My stress fracture has healed

I am happy to report that I was released from the air cast on Friday.

The podiatrist (yes, Seinfeld fans, he is a doctor) said the bone on my foot healed very well, probably because it was strong from running and tennis.

Taking my first steps without the boot felt odd, but I adjusted quickly. Now I have to remember to start back slowly...not an easy thing for me to do. I don't think I'll run for a while; I'll just walk farther with Maddie and maybe throw in a few jogging steps every now and then.

I went to yoga yesterday, and today I hit for about an hour and a half with George, our coach. It's a beautiful day here, and we played outside on clay courts near the Connecticut River. It was so great just to be there.

George said I did very well. He said my arm seemed strong, which made me especially happy because it shows that my weight-lifting over the past month has paid off.

I felt good, except for getting winded after hitting a lot of balls. I had a fleeting crazy thought, as I often do when I get tired exercising. It goes something like this: "Oh no, I'm tired, maybe my red count is going down and maybe other things are too!" Then there is the correction: "No, you just hit a lot of tennis balls after being away for more than a month, and now pay attention or the next ball is going to go  flying by." Maybe it never ends. Sigh.

George plays a little game in which you can't progress to the next drill without hitting a certain number of balls in a row, depending on the date.

So, today being the 19th, I had to hit 19 forehands before we could work on backhand. Then 19 backhands and then 19 alternating.

I got into trouble on the backhands and kept hitting into the net somewhere around 10, 11 or 12.

"Four more tries, and if you don't make it you do 19 push-ups," he said with an impish smile.

Ha. That will be the day.

I got the 19 on the next try.