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.
Monday, February 23, 2009
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.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Goals
Goal-setting has played a large role in my own recovery. It keeps me motivated and gives me milestones of achievement for positive reinforcement.
Goals:
- No pain/discomfort while running [achieved by gradually building up length of run + speed]
- right legged pistol [achieved 12/13 by running and lifting to build leg strength]
- playing ulti again by March [recently played Mini, low-level pickup- 1/30/09]
- be able to touch rim again [not yet]
- change direction from full speed [not yet]
- catch a decent jump ball [not yet, keep getting skyed, dont have reactivity yet]
As I rehab, I realize more and more the role motivation plays in recovery. Consistency in training is the major factor over all others, and motivation becomes difficult when stealing hours from other parts of your life to get into the gym, usually alone, to do yet another set of squats, bosu ball work, etc. I moved to a new city, leaving behind that cohort of training buddies I could call whenever, and without being able to play, there are very few "atta-boys" at all. No more skying someone/breaking a mark/catching a big layout to relish in during the work week, nobody saying "nice catch" or "sick throw." These tiny things prove much more meaningful when they're gone, hence the need to set short-, mid-, and long-term goals, so that you can give yourself a few atta-boys and pats on the back.
To get through 8-10 months of recovery, you need real positivity, and getting it from yourself, without relying on someone else, becomes much more sustainable.
Goals:
- No pain/discomfort while running [achieved by gradually building up length of run + speed]
- right legged pistol [achieved 12/13 by running and lifting to build leg strength]
- playing ulti again by March [recently played Mini, low-level pickup- 1/30/09]
- be able to touch rim again [not yet]
- change direction from full speed [not yet]
- catch a decent jump ball [not yet, keep getting skyed, dont have reactivity yet]
As I rehab, I realize more and more the role motivation plays in recovery. Consistency in training is the major factor over all others, and motivation becomes difficult when stealing hours from other parts of your life to get into the gym, usually alone, to do yet another set of squats, bosu ball work, etc. I moved to a new city, leaving behind that cohort of training buddies I could call whenever, and without being able to play, there are very few "atta-boys" at all. No more skying someone/breaking a mark/catching a big layout to relish in during the work week, nobody saying "nice catch" or "sick throw." These tiny things prove much more meaningful when they're gone, hence the need to set short-, mid-, and long-term goals, so that you can give yourself a few atta-boys and pats on the back.
To get through 8-10 months of recovery, you need real positivity, and getting it from yourself, without relying on someone else, becomes much more sustainable.
personal and public blog
This blog is for me to track and record my progress, as well as act as a tool for someone else who may be on a similar path. I am just entering week 20, and have learned that everyone's schedule is different, but that more information is always better. Miranda Roth reported to me she was playing 3 1/2 months post-op (which is absurd, she is like wolverine), and while I would love for that to be true for me and everyone else with an ACL tear, it really isn't.
Today:
mile + 1/2 warmup at 6:40 pace
dynamic stretching [monster walk, deep lunges for opening hips, planes]
dynamic box and depth jumps with turns, holding final landing
weird plank shoulder exercise
inchworm
single leg bounds, holding the landing
50 2-legged jump ropes, 25 one-legged each leg -- 5 times total
6 normal pullups, 6 dips, 6 wide pullups, 6 dips, 6 y-plane pullups, 6 dips, no rest
cold is preventing good outdoor running, need to do some 100s and 50s on a track at a build-up/sprint pace, also hills and stairs. stupid ice and snow.
last 4 weeks spend building base, went from 7:20 pace for ~3.5 miles down to 6:40 pace. All on treadmill though, so slower in reality. Fastest time for mile so far is 5:58, although this was not fastest possible, simply a warm-up time. Endurance feels good, explosiveness feels weak.
Tomorrow more cutting drills indoors, testing/gauging knee.
Ty
Today:
mile + 1/2 warmup at 6:40 pace
dynamic stretching [monster walk, deep lunges for opening hips, planes]
dynamic box and depth jumps with turns, holding final landing
weird plank shoulder exercise
inchworm
single leg bounds, holding the landing
50 2-legged jump ropes, 25 one-legged each leg -- 5 times total
6 normal pullups, 6 dips, 6 wide pullups, 6 dips, 6 y-plane pullups, 6 dips, no rest
cold is preventing good outdoor running, need to do some 100s and 50s on a track at a build-up/sprint pace, also hills and stairs. stupid ice and snow.
last 4 weeks spend building base, went from 7:20 pace for ~3.5 miles down to 6:40 pace. All on treadmill though, so slower in reality. Fastest time for mile so far is 5:58, although this was not fastest possible, simply a warm-up time. Endurance feels good, explosiveness feels weak.
Tomorrow more cutting drills indoors, testing/gauging knee.
Ty
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)