Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

Ok, so I figured I would start blogging again even if I am not able to really run without pain still. Unfortunately after over a month off the knee is not better. In fact it has actually gotten a little worse if anything. It pretty much hurts every single step when I run and it even hurts when I bike. So it is back to the doctor today and I am going to ask for a referral to an orthopedic specialist to try and discover the cause of this problem. Now that school is out I have a little more time to try and work this out once and for all.

 I did run an easy 2.5 miles this morning and also did about 100 push-ups and sit-ups. I wore a knee brace but it did not seem to help much as the knee hurt every step of the way. I mainly wanted to run this morning just to see where the knee was at and also make sure it is a little sore when I see the doctor today. I know this sounds funny but I want some soreness so the doctor can isolate wear the issue is a little easier.

Thanks for the support from those that have sent words of encouragement while I have been off the blog. More to follow even if I only blog push-ups and sit-ups I will try and blog how things are going each day.
 

Another easy run. 3.5 miles with the same pain. Also did about 60 push-ups and sit-ups.

Went to the doctor on Monday and he referred me to an Orthopedic Surgeon as I expected. I will see the Ortho on Wednesday afternoon and see what he thinks. My doc thinks it could be one of a couple things or a combination. It could be a torn/damaged ACL or based on the muscle atrophy it could be that I have some sort of spinal damage that has caused nerve damage that is causing issues with the nerve signal to that leg. He debated wether to get a back MRI right away but deceided to let the Ortho look at it first and order any tests he thinks are necessary.

Easy 2.5 miles and 100 push-ups and sit-ups.

Off to see the Ortho later today.

 Ok, back from the Ortho. He is supposed to be one of the best in Utah. He is the team ortho for BYU. After checking me out and listening to my symptoms he is almost certain that I have a meniscal tear. Scoping the knee (arthoscopic surgery) to find the tear and then doing a Meniscectomy is what it will take to fix it. So surgery is the next step. The good news is that depending on how bad and the location of the tear he has had some athletes back to full training as soon as 10 days. The worst case is 3-4 weeks. However, I am leaving for Fort Knox in a couple weeks and won't be back until 3 July so we could not schedule the surgery until the 10th of July. If all goes well maybe I can be back training again by the 1st of August. So until then I will just keep up my easy jogging routine as he did not think I would cause any significant damage as long as I took it easy and as long as the pain does not get any worse.

Another easy 3.5 miles. I have been helping a couple students try and get in shape and running about 9-10 minute mile pace with them. The knee hurts at this pace but not as bad as when I try and pick it up. Also did 60 push-ups and 60 sit-ups.

2 easy miles again normal pain in the knee. 100 push-ups and sit-ups.

5.3 miles with cadets trails/hills. I ran with a group of students at a decent pace. We pushed the uphill sections a bit and then took it easy on downs. The up was ok, still normal knee pain but doable. The downs killed. I probably over did it but since I am having surgery anyway I didn't really care and I wanted to run with the group so I did.

Mostly mountain bike riding and hiking. Easy but the going uphill on the bike hurts the knee more than running. Also did 200 push-ups and 200 sit-ups.

Ran with students again. Plan was only to go a few miles with them but I couldn't resist and ran the whole way trying to push the faster ones. We ended up running 10 miles in 75 minutes with the middle 7 miles at 7:10 average and the last four miles sub 7:00. It pretty much sucked as I am not in very good shape to do this but I was determined to stay with the top two guys. The knee hurt but not as bad as I would have expected.

2.5 miles with last 2 miles pacing students during the 2 mile run of a practice PT test on the track. Paced the faster runners to a 12:29 two mile. Knee kills but pain is only weakness leaving the body! also did 150 push-ups and 100 sit-ups.

2 easy miles and 200 push-ups and 200 sit-ups. Also played some ultimate frisbee which probably was not the smartest idea with the knee but I am tired of not having fun. So I had fun and the knee hurt but survived.

Ran with cadets again. Easy mile warm-up and then paced them during track workout followed by an easy mile cool down. Ont he track I ran 6x 400s in about 1:25 each and 1x800 in 2:50. Still have knee pain but I ran without the brace today and the knee pain seemed a bit less than normal. So no miracle healing yet but I am still not counting it out yet as the surgery is not until July 10th so there is still time for a miracle. Also did about 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups. I am getting in pretty good shape upper body wise at least.

Very easy 2 miles and 150 push-ups and 150 sit-ups.

Easy hiking at Arches National park.

In Moab at Arches National Park. Ran and hiked a total of at least 10

miles with at least 5-6 miles of it trail running and the rest climbing

over rocks and rough terrain.

Hiking and rock climbing at Arches National Park. During this time I really tweaked my knee hopping across a crevasse and was in pretty severe pain for a little bit. See Monday's story.

Rested knee after a long weekend of hiking in Moab.

Ok, a strange thing happened this morning. I ran 2 miles in 13:30 with cadets and for the first time in months the knee really did not bother me. I felt it a little but not the normal every step pain that I have been experiencing for months on end every day. So maybe something has happened. I have a theory but we will wait and see if it pans out. If so then I may still get the miracle I had been praying for and not end up with surgery. If not then I am still ok with surgery in July if required.

So my theory is this: We were in Moab hiking a lot at Arches National Park this weekend and I was really stressing the knee quite a bit with a lot of climbing over rough terrain. During our last hike on Sunday evening in the "Fiery Furnace" of all places I was hopping from rock to rock across a large crevasse and felt a severe sharp pain in my knee that was the worst pain I have felt in it to date. It was bad enough that I was gritting my teeth in pain for a couple minutes and wondering if I was going to be able to continue the hike and make my way back out. After that the knee was sore but I managed to continue and make it out of the "Fiery Furnace" ok. So today when I started running I noticed immediately that the knee was not hurting like it normally did. I could feel the knee but not anywhere close to like before. My theory is that when I made this jump and felt the pain that it was the torn piece of meniscus tearing completely off. I am not sure if this is possible but I imagine it is since a torn meniscus is a flap of torn tissue/cartilage and the pain is normally caused by the torn piece interfearing with normal knee movement. During surgery they go in and cut this piece off to smooth things out and restore normal movement. So I wonder if this is possible? I guess I will find out as I continue to run over then next month and see if the pain completely goes away or not. Either way it was nice to run a couple miles and not be in so much pain. So this weekend I was thrown into the "Fiery Furnace" and came out better than when I went in!

Also did 175 push-ups and 175 sit-ups. 

Well another decent day with much less knee pain than previously. Still some minor pain but much more tolerable. I ran a track workout with our BYU students. We did 3x1 mile repeats with a 800 jog rest between. Repeats were as follows: 6:10, 6:04, 5:58. They all felt very comfortable and relaxed and the knee was ok, not good but ok and that is a huge step forward from the last 5 months. Afterwards did 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups. Adam also joined us for the workout and afterwards I helped him work on some drills to improving his running stride and hopefully his overall speed. So two days in a row where running actually was not a very painful event for a change.

Easy 2.1 miles and 150 push-ups and 150 sit-ups.

In Fort Knox until the 3rd of July. Just traveled today no run but did 50 push-ups and 50 sit-ups.