This is a (severely) late post. It covers August and September, and we’re almost out of November at this point. I’m just not a good blogger, but it you’re reading this about recovering from an acetabular fracture and what you can do, hopefully this one is a hopeful post. Most of mine are; the surgeons at UNMH did a great job and I have not been able to thank them enough, and my PT at Langford Physical Therapy was also amazing. The big thing here is — doing the work has let me now do the things I love, and not just on the bicycle but also walking and somewhat climbing.
Back when I got off crutches, Heather and I bought new hiking boots as an ‘aspirational gesture’ — the plan was that we’d do more hiking. Between her chronic pain and my hip, aspirational was definitely the part of it. I ended up with Lowa Camino‘s from REI. They’re lighter than the Asolo’s I wore up Kilimanjaro in 2010, but much bigger. Either those were WAY small or my feet have WAY grown. We broke them in a little bit just around, but the first real trial was to do the Aspen Vista Trail above Santa Fe, in August. (The 9th, actually. Hiking right around my birthday).
After the jump, maybe a little more. But not a lot
It was 11.5 miles round trip to the top; we had no idea of my tolerance. It went well (and with 3 months delay, there’s not a lot of recollection here. The terrain was pretty reasonable, honestly, with little scrambling and mostly on a fire road. My hip tolerated the walking really well; the stabilization on the abductors was good, and power was good. It was weaker, but far from bad. We made it to the view point in the photo before the rain closed in, and there was the first challenge; really broken rocky ground was a bit of a challenge. It worked out, though, and the leg took it.
A good sign, since we had a trip planned in September to the UK, and that was to include the Lake District and more challenging terrain, longer hikes, and probably worse weather. More on that later.