It's easy to imagine the impact the Olympic games have on the athletes (perhaps), but what do they do for the rest of us? As I sit in my living room for the ninth evening in a row and watch the most accomplished athletes in the world display their power, agility, and mental toughness, I find myself inspired to move off of the couch and onto the floor for a round of push-ups, or an attempted headstand. Sure, these are small steps in the direction of legendary greatness, which, perhaps I'll never achieve, but the point is that I've been inspired to move, and surely so have millions of other viewers world-wide. Of course, the contradiction of having to be sedentary in front of a television set in order to receive the inspiration to be active is a bit of irony not lost on me. But when I start off on my meager 2.5 mile run, and I'm feeling less than driven and under-energized, I can at least think of Lolo Jones literally overcoming her hurdles, or Dara Torres swimming past a competitor less than half her age, or Alicia Sacramone, who, despite showing human flaw, pushes forward with grace and resolve. And I make it through my run for that day. I'll call on their inspiration five more times out of the week.
I'm now more than 12 weeks recovered from my second (and final!) foot surgery, and life is starting to feel a little more normal. When I l ast wrote an update , seven weeks ago (still blaming Irma for all of my delays), I had just gotten off of crutches but would wear my boot for two more weeks. I've been out of the boot and walking in shoes for just over five weeks. The constant discomfort I've felt in my foot from swelling is finally starting to wane. I work in the office now, I do my own groceries, and I even attended a work conference recently, which meant lots of walking at airports and the conference hotel, frequent standing, and few opportunities to elevate and ice. I was very concerned about how my feet, particularly the left one, would endure. And while it wasn't comfortable, I made it through, no worse for the wear in the end. I joined a new gym/community center recently, with a new and beautiful outdoor pool, and I'm so happy that I'm able to use ...
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