Well, I've finally hit that 1 year point. This past month has been interesting for my recovery. I've really started to push my limits and see how much my knee can withstand at this point. So for the past month I've been trying to work towards running, as suggested by my physical therapist. I've spent some time in the alter G treadmill experimenting with running. Here's a wrap-up of the alter G workouts I've done over the past month:
21 Jul: Alternating 5 min walk/1 min run for 30 mins (45% body weight)
27 Jul: Alternating 5 min walk/1 min run for 30 mins (50% body weight)
29 Jul: Alternating 4 min walk/2 min run for 30 mins (55% body weight)
2 Aug: Alternating 3 min walk/3 min run for 30 mins (55% body weight)
5 Aug: Alternating 3 min walk/3 min run for 30 mins (60% body weight)
15 Aug: Alternating 3 min walk/3 min run for 30 mins (65% body weight)
18 Aug: Alternating 3 min walk/3 min run for 30 mins (70% body weight)
*walking pace = 4.0 (15:00 min/mile)
*running pace = 5.0 to 5.5 (12:00 min/mile to 10:55 min/mile)
21 Jul 2016 was the first time I've run in 677 days. The last day I ran was 13 Sep 2014. That day I had terrible pain in my knee and I knew something was wrong. It would be another 11 months before I had my ACI surgery.
My first experience on the alter G was awful. I felt pain in my graft area and my leg felt like it wasn't working correctly during the 1 min run portion. Running was very awkward. It's hard to describe but I felt like my leg didn't remember how to run. I felt like my muscles weren't firing correctly and that I was just jarring my graft site. I was pretty down after this experience because I felt like after a year of recovering from this surgery nothing had gotten better. I talked with my physical therapist and he said to stick with it. He said I wasn't going to do any damage trying to run at 50% my body weight and the graft should be strong enough to support this. Amazingly within another week, I started to feel really good. The pain didn't completely go away but I felt good enough to start upping my body weight and the amount of running during each session. I can't believe the difference between the 19 Jul workout and the 18 Aug workout. This is the first time since this surgery that I'm starting to feel really good and thinking that this might have worked for me. I'm looking forward to increasing my body weight over the next couple months and get to the point were I can run normally on a treadmill.
In addition to the alter G, I've been continuing to work on strength training. I still work on hip strength a lot along with leg press, squats and lunges. This month I added large stepups to my routine. Since I've been doing these I've noticed my ability to walk up stairs has improved. I'm almost able to go up stairs completely normal now. I do hear cracking and grinding going up stairs though. It doesn't hurt but its somewhat disconcerting because it just sounds bad.
I do have some things I am still concerned about though. Mainly, I worry about not being able to stand on my bad leg and do a squat. I can do this so easily with my other leg. It's quite painful when I try to do this. Also, walking up a steep incline is difficult. I really want to be able to do this so I can go hiking. Other than that It's been a fairly positive month and it feels great to start running again.
Wow, it sounds like you are doing great! This is very encouraging! I'm at 5 months post op and feeling pretty good. I'm up to 4 miles of walking at a 15min pace and that feels ok. I get some pain in the graft site occasionally if my foot strikes the ground a certain way but it always goes away and there is little to no swelling. I really miss running but seeing your progress gives me some hope that I will run again. It's funny that you remember the exact date of your last run. I do to. 12/26/15, it was my first and only run with my new GPS running watch. Oh well, I've been using it to track my walks and swims. Thanks again for this blog. It has been so helpful to gauge progress and to know what to expect.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you're doing great too! Especially for being able to walk 4 miles at 5 months. I have no doubt that you'll be able to use your GPS watch with running. My last run was with a new pair of shoes and they've just been sitting in my closet gathering dust for the last 2 years until just recently.
DeleteCongrats on the run! Glad the hard work is paying off! I'm just over 10 weeks into recovery and it feels like 6 months. I'm not used to this much downtime. I'm a volleyball player and when we say we need some time off, that means a week. It's what we can realistically stomach. Progress has been good so far, though. No pain in the graft site but I do get some pain in the outside of my leg just below the knee. It's nothing I am worried about especially since I like to test my limits. I'm not gonna test it too much but I'm expecting to ditch my 1 crutch in a week and I like to know where I'm at. That run is the first of many more for you. Keep those goals in the front of your mind and stay positive. Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mike. Yes the downtime really got to me as well. By month 3 I was going to the gym pretty regularly though and working on upper body and core while trying not to overdue it with my leg. That helped a lot. And I'm sure when you ditch the crutch you'll feel like a new person. I was so glad to get rid of those.
DeleteHi Megan! This is encouraging. Thank you for sharing details about your recovery. In some of your earlier posts (last year), you had a photo of you trying to sit on your heels. Are you able to do that now?
ReplyDeleteOh yes. I have full range of motion now. I do a lot of yoga and can bend my leg all sorts of weird ways. One of my concerns prior to the surgery was being able to regain full range but I've had no issues. It just took quite awhile to get back and the stiffness lasted for 6 months.
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