How Long is that Swim? 175 Days to Go

2.4 miles, 4,000 meters.

(How long does that take you in a pool?)

80 minutes.

(What do you think about for an hour and 20 minutes?)

Lots of things. Sometimes I will become my own personal iPod and play and entire album...or two in my head. Other times I write lesson plans for my classes. Sometimes I write this blog in my mind, while I swim.

(Don't you get hungry?)

No, but I do get thirsty. Pool water is full of chlorine and sea water is full of salt.

(Both of which have sodium cloride).

To combat this, I bring a little flask. Half with Gel, half with water. It worked great for the first hundred laps or so. One too many flip turns and I lost the flask

(The lifeguard saw it floating and left it for me at the end of the pool).

So that's where I left it for the remainder of my work out.

Back in the Saddle 190 Days

Five weeks of rest and PT...and I'm running again. I occationally get pain in the knee, but it is not from the tear or the tendonitits, it is from the PT. Three hours a week of intense strenghth training can make you SORE!
(Ice, Advil and more Ice)

Five weeks of learning how to walk and run all over again.
(Why?)
Like my father I walk duck footed. I've had to learn how to correct this. Walking like a duck isn't a problem, but running with my toes pointed to 10 & 2 will only aggravate the torn meniscus. It's adapt or die...and I haven't got this far by refusing to work through problems.

Five Weeks of figuring out how all this happened has been like assembling a jigsaw pauzzle without the picture on the box.
Here's the picture as it has emmerged:
1. I overtrainned in the fall and inflammed my petella tendon
2. Years of getting in and out of the car pivoting on my knee tore my meniscus
3. Neither of these are long term problems now since I rested.

BTW, Cyclist call their bike seat...a saddle

Parr for the Course 215 Days

Here I am in PT With ice packs on both knees.
Notice how my feet naturally point out. Part of my problem.

Torn meniscus and Patella Tendinitis.

(I'm torn and swollen because of too much wear and tear, not enough strengthening)

Solution?

No running for six weeks while my body heals itself and I learn all over again how to run.

When I walk or run, my toes point to 10 & 2. I need to keep my toes pointed straight ahead to avoid any further injuries. To retrain my body to run correctly, I'm being permitted to walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes. That's it until the swelling goes down.

I HATE TREDMILLS. They bore me to death, cause' I never feel like I'm going anywhere!!!

So what can I do to heal my body?

Ice, Advil and rest.

Just when I was getting to a point where I could run without "hitting the wall". (A runner's expression)

THIS SUCKS

I may not be able to run, but I can still swim and bike.

(The tear is only aggravated when I run, cause' that ads pressure to it)

Good thing this is an endurance sport, I can practice two of the three and be ok. Just keep icing both knees 2-3 times a day.

(Why not just quit?)

1. I paid for the race, so I'm going.

2. This is recoverable, just like all my other injuries

3. I didn't get this far by quitting