9 miles run right before bed left my body on a weird adrenaline/endorphin rush that it just wouldn't kick. That being said, I finally just got out of bed around 5:30 to get a snack. Although I was wide awake, 7 am crossfit wasn't in the cards either because of my sore legs. Oh well, today is actually a rest day according to the plan anyway...


I'm working from home today for a very exciting reason! Bill's getting a new ankle! Well sort of. Here's a story:
Once upon a time, there was a boy who used to be a really great runner. All through high school he played sports and hiked and did lots of activities outside. In college he started training for a half marathon. He ended up running his first half, the Run to Remember, in 2009 in 1 hour, 40 something minutes on a very hot day. He also completed several 5ks in the 21 minute range. The boy was a speed demon. Anyways, he really really loved running and decided to pursue training for a marathon.

Now, the tragic flaw of the situation is that he loved running so much that he was also very stubborn about pushing himself. During the spring of 2010, his ankle started to really bother him while running. He didn't pay much attention though, and continued to run and run. Finally the pain got to the point where running just wasn't an option and he decided to go on a break. Weeks without running turned into months without running, and the ankle still hurt. Finally, he went to the doctor for some xrays to find out that the ankle had actually been broken! Over the course of those months of rest, the broken bones in the ankle had actually refused in a way that just wasn't right. Ever since, it has hurt the boy to walk, hike, bike, and especially run. The doctors said that nothing could be done and this made him very sad.
One day though, in the fall of 2012, the boy decided to try out a a new doctor, who was very well known for orthopedic surgery in the Boston area. This doctor, to much excitement, said there were options! New surgeries had been developed, and not only that, this doctor was one of the best in the world at them. Although this particular ankle issue was very rare, the doctor performed the surgery 3+ times a month since he was one of the field's leading specialists. Hooray!

So yes, that boy is Bill and today Bill will be undergoing ankle surgery to fix his fused bones. The surgery is tough and the recovery is long, but I am VERY proud that he is voluntarily doing this with hopes to be able to once again do what he loves. Although he still may never run again on the new and improved ankle, he should be able to do regular activities like hiking, walking, biking, ellipticizing, etc without pain.

Good luck Bill!!