Now it is December of '09, well over a year since surgery, and looking back, things could barely have gone better.
In April I began to attend Sockeye's pre-tryout scrimmages and track workouts, performing relatively well (surprisingly, the skill differential at the scrimmages was vast-- kids showed up without shoes! Literally didn't play in shoes- barefoot- to a supposed tryout scrimmage. Hard for anyone to shine beyond a single big play or two with skill levels so disparate).
In May came the Combine, a one-day event with warm-ups, drills, games, performance metrics tests including the 40yd dash, 3 cone-drill, and vertical leap tests, and conditioning (not necessarily in that order). By my 2nd game, my patellar tendon began hurting, and by the 3rd game it was affecting me drastically. Essentially, the patellar tendon was starting to hurt badly enough, and was being injured to the extent that it began to not fire at all, and other muscles (or my other leg altogether) had to compensate. I looked ridiculous, running and turning off only one leg (it was more like I had a pegleg or something). I had to sit out conditioning, which was too bad because I actually enjoy that type of group-based endurance workout.
Luckily I made it past that round into the second round. This was where frustration really set in, since I had to wait 2 weeks for my patellar tendon to heal. Sitting out tryouts - just having to watch while everyone does track, practices, etc - was extremely difficult. Sitting out due to injury in general is a very lonely/ostracizing thing, especially without an outwardly present injury (if I'd had a boot, or a cast, somehow it would have been slightly better as a visual cue as to why I'm not practicing). In any case, I slowly got back into playing by doing what I could at pod practices or tracks and backing off when pain set in. After 2.5 weeks I was fine again.
Then came the real crux of the tryout process, Cal States. From what the other tryouts (and current Sockeye players who'd gone through the process recently) told me, your Cal States performance would make or break your tryout. I went in feeling good. I talked to Danny Karlinsky about his tryout the year before, which essentially came down to a solid tryout process followed by a Cal States FULL of drops. Straight drops. He said he laughed by the end when he doinked an in-cut because it had just become humorous at that point, beyond frustration or disappointment.
So, of course, I drop two easy catches in the first game. I was somewhat nervous, and drank coffee/ate clif espresso shots to overcome my nerves. This is definitely a habit of mine- nervousness leading to caffeine intake. Usually helps a ton, this time it was simply too much and I was jittery. The first was a cross-field blade from MC to me in the goal, essentially thrown instead of a hammer because my man was poaching off of me to the open-front side. It wsa shifty, there was a breeze, but I should've caught it and it zipped through my clap-catching hands. Shit.
Later, I break free downfield after Kurt Gibson gets a solid yardage gaining in-cut, and straight drop his perfect flick huck. Again, it was a bit breezy, and the disc bounced just before it got to me, causing me to raise my clap-catch higher, thereby causing my hands to not clap together but slightly off and having the disc bobble out. Fun side-story: my girlfriend, who had made Riot the year before, and much of the rest of Riot were watching this game. They loved me, since I played cameraman/supporter/consoler at their Nationals the year previous, staying with them in their condo. They'd seen me drop the first pass in the far endzone, and this pass I was catching ("catching") was in the endzone just in front of them. Drew Johnson said just as I was catching (dropping) the pass, and I quote, "Don't drop it!" Thanks Drew. They all hushed in silence when I did drop it, and looked away like guilty children, not wanting to bear witness to my crumbling.
Luckily I didn't crumble, and went on to get a layout D on their best handler to get a crucial break on the point before game point. MC even came up and told me it was a big-time block, which felt good.
The rest of Saturday went well, some slight patellar tendon soreness but nothing debilitating. OH- I did forget about this though. I had a terrible, disgusting ingrown toenail. Easily one of the most debilitating injuries I've ever had, since it is something you can play through but hurts consistently and A LOT. It had reached crescendo levels at this point, with strange green and yellow goo mixed with blood coming out of it and staining my socks. Easily up there with worst injuries ever.
Sunday, of course, I had another drop, this time on a more excusable play. Against the "other" Portland team, Pryzbilla/Chico's Bail Bonds/whatever, I skied for a huck over a quickly advancing defender (it hung a bit, I had to wait fr it to go up), and doinked it. This is a pass I don't doink, so it was most certainly a drop. This one made me feel the worst actually, because it freaked me out into thinking "Am I a dropper? Do I dorp passes now? Am I not clutch? What is wrong with me?" It was bad.
Going forward though, I did play well. We had to play our own Sockeye X team, and from what I found out later, my defense against Ben was what solidified my place on the team. He said I made him work harder than any defender had recently, which felt good to hear. No huge plays that I remember from that game, except that some people had some bad turns, and that Julian Childs-Walker is going to be a beast in college.
The finals against Revolver was fun. I got a "block" when the thrower's fake accidentally slipped out of his hand and hit my hand. I also made what was easily my best catch since the injury (and one of my better catches of all time, given the crucial timing, mid-Sockeye-tryout), when I button-hooked an endzone cut for Spencer Wallis and he gunned a forehand to the open side, forcing me to layout big up high and forward and catch it with my left hand (with the disc trying to spin out of my hand as it was a forehand). Funny enough, the tryout committee members didn't actually see this play because they had huddled to chat about something. Oh well.
This post has devolved into talking about the season, so i will re-group a bit and save that information for a later post, if ever.
My explosiveness was coming back, and to guage when it was fully back became difficult because of our training. We were doing a lot of hard lifting/track workouts, and I always felt like any gains that we were making would only show up once we tapered. This proved to be very much the case, as we all felt quite sluggish until about Labor Day/Sectionals, and I easily felt better at Sectionals than I had felt since my injury. In fact, I felt more explosive/quicker than I think I was before the injury, and even then I was working quite hard.
