On The Comeback Trail
Well, it’s been 3 weeks since I finished up PT and had my last follow-up with the doc. So far, so good. I’ve been diligently working on strengthening my lower body, while slowly getting back to running. After the first week, which I’ve already mentioned, I moved up to 2 miles, every other day (and maybe a 5K run on the treadmill thrown in for good measure) for the next two weeks. In the last couple of days I’ve moved up again.
My knee has been responding very well to the strength training and the easy, short runs, so this past Friday, I decided to bump up the distance. I really wanted to do 4 miles, and that’s exactly what I did. And it felt good. Ok, cardiovascular-speaking, it was hard in the last mile or so, but as for the knee, it was great! Following on the heels of Friday’s success, I ran another 4 miles yesterday—the knee still felt good.
Of course, I am icing after running, and that makes a difference, I’m sure, but all in all, I am very pleased with how things are progressing. I even went to pick up my copy of Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to Be Your Own Best Coach
, by Brad Hudson. In the end, though, I thought it wasn’t quite time to start flipping its pages. I still need to take it easy, and I should probably do my next few runs at 3 miles each, so that I’m not increasing the mileage too fast.
I’m soooo looking forward to some speed work and especially long runs!
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It Keeps Me Running
As mentioned in my last post, I had the 4-week follow up with the orthopedic surgeon this past Monday. He said the knee looked good, and made sure to point out the disparity in muscle mass between my legs. The doctor emphasized that I will need to still take things slow while I regain both muscle strength and muscle endurance. That said, I was cleared for all activities.
Monday evening, Jacob’s baseball team had their first practice, and since I’m an assistant coach, I had to be out there too. Our practice field sucks. It is rocky, it is uneven—not a good surface at all, especially if you’ve recently had knee surgery. (On the other hand, if you can field the ball cleanly on that surface, you can field the ball on any surface.) After an hour and a half of walking and standing on that field, my knee was sore, so I didn’t do any additional workout. Instead, I saved that for Tuesday.
On Tuesday evening, I spent 10 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes on the elliptical, and then 15 minutes on the treadmill. I started off on the treadmill with a minute of walking, followed by a minute of jogging. I repeated this until I reached 15 minutes total on the treadmill. It felt good, but tiring. I finished out the workout with full body strength training, in circuit fashion, 3 times around.
Yesterday evening was another baseball practice, and a day off from working the knee. At this stage, as I work my way back into shape, I feel that it is extremely important that I allow my body to have a day to recover between workouts. The knee was a little sore during the day, but not bad. After baseball practice it was much more sore. I took some ibuprofen and called it a night.
Today the knee has felt great. I even took the stairs up in the parking garage (4 levels). I also went back to the gym this evening. Again, I started off with the bike, but only 5 minutes this time. Next, I moved to the treadmill, where I walked for 1 minute, and then jogged at 6 mph for 10 minutes (or 1 mile), followed by 4 minutes of walking, for an even 15 minutes. I then hopped on the elliptical for 20 minutes of high cadence cross-training, followed by a couple of minutes cool down. After that, it was on to strength training, but tonight I only did lower body—high reps, light weight. Aside from fighting off a side stitch while I was jogging, this was a good workout, and it goes without saying the knee felt good.
I will continue focusing on rebuilding my muscle strength and endurance, while gradually working my cardiovascular system back into shape, along with my running legs. Oh, one last thing from the doc—it will likely take 2 more months until I have enough strength and endurance built back up to return to my pre-injury effort level.
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Bryan
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10:55 PM
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Arthroscopic Knee Surgery: 26 Days Later
Oops…I guess I forgot to come back here and let y’all know how that physical therapy appointment went… Sorry.
That first appointment, along with the subsequent three appointments went well. At the first appointment, it was the standard procedure of doing the initial evaluation—gathering information on the injury, taking range of motion measurements, strength measurements, etc. Then the fun began—they bent my leg much further than I had previously bent it, and boy did it hurt! However, once they did that, I had all sorts of increased mobility. They also had me work through three exercises that they wanted me to do at home (twice a day). I have a sheet detailing the exercises, if anyone is interested. They made a big difference for me.
The second, third, and fourth appointments were involved a brief warm up on the bike, followed by a series of exercises, though these were different than my home exercises, since I was a good patient and actually did my home exercises before going to PT. Anyway, the exercises all focused on gradually building the strength back up in my leg. From one appointment to the next, sets were added, resistance was added, and perhaps a new exercise or two.
Following the second appointment, I was cleared to walk as much as I wanted, and to return to the gym for upper body strength training, as long as I took care not to lift anything too heavy, and not to carry the weight away from my body. I did the walking, going 2+ miles a couple of times between the second and third sessions, but I didn’t hit the weights just yet.
The third appointment was more of the same, and I was given the okay to get on the exercise bike on my own, but with no resistance. That evening, I finally did go to the gym for upper body strength training, and I rode the bike for a total of 20 minutes. The weight workout went pretty well, though it was awkward at times, as I tried to use some of the equipment, without using my legs. I cycled two more times between the third and fourth appointment, 30 minutes each time, and I also did some more walking (which was actually more of a workout, considering I wasn’t allowed resistance on the bike).
This past Thursday was the fourth and final physical therapy session. I knew it would be slightly different when my warm up on the bike included some resistance. Sure enough, everything else included a lot more resistance, too, and we added exercises. At the end of the session, the therapist said that depending on any swelling, I’d be cleared to return to the rest of my activities. AWESOME! Well, of course I needed to get some clarification, and what he really meant was this: if the knee didn’t swell much over the next couple of days, then I can start on the elliptical Saturday afternoon. If that goes well, then I will be allowed to ease back into running, but I have to check in with him first. I was so psyched!
I took it easy the rest of the day on Thursday, and returned to the gym on Friday for more strength training and cycling, this time with some resistance—and I finally broke a sweat! The swelling has staying down, and yesterday I hit the elliptical. I managed to get a good 25 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 5 minutes of walking on the treadmill, and 5 minutes of spinning on the bike—it all felt good. I followed that up with some of the strength exercises I’d been doing in PT.
This morning the knee looks great, and feels great! I have a follow-up appointment with the doctor tomorrow morning, after which I will stop by and check-in with the therapist. I can’t tell you how absolutely thrilled I am to finally be getting back to some real physical activity, especially running, and even riding my bike. I promise to keep you updated on how it goes.
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Bryan
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12:33 PM
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