I've been taking time off the bike until today, I couldn't stand it anymore I did a bike sprint but not full, effort. I also have been doing the usual few exercises and I'm regularly able to do 21-23 pullups every morning. Been walking a mile+ every morning including walking backward up hills.
I'll see what the new ortho Dr. says about recovery next Tuesday.
I'm fasting and purging for tomorrow's colonoscopy. Yesterday ate a 'low residual' diet which was new to me. Stuff I never eat, like simple carbs... specifically white rice and bananas. That's the stuff I probably should have been eating before races instead of high fiber bread and cereals. I should be able to drop close to 140 lbs by the time this is over. I had to drink a 2 L of polyethylene glycol solution around 6 pm, then another 2 L at 1:00 am. I'll be up most of the night. Fun.
2.5 mile mountain bike sprint - Laurel Branch Trl
Time - 10:16
Avg speed - 13.3 mphMax HR - 165
HR over 156 - 4:10
Avg HR - 150 (inc 1 min recovery at end)
I stayed seated most of the ride back, HR certainly wasn't up to what it normally is during this workout.
Hard to tell if these types of rides are degrading to my knee. The feels good afterward. Sometime I get a slight soreness later in the night or next day but usually not. Probably shouldn't do anything for a month with my legs, but I definitely would feel vulnerable to CV disease without pushing my HR, hard to do without legs. Maybe be forced to swim only. Water run at the most. I'll see what the Dr. says but I'm sure less is more at this point.
Judging by the comments, some people don't apparently understand that 'jogging' - running with heel or midfoot strike is more damaging to my knee than high knee running, stairs, hills, or running with forefoot strike on the ball of the foot in sprint form. FWIW, even when I raced 800s, my heel never touched the ground and I wore the same spikes as I would for a 100m race. Anything faster than a 72 sec 400m is a sprint for someone over 60, and that would be about my slowest 400m split in any of the 800m races I ever ran, my slowest being 2:22. Transitioning from high knee running gradually to full stride is the way I've been getting prepped for sprinting post injury.
Anyway, hopefully my colon is ok. Find out tomorrow.
Why bike sprints are bad idea:
ReplyDeleteYour MRI findings describe a failed previous meniscus repair with complex new tearing, moderate-to-severe localized arthritis, and an evolving stress fracture of the thigh bone (femoral condyle). Because the meniscus is no longer providing its crucial cushioning effect, the bones are impacting each other, and this micro-trauma is the primary generator of your knee pain.
Prior medial meniscal repair with recurrent free edge tearing: The surgical stitches or anchors from your past surgery on the inner meniscus (the rubbery shock-absorber wedge) have failed. There is a new tear along the inner edge of the back part (posterior horn/root junction) of the meniscus.
Another issue is that Bills leg length is such that standard length cranks result in very acute knee angles. He is likely loading the knee with a lot of force at the top of the stroke when the knee is most bent, dramatically increasing force on the knee.
DeleteI must admit I am shocked that Bill is not taking a more conservative approach with this injury/rehab. In the past he was very critical of fellow masters athletes who ran through serious injuries even when they were "bone-on-bone". It seems beyond doubt that he has a serious stress fracture and that will only heal with rest. Non-weight bearing for 6 weeks is probably what's needed, not biking, walking, etc.
DeleteObviously the faster you run the more force that is transferred to the knee, and the greater the knee angle the more force on the knee. Heel strike or ball of the foot strike is a secondary or even tertiary factor. It is simple physics.
ReplyDeleteFrom a AI engine:
Based on these specific MRI findings, high-speed running while landing on the ball of the foot is significantly more stressful and carries a much higher risk of catastrophic joint failure. While neither activity is safe the biomechanics of high-speed running on the ball of the foot directly overload the exact structures that the MRI shows are already failing.
Why High-Speed Ball-of-Foot Running is Higher risk
Bone Stress (The Stress Fracture): Forefoot strike high-speed running drastically multiplies the total ground reaction forces traveling up your leg. This excessive shock directly pounds the femoral condyle (thigh bone), risking a complete fracture or bone collapse where the stress fracture is currently evolving.Meniscus and Arthritis Loading: High speeds require deeper knee flexion angles upon impact. When you land on the ball of the foot at high speeds, the knee bends sharply under an immense dynamic load. This extreme pressure grinds the joint together, directly punishing the moderate-to-severe localized arthritis and further shredding the failed meniscus repair and complex new tears.
Yes, clearly sprinting has been great for your knees.
ReplyDeleteRegardless of injury specifics, surgery or not, slow jogging on a soft surface is not necessarily damaging, it can actually help with healing with the long periods of increased blood flow and gentle impact that slowly increases the strength of tendons, even cartilage can benefit. It's not so important about the foot strike, it's more about the therapeutic effects of delivering extra blood flow to the injured area for extended periods of time. Jogging between hard sprint workouts is also a good recovery tool for injury prevention, even short sprinters shouldn't write it off.
ReplyDeleteNatural evolution: walking before jogging, jogging before running, running before sprinting. Take a shortcut and you'll blow out your joints, especially senior citizens.
ReplyDelete