Sectionals/Regionals went extremely well (personally), and Nationals also went well, although I don't think we were perfectly honed come Nationals. Sometihng felt off. The extended lull between Regionals and Nationals (because of the early Regionals) felt strange and too long.
Nationals itself was a blur. I played relatively well. However, on a freak play in the quarters, while marking Rory from Doublwide, he threw a big backhand huck and on his follow through, his backhand hit my extending right hand (trying to block) and broke the 4th metatarsal. I felt/heard it break, but just couldn't believe that that had broken my hand, so I continued playing the point. We got the turn, worked it up field, and I caught a dump pass outside our upwind endzone. Upon assuming a backhand grip, I meediately knew I couldn't throw as it hurt quite badly. After that I sat out the rest of the tournament, except for one point in which i got burned upline since I was totally not ready to play after stangating on the sideline for 30 minutes.
What were the biggest difference-makers in terms of recovery? By far it was the strength of my quads. When I worked hard to make them strong, I had no problems, but any time my focus and training on them diminished, the patellar tendon sounded its fury.
Beyond that, patience. Knowing that I would get better was hard to remember. You recover so slowly, yet have to focus on what you do day-in and day-out that the daily focus does not sync well with the long-term goal. While recovering, my progress and status was almost all I could talk about with my girlfriend, it took up that much of my mental capacity. Without that much focus I don't think I would've recovered as well. She got real annoyed, but hey, that's the way it goes.
So, to conclude, I hope this blog can be helpful for other people going through ACL surgery/rehab/recovery. I wrote it because I found another blog similarly helpful and felt that enough ultimate players tear their ACLs that this could be a good, sport-specific comparison tool. Feel free to contact me, I enjoy talking about it.
Tyler
Friday, December 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
My Road Thus Far VI - Month 7
Month 7: Feb 20- March 20, '09
- Patellar tendinitis pain is the primary hurdle during this time period. On the field there is no instability, no favoring of one leg over the other, no change in play due to weakness or pain. However, warmups often include substantial soreness and pain in the patellar tendon area. This is forgotten on the field, but reappears during stop-play gaps of waiting on the sidelines. By month's end, however, this pain is continuing to diminish on a slow curve downward.
- This month also featured the largest gains in explosive muscle. Last month saw positive results in muscle bulk and balance, but that doesn't translate into anything on the field, it just gets me out there. This was apparent in the worlds scrimmages where I was without that acceleration needed to get certain blocks that I felt I could've gotten to pre-injury. Although I didn't hold hard & fast to my twice/wk stairs then field workouts, I still did enough to show marked improvement, and accomplished my goal of touching rim on March 19th, a perfect way to end the month!
- March 1 I played in a medium-intensity scrimmage of seattle club players v. UW and Western Washington's college teams. This was my first full-field, open "elite" ultimate. I've played elite Mini and Goaltimate, full-field non-elite pickup, and full-field elite coed, but this was my first test of high speed men's ulti, and I felt great. The big question mark for me was on defense, since the college players would definitely run a ton, and hard, and I was happy to say I more than held my own, sufficiently guarding UW's main thrower well and holding my own against other good matchups. While still lacking old explosiveness, I could keep up well enough.
- Month 7 was defined primarily by large gains in applicable, explosive strength (quickness, speed, jumping ability). Training focused more on maximal effort in small time increments, pushing the muscle's exertion ability rather than lactic acid threshold, with the idea that speed comes first, followed by speed endurance. Building a base of endurance early is sounding crazier and crazier to me every day I train. I am doing the opposite, and am very pleased with the results so far.
- Looking ahead, Month 8 will basically be the final month before tryouts (give or take). In this time period I will begin to lengthen my reps and sprint distances, and decrease recovery time, so that come tryouts my maximal effort can be maintained over a longer period of time. The knee is becoming less and less of a thought, and although there is occasional soreness going up stairs or in a warm-up jog, this is nothing compared to the horror stories of those who did not maintain their PT (one friend still does not have full extension 1 & 1/2 yrs later!).
- Patellar tendinitis pain is the primary hurdle during this time period. On the field there is no instability, no favoring of one leg over the other, no change in play due to weakness or pain. However, warmups often include substantial soreness and pain in the patellar tendon area. This is forgotten on the field, but reappears during stop-play gaps of waiting on the sidelines. By month's end, however, this pain is continuing to diminish on a slow curve downward.
- This month also featured the largest gains in explosive muscle. Last month saw positive results in muscle bulk and balance, but that doesn't translate into anything on the field, it just gets me out there. This was apparent in the worlds scrimmages where I was without that acceleration needed to get certain blocks that I felt I could've gotten to pre-injury. Although I didn't hold hard & fast to my twice/wk stairs then field workouts, I still did enough to show marked improvement, and accomplished my goal of touching rim on March 19th, a perfect way to end the month!
- March 1 I played in a medium-intensity scrimmage of seattle club players v. UW and Western Washington's college teams. This was my first full-field, open "elite" ultimate. I've played elite Mini and Goaltimate, full-field non-elite pickup, and full-field elite coed, but this was my first test of high speed men's ulti, and I felt great. The big question mark for me was on defense, since the college players would definitely run a ton, and hard, and I was happy to say I more than held my own, sufficiently guarding UW's main thrower well and holding my own against other good matchups. While still lacking old explosiveness, I could keep up well enough.
- Month 7 was defined primarily by large gains in applicable, explosive strength (quickness, speed, jumping ability). Training focused more on maximal effort in small time increments, pushing the muscle's exertion ability rather than lactic acid threshold, with the idea that speed comes first, followed by speed endurance. Building a base of endurance early is sounding crazier and crazier to me every day I train. I am doing the opposite, and am very pleased with the results so far.
