I am on a good streak right now! I'm going to say it out loud and I am not going to jinx myself! When you've had such a long recovery and so many setbacks, you can't help but use past data to guesstimate how the future will go. But I realized that I can change that thought. I don't have to always feel like the "other shoe is going to drop." Instead, I'm going to stay super hopeful, optimistic and open to the idea that rehab may continue on this good streak. The 4 and 5% increase plan for running has been working great. The increases are small enough that my knee and body don't really feel the changes, but at the same time I'm making progress. I like having a new run goal every running day. Around the 2 min interval mark, I felt like I could bump up my intervals to 5% every run day and it's working. I am currently running 3:30 min intervals, 6 times. I should be at my 5:00 min interval goal in less than 3 weeks (end of January 2021)!!!!!! I plan to set up a Skype appointment with my physio before I actually get to that date because I really want to start agility before my 4th ankneeversary date (coming on 14 Feb 2021). It's a secret goal that I have, I think it's going to be a mental boost! This agility phase has been the "carrot at the end of the stick" since about July 2019. Yes that is a LOOONG time to have one goal in mind, but I had a lot of setbacks throw me off course during this time. That goal never changed, but I really had to be flexible on the time frame. I think two things have helped my running progress this year post double-tendon flare up. First is skipping. I skip for 10 minutes before every run, then do one set of weighted calf raises, one set of seated calf raises, and one set of weighted leg extensions. This really got me over my 1 min hump and my hip tendon flare ups. Second is TINY increases. Even 30 second jumps were too much for the knee just this past summer, so I went with a percentage, like 4 or 5% increase per interval. Over the holiday winter break, I had nearly 2 weeks off straight (and paid) which was amazing. I was as giddy as a kid on Christmas break! How often does a 40 something get almost 2 weeks off paid? This is the FIRST FULL WINTER where I can recreate outside from the beginning of the season, and hopefully the entire winter assuming things keep going well. This has not happened since early 2017! Last winter I was in a boot for most of the time. The winter prior I was just starting to snowshoe but still pretty limited on distance and terrain and no skis. The winter before that was really rough, pain and lots of limitations. Now, my knee can handle a lot of things now. Over my 12 day break, I was able to straight line ski 6 different times, 2 fatbike rides, 6 runs on treadmills, 4 lifting sessions, a couple of snowy hikes. I was active every single day, sometimes doing double activities in one day (I found I can run in the morning and then hike/bike later in the day). My arm I found has the limitations. I'm still rehabbing my arm/wrist 4 days a week with this intense case study program. It's allowing me to do more, but it has its limits still which I need to be mindful of. Using my arm too much for biking or skiing will lead to lingering lateral neck, subscapularis and bicep pain. The image below really captures how my recovery and my ever increasing abilities. Every year I get a higher baseline (thanks to rehab) and every year there is a new tissue capacity line. I can do more and more. This is from the NOI Pain Science group with Dr. Moseley and Dr. Butler.
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AuthorA 45 year old active female who tore her ACL in January 2017 (at the age of 40). Reconstructive surgery in February 2017 with bone-patellar tendon-bone autograft. Archives
November 2022
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