Sorry about the delay of posting.

After the demanding Day 5, I was feeling a little weak on Day 6 but ready to go!

Hour 1 - the usual. Harness securely up my butt, and desperately squeezing my hips and ribs together. On the treadmill. No assistance whatsoever. This thrills me and makes me curious. How has my foot learned so quickly? I'm sure that the procedure of strapping into the harness and getting onto the treadmill has conditioned my foot how to behave so I asked the PI (primary investigator of the research project) how they measured transfer of training (what measures are being used to ensure that the treadmill training will take once the harness is removed and I am 'in the real world' so to speak). There is a long mat (12') that I walked across for the pre-test measure that will test this. Anyway, back to the treadmill. No foot or hip assist. 25 minutes of walking at a good clip (3 miles/hour). I have a firecracker for a primary PT on Day 6 (there is a different one every day) so she pushes me as asks if I am ready to jog. What the heck, right? So, with someone standing behind me, just in case and lifting the harness by taking 30% of my body weight (atomic wedgie once again!!), she cranked up the speed to 4.5 miles/hour. I'm still supinating and everting so they encourage me to lengthen my stride so that a heel strike is more possible. I try and try but get worn out pretty quickly. At 2 min into the jog, I ask for it to be slowed. Speed is reduced to 2.5 miles/hour and I get a breather. I know that I'm not in the physical condition that I used to be but I feel pretty ridiculous for quitting so early. We do this 3 more times at 2 min per jogging session. Then, THEN I realize why I pewp (just in case the real spelling is cencored) out so early - the harness is squeezing my lungs and makes me breathe very shallowly so I'm not getting to breathe deeply when jogging. I feel like less of a fool then .

Hour 2 - stayed inside (stinking hot out). Focused on strength training back to back. On hamstrings (lunges) and calves (s-l-o-w-l-y raising and lowering on tip toes). The calves workout involved me holding onto a shiny silver pole on the stairs while slowly raising into a tiptoe and every so slowly lowering into a stretch. I jokingly said that the pole reminded me of my college days there was a shocked gasp or two and a few giggles which is what I was going for. Okay, so also did a silly 'carpet roller blading' thing that was really hard - strapped slick plastic to my feet, while keeping in full contact with the floor, take long strides without a) falling over or b) losing contact with the floor. Someone has a grip on me from behind and someone in front at all times so that I don't fall over.

Hour 3 - inside. Balancing - while standing on a big inflated half ball thingy (sorry for my loose terms, I don't know the technical terms for these things), one person throws a ball on my left side. When I throw it back, I count and another person throws a ball to me on my right side, I throw it back and then the left one throws - on and on. Combining balance with distraction and some cognitive activities. Whew! Well, we can't leave that as it is, so we make it harder! One foot on one inflated disk and the other foot on a different inflated disk - the same activity repeated. This one is tougher because the unaffected leg can't help stabilize the affected leg like on the one big inflated half ball thingy. I count up to 22 without dropping a ball. I'm very proud of myself . Then, sitting on a big yoga/pilates exercise ball, perturbation from behind (random tapping to try to make me fall over but making me balance) with another person hitting a balloon to me & I am to hit it back and count. Good core exercise!!

4:00 and we jet the heck out of there! I met a good friend of mine that I haven't seen in at least 5 years. On the way there, I almost puke in the car. We had to pull over so that I could gather myself. I only had a salad for lunch in preparation for the dinner I planned to have. Well, I didn't have enough carbs or calories to handle the 3 hour workout I just had so we stop to get some baked chips. My stomach is settled so we meet up with my friend and we go out for good food and maybe a glass of wine and a couple of beers (liqueur before beer and all). I fell into bed at 10:30 but still can't just oh-so-easily fall asleep. Asleep around 12:00 or so. I still need plenty of sleep for my brain to retain and make all of the connections we are throwing at it so I slept until 9 am. Looking forward to the weekend and 2 day break. My legs are killing me today - standing and sitting are painful.