Pretty solid 4-week block in the books--backing off this next week....

 Yesterday completed a pretty solid 4-week building block, considering that I'm still in my 4th month post-Total Knee Replacement.  Here are the volume stats:

Swim: 4,500 yards

Bike: 224 miles

Walk: 13 miles

PT Time: 5:10

Total Time: 24:40

At first blush, with 24:40 of training time, this almost looks like a legit Long-Course Triathlon training week.  However, with over 5 hours of dedicated PT/rehab time for my knee, my SBR time was sub-20 hours, so a relatively light week by my historical standards.  You can see that reflected in my SBR volumes which are all below where I would normally expect to be this time of year (10,000+ yards/300+ miles/25+ miles).  These reduced totals are also a reflection of the very modest levels of intensity/effort I currently have in my SBR training.  Here is a graphic showing the last few weeks (other is PT):

You see the general rise in effort and the consistency of my training in the above.  I even went over 4 hours on back-to-back days last week.  You can also see the prevalence of my PT efforts--I did sone form of PT in 26 of these 35 days--about 3/4ths of the days I do PT.

I'm also now able to easily tolerate biking most days and will begin to increase the length of my longer rides beyond 2 hours.  You can also see I'm getting my feet wet again and getting ready to build up my swim volume in April.

My recovery continues a pace.  Still making progress but also still quite a ways to go.  I underwent dry-needling this week to try to trigger my calf and hammy on my left-side to loosen and lengthen a bit so I can get the last 5-10 degrees of extension that I'm lacking.  Also, I feel my walks (in the knee) once I get up around 5 miles or so.  I'm definitely still a ways away from being ready to head out on my more substantial (5+ hour) treks/hikes/climbs.  

For the upcoming month of April, in addition to getting to the point where I might be able to do legitimate long-distance hiking again, I plan to bring my swim up into the 30,000+ yard range and add a lot of intensity, especially to my bike and swim.  I'll keep doing the PT as long as necessary but hope that I can eventually get it down to a more maintenance like schedule--say 2 hours/week, vs. the 4-5+ I'm doing now.

I'm heading to Florida today to help my Mom out a bit and will use this trip as an excuse to ease back on my volume a bit this week to consolidate the last 4-week block and to get ready for the greater volume/intensity I envision for April.

Onwards and upwards!

Last week volume

 More of the same--so 3 pretty similar weeks over the last 3--my knee feels a bit better so I seem to be adjusting to the volume....will try to do more of the same this week:

Swim: 4,500 yards

Bike: 210 miles

Walk: 14 miles

PT: 4:15

Total time: 23:07

At my rehab this week we are going to try dry needling to see if I can get the last 5-10% of leg extension.  My flexion is pretty close to normal.  pain continues to diminish!

Last two weeks--volume wise almost returning to normal....

 Here are my last two weeks of total training volume:

2/27-3/5

Swim: 0 yards

Bike: 185 miles

Walk: 12 miles

PT time : 4:10

Training time: 19:49

3/6-3/12

Swim: 3,000 yards

Bike: 194 miles

Walk: 13 miles

PT time: 4:20

Training time: 21:30

Objectively, from a volume perspective, these last two weeks haven't been that far off.  Just starting to ramp back up the swim.  Solid bike mileage and lots of PT emphasis leading to 20ish hours/week, which is pretty solid 3.5 months after my knee replacement.

Still, it's all very low intensity and my knee definitely feels it.  I hoping to stay near this volume for a couple of more weeks and see if my knee fully adapts or if I have to back it down again.  If I can hold this volume then I'll look to begin adding intensity in April.

The PT has shifted from being focused on mobility/flexibility to that plus strength.  Both legs, but especially my left are still very weak--lots of rehab to go!

New Knee: 3 Months

 Well, I had the TKR on November 30th so I recently clicked over 3 months post surgery.  Everyone tells me my recovery is going great....but I really don't know what that means.

From my perspective four things are true:

1. I can do a whole more today than I could even just 1 month ago and I've made huge progress from those days immediately post surgery

2. I can't do nearly as much as I want to do and still have my painful moments, although for the most part I can almost always get a good night's sleep now, so thankful for that!

3. I don't know if I should feel good or bad about this cause no one has ever been able to articulate a specific set of quantifiable measures that establish the expected or normal recovery time table.

4. I still don't know when I'll get to the point that I consider "fully recovered" except that it doesn't seem to be very imminent.

I am pretty much able to bike and walk (more briskly) every day if I want and I'm working hard 4-5 days/week on my PT.  I have a one-hour PT session with Hash each week and then 3-4 on my own where I'm generally working on my knee for 45-60 minutes.  I do notice progress from these efforts on a week-to-week basis--especially if I look back over 10/15 days to where I was.  Individual days can be up and down however.

My schedule has been crazy with a trip down to Naples, FL to help my 86-yo mom, who is struggling a bit after her bike fall and fracture.  We also had Kara's wedding down in Mexico City, which was basically a week-long affair (and out of this world fun!).  I did however contract a pesky cold (no CoVid) that has been bugging me for the last 10 days.  Oh, and I forgot to mention that Anders, Alex and I did a last minute trip out to Phoenix to see the Super Bowl.

A couple of highlights along the way was the 10 miles I walked on Super Bowl Sunday and a couple of everyday 5-milers.  At the wedding I found that I could jump up and down again (not a lot of vertical of-course) on the dance floor, which is something that I haven't been able to do for 10+ years.  Also, the other day I was late to catch a train and actually ran about a quarter-mile, with a backpack, reasonably quickly and PAIN-FREE (!!!!) and was able to make the train--I can't remember the last time I was able to run pain free!

So the net of this is I've come a long way from the beginning of this New Knee journey but I still have a significant ways to go and I'm not sure how long it will take to get there.  Nothing to do but continue the journey!!

Training wise, February saw more productive physical work in vs. January but still a very long way from my "normal" February.  Notably, I decided to skip the pool work for most of February to concentrate on my rehab and scaling up the walking/biking.  I'm anxious to start a full swim program this month that I expect to continue for the balance of the year, but am off to a slow start so far in March with this pesky cold.  I'll probably give it the weekend and then start my swimming in earnest next week:

January Totals:

Swim: 17,000 yards.  Bike: 142 miles.  Walk: 27 miles.  PT: 6:30.  Total Time: 31:48

February Totals:

Swim: 6,000 yards.  Bike: 329 miles.  Walk: 52 miles.  PT: 10:20.  Total Time: 49:01

Onwards and Upwards!