I was sore all weekend - hamstrings, quadriceps, abductors, adductors, calf - you name it, it was sore! Trying to stand and sit was probably amusing to watch - it was ginger up and down with a lot of upper body grasping to help.

My muscles were finally all happy, relaxed, and groovy & they forgot about the return to torture today!

Hour 1 - the usual. Harness on, tethered to treadmill, walking at 2.5 mph to start and 3.2 for a good pace. The usual now includes 2 minute intervals of jogging. The upper harness is really tight so 2 min is about all I can do for the amount of oxygen I am able to exchange. I went through the first jogging interval without assistance, the second one included a PT trying to correct my foot for eversion, supination, and heel strike (fixing so my foot doesn't point out and land on the outside - getting it to have first contact with heel which is normal). That is tough, tough work. To have someone attach themselves to your foot while you are trying to jog adds workload, distraction, and increases the right foot's tendency to compensate for what the left foot is going through. Out of 4 intervals of 2 min jogging, left foot assistance 3 times. Whew! I was sweaty!

Hour 2 - outside. Throwing balls between 3 people with me in the middle and 2 people throwing to me alternatingly (I know, that isn't a word, but I don't want to reconstruct the sentence, sue me). Throwing a frisbee so that I have to reach and try to 'rush' to the ball. I put rush in quotes because I can't really rush too much, when I am trying to rush or when I am anxious, I get a lot of tone in my whole left side (arm included). They tried to make me rush anyway but I think that is a long-term project, not a short-term possibility.

Hour 3 - still outside, on the gravel, tandem (hee'ul toe) walking forward, then backward, then backward with my eyes closed, then forward with my eyes closed. Walking up a very steep hill (dirt, clumps of grass, and some landscape netting) and walking back down 6 round trips. Go inside for some big ball balancing - sitting lifting one leg while balancing for 15 seconds, then other leg for 3 times each leg. Laying back on the ball and lifting one leg for 20 seconds, 3 times each leg. Crunches on the ball - 3 sets of 10 reps each.

I'm not nearly as exhausted as last Friday or Thursday, but I definitely feel as though I got a workout.

On a side note - there are other improvements that I have noticed. I feel mentally healthier. Whether it is because I am improving or because I am being challenged in a different way, I don't know. But I like it. I feel like I have more confidence and I feel as though things are possible now. Before this, I felt as though little things either wore me out or I just didn't feel as though they were even possible (e.g., making a quick trip into the apartment or store).

This makes me a better person - for myself and to be around. I will definitely think about ways to maintain this when we get back home.