- Looking ahead, Month 8 will basically be the final month before tryouts (give or take). In this time period I will begin to lengthen my reps and sprint distances, and decrease recovery time, so that come tryouts my maximal effort can be maintained over a longer period of time. The knee is becoming less and less of a thought, and although there is occasional soreness going up stairs or in a warm-up jog, this is nothing compared to the horror stories of those who did not maintain their PT (one friend still does not have full extension 1 & 1/2 yrs later!).
Monday, February 23, 2009
My Road Thus Far V - Month 6
Month 6: Jan 24- Feb 20, '09
- The first weekend of this time period, I played another game of "stop" then, the next day (sunday), after a long internal struggle, decided to give "Mini" a go. This was very high level, hard cutting, short bursts of speed, with a group of guys whose team I am planning to tryout for. So, going was a very tough decision, since I could also attend goaltimate on the same day, which would be lower level, easier to choose whether or not to go hard, and I wouldn't be showing myself for the first time to the guys who might in the future decide whether or not to cut me. I decided to give it a shot and play Mini, and it went as well as I could have hoped. I got the shit skied out of me a few times, but otherwise didn't make a fool of myself and held my own for the most part. Uninjured, I wouldn't have been too psyched, but considering I was barely 6 months our of surgery, I was content.
- This month also saw me play my first full-field ultimate, a long day of pickup this past weekend. The level was mixed, as were the games, but as the afternoon went on, two games distinctly separated themselves and my field was left with mostly men and the better men at that. I slowly increased my speed, involvement, and risk-taking, and by the end felt comfortable sprinting, cutting, and jumping at nearly full speed. The following day I played Mini again, and although I couldn't last as long before feeling mighty sore, I again felt relatively comfortable (or, as comfortable as I can expect to feel against the high level of competition).
- As Month 6 unfolded, my physical ability blossomed quickly. From playing my first competitive game on Jan 25th (and simply trying to keep up) to a game of goaltimate on Feb 22nd (where I could really push myself without worry), there was such a drastic change in knee stability, comfort and strength, in speed, reaction time, and agility, and in high-speed recovery and stamina that it's difficult to fully describe just how much better I felt. This has been my month to return to sport, without a doubt, and I am certainly glad I didn't try after 4 or 5 months like some people I've spoken to. I simply wouldn't have been able to, and the risk for re-injur, or compensation injury, would have been high.
- On Feb 17th, I had a checkup with my Physical Therapist, at which point they were basically doing a last look before they did or did not clear me to play. And they did! I wasn't that surprised to be cleared, but I was at the results of my leg diameters (they measure the muscle bulk in your legs to determine the balance of strength between your healing leg and your normal leg. The bigger the difference, the less likely they are to clear you). leg diameters:
11/7/08
2" above patella
L - [37cm] - R - [37cm]
6" above patella
L - [48.75cm] - R - [46.5cm] = 2.25cm difference
2/17/09
2" above patella
L - [37.25cm] - R - [37.25cm] = +.25cm in both legs, stronger!
6" above patella
L - [49.00cm] - R - [48.5cm] = +.25cm in ok leg, + 2cm in injured, only .5cm difference!!
- These results were very, very encouraging. Now to get back to the field!
- Going forward, the biggest gaps between me now, and me pre-injury, are my top-end speed and my jumping ability. Used to be able to touch rim. Used to have a first-step that could get me open. Both are good goals for the next two months as tryouts loom in the distance. Training now consists of running stairs twice a week with a weighted backpack (20lbs added) twice one week (Tues/Thurs), then doing sprints and acceleration work twice on the next week, alternating weekly, in addition to long pickup on Saturday and high-level Goaltimate or Mini on Sunday.
- The first weekend of this time period, I played another game of "stop" then, the next day (sunday), after a long internal struggle, decided to give "Mini" a go. This was very high level, hard cutting, short bursts of speed, with a group of guys whose team I am planning to tryout for. So, going was a very tough decision, since I could also attend goaltimate on the same day, which would be lower level, easier to choose whether or not to go hard, and I wouldn't be showing myself for the first time to the guys who might in the future decide whether or not to cut me. I decided to give it a shot and play Mini, and it went as well as I could have hoped. I got the shit skied out of me a few times, but otherwise didn't make a fool of myself and held my own for the most part. Uninjured, I wouldn't have been too psyched, but considering I was barely 6 months our of surgery, I was content.
- This month also saw me play my first full-field ultimate, a long day of pickup this past weekend. The level was mixed, as were the games, but as the afternoon went on, two games distinctly separated themselves and my field was left with mostly men and the better men at that. I slowly increased my speed, involvement, and risk-taking, and by the end felt comfortable sprinting, cutting, and jumping at nearly full speed. The following day I played Mini again, and although I couldn't last as long before feeling mighty sore, I again felt relatively comfortable (or, as comfortable as I can expect to feel against the high level of competition).
- As Month 6 unfolded, my physical ability blossomed quickly. From playing my first competitive game on Jan 25th (and simply trying to keep up) to a game of goaltimate on Feb 22nd (where I could really push myself without worry), there was such a drastic change in knee stability, comfort and strength, in speed, reaction time, and agility, and in high-speed recovery and stamina that it's difficult to fully describe just how much better I felt. This has been my month to return to sport, without a doubt, and I am certainly glad I didn't try after 4 or 5 months like some people I've spoken to. I simply wouldn't have been able to, and the risk for re-injur, or compensation injury, would have been high.
