6 weeks past surgery

I am doing better...2 weeks off my crutches and I finally feel some improvement. The past few days I have made constant progress in regards to pain while walking. The feeling I have is getting better very slowly but at least I can see improvement. I can walk without limping and the pinching pain is almost gone. I have been biking between 20-30 minutes almost every day and I did a few strokes in the bay in front of the hotel completely painless.
On Monday I was coaching the Sunset Beach soccer team in the annual tournament on Shelter Island but lets not talk about it too much. Let's just say my coaching career can only take an upward trend from here on.
Tomorrow and Thursday I am off from work which means during the day I will enjoy my time doing the beach triathlon (swimming, reading, sleeping) and in the evening I plan on looking for an apartment in Hoboken or Jersey City Heights . Day #2 is devoted to Dr. Waskowitz and possibly meeting up with Rob if he has some time. I am hoping that I will get the green light to take my bike outside after Thursday. I am excited to see some pavement...

not what I expected

It's only been 3 days since I got off my crutches but I don't like what I am feeling right now. I am experiencing a pinching pain close to where I felt my pain pre-surgery only this time it's more severe. I can tell myself that it is normal since my knee wasn't baring weight for 4 weeks or I freak out...I am kinda in the middle of those two. I figured out that if I take baby steps and keep my leg as straight as possible when I walk the pain is gone but that can't possibly be a solution for life. Right now I am hoping that this is temporarily. On Monday morning I will contact my doctor to see what the next step should be. If I have to go back to crutches I will but I am crossing my fingers that it is a normal symptom.
I went on my trainer twice in the past 3 days and I don't feel any pain. I figured since it's not much weight that my knee has to bare I will continue that to keep my leg moving as prescribed by my doctor. I was hoping to be back on the street when Rob comes to visit on the 7th-9th of August but I really need to take it slow. Sorry dude!
I envy all of you that will participate in the Lake Placid Ironman. Good luck to you all and enjoy the race.

I am walking again

4 weeks have passed and I finally put a side my crutches. Almost...
Last night I decided to do my first few steps and I think my body didn't really know what to do with my right leg so whenever I encounter stairs I still need to use a crutch to support my weight. It was the weirdest feeling I ever had...no doubt on my mind. I have a little pinching pain in my knee but I have a feeling that this is normal and it will disappear when my leg is used to the weight. Besides that I am super excited and it feels good. I am at about 95% of my range of motion pre-surgery and swelling seems to be history too.
Today was also my first day to do some stationary biking. I hooked my bike into the trainer and did 20min at a very easy pace to see how my knee reacts. I didn't have any discomfort and it felt much better than walking since the weight was gone. If I feel good later on I will do another 20min and increase my time as I progress. As most people would think indoor riding is boring...I am so excited to feel the pedal under my food I could do this all day right now. I am extremely happy to stand on my two legs. I have done everything the doctor told me to and so far it seems to be working. Tomorrow I am thinking about joining the jellyfish in the bay so that will be another exciting day.

4 days to go

This Thursday I saw Dr. Waskowitz for the second time after my surgery. He did a quick check to see if I felt any pain by doing different movements and happily there was none. My knee isn't swollen anymore and my range of motion is better than expected. I was told to stay on crutches until Thursday and after that I can start some easy stationary biking and swimming. I have been doing my daily leg lifts (average of 3000) but I didn't get to 6000. Since last week I am keeping my leg lifted while doing my knee bends which trains my hamstring at the same time. I have lost about 1 - 2 inches off my hamstring but I am not too concerned about it since I know I can gain it back quickly on the bike.

According to my doctor I will be able to do my planed bike vacation at the end of September.I am very excited to get started on the bike. I have been doing every thing the doctor told me but the fact that I haven't felt any pain in the area of my surgery makes me a little nervous. I can't even determine where the doctor operated. I would have expected to feel a difference but I don't. I am trying to stay positive because he seems to be an amazing doctor. In 4 days I will be losing my crutches and I will see what's going to happen after that. BABY STEP'S
Here is a MRI picture of my cartilage damage. The white spot means that the cartilage is missing.

Bergfest

Bergfest is German as you probably guessed and it simply means I have reached the half way point of those annoying crutches. Two weeks ago I had my surgery and in two more weeks I can lose my crutches. The last two days I was off from work and all I did was relax...relax...relax.
Day 1 of my weekend I spent entirely on the beach. I got to the beach at 10:30am and left at 7pm. Due to some SPF 15 sun lotion I didn't even burn. After the beach me and some colleagues arranged a BBQ and that was it. Great day with some good rehab. My knee wasn't swollen at all and I managed to get in some good rehab exercises.

07/08 leg lifts: 4000 bends: 1600

Day 2 was very similair and doesn't need anymore explanaition than relaxing.

