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!