- On Feb 17th, I had a checkup with my Physical Therapist, at which point they were basically doing a last look before they did or did not clear me to play. And they did! I wasn't that surprised to be cleared, but I was at the results of my leg diameters (they measure the muscle bulk in your legs to determine the balance of strength between your healing leg and your normal leg. The bigger the difference, the less likely they are to clear you). leg diameters:
11/7/08
2" above patella
L - [37cm] - R - [37cm]
6" above patella
L - [48.75cm] - R - [46.5cm] = 2.25cm difference
2/17/09
2" above patella
L - [37.25cm] - R - [37.25cm] = +.25cm in both legs, stronger!
6" above patella
L - [49.00cm] - R - [48.5cm] = +.25cm in ok leg, + 2cm in injured, only .5cm difference!!
- These results were very, very encouraging. Now to get back to the field!
- Going forward, the biggest gaps between me now, and me pre-injury, are my top-end speed and my jumping ability. Used to be able to touch rim. Used to have a first-step that could get me open. Both are good goals for the next two months as tryouts loom in the distance. Training now consists of running stairs twice a week with a weighted backpack (20lbs added) twice one week (Tues/Thurs), then doing sprints and acceleration work twice on the next week, alternating weekly, in addition to long pickup on Saturday and high-level Goaltimate or Mini on Sunday.
My Road Thus Far IV - Month 5
Month 5: Dec 27 - Jan 23, '09
- As soon as I hit the fifth month mark I sprinted. I just couldn't wait to do it. December 27th fortuitously was a beautiful, 45 degree, sunny day in an otherwise frigid, snowy Michigan, and I jogged over to a high school parking lot to do some plyometrics and sprinting. Man, did I get tired quick, but man, did it feel good to be sprinting again. Sometimes you just don't think a day or event will ever come, you wait for so long, but then it gets there, and that joy is something you only know if you've had it. There was some discomfort, some soreness, but it felt good, the good kind of sore that I'd come to know and differentiate after all the December running.
- That month, also fortuitously, a group of buddies of mine were gearing up to play in an alumni tourney, and made a website to track their fitness level and workouts. They had made it a challenge, who could work out the most, along with a place for goals and a place for direct challenges/shit-talking/etc. This was a god-send for me, as it provided a community of like-minded, hard-working *friends* that I could talk to about workouts, ask questions, and generally feel not alone as I did box jumps in the empty dark room in the gym.
- My gym also switched ownership, and began offering early-morning boot-camp-style classes that focused on plyometrics, and I worked these hard. They were perfect. Core work, quad work, calf work, stability work. It was fantastic. Plus I learned some new stuff, and the addition of a structure (someone else timing, providing the exercises, leading warm-up) as well as other around me pushed me to go that much harder. I am thinking of posting some of the workouts here for reference.
- I also began cutting work, meaning, donning my cleats and going to a park to throw with someone (often my girlfriend) and doing a V- shaped cutting drill, cutting out, then in to her forehand side, then out, then in to her backhand side, essentailly a 150 degree cut rather than a full 180, and cutting off of one leg, then the other. This was good to do slowly and build speed until discomfort told me to stop.
- I played my first "game" the last week of this month, a game called "sto(m?)p the chump." The goal is to tip a throw into a soccer goal, thrower can't be in 6-yard box, take back line is 18 yard box, and an upside down throw hitting the cross-bar means a free penalty shot, with a goalie, from the 18 yard line, just try to score. Games to 3, or 5, or whatever. It was perfect because it was short cuts, I could be as involved as I felt comfortable, and it was finally something i could enjoy with others.
- As soon as I hit the fifth month mark I sprinted. I just couldn't wait to do it. December 27th fortuitously was a beautiful, 45 degree, sunny day in an otherwise frigid, snowy Michigan, and I jogged over to a high school parking lot to do some plyometrics and sprinting. Man, did I get tired quick, but man, did it feel good to be sprinting again. Sometimes you just don't think a day or event will ever come, you wait for so long, but then it gets there, and that joy is something you only know if you've had it. There was some discomfort, some soreness, but it felt good, the good kind of sore that I'd come to know and differentiate after all the December running.
- That month, also fortuitously, a group of buddies of mine were gearing up to play in an alumni tourney, and made a website to track their fitness level and workouts. They had made it a challenge, who could work out the most, along with a place for goals and a place for direct challenges/shit-talking/etc. This was a god-send for me, as it provided a community of like-minded, hard-working *friends* that I could talk to about workouts, ask questions, and generally feel not alone as I did box jumps in the empty dark room in the gym.
- My gym also switched ownership, and began offering early-morning boot-camp-style classes that focused on plyometrics, and I worked these hard. They were perfect. Core work, quad work, calf work, stability work. It was fantastic. Plus I learned some new stuff, and the addition of a structure (someone else timing, providing the exercises, leading warm-up) as well as other around me pushed me to go that much harder. I am thinking of posting some of the workouts here for reference.
- I also began cutting work, meaning, donning my cleats and going to a park to throw with someone (often my girlfriend) and doing a V- shaped cutting drill, cutting out, then in to her forehand side, then out, then in to her backhand side, essentailly a 150 degree cut rather than a full 180, and cutting off of one leg, then the other. This was good to do slowly and build speed until discomfort told me to stop.
- I played my first "game" the last week of this month, a game called "sto(m?)p the chump." The goal is to tip a throw into a soccer goal, thrower can't be in 6-yard box, take back line is 18 yard box, and an upside down throw hitting the cross-bar means a free penalty shot, with a goalie, from the 18 yard line, just try to score. Games to 3, or 5, or whatever. It was perfect because it was short cuts, I could be as involved as I felt comfortable, and it was finally something i could enjoy with others.
My Road Thus Far III - Month 4
Month 4: Nov. 29 - Dec. 26, '08
- Now it's getting good. I had successfully made it past the 4 month mark without any setbacks, and had substantially regained leg strength, mobility, and hadn't lost my focus.
