2022-04-29

Albis Hike

Seven weeks after they cut away part of the bone above my left foot. Apparently bone heals within 6 to 12 weeks, so I had permission to fully load it again. Anita was travelling in Jordan. Both kids in holiday care. Great weather on my 80% working hours Friday off. Good time to put the foot to the test and go for a walk. We are lucky to live in a beautiful area so all I have to do to get into nature is drop off the kids in the morning and keep walking.

I met a lot of these guys on the way.
View towards Lucerne.
Sculpture at the Albishorn restaurant.

I walked up the Albis and followed the ridge all the way to the end at Sihlbrugg. Cross the river Sihl and return on the other side along the Horgenberg. The Albis ridge is forest preserve. The Horgenberg is postcard Swiss cliché rural idyll: green meadows, cows, vegetable gardens and orchards. Small one lane roads all to myself. The biggest excitement was when a car drove up quickly from behind me and raced past. I was mildly annoyed until I turned a corner and saw the car again: turns out it was the veterinarian who was now rushing to help a calf that lay collapsed on the pasture.

"Wir Kinder aus Bullerbü" anyone?
Some kind of parasitic growth on the tree?

I covered nearly 30 kilometers and 1000 meters of elevation gain in just under six hours. The foot held up well. No pain. But the lack of recent training showed and the small climbs felt more strenuous than they should have. Time to ramp up exercise again ;-) I paid for the trip only on the next morning: the foot was swollen and stiff and the first few limbs out of bed were painful enough to nearly make me faint. Same symptoms as pre-surgery, only magnified. Stiffness and pain every morning, extra severe after exercise the day before. Luckily for me the fix is in line with my natural preference - ignore the pain and start moving. Warming up the foot alleviates the symptoms to a large extent.

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