Full Tilt Boogie

"Full Tilt Boogie." That is what the doctor said about what I can do now. Actually he just said "full tilt" but I added the boogie which is a phrase a former boss used a few times. The doctor said my knees were healed and that I could start running again. Overall I was pretty happy with the visit. It was quick, probably less than 10 minutes. But I thought he examined my knees well enough and I got to ask him questions about what to expect and about what I could do. I forgot to ask him one or two things but I did pretty good all things considered.

Now to be honest, I can hardly go "Full Tilt Boogie." And I would not say my knees are "healed." After all I still have 2 pretty sizable bumps on each knee. Besides the bumps, I still have a little discomfort in the knees and I still have the problem with my left knee. I have to be careful taking my pants off as that is when I tend to snag it and get the shooting pain. But it has improved greatly. Before surgery, I had to be super careful doing anything including getting in and out of the car. Now it is mainly the taking off of the pants that I have to worry about. It will be a long time before I can bend my knees past 90 degrees under weight but I think someday I will be able to.

When I got home from work after today's appointment, I decided to go ahead and try a short run. I put my toes socks on and worked my feet into my Vibram Five Fingers and trotted off for a 1 mile loop around the block. I had some very slight discomfort in my knees but not too bad. After warming up, they felt a little better but not completely and totally pain free. I felt pretty good overall. I did 1 nine minute mile and was not really out of breath so that was good. It seems I have not lost too much fitness due to the biking and strength training. After my run I had to head out to my hair cut appointment so I did not really do anything else. I did manage to get a little bit of stretching in later and then I was back on the couch icing the knees, reading a great blog (http://quackenblogger.blogspot.com), and watching the winter Olympics.

So now the question is what is next? I think it is time for me to step up the strength training. The doctor said I had to work on my quad strength and one way to do that is through cycling more. Also he said I could start doing leg extensions and I happen to have a leg extension bench so I can add that to my list of exercises. I am going to reach out to my Physical Therapist who said I could email her with questions. I need to figure out how to step it up a notch. And I will start putting in more time/mileage on the bike. I am also considering enlisting the expertise of a personal trainer. A personal trainer can be expensive but it may be worth it to me.

For now I am going to do some planning. I need to come up with a better schedule. So far I have been coming home from work and doing my 30 minutes on the trainer and then my PT exercises. After I am done we make dinner and eat which makes it a very late dinner which is not ideal for me or Melissa. So I am going to start to shake things up and try to do some morning workouts, more stretching, and eventually some different kinds of workouts.

Speaking of schedules, Melissa recently came up with a running schedule and this seems to be helping her get out there and do her workouts so I know the importance of making a good schedule. In fact, Melissa has been doing really well with her training and I am very proud of her. Even though she has not been able to run as much because of the weather, I think her other workouts will be a huge benefit as we go into the spring season. We plan to do a lot of mountain biking this spring and summer with each other and other friends. And we want to do some more long distance hikes. All of these things compliment each other. Most of all, doing all this exercise decreases our risk for heart disease and other illnesses, increases cognitive function as we get older, and for me is really, really fun.