- I began running as if it were candy and I was a toddler:
--December 1, I ran 3.4 miles in 24 minutes. (treadmill)
--December 3, 3.7 miles in 27 minutes. (treadmill)
--December 5, 4 miles in 28.5 minutes. (treadmill)
--December 7, 5 miles, outside, at a slow pace (untimed).
--December 8, 4 miles in 27'42"(treadmill)
--December 9, lifted legs hard
--December 12, 5K in 20' flat
--December 13, 1 mile in 6' flat
--December 14, 1 mile, 7'
--December 15, 5k in 20'30"
--December 17, 5k in 20'32"
--December 18, 1 mile in 5'58"
--December 20, 1.5 miles in 6:40 pace
--December 22, 1 mile in 6'40"
--December 25, 1.5 miles at 6'40" pace
- I also did a lot of upper body work, focusing on pullups, pushups, dips, core, and actually did some climbing (bouldering), never doing anything too high that I felt was out of my comfort zone.
- This month was just fun. It was all potential, like those first dates you go on with a girl when you really hit it off. I usually hate running longer than a mile, so in that time from mile 1 through the third or fourth to finish was time spent imagining the season I would have, how strong I'd be, how fast I could run and cut, how high I could jump. It is all potential that far out, and for that reason alone it was great.
- Now it's getting good. I had successfully made it past the 4 month mark without any setbacks, and had substantially regained leg strength, mobility, and hadn't lost my focus.
- I began running as if it were candy and I was a toddler:
--December 1, I ran 3.4 miles in 24 minutes. (treadmill)
--December 3, 3.7 miles in 27 minutes. (treadmill)
--December 5, 4 miles in 28.5 minutes. (treadmill)
--December 7, 5 miles, outside, at a slow pace (untimed).
--December 8, 4 miles in 27'42"(treadmill)
--December 9, lifted legs hard
--December 12, 5K in 20' flat
--December 13, 1 mile in 6' flat
--December 14, 1 mile, 7'
--December 15, 5k in 20'30"
--December 17, 5k in 20'32"
--December 18, 1 mile in 5'58"
--December 20, 1.5 miles in 6:40 pace
--December 22, 1 mile in 6'40"
--December 25, 1.5 miles at 6'40" pace
- I also did a lot of upper body work, focusing on pullups, pushups, dips, core, and actually did some climbing (bouldering), never doing anything too high that I felt was out of my comfort zone.
- This month was just fun. It was all potential, like those first dates you go on with a girl when you really hit it off. I usually hate running longer than a mile, so in that time from mile 1 through the third or fourth to finish was time spent imagining the season I would have, how strong I'd be, how fast I could run and cut, how high I could jump. It is all potential that far out, and for that reason alone it was great.
My Road Thus Far II - Month 1 through Month 3
Month 1: September 5 - October 3, '08
- Swelling has reduced sizably, and range of motion is big, almost heel to rear, an inch away.
- PT has extended to include some more balance and strengthening exercises including standing on the injured leg with a slightly bent knee with an exercise band (EB from now on) around the ankle of my other leg and, with that leg straight, moving it to stretch the EB. This is done facing all compass directions to strengthen the injured leg and work on balance. Also, standing on that injured leg again, still slightly bent, move a medicine ball around your body one direction, then the other, then make a big V in front of you, raising it up to the right above your head, down to the middle in front of your pelvis, then back up to the left side. Continuing with leg press, step-ups on a 12" plyo box, and adding hip strengthening on abductor and adductor machines.
- This is what the PT called the slow months. Basically, the tendon has been taken from its blood source, and is currently deteriorating as it reconnects with a new blood supply in its new location. During this period (months 1-4), it is at its weakest, although you are getting stronger and more bored with the same old same old over and over. This is the time to be most diligent with your rehab and the most focused to not have any lapse of judgment and think "I could run/play right now." This was good for me to hear.
- The cross-country drive occured in this month, and went just fine. It definitely got stiff, but that was expected. I left September 6 and arrived September 10. I also took this month to chill a bit, the only time that I did less than I could have. I did this because I knew that I had a lot to accomplish in this time period outside of rehab (get a job to start), and that my road would be very long and wouldn't be sustainable unless I took it at a comfortable pace. I didn't get a gym membership until the last week of September.
Month 2: Oct 4 - Oct 31, '08
- This month I continued to take it relatively easy. I continued to do some workouts (hitting the gym for leg press, all balance stuff from above, etc), but didn't enter with the drive I later found. This was to preserve a level of sanity, as I knew my drive/determination would increase exponentially as soon as I went full-bore, and I felt it was simply too early to enter that mindset. In addition, I would go crazy when all I could do at the gym was weights stuff, without any more "speedy' stuff i was used to and enjoyed, like running, plyometrics, jumping, etc. During this time period I also got a job, got my car broken into, got my car stolen, and saw half my new company get laid off. Crazy times. I was focused elsewhere.
- Swelling was down markedly, and stairs were becoming much less of an issue. Not that they ever really were much of an issue, but there was simply an expected soreness each time I stepped up, and this was noticeably decreasing.
Month 3: Nov. 1 - Nov. 28, 08 [I measure months as 4 weeks, not simply the length of the month]
- During this month I began to be much more focused. I knew I could run at the 4 month mark, and this gave me something to prepare my legs for, in terms of strength and stability. In addition, I had an occasional training partner, a friend of my girlfriends' who also tore her ACL at nearly the same time, who also was very consistent in her training and rehab. I hit the gym diligently and really worked on building my quad strength. I also started my PT appointments in my new locale, and was cleared to begin a walk/job program on a treadmill mid-month. This was exciting and gave me something new to do in the gym, making gym visits much more attractive.
