Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

Ok, so it's a new year and I am back to the blog. It is coming up on six months since my knee surgery and I am going to start running or at least trying to run again. I need to get back to the doctor and PT to get the official go ahead but I figure since it has been six months no harm in trying.

I ran 1 very slow mile today on the BYU indoor track. It was actually quite painful. After about 200-300 meters it really started to bug me but wasn't getting worse so I finished out with a total of 1 mile after taking a break to massage the knee at about 1000 meters. So not a great start back but hopefully this is normal pains from the knee still being weak. I guess only time will tell. I know someone else that had this surgery and said it was just over a year after their surgery until they could run without pain. I hope it does not take that long but if so then that is better than not running at all.

Yet again another mile on the BYU indoor track. The knee really started to bug me at about 400-600 meters today. A little later today than yesterday at least. I took a small break again to rest the knee at about 1000 meters and then finished up the mile. This time I tried running with a faster, shorter stride and it reduced the pain a lot. I ran at 7:30 pace but with a very quick leg turnover and it was much improved. I think the shorter faster stride reduced the impact on the knee and thus less pain. I will try this again tomorrow and see how things go. For now the plan is 1 mile a day until things get better or worse.

Ok, another mile on the BYU indoor track. I tried to run with a shorter faster stride again today and it seemed to work ok. I still felt the pain come on at about 400-600 meters but was able to keep going without stopping this time for the entire mile. I ran a 7:15 mile today with the last 400 at 6:30 pace. The knee hurt but was bearable for now. I don't think I would want to run any further than a mile with this pain but I guess today was progress. So three days and three miles for the week. If I can keep it up I may hit 6 miles this week. This sounds trivial to most but to me 6 miles in a week is huge right now!

Yes, another 1 mile run on the BYU indoor track. It is funny that I can be excited about a 1 mile run. Still pain in the knee today but it seemed slightly less than yesterday. Another 7:15 mile as well.

Yet another 1 mile run on the BYU indoor track. Today was an ok day. Still some pain but bearable. First 1/2 mile in 3:50 and second 1/2 mile 3:15. 5 days 5 miles so far this week.

So 6 miles in six days! Knee felt a little bit more pain today but made it the whole mile in 7:09 on the BYU indoor track. Legs are pretty sore and tired which is sad after only 1 mile a day for 6 days.