I'm Back!

Not that you've been refreshing your screen every hour to see if I've posted anything...but for anyone that might be "following" my story, here's the update.

My last physical therapy appointment was on 4/16...just one day shy of being six weeks removed from surgery.  If you've read my earlier posts, you'll recall that my therapist set several goals for me at my first appointment, and told me it would take me about ten weeks to meet them all.  My macho response to that was, "How about seven weeks?"

Little did I know that I would meet all of my goals in six weeks.  Not that I'm superhuman or anything, because I am certainly far from that.  Actually, I credit my therapist for any success I've had in my recovery.  She created a plan that was easy to follow, pushed me without overdoing it...and my body responded.  

Having met all of my goals, my obvious question was, "Can I start running again?"  Her response was a "Yes" that came fully equipped with the caveat to "Start slow.  Maybe a 1/2 mile the first time out.  Run two minutes...walk two minutes."  

The next day (4/17) I was fully released by my doctor...and the weather was PERFECT for a run.  But I waited.  Psychologically I just wasn't ready yet.  I waited until 4/24, exactly 7 weeks removed from surgery, and went out after dinner for a short run/walk.  It would be my first running steps in over four months.

Taking my therapist's advice I alternated running and walking in two minute intervals, and covered a total of one mile.  Throughout the run I felt several things: slow, awkward, heavy, elated, winded, free, uneasy...but never pain.  The next day brought some expected soreness, but not to the knee.  There was some mild swelling, but ice proved to be a quick remedy.  This run was a success in my books.

On Saturday I went out for another mile...and this time ran for three minutes and walked for two until I'd covered the distance.  Felt a little less awkward this time, but I can tell that I still have a very long way to go.

These were but the first few steps in a long road to regaining my former (yet slow) form.  Stay tuned.

Until next time.

SMR

5 down...5 to go

So I'm now five weeks out from surgery...and according to my physical therapist I'm five weeks from being ready (really ready) to run again.  As good as I feel, and as awesome as the North Carolina weather has been this week, the thought of waiting five more weeks is a tough proposition.  But one I can live with.

While I am itching to get back to plodding around the neighborhood like a Budweiser Clydesdale (sponsorship opportunity?), the prudent thing to do would be to heed the advice of my therapist and be certain that my knee is sound and strong. 

All of that said...I've decided to add an additional week to recovery time.  The maiden run of with my surgically repaired (for the second time mind you) knee will be on the afternoon of May 22.  Why that day?  Why the afternoon?  Simple...I want my first run to be with the run club that I help sponsor at my school.  The kids will get a kick out of it, and it'll be an easy way for me to ease back into it.

Okay, enough rambling for one night...time to get some work done, then get some shut-eye.

Until next time!

SMR

4 Weeks After Surgery...

So my post-surgery rehab continues, and according to the doc, my physical therapist, and if I do say so myself...I'm doing quite well.  Still some lingering swelling around the knee, particularly after standing/walking for any significant length of time, but the range of motion is quickly returning.  

Thus far, I can straighten my leg out completely all by myself, and can almost pull my foot to my butt.  If not for the swelling, I feel like I'd be able to accomplish this as well.  

Still though, I am only 4 weeks out from surgery and need to continue to not run.  Having not run since the December 3, 2012, this time has easily tested my patience.  Not only does the ever-warming climate have me eager to rejoin the land of the running, but every Monday evening a huge running club (sponsored by a local bar) runs right by my front door.  It's as if I'm being taunted.  Add to that the monthly tease that arrives in my mailbox in the form of the latest issue of Runner's World and you can see that I feel like a trapped man.

There is light at the end of the tunnel however.  My therapist's goal is six more weeks until I'm ready to run.  My goal is three more weeks.  She is probably far more realistic than I'd like to admit...but either way I have never looked so forward to a slow jog around the block.  

Until then...it's pushups, stretching, and the never-ending search for a new running watch for this slow man. 

So long for now.  Be well, and enjoy your next run.

SMR

Buddy Up Against Bullying Virtual 5K

Yeah, I'm laid up and rehabbing the knee and all...but I'm also organizing a 5K for this weekend.  It's the Buddy Up Against Bullying 5K and Virtual 5K.  

So, to the one or two people that may actually see this post, check out another blog I'm proud to be a part of (buddyup5k.blogspot.com) and see how you can join in the fun, and support a worthwhile cause.

