Yes, you read that right! I had my first adventure on skis 1,118 days post ACLR!
Or 1,134 days post accident! That's just over 3 years! Straight line ski touring (or cross country skiing) has been approved by my PT back in November, but my foot issue put a damper on that. I am almost 4 weeks into my tendon rehab having since been out out of the boot for 6 weeks, and so far the rehab is going (no major set backs). Real cross country boots are just too soft and bendy (or maybe mine are just too big), but I thought my ski boots would be a good first attempt thanks to their lightweight sturdiness and use a super lightweight backcountry ski. My whole boot/ski set up is less than 98 oz total, so that's about 3 pounds per foot. Nice and light! I asked my husband if he would go with me, somewhere that didn't involve any turning or plowing, something not so steep so that skins on my skis would slow me down for the downhill. He picked the perfect trail! He asked, "Are you sure you're ready?" I said I don't know, I just need to find out. As I set out skinning on skis, honestly it didn't feel like it had been 3 years. Thanks to neuroplasticity your brain really does remember stuff! As I took off, I was keeping a good pace, only a bit aware of my kneecap area feeling "different." It kind of felt like it does with hiking. We climbed about 300 feet in over 1.5 miles and decided to turn around. I was aiming to stay around 1 hour of activity, just didn't want to over do anything! But man I really wanted to keep going. For the return, we just followed our skin track we had made uphill (this is not a groomed area, just national forest). I left the heels of my boots free (normally you lock in the heels for the downhill), so I could do some kick and glide movements as well. The skins left on my skis allowed me to straight line it downhill. Gaining any kind of speed was pretty exciting, but I ad to remember I had free heels so I could easily biff it. I could do some side stepping turns, but really avoided plowing. Once I got to the car, I was beyond thrilled!! No turns or plowing yet, I haven't even made it to agility in rehab, so that is a must. I have zero explosiveness in my legs right now, so you can't start doing turns without that kind of training. Plus you need to be fully passed in all return to sports testing if you want to do this right. I am aiming to go out again on Thursday now that we have daylight after work! Hopefully again on Sunday! I definitely had some upper quad and glute soreness going on, I think from picking up my leg. The front of the knee was a little tender by that evening, but none the worse by the next day! If anything, this made me realize how much I really want to ski. There was a time when I didn't want to think about skiing, I was really mad at skiing, didn't want to see ski photos, or hear about it. It is just confirmation that hard work will get you there and I am really aiming to be back making actual turns in the 2020/2021 winter season. I now feel it's totally possible.
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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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