5 weeks ago, I ran a 62.8 in my first attempt at a 400m in well over a yr. It seemed that I was on target to compete this indoor season. About that time I stopped cross training on the bike and went to 3 days a week of running, including those wicked hill workouts. That was probably premature.
It is a cycle that goes like: train, feel pain and stiffness next day, 3 days later the pain is gone and can run pain free, repeat. This seems to indicate some healing is still taking place, but never allowed to progress to a permanent level. The 'recovery' is fleeting and really false. Like "your head feels better when you stop beating on it."
I took a week off in mid Dec from running, then went to my parents house and trained once in 5 days. I've definitely lost fitness that I worked hard for, doing those 4 and 5x150s w/ just 30 sec rest. If I pressed on, I could probably tolerate such workouts on turf but at this point, it may harm potential wellness of the joint, expedite arthritis, etc... I had read, it takes really a year to even come close to full weight bearing strength. I've been doing stairs and weight pulls since the summer, only 5 1/2 mo post op. My nature is always to push the envelope.
One of my friends who is not an athlete keeps telling me appropriately that my recovery is 'a marathon, not a sprint.' He's right. If I have any hope of returning to Daegu or WMACi in '27, I need to pull back. I'm about 80% sure I will not compete this indoor season.
Plan is to go back to strength and cross training but need to take a break from anything that challenges the knee for a while and start fresh.
How do you know that the repair held? Wasn’t it a really complex repair? Seems like a MRI is in order.
ReplyDeleteEarly stages of recovery is better done under the auspices of a physio or a relevantly experienced PT. Progressive stages of targeted exercise was an eye opener for me. Often the athlete doesnt know best and just cobbles together a cut down version of their own previous training.
ReplyDeleteRunning an indoor and outdoor season is not even done by many prime age athletes. At your age and recovering from injury it is not a good idea.
As per the previous poster, get a scan and see if the surgery is partially or fully damaged or still recovering. Whether the pain originates from the injury at the damaged area. Or if there are signs of injury or weakness in other areas that need to be re-strengthened.
Stop agonising over gadgets and marginal supplementation. It is a classic case of `reverse parreto principle`
I'm pretty sure the root repair is fine based on the tibial tension I feel at flex. If the knee does not recover, I will eventually get an MRI. Will take time
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