About That Knee Surgery I Had Last Week ...

Whatever you could say about my athletic abilities - or lack there of - the one thing you could never accuse me of is being lazy. As Woody Allen said, 80% of life is showing up.  And show up I did. Day after day, month after month, and year after year, I was there training and racing. You can say and think whatever you do about me, but you can't call me lazy and you can't call me inconsistent.

After beating the $hit out of my body with heavy squats and deadlifts for years I caught the endurance bug, running the first of many marathons in 1999. Eventually I caught the triathlon bug which inevitably (in my mind) led to my first full Ironman in 2006. I might not be close to being the best at it, but I have been going long for a long, long time. And I have been doing it, for the most part, injury-free.

Last week, for the first time in seemingly forever, I went 5 days without any swim/bike/run. As the title of this post notes, my extended rest has been forced upon me by my first (and hopefully only) major injury - a torn meniscus. Last Wednesday I had surgery to repair the problem.

As far as the actual surgery, everything went fine. After arriving at the surgery center around 11:30 am I began the process of being readied for procedure. As a part of this process everyone - and I mean everyone - you meet asks you your name and birth date (something about making sure they are doing the right procedure on the right person). They also want to make sure you are comfortable, which is nice when you haven't been able to eat or drink for 16 hours or so.

The procedure took about an hour and was good and bad. Good because there were no complications; bad because there was more damage than originally expected. None of this came as much of a surprise.

The next day The Queen drove me over to meet with the Physical Therapist, Rick, and see what was going on under the Ace bandage. What we found was all good. While swollen and bruised, it wasn't bad. My range of motion was close to normal while all of the surrounding muscles were working just fine. Apparently muscle activation post-surgery can be an issue for some. I was able to walk  (slowly) without crutches. PT Rick instructed me to keep icing, take it easy, and do a few basic exercises three times per day. He cleared me to drive starting Friday.

My original plan for the weekend was to spend the bulk of my time on the couch with my legs up and ice on my repaired right knee. Other than a few short ventures out and Easter dinner with The Queen's parents, that is where I spent my time. I'm fairly certain I not only got my money's worth out of my Netflix subscription for the year, but that I read more in those five days than I have in the past month.

After seeing PT Rick on Monday everything looked "very good" and I received clearance to start riding a bike on the trainer for 30 minutes each day. Needless to say, I have been riding, hoping to be back outside next week sometime. In the meantime I continue to do exactly what I'm told I can do, nothing more.

Recovery time is expected to be weeks, not months. Bike will be first, then back in the pool. Physically I could probably swim today, but need to wait for the wounds to heal or risk infection. I choose to avoid infection. Running is still 4-6 weeks out.

So in the short-term, I'll be back. This Summer I expect to be racing myself back into shape and Ironman Florida is still a-go.

But what about the long-term? The damage in the knee was worse than expected. Tomorrow I'll be back with The Doc and get to hear and see all the gory deets. I'll be able to run again, but not nearly as much volume as I have in the past ... unless I want to ruin the knee and not be able to run. I can, however, swim and bike my ass off without concern for my right knee.

The practical application for me appears to be the days of running 2500+ miles and 3 marathons in a year are over. When the roads get sketchy I either stay in on a treadmill or skip that day's run. Triathlon is good, but my approach to getting physically prepared will be much different with more focus on the bike and less emphasis on running mileage. Long distance racing should still be doable, but emphasis will have to move to shorter distance events.

In the end it is about remaining active and making sure I have longevity in this crazy world of sport. I have become comfortable with the fact that things have changed, forcing me to adjust. Better to listen to sound advice than it is to be foolish with my health. Better to take care for the long-term than it is to be self- destructive. Better to continue on with a different focus than it is to be permanently sidelined.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon