Gardening is definitely exercise -- physically and mentally! No heated pool here. The water temp was 83 yesterday. A tad cool for me, but it's perfect after a bike ride or gardening. Biking is my favorite exercise, but on the road, no trails for me. I try to maintain a speed of 10-12 mph and just let my mind wander since I'm on smooth pavement -- time passes so quickly. I don't usually go more than 1 hour, but I was into it due to the cooler weather. I figure with gas prices going the way they are that it's just a matter of time that I ride my bike to town (only 4 miles). I am picky about traffic though. I don't trust drivers when I'm biking. We have good bike lanes that start about 2 miles outside of town. Today, I walked only 1.5 miles because Charm wanted to go. Greyhounds are sprinters, not endurance dogs. They run 40+mph for 31 seconds and they are done. She gets tired after about 15 minutes of just walking. LOL DH runs, but I always seem to get shin splints. Not for me. I've been slack about doing my yoga since DH retired. I'm not accustomed to having someone around when I'm doing yoga! I have my mat and blocks out on the screened porch in nice weather. DH has cleaned up the kayak, but we've not been to the lake yet. Soon, I hope.

Hooray, Pam, I'm glad that itchy and annoying bandage is off, at least. Keep working on range of motion, it'll be better a bit at a time. And after you get the cataract surgery, you'll be able to see it too! (grin) Actually my mother, my stepmother and my Dad all had cataract surgery and they all said it was really quick and easy, so hopefully it really is quick and easy! I'll have to check with Ashley's new MIL about those shoes, she works at the local orthotic footwear store, the place that makes special shoes and sells stuff like Birkenstocks and Uggs. They might even be available here in the sticks! I especially like their advertisement about how if you are old and fat and your knees ache, they'll fix you up with shoes, LOL. Helene, I'm glad you are feeling so well. My doc says the same thing, that I can maybe recover faster with PT, but rehab is normally 4 to 6 months and I'll be fine without it if I choose not to participate. As for the stairs, heck, I'm still going down one at a time, so you're probably doing very well. I'm amazed you're getting around so quickly, I can tell you that. I'm doing pretty well too, I think. I'm back to walking to work, and I went to the farm and cut a big maple that had fallen onto the fence line during our last storm. That entailed crawling onto/into/over the tree to cut the ends of the branches that were lying on the fence, and I managed to at least not hurt myself further, balanced with each foot on separate limbs while sawing branches with a hand saw. If I were a REAL farmer I'd have a chain saw.... And I have no problem at all sneezing or laughing, thank goodness, so it appears that my problems are at least dry! Annie

I was having a terrible time with shin splints from Step Dancing. (lots of high bounces and hops and you are on your toes and no pading, just leather soled shoes) My dancing instructor gave me an exersize that absolutely fixed them. It takes 2 though. Put one leg up on a table. about the high of a kitchen table. Keep your leg straight but relaxed. Have someone gently press on your foot (at the top between the middle and the toes), so your shin area is stretching, you'll feel the relief right away. Hold it for a slow count to ten and repeat with other leg and as needed. It is better if you can do this before and after you run.

Kitchendetective, I feel your pain! It really is a shame that the nearest New Balance store is 80 miles away but, I'm going to have to add my voice to the "go to a New Balance store" recommendation. A couple of months ago I was in the same boat you are. My well used NB runners were falling apart and no matter what NB shoes I tried on nothing seemed to give me sufficient cushion. I finally broke down and went to a NB store. They have a machine that stand in (after removing your shoes) which will indicate on a screen just where the pressure points on your feet fall. Helps the NB folks determine exactly what kind of runners you need. Well, color me shocked. All my adult life I've *known* I have flat feet....except the machine showed that I really don't have flat feet. My wet footprints look that way becasue of the motion my feet go through when I'm walking. I not only needed a shoe with good cushion, I needed one that stabilized my foot. The guy who was helping me put exactly one shoe on me and it was like nothing else I'd ever had on my feet in my life. Yes, it felt that good. Yes, it was more than double the price that I usually paid for NB at Kohls or Shoe Carnival.....but I'm so glad that I did it! My feet feel "years younger"! I live in my runners and, as a dog trainer, they get a ton of abuse and use on a lot of different surfaces. When I find a pair I like, I generally buy 2-3 pairs. I didn't do that at the NB store since they were so pricey but, I came home and found exactly the same shoes at Online Shoes and ordered two additional pairs from them at a considerable saving. I suppose I could have returned the ones I bought at the NB store but as far as I was concerned the sales guy worked hard to ensure that I got shoes that worked for me so the extra cost was worth it. For one pair.