The million dollar question – can I run yet? I’m now four months post-surgery where I was told by my surgeon I should be fine to start back running. The reality is I’m nowhere near ready to run. It’s looking more likely to be 6 months post-surgery before I start light running but it could be anywhere up to 12 months for full recovery. Sadly I still can’t put load through any lunges, step downs or single leg squats and have only just started to squat lightly with only low level pain. Scar tissue is still breaking down and my patella tendon is a little angry when I try to load it.
It’s not all doom and gloom though, I’m continuing to make progress in my strength, flexibility, balance, and retraining my nervous system to recruit better motor patterns for which I have been compensating for so many years carrying this knee pain. I’m back doing spin classes and riding my road bike often. I’m now handling 100km rides well which makes me happy, but I’m not ready for any lengthy hills just yet. So I guess you could say I am progressing. Despite all of the daily rehabilitation work I have been doing, weekly physiotherapy or myotherapy treatments, bike riding and swimming; it still feels like the progress is going at snails-pace.
I can see how people would just give up right about now with their rehabilitation plan. Not only is it very costly with all of the weekly treatments, but mentally it can be disheartening. So I like to keep the bigger picture in mind and imagine running pain-free eventually. Each day I find myself searching for any little sign of improvement and can go through a seesaw of emotions as I complete my rehab exercises. But one thing is for sure – I will not give up!
Just this week a Facebook memory from four years ago popped up in my news feed. It was photos of me crossing the line in the Great Ocean Road half marathon (whilst carrying my chronic knee pain – I’ll do anything to achieve my goals!) and some nasty blisters on my toes from a very poor choice of socks! It was just what I needed to keep my motivation high and focus on my end goal of possibly another half marathon (most likely just 10km and I’ll be happy) but this time without the pain.