- Swelling has reduced sizably, and range of motion is big, almost heel to rear, an inch away.
- PT has extended to include some more balance and strengthening exercises including standing on the injured leg with a slightly bent knee with an exercise band (EB from now on) around the ankle of my other leg and, with that leg straight, moving it to stretch the EB. This is done facing all compass directions to strengthen the injured leg and work on balance. Also, standing on that injured leg again, still slightly bent, move a medicine ball around your body one direction, then the other, then make a big V in front of you, raising it up to the right above your head, down to the middle in front of your pelvis, then back up to the left side. Continuing with leg press, step-ups on a 12" plyo box, and adding hip strengthening on abductor and adductor machines.
- This is what the PT called the slow months. Basically, the tendon has been taken from its blood source, and is currently deteriorating as it reconnects with a new blood supply in its new location. During this period (months 1-4), it is at its weakest, although you are getting stronger and more bored with the same old same old over and over. This is the time to be most diligent with your rehab and the most focused to not have any lapse of judgment and think "I could run/play right now." This was good for me to hear.
- The cross-country drive occured in this month, and went just fine. It definitely got stiff, but that was expected. I left September 6 and arrived September 10. I also took this month to chill a bit, the only time that I did less than I could have. I did this because I knew that I had a lot to accomplish in this time period outside of rehab (get a job to start), and that my road would be very long and wouldn't be sustainable unless I took it at a comfortable pace. I didn't get a gym membership until the last week of September.
Month 2: Oct 4 - Oct 31, '08
- This month I continued to take it relatively easy. I continued to do some workouts (hitting the gym for leg press, all balance stuff from above, etc), but didn't enter with the drive I later found. This was to preserve a level of sanity, as I knew my drive/determination would increase exponentially as soon as I went full-bore, and I felt it was simply too early to enter that mindset. In addition, I would go crazy when all I could do at the gym was weights stuff, without any more "speedy' stuff i was used to and enjoyed, like running, plyometrics, jumping, etc. During this time period I also got a job, got my car broken into, got my car stolen, and saw half my new company get laid off. Crazy times. I was focused elsewhere.
- Swelling was down markedly, and stairs were becoming much less of an issue. Not that they ever really were much of an issue, but there was simply an expected soreness each time I stepped up, and this was noticeably decreasing.
Month 3: Nov. 1 - Nov. 28, 08 [I measure months as 4 weeks, not simply the length of the month]
- During this month I began to be much more focused. I knew I could run at the 4 month mark, and this gave me something to prepare my legs for, in terms of strength and stability. In addition, I had an occasional training partner, a friend of my girlfriends' who also tore her ACL at nearly the same time, who also was very consistent in her training and rehab. I hit the gym diligently and really worked on building my quad strength. I also started my PT appointments in my new locale, and was cleared to begin a walk/job program on a treadmill mid-month. This was exciting and gave me something new to do in the gym, making gym visits much more attractive.
My Road Thus Far I - Injury through Month 0
I was very curious to track my progress against others', since by nature people have the need to compare. I wanted to be ahead of the curve, even though it meant nothing, since only my own progress and ability made any real difference. But it did help mentally, so I write this down in the hopes of providing some semblance of structure against which another fellow-sufferer of an ACl tear can work.
Injury: July 27, '08
- on defense, force is flick, guarding handler near front of stack, playing slightly off to force side. IO flick to my man, I sprint to stop the continue backhand break. As I try to shut it down, I turn laterally to face my man and put on a mark, still moving laterally towards the break side. Plant my foot (heel first) to stop the successive inside out flick break, knee bows out laterally so that my knee in essence moves out over the right ankle, chunky noise in my knee, hit the ground in high level of pain.
- was able to march forwards from squat position, leading trainer to believe ACl not torn, potentially PCL or some other knee ligament. proceed to drink.
Doctor Appt: July 28, '08
- Doctor checks out knee, thinks ACL is torn, orders MRI
MRI: July 29, '08
- Taken, wait for results
MRI Results: July 30, '08
- ACL torn, all else is fine. Surgery scheduled.
Surgery: August 8, '08
- Patellar Autograft route. They were gong to give me a spinal block and allow me to watch the procedure, but then renegged on that, saying it the surgery could take longer than the spinal block might last. Knocked me out.
- When i awoke, they were pretty harsh, and made me dress myself, which was pretty tough as I couldn't move my leg, could barely tell what was going on, and didn't know what I Could/Couldn't do. I kind of wish I had videotape of this, I imagine it took me forever.
Post-Op Weekend: August 09/10, '08
- Tons of chilling. Did not need to poop for like once until like a week later due to vicodin. Got off Vicodin by Monday since I didn't need it and it made me so constipated. Made sure to invite many, many friends over to watch movies, since I could use pity to get them to do shit for me. Played lots of video games, ate ice cream. Wrote innumerable alphabets with my big toe lying on my back with my leg up the wall to spurn blood flow throughout my leg and reduce swelling. On crutches all the time, 0% weight bearing.
PT Begins: Monday, August 11, '08
- First of many. Because my surgery occurred so quickly after injury, and I had been training hard throughout the summer, I entered PT with lots of latent quad muscle, and this helped immensely. I could immediately do straight leg lifts well, and although my quad had difficulty firing, when hooked up to electrode stimulators, it performed well and showed very good potential. My road was nicely paved due to the quickness of my surgery.
Month 0: Aug 8 - Sept 5, '08
- Each week meant a bit more weight born by my leg, less by my crutches. 0% first week, 25% 2nd, 50% third, 75% fourth, done. I was off crutches by September (none too soon). This was important for me personally as I had initially planned to move west, driving, about a month previous, but these plans were obviously delayed with the injury. I had to wait until I could sit, unmoving, for 8-10 hours (driving), and this would've been impossible in that first month, unless i took half hour to hour-long breaks to elevate, compress, and ice my knee to decrease the swelling that occurred during the day walking around.
