10.14.2024

foot pain, swimming, push-ups, and roast chicken: four things going on with me

I haven't written one of these silly personal posts in a while, and things are piling up. As I always say, I write this blog for myself, and I have some things to record.

Foot pain. I've been beset with crazy pain in my feet. I ignored it for months, continuing to walk 20-25 kms each week, while the pain worsened. New orthotics, proper shoes, but the pain worsened and became inescapable. Finally I went back to the podiatrist -- no small thing, as it means taking a full day off work, arranging dog care, a long day of driving. Diagnosis: peroneal tendonitis. Apparently, this is a thing. Who knew.
Quite sure my technique does not look like this.

I'm trying my best to not freak out. Walking is my principal form of exercise, and if I can't walk... what will happen to my health, and my quality of life? So I'm working hard to stay in the present and not think too far ahead.

Lots to do and not do. Resting my feet as much as possible -- no long dog-walks, no treadmill. Icing. Wearing compression sleeves. Getting physio and doing foot stretches and strengthening exercises. 

And... finding ways to get exercise that doesn't stress my feet.

Swimming again. There's always a silver lining: my foot pain led me back to the pool. I haven't been swimming since before covid. Our pool has a weekly, "sensory-friendly" swim which is perfect for me. I've been going every week and it's starting to feel great. I'm planning on adding an aquafit class on a separate day.

But my chicken did look like this!
Strength and flexibility.
 I had also really fallen off my strengthening and stretching, and the extended break from the treadmill has led me back to that, too. I found a YouTuber I like a lot, treated myself to the paid, ad-free level, and have been doing standing or sitting workouts, which are still quite challenging. 

Proof: for the first time ever, I did a full, non-modified push-up. It's been a personal goal of mine that I was never able to achieve, until now. 

Still, I am very much hoping to resolve the peroneal tendonitis and be able to walk for extended times again, at least rotating with pool time.

Roast chicken. I love roast chicken and have always been intimidated to make it myself. There are so many techniques, so much advice, I assumed it was difficult and complicated. Then I stumbled on Mark Bittman's roast chicken recipe, which sounded incredibly simple and delicious. I bought a cast-iron skillet, the first I've ever owned, and a pasture-raised, organic chicken. It was incredibly easy, and so delicious: crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. Next time I'll put a bunch of little potatoes under the chicken and I'll be even happier.








10 comments:

Amy said...

I am sorry to read about the tendonitis issue. I hope that rest and compression, etc., will help. Swimming really helped me with my back last winter. I haven't been swimming since we got back from Florida---tried a pool here, but it just wasn't the same as an outdoor pool. Good luck!

laura k said...

Thanks, Amy. I haven't been in an outdoor pool since... 1975? 1971? Somewhere around there. Junior high.

Amy said...

It is by far the one thing I like best about Florida.

johngoldfine said...

I love cast iron--right now, turning my head from desk to kitchen, I spy three skillets, two griddles, two stew pots. There are also two enamel-lined pans and one enamel pot. None of them ever see dishwater or soap....

I confess that I've abandoned cast iron for omelets and use a non-stick pan.

laura k said...

I use a nonstick skillet almost exclusively for the stovetop. Tell me about switching to the cast iron. Why and what to watch for?

johngoldfine said...

I use the griddles daily--starting with my fried bread toast for breakfast; then for lunch reheating last night's grilled-cheese or faux-burger or quesadilla; for supper frying haddock, homemade tortillas, polenta, mashed potato pancakes, pancakes, homefries, hashbrowns, latkes, faux-burgers, faux-sausage*; and so on.

* For real meat I use a dedicated Revereware skillet dating back to a 1969 wedding present. Jean is a pescatarian-style vegetarian, I'm not. (It's been a long time since I tucked in to a roast chicken. Jean, usually the soul of tact, diplomacy, discretion, generosity, and kindness, has said, "I don't want to see a dead bird on my table.")

I give the griddles a scrape every so often, but for cleaning, that's it. Not to everyone's taste perhaps!

The skillets I use for things like fried rice, fried vegetables, fried eggs, frittatas, assembing colcannon or shepherds' pie. They get wiped out with paper towels, kitchen sink virgins all their days. Again, maybe not to everyone's taste.

Why cast-iron? I grew up with cast-iron cooking. At this point it's more or less a habit--or even a fetish (I love its weight in my hand, its evil-ish darkness, the inevitable clang on the stovetop)--because enamel-lined or non-stick work fine when I deign.

Cast iron is indestructible, is not frightened by metal spatulas and spoons, but cheaper skillets have a rougher-cast surface, and I prefer the very fine Lodge interiors. It will rust if left wet, but can always be revived with a little effort and patience.

If I were completely rational, I'd say that enamel-lined cast-iron is the way to go: more or less non-stick without nasty chemicals, heavy heat-holding beneath the enamel; handles gently-wielded metal utensils.**

**And when you foolishly chip the enamel, you can sink it eight feet deep in the farm pond as a permanent anchor for the plastic judas-duck you use to lure a nesting pair*** every spring.

*** The nesting pair are always dubbed Horatio and Hortense, although one year, we had Horatio and Harry, which was fine. Maine is a tolerant place.

johngoldfine said...

And, oh yeah, cast-iron pots are the premier baking tool for artisanal boules.

laura k said...

This is lovely, thanks for sharing. I wonder if Allan would try the cast-iron for his legendary grilled cheese. I make a faux fried rice with brown rice and ground turkey (or sometimes ground bison), I will try it for that see what transpires. I wish I could somehow sample those artisinal boules. I don't bake, and if I did, that would still be well beyond anything I would attempt.

johngoldfine said...

Jean's off in Bethesda MD visiting her sister, so it's just me, one horse, four dogs, a bunch of cast-iron cookware...and my keyboard, begging for attention.

I started boule-world a few years back with the NY Times no-knead recipe. If I say, it's fricking easy, you'll scoff, but...it's even easier than he demonstrates here. (For example, my fingers and flour and dough are not likely to paddle around together, as he takes obvious pleasure in doing.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Ah9ES2yTU

laura k said...

I swear by Mark Bittman, but what that video shows is not for the novice or the non-baker. Cheers to you for your bouleworld.