Boring is good

I knew I was OK at my clinic visit Monday when Dr. Alyea walked in and asked who I thought was going to win.

I had to think for a second, but I knew he meant the Australian Open. A little sheepishly, I said I wasn't watching. Although it is counted as a Grand Slam tennis tournament, I, like many tennis fans, don't pay as much attention to it as to Wimbledon and the French and U.S. Open. Ben says it's probably because around here fewer people are playing tennis, even though the nuts, like me, play year-round.

Alyea was very pleased with my counts. "It's getting boring!" he said. I'm tired of being so interesting. So, boring is good. I haven't had a transfusion in about a month, and I am now finally making red blood cells and platelets.

My white blood count was 12. Red was 32, and platelets 74.

My blood pressure, even though I take Atenelol to keep it in control, was pretty high. So he added another medicine and said I should get my blood pressure rechecked today and also get blood work to see if the new medicine was messing with my potassium. My blood pressure was normal; the blood test results didn't come back yet.

That night I dreamt I was in a room with a couple of people taking an exercise class. I started jogging around the table. Then I picked up my pace and went around and around easily. "I've got it!" I shouted.

And the day after that I was inspired to try. I put on my running clothes and did a walk/run to the Lower Lake, i.e. the small pond. It's about three-quarters of a mile around. My goal was to pick my feet up, give no thought to speed and see if I could make it around without stopping. It was basically a walk with runner's motions, going just a little faster than I walk. But I did it and it felt like a run. And now that I got past that, I feel a little more enthusiastic about getting out in the first place during the cold weather.

Today I made a big investment. My shoes were in bad shape and, I'm sure, not helping me at all. So I went to one of the local runners' shops and talked to one of the runners who works there. It's so much nicer to go to these stores staffed by real runners, where you feel part of a community just going there, as opposed to shopping at one of the chains.

I'be been getting a Saucony Stabilityand before that Asics. We had a long talk about my level of pronation, and he recommended I get Motion Control. I'm pretty invested in getting the right shoes. because years ago I did battle with plantar fasciitis, which causes severe heel pain and is very difficult to get over. I had cortisone shots in my heel, slept with a boot on and did physical therapy, all for only brief relief. Then I found an excellent physical therapist who made me a pair of soft orthotics. I still get twinges, but he basically fixed me up.

Today I bought a pair of blue and white Brooks. While I was taking care of my feet, I decided to get a pedicure down the street. I don't do that very often, but it was relaxing, and now I have some nice-looking magenta toe-nails.

There's been so much to keep track of, I haven't paid much attention to my feet. Years ago when reading John McPhee's book "A Sense of Where You Are," which is about Bradley's basketball career at Princeton, I was interested in the amount of time that Bradley spent talking about the importance of taking care of your feet. He said that many other players ignored their feet and suffered for it.

So now I've taken care of myself. It felt good to make another little investment in the future.