Instead of taking the new of my torn ACL and post surgery physical therapy with a heavy heart and feeling sorry for myself, I'm doing what I can to stay positive and look at this time as quality recovery time from a hard fought season and lots of time spend training. I've been out of real training for about two weeks now. Even though I was still putting in hard efforts while my ACL was technically torn, I wasn't really in any sort of off-season mode. I was still plugging 60+ minute runs and some pretty heavy rides. But now, being in the post-op stage and starting rehab, things have changed.
Instead of the long runs, lap after lap in the pool, and countless revolutions on the trainer, I'm at the gym, busting my 'you know what' and working out any possible lingering injuries that may have plagued me. I couldn't recall and sore muscles or nagging injuries that haunted me during the past season, so I'm trying to hit a bit of everything. At least in terms of stretching. Really the only muscle I can't stretch properly at this point is my right quadricep. That being caused my the lack of range of motion in my right knee having someone else's ACL (allograft) instead of mine. It feels great to be doing lots of range of motion exercises for my hips, to be quite honest. I think that was something I missed out on a lot of last season. Putting in 13+ hours a week of training makes putting in quality stretching and ROM (range of motion) exercises tough. I never really had any issues with it during the season, but I know as I get older, I most likely will, so I best start working on those now!
Now back to my cross training. The hard part for me with weight training, is I don't get that same feeling of accomplishment that I do when I put in some solid time in any of the three criteria for a triathlon. However, the endorphins that kick in when I'm lifting at max capacity are quite intoxicating. It's also amazing to see how quickly my strength comes back. Within two weeks of lifting, my main lifts are back to what they were when I was in college where I spent a lot of time in the weight room after soccer was done for me. However, now I am so obsessed with keeping my HR up, I don't spend much time sitting around between lifts. I generally will grab a light weight or find something to do between reps of my main lift. Those things can range from front raises with a twist between sets of bench to work on my shoulder strength and core simultaneously. Or, if I'm on a flat bench, I try to knock out a good set of crunches or calf raises. Sometimes I put in some body weight squats so I can keep my musculature around my knee working.
This is kind of a half-ass version of crossfit training. I would like to do some classes that resemble crossfit, however, I need a fully-functioning knee for that. I'm hoping as my knee progresses, and I continue my rehab at my friend's gym (Your World Fitness) I can slowly start working in some of those type of exercises. I'm also looking forward to doing some work with my trainer from High School who now works as a Personal Trainer on a new MAT System for rehab and recovery. I'm hoping as my rehab comes along, his work and studies will help get me back on the road running feeling fit and strong, ready to take on some solid races later in the season. Until then, it's back to the gym followed by some ice, compression, and elevation.
And for those who were wondering, here's a quick look at my knee post op, no brace, after my sutures were removed. I also received an electric stimulation machine to work on my quad in hopes to keep most of the muscle working.
Dave
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