You can also click HERE to see a little video I created in support of Buddy Up.  Thanks for watching!  

Until next time!

Ten Weeks? Really?

So today was my second physical therapy (PT) session following last Wednesday's knee surgery, and it went quite well.  Somewhere in course of the session I asked my therapist when she thought I could start running again.  Not that I think I'm anywhere close to running yet...but my goodness...I haven't run in over four months now!  

Anyway, my therapist shares with me her vision of when I can resume running again.  "Ten weeks is the plan."  She even said it with a straight face!   I'm thinking, "Yeah, right."  Turns out...she was quite serious.

Post Surgery Update

According to the doc, the surgery went "great"...but now my knee hurts like no body's business.  Sure, I've got pain meds, but they really mess me up in the head.  I can see how folks get hooked on it, but that stuff is not for me!

Had my first round of PT (physical therapy) today, and I'm convinced that my therapist, Kim, is trying to torture me.  I know she's really trying to help and that the stuff she had me doing today was extremely basic...but holy buckets was it ever painful!

PT twice a week for the foreseeable future, with a goal of getting back to running as soon as possible.  For now though, it's walking, stretching, icing, flexing...repeat.  Fun stuff.

Until next time.

The Road Behind...The Road Ahead

The first time I ever ran more than a mile was the first day of practice as a member of my high school cross country team.  Going into it, I was confident that I was one of the best athletes in our school, so how hard could it be to just run?  How hard indeed.

My only real motivation for joining that team was so I could build my stamina for the upcoming basketball season...but in the context of that first cross country practice, I quickly found that just running was real hard.  By the end of that first run...an "easy three" as our coach put it I found myself coming to the finish as some of my teammates were gathering their gear and beginning to head to the parking lot.  I was out of my element.

Now in a sprint, I felt I could hold my own with just about anyone in school...but over the 3-mile cross country course...I was slow.  Really slow.  That season I finished dead last in almost every meet.  When I didn't bring up the absolute rear, it was only because my teammate Brian finished driving his bus route in time to join us that day.  Brian never practiced with us (if at all), and I'm convinced that if he had, he would've smoked me too. 

However, I learned that while I was indeed a slow runner, I truly enjoyed running, and I enjoyed the camaraderie that was developed with my teammates.  Plus, my thought that cross country could pay big dividends for me on the basketball court was spot on.

But that was 1986.  As time marched on, and daily athletic pursuits were replaced by late nights at work, fast food lunches, and too many happy hours.  My weight crept higher and higher.  While I still enjoyed the occasional pick up basketball game or beer league softball season, I was a far cry from anything resembling an athlete.  

In 2009 I found myself woefully out of shape, and walking through my neighborhood one evening after dinner.  It was late May, and I was trying to rehab from a recent knee surgery.  That night I made the decision to start running again...just as soon as the knee would allow.  

By mid-June I was "ready" for my first run in about a decade, and thought I would keep it simple and just run one mile.  After the first 1/4 mile or so, that old familiar "I'm out of my element" feeling set in.  I had to walk the rest of that mile.  But that 1/4 mile that felt that death was just 'round the bend inspired me to come out again the next night...and the next night...and the next night...until I was finally able to complete that one-miler without stopping.

By the end of June, I'd worked my way up to two miles...then three...four...five.  I was hooked.  I was a runner...and I was still slow.  But I was a runner.

I'm still a runner.  But...my last run was on November 29th, 2012.  A week later, I slipped and fell at work, tearing the medial meniscus in my left knee.  Tomorrow I go in for another knee surgery.  A surgery that is identical to the surgery I had on the other knee in 2009.  Gotta tell ya...I cannot wait for tomorrow to come.  Why?  Simple actually.  Tomorrow is the first day of my comeback.

I will likely never win my age group in any race (unless I am the lone participant), but I look forward to toeing the line one more time with my fellow runners and simply competing.  One reason I've decided to create this blog, is to chronicle my recovery, my training, and eventually my first 1/2 marathon in the fall of 2013.  Where the blog goes from there...well, time will tell.

If you seek inspiration, or pearls of running wisdom that will help you set PR after PR...then I'm probably not your guy.  Want to read about a guy who struggles to stay motivated at times, hates to run in the cold, and plods along like a plow horse?  Then this might be the perfect blog for you!  

TC