- Mobility was never much of an issue. I immediately had good mobility, and by week 2, I was about 3 inches from touching my heel to my rear. This was far ahead of schedule, and I was told to simply not push it and I'd be just fine there.
- I grew to love the electric stim machine quickly. It's just an incredibly strange feeling to have something firing your muscles FOR you. I constantly jacked up the stim to the max when the therapists weren't looking. They said it didn't matter, that the more the better as long as you can stand it.
- My favorite device was the GameReady. It's a compression sleeve that velcroes around your knee and about 4 inches above and below. It is hooked up to an ice-water pump, so it basically is fastened around your leg then slowly gets tighter and tighter and colder and colder and feels amazing. When you're done they take it off and your knee went from pontoon to resembling a knee again.
- The scar was never an issue either. My brother had SERIOUS issues with his cut-- it got infected, a thread got stuck in his skin and caused issues, and at this point looks much worse than mine (he tore his acl about a month before me). Mine healed beautifully, and is only looking better.
- PT itself focused on a bike ride, the leg press, calf raises, lots of calf movements with a resistance band, an exercise where you put an exercise band behind your knee and, standing, it pulls away as you stand and straighten your leg, followed by electric stim and some GameReady. On my own it was focused on swelling reduction and resistance band work.
Injury: July 27, '08
- on defense, force is flick, guarding handler near front of stack, playing slightly off to force side. IO flick to my man, I sprint to stop the continue backhand break. As I try to shut it down, I turn laterally to face my man and put on a mark, still moving laterally towards the break side. Plant my foot (heel first) to stop the successive inside out flick break, knee bows out laterally so that my knee in essence moves out over the right ankle, chunky noise in my knee, hit the ground in high level of pain.
- was able to march forwards from squat position, leading trainer to believe ACl not torn, potentially PCL or some other knee ligament. proceed to drink.
Doctor Appt: July 28, '08
- Doctor checks out knee, thinks ACL is torn, orders MRI
MRI: July 29, '08
- Taken, wait for results
MRI Results: July 30, '08
- ACL torn, all else is fine. Surgery scheduled.
Surgery: August 8, '08
- Patellar Autograft route. They were gong to give me a spinal block and allow me to watch the procedure, but then renegged on that, saying it the surgery could take longer than the spinal block might last. Knocked me out.
- When i awoke, they were pretty harsh, and made me dress myself, which was pretty tough as I couldn't move my leg, could barely tell what was going on, and didn't know what I Could/Couldn't do. I kind of wish I had videotape of this, I imagine it took me forever.
Post-Op Weekend: August 09/10, '08
- Tons of chilling. Did not need to poop for like once until like a week later due to vicodin. Got off Vicodin by Monday since I didn't need it and it made me so constipated. Made sure to invite many, many friends over to watch movies, since I could use pity to get them to do shit for me. Played lots of video games, ate ice cream. Wrote innumerable alphabets with my big toe lying on my back with my leg up the wall to spurn blood flow throughout my leg and reduce swelling. On crutches all the time, 0% weight bearing.
PT Begins: Monday, August 11, '08
- First of many. Because my surgery occurred so quickly after injury, and I had been training hard throughout the summer, I entered PT with lots of latent quad muscle, and this helped immensely. I could immediately do straight leg lifts well, and although my quad had difficulty firing, when hooked up to electrode stimulators, it performed well and showed very good potential. My road was nicely paved due to the quickness of my surgery.
Month 0: Aug 8 - Sept 5, '08
- Each week meant a bit more weight born by my leg, less by my crutches. 0% first week, 25% 2nd, 50% third, 75% fourth, done. I was off crutches by September (none too soon). This was important for me personally as I had initially planned to move west, driving, about a month previous, but these plans were obviously delayed with the injury. I had to wait until I could sit, unmoving, for 8-10 hours (driving), and this would've been impossible in that first month, unless i took half hour to hour-long breaks to elevate, compress, and ice my knee to decrease the swelling that occurred during the day walking around.
- Mobility was never much of an issue. I immediately had good mobility, and by week 2, I was about 3 inches from touching my heel to my rear. This was far ahead of schedule, and I was told to simply not push it and I'd be just fine there.
- I grew to love the electric stim machine quickly. It's just an incredibly strange feeling to have something firing your muscles FOR you. I constantly jacked up the stim to the max when the therapists weren't looking. They said it didn't matter, that the more the better as long as you can stand it.
- My favorite device was the GameReady. It's a compression sleeve that velcroes around your knee and about 4 inches above and below. It is hooked up to an ice-water pump, so it basically is fastened around your leg then slowly gets tighter and tighter and colder and colder and feels amazing. When you're done they take it off and your knee went from pontoon to resembling a knee again.
- The scar was never an issue either. My brother had SERIOUS issues with his cut-- it got infected, a thread got stuck in his skin and caused issues, and at this point looks much worse than mine (he tore his acl about a month before me). Mine healed beautifully, and is only looking better.
- PT itself focused on a bike ride, the leg press, calf raises, lots of calf movements with a resistance band, an exercise where you put an exercise band behind your knee and, standing, it pulls away as you stand and straighten your leg, followed by electric stim and some GameReady. On my own it was focused on swelling reduction and resistance band work.
soreness v pain II
Now a few weeks after my soreness v pain query, I've been able to experience the feeling a few times and have come up with some (personal) deductions:
1- Some soreness of the patellar tendon is acceptable. In other areas much less so. This is because the acl graft, as well as the two bones segments acting as anchor points, were removed from this portion of my knee, and it is still healing.
