Post Surgical Hallux Rigidus Adenosis

I had the adenosis surgery on my left toe to relieve the pain of Hallux Rigidus on April 12, 2012. This type of surgery involves removing the damaged tissue & bone and then fusing the two bones together. Which then restricts the movement of the big toe. Since this is the toe that runners push off on, it will extremely limit that movement. I am by no means a serious runner, I do the halfs just because I like to get out and walk/run. Crazy I know. I run/walk half marathons and my best time for that is 3:15. Some of that I could blame on my foot because I knew if I pushed it harder the pain would be worse. I had already entered the 2012 Disneyland Half in Sept when I could no longer stand the pain in February. I had put off the surgery for several years because of the long recovery time, but I noticed that in favoring my foot I was starting to mess up my knee, my hip and my back. I've had problems in the past with bad knees (from skiing and field hockey) and when I stopped exercising, I developed sciatic nerve problems in my lower back. Run/walking has alleviated all those problems for several years, so when I started having problems with them I knew I was ready for the surgery. I did not want to mess up my knee, hip or back again. My surgeon is an athlete too and is very sympathetic to my need to move. (I have ADHD and being able to exercise is very important to me. I've found that regular exercise helps me concentrate better.) He has been very firm with me saying "If you follow my instructions EXACTLY, I will have your foot ready to do the run/walk, probably with more walking then running, by Sept 1st. It will be up to you to get the rest of your body in condition to do that type of mileage, within my guidelines". So now it's 5 wks post surgery, I still have to wear the boot for 3 more weeks BUT if I can find a stiff soled shoe I can start cycling less than 5 miles a day starting today. Several days ago I tried to put on a tennis shoe but it was a ridiculous effort. My foot was just too swollen and would not bend. BUT TODAY, I just tried it and YAY, the shoe fits! I feel like Cinderella!