Recovery and Rehab Update: Month 4 After 2nd Surgery

Things have continued to trend better. That is not to say it has all been easy...I have days with some pain and varying levels of stiffness. However, I have continued to walk every other day. This has gone on for 8 weeks now. I started with 5 min walks (at a pace between 25 and 30 minutes per mile) and am now walking 17 minutes (at around 18-19 minutes per mile pace). I had intended to start walking more frequently, but since this every-other-day pattern is working so well for me, I just decided to ride it as long as I continue to make progress. I never extend my walking session time (from the previous session) by more than a minute. I also repeat every session time at least once before increasing another minute. I don't push the pace at all...I just relax, try to walk without a limp, and let the pace come to me. Slow, steady, and gradual...seems to be getting it done for me.

My plan, as I briefly described in my last post, is to work my way up to 20 minutes of walking (comfortably) and then to start sprinkling in intervals of easy running. I will start with very short intervals of running (e.g., 4 x 15 seconds) embedded in a 20-minute walk. I will gradually replace the walking with more running as I progress. I expect to start with no more than 1 minute of running (with 19 minutes of walking) per 20-minute walk. I intend to never increase the running component by more than 1 minute total from my previous best run/walk. As mentioned in my last post, this "one minute at a time" approach to my running return was inspired by Roger Robinson, an 80-year-old runner who was able to return to running after having both knees replaced. 

By the way, Roger wrote a great series of articles for PodiumRunner, for example this one: https://www.podiumrunner.com/training/still-hungry-at-80-the-road-to-the-world-masters-championships/

After I'm able to run for 20 minutes at a time, I'll ditch the walking, gradually increase mileage, and start to work on rebuilding my running stride. Training through my knee injury for so long resulted in changes in my stride that will take some time to fix. I lost my sprinting stride completely...my form just falls apart when I try to go faster than about 7-minute mile pace. I just can't get my right knee to go where I want it go. It seems like my brain and/or peripheral nervous system "rewired" to avoid the damaged tissue and/or pain. I have some ideas on how to fix this, but I'll save that for future posts.

I'm probably getting way ahead of myself...but I like it that way. Even though there are likely to be setbacks still to come, I like have a long-term plan sketched out. This way I understand why I'm doing each workout (no matter how easy it is) and where it is leading. If and when setbacks occur, I'll adjust my plan or sketch out a new plan for recovery and my next comeback.

Anyway, I'm still doing lots of physical therapy including BFR exercises every other day (on the days I don't walk). My right quad strength is getting better. I still haven't even started to tackle stairs yet, but hopefully soon. I can drive again. I'm a long way from getting out of this rehab situation, but it feels easier when progress is being made.