2- Soreness elsewhere definitely warrants closer inspection. After playing pickup then goalty back to back a while ago, there was soreness _within_ my knee, hence my pulling the reins a bit and slowing down, allowing it to heal fully and for any soreness/pain in that portion of the knee to subside.
3- Some workouts tax the knee (especially the patellar tendon) more than others. Stair workouts certainly do, as they repetitively stress that tendon.
4- Goaltimate, with its multi-directional cutting & short burst speed focus, has often left my patellar tendon feeling utterly pain free. Further, it feels tight to begin with, but seems to slowly "loosen up" as the game wears on, and I can only deduce that there is some tightness to the tendon as it heels and that it actually does become a bit looser with the exercise and multi-plane stress that comes from cutting in multiple directions (rather than 1-dimensionally simply going up stairs).
None of this is brain surgery, but certainly helps me to feel more comfortable with certain soreness/tightness sensations within the knee, and to know how to loosen up in pre-game situations. Basically, I would most like to do hard, small-field cutting in any pre-game situation, with drills like 3v3 keep away in a small box, or Mini, or simply suicides, probably to conclude a warm-up session that began with a decent run/dynamic stretching.
It's been less than a month since my first competitive game (High-level Mini on Jan. 25), and already I feel much, much better, both in terms of knee stability/dependability, and overall speed/quickness/stamina. The main facets still absent from my game are top-end speed and jumping ability, which I am working on by varying between 2 stair workouts per week vs. 2 cleated speed workouts per week. I believe that much of what I have now can be attributed to the work I did in January, so hopefully February's efforts will show themselves in March/April. Fingers crossed.
1- Some soreness of the patellar tendon is acceptable. In other areas much less so. This is because the acl graft, as well as the two bones segments acting as anchor points, were removed from this portion of my knee, and it is still healing.
2- Soreness elsewhere definitely warrants closer inspection. After playing pickup then goalty back to back a while ago, there was soreness _within_ my knee, hence my pulling the reins a bit and slowing down, allowing it to heal fully and for any soreness/pain in that portion of the knee to subside.
3- Some workouts tax the knee (especially the patellar tendon) more than others. Stair workouts certainly do, as they repetitively stress that tendon.
4- Goaltimate, with its multi-directional cutting & short burst speed focus, has often left my patellar tendon feeling utterly pain free. Further, it feels tight to begin with, but seems to slowly "loosen up" as the game wears on, and I can only deduce that there is some tightness to the tendon as it heels and that it actually does become a bit looser with the exercise and multi-plane stress that comes from cutting in multiple directions (rather than 1-dimensionally simply going up stairs).
None of this is brain surgery, but certainly helps me to feel more comfortable with certain soreness/tightness sensations within the knee, and to know how to loosen up in pre-game situations. Basically, I would most like to do hard, small-field cutting in any pre-game situation, with drills like 3v3 keep away in a small box, or Mini, or simply suicides, probably to conclude a warm-up session that began with a decent run/dynamic stretching.
It's been less than a month since my first competitive game (High-level Mini on Jan. 25), and already I feel much, much better, both in terms of knee stability/dependability, and overall speed/quickness/stamina. The main facets still absent from my game are top-end speed and jumping ability, which I am working on by varying between 2 stair workouts per week vs. 2 cleated speed workouts per week. I believe that much of what I have now can be attributed to the work I did in January, so hopefully February's efforts will show themselves in March/April. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Soreness V Pain
This weekend, played 3 hours of pickup on Saturday and about a solid hour of Mini on Sunday.
At pickup, I slowly accelerated speed, cutting, and jumping, until by the end I was nearly at max on all 3. It felt great, and I wasn't sore at all that evening. The next day i was definitely somewhat sore in my patella, and as I played Mini, felt more sore as I went on. I was on a team that held the court for about 8 straight games (losing the 8th, which sucked, because it was not only my fault, but would've allowed us to make a rule for the rest of the day).
However, afterwards, I felt quite sore, and the following Monday, was much more sore than ever. I was actually worried. However, that Sunday night/Monday morning, i had also not slept at all (guessing the post-superbowl decaf wasn't actually decaf at all).
Hypothesis-- sleep, and not just rest, is HUGE in muscle and ligament recovery. Sleep more and stay healthier? Obvi.
But, my query rests more in what constitutes soreness (acceptable, almost good, denoting pushing to a good limit, and extending that limit) vs pain (bad, denotes crossing threshold from helpful to hurtful training).
Investigation continues this evening on a stairs workout-- will the knee be fine my mid-workout per usual, or will soreness/pain persist? Time will tell.
At pickup, I slowly accelerated speed, cutting, and jumping, until by the end I was nearly at max on all 3. It felt great, and I wasn't sore at all that evening. The next day i was definitely somewhat sore in my patella, and as I played Mini, felt more sore as I went on. I was on a team that held the court for about 8 straight games (losing the 8th, which sucked, because it was not only my fault, but would've allowed us to make a rule for the rest of the day).
However, afterwards, I felt quite sore, and the following Monday, was much more sore than ever. I was actually worried. However, that Sunday night/Monday morning, i had also not slept at all (guessing the post-superbowl decaf wasn't actually decaf at all).
Hypothesis-- sleep, and not just rest, is HUGE in muscle and ligament recovery. Sleep more and stay healthier? Obvi.
But, my query rests more in what constitutes soreness (acceptable, almost good, denoting pushing to a good limit, and extending that limit) vs pain (bad, denotes crossing threshold from helpful to hurtful training).
Investigation continues this evening on a stairs workout-- will the knee be fine my mid-workout per usual, or will soreness/pain persist? Time will tell.
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