Rebuilding fitness...

The 3m review with   Dr HK on Sept 25th (surgery was on 27th June) went off well - as per the doc the achilles tendon has healed very well and I can start excercising with very little restrictions (plyometrics is avoidable for some more time). Which means I have been cleared to start running again building up slowly. With fabulous support from the wife , the recovery period went well. It consisted of two weeks of ankle immobilisation with a plastic board under the dressing, followed by 2 weeks of RT cast and then 3 weeks of airboot.  Post that , started walking from 15th August building up from 2Kms/30mins to 8 Kms/78 mins.  Added stationary  cycling and  rowing to my cardio workout .   And seated dumbbell and machine based strength exercises in the gym. The swelling in the ankle area is almost completely gone. The redness and a slight limp though are still there which is not uncommon for upto 6m post the surgery.  Hopefully they will dissolve soon. 

Meanwhile, the registration for TMM 2025 (on 19th Janaury) started at the end of August. Was confused whether to register for a FM or HM. Given that I have not run since the 5th of May and have lost a significant amount  of my lower body strength and cardio fitness it logically did not make sense to take a chance with a FM . However the heart did not want to let go off the 17y streak.   Dr G  was strongly against a FM  as even a 6:30 hr run/walk could put the ankle under severe stress risking a relapse. - he very reluctantly ok'ed  registering for  a HM  with the caveat of making a call post recommencement of running.  Also as  one can upgrade from a HM to FM till the 29th of November I went ahead and registered fror the HM.  Therefore, it definitely looks like the end of the FM streak at this point. Plan to start running from 5th Oct (5m since the last run and the injury)  and build up over  Oct and most of Nov starting with 9m walk/1 min run and gradually moving to say 8m run/2m walk. At the same time scale the distance to 20K by mid Nov and then make the final call on the distance for TMM. 

Nevertheless looking forward to getting back to running with anxiety, excitment and nervousness !