Week 17 - ACL Surgery Recovery

Welcome to my ACL surgery recovery blog where I have been giving week by week updates on my recovery since I had ACL surgery on my right knee back on May 22nd, 2008.

I guess ACL injuries have been in the news the last couple weeks due to another major athlete going down with one. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is the latest victum this month. With hockey season around the corner, I'm sure we'll see a few more in the coming months. Usually, professional athletes take anywhere from 4-6 months to recover from ACL reconstructive surgery. For your regular Joe Lunchbox, who doesn't have personal trainers working him out 7 days a weeks, its a bit of a different story and usually will take more time to fully heal.

Recovery is still going slow for me. Funny how i had such a great start and now i've leveled off. Im at Week 17 and still no running. Im not even attempting it at this point due to the discomfort it causes. It looks like I'm going to miss my first post surgery 5km race which i had planned to run on Oct 18th at the Toronto Zoo. Its still a month away, but i think it's safe to say that even if I am running by that time, that 5km might be a bit too much.

So, basically right now, I'm still working on strengthening my hips, gluts and hamstrings more. The one new thing i did this week was using a slide board. Its basically a board with a slick surface and it has bummers on each end. You put on some nylon socks over your running shoes and just slide from one side to the other. Its suppose to simulate ice skating. It is for "Lateral training that improves power, change of direction, endurance and balance " according to the product description. I didn't find it overly difficult but it can get your heart rate going if you push yourself a little. You can also use excerise bands around your ankles to make it harder which ill try next weeks at physio.

The challenge continues.........

Thanks for reading my ACL Surgery Recovery blog.