It's January 11, 2011. That means that I'm five days shy of being a month out of surgery. My knee's doing well, but recovery is a process and I'm not running and jumping around just yet.
About a week and a half after my surgery, I started physical therapy (PT). I went through physical therapy prior to having surgery, so I'm no stranger to the process. But going through PT after surgery is much different than it was before surgery.
Let me take a second to give the Orthopoedic Center of Central Virginia a shout-out. Because of vacation scheduling, I wasn't able to go back to the same therapist I saw prior to the surgery, but I've had fantastic experiences both times. Rachel really knew what she was doing, and it was fun to work with such an accomplished athlete. This time I'm working with Wanda, who is an incredibly positive person and makes showing up to do grueling, tedious exercises a joy. Thank you, ladies!
That said, I have a tendency to think of therapy as well... therapy. That's not really the case. As I mentioned in my last post, one of the two biggest reasons I ended up injured was because my hips and glutes were too weak to support the distances I was running, which caused strain on my IT band (this is really common in endurance runners). Both times the "therapy" I've been doing has been targeted at improving the strength of those muscles, as well as my other support muscles. I'm up to more than 20 exercises that I mostly do every day - it takes me about an hour and a half to get through everything. And let me tell you, these are not easy exercises!
Prior to getting injured, I pretty much had no interest or patience for laying on the floor to do strengthening exercises. I'm a goal-oriented person, and I'm also a big-picture person. I knew people said that core and strength training were important, but I didn't understand why so it wasn't a priority for me. Like everyone else, my time is limited. I chose to focus on running, not strengthening. I didn't understand the consequences of that decision.
And I also didn't really understand what that meant. Running was never something I knew much about. I thought it was easy - put on your shoes, go out the door, and start moving your feet. I started to lose weight. I kept going because I enjoyed the quiet time alone with my thoughts. I decided to run a marathon to prove to myself that I could do it. But I didn't know much about it.
Well, I can't run right now. That's frustrating. But I'm developing an appreciation for the time I spend on the floor very carefully and meticulously going through various exercises that push me to the point where I'm wondering if I'm going to be able to finish my set. I now understand that time isn't wasted. Just because I'm not running during that time doesn't mean I'm not becoming a better, stronger, healthier runner.
It's been an expensive, painful lesson, but I'm grateful for the knowledge I have now. I look forward to putting it to good use.
No comments:
Post a Comment