Outdoors Again

We took our first local vacation trip since my injury. We used to take at least two longer trips per season but until now I have not been up to it. We enjoyed a ride to the top of Pike’s Peak on the cog-railway, a short hike through the rock formations that make up Garden of the Gods park, and took a horse ride to see more terrain than I could manage with my cane. It was great to be back in the wilderness and I think it won’t be long before I am able to hike short distances on real trails with the assistance of walking sticks. To top it off we drove down to see the Royal Gorge bridge.

I’m hurt…

It seems as though all the souls in that hospital are crying out…

Story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/19/nyregion/19hurt.html?scp=1&sq=elmhurst%20hopsital&st=cse

If it is good enough for Chuck Norris….

I recently began a new therapy move, the simulated jump. This involves “jumping” while lying down in a leg press machine. It is good because it forces my leg / knee / quads to catch my body weight, thereby building strength, and just as importantly, confidence. If I try to jump while standing I invariably land on my good leg first b/c psychologically I won’t let myself land on the bad leg. When I am horizontal it is easier to let go and allow my bad leg to catch my weight. While using the jumping machine at my therapist I expressed dismay that the school gym does not have a machine to simulate jumping. This is when my therapist told me I should get a Total Gym. Even though I have not watched the infomercials for this machine, somehow my subconscious knows that this is the gym approved and marketed by Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley. I guess that tells you how successful their advertising has been – I already know what it is even though I don’t recall ever looking for one. Where can I find the Total Gym? Online it sells for hundreds or thousands of dollars, with different versions having higher or lower quality materials and a different variety of possible exercises. Obviously I don’t want to pay retail, and given that these sell on late night television I figure that there must be hundreds of them collecting dust in basements all over America. Craigslist to the rescue! Within 24 hours I buy one locally for much less than the retail price, and it comes with the expected dust from lack of use. I cleaned it up and started jumping. It seems like it will do the trick. I don’t know if I will bother with the other exercises if offers, I do most of those in the gym on better equipment…