07/09 leg lifts: 3000 bends: 1200

Congratulations to my training partners Josie and Rob. Both finished the Griskus Sprint in a great time and took home some 3rd place bling from their age groups. Well done!

Week #2 after Surgery

And another tough day on crutches is coming to an end...
My rehab has been going pretty good and I see a lot of progress every day. After week 1 my knee had been very stiff and it was constantly swollen. Every time I tried to do some bends it felt as if my skin and muscles on the inside where attached. I started off with only very little range of motion and light pain when I did bends. Now my bends are easy going and I can bend more than 90 degrees without a problem. At 110 degrees my knee seems to be blocked but I gain more range of motion from day to day. Whenever I do my exercises my knee feels so much better and the swelling goes away for a short period of time. After sitting at the desk at work it swells back up. I am almost done with week 2 on crutches and can't wait to lose them. Next week Thursday I have a second appointment with my doctor and I am hoping that he will allow me to do some very easy stationary biking. This is the first time I am looking forward to sitting on the trainer indoors.

this is my log of the passed three days.

07/05 leg lifts: 3500 bends: 1500
07/06 leg lifts: 4000 bends: 1600
07/07 leg lifts: 4000 bends: 1600

I am coming closer to the 6000 mark but the day is simply not long enough. It takes me about 30 minutes to do a set of 1000 leg lifts and 400 bends.

GOOD LUCK TO ROB AND JOSIE AT THE GRISKUS. Rob, I hope you place this year. Josie...kick some ass ala rosie the riveter ;)

MICROFRACTURE

In March my doctor (Dr. Waskowitz) diagnosed me with cartilage damage on my femur. My MRI pictures revealed a 1.6cm small area of missing cartilage that seemed to have caused my pain after running sessions. It was difficult for me to decide if I should get it fixed now or if I should simply step back from such intensive workouts. My final call was based on the facts that:

I am young (better chances of healing quickly)
I wanna be active (what’s life without heavy workouts)
I am covered under my school insurance (why do I pay insurance if I don’t use it)
I am not job hunting yet (crutches at an interview – not a good idea)

Thursday June 25th the day finally arrived. I got a little nervous but who wouldn’t. My orthopedic has done a great job explaining the ins and outs of the procedure called MICROFRACTURE and he made me feel confident in what I was going to do.

MICROFRACTURE is a procedure where small holes are being drilled into the bone (in the damaged area) to stimulate cartilage growth. The cartilage formed fills in for the original cartilage. The downside of this procedure is that the new cartilage will not be as strong as the original cartilage. In my case however a little layer of cartilage was left at the damaged area which will serve as a base for the new cartilage.

The procedure however is only half of my way to returning to competitive triathlons. Rehab is just as important because the new cartilage (scar tissue) can restrict the joints range of motion if not performed seriously. I also have to stay on crutches for 4 weeks so that I don’t damage the cartilage which needs become strong enough for weight baring activities. Range of motion exercises are started early on after surgery so that the cartilage will be shaped correctly. The rest of rehab involves strength exercises to retain the hamstring muscle which I am working on….

07/04 leg lifts: 3000 bends: 1000

(I know I need to do 6000 but it’s difficult…really...I will get there)

Rehab...

Tomorrow I am gonna post about my knee surgery from last Thursday.
The doctor told me to do 6000 leg lifts daily...today and yesterday I only got in 1500. Starting tomorrow I will set more time aside for my rehab exercise. Not gonna lie but my leg is burning after 1500. Lets see how many I can do.

07/02 leglifts: 1500 bends: 300
07/03 leglifts: 1500 bends: 500

Beautiful Connecticut...in 52miles

This weeks practice has been going great. On Monday I rode 40 miles in record speed, Tuesday, and Wednesday I swam 3200 yards, and Thursday I biked another 52 miles.

Mondays right was fast...very fast...I averaged 21.79 mph and if it wasn't for the last hill in Farmington I might have broken 22 mph.

Tuesday and Thursday I finally switched up my swim practice from the usual 6x 500 to 10x 100 on 15sec rest, 5x 200 on 20sec rest, and 2x 500 on 30sec rest. I feel comfortable in the water right now and I am getting in a lot of distance. My major goal needs to be speed so I hope the 100yard intervals will help me with that.

Today I tested out a new loop and I must say it was phenomenal. Hills...just the way I like it...and talk about scenic...Connecticut is beautiful around the Canton area. Based on google maps I climbed at least 800ft to the Saville Dam in Barkhamstead, CT. I always wanted to go there and it was gorgeous. Besides the killer winds the ride was amazing. With a scenery like that riding becomes so much easier...have a look.

This is the link to my loop: 52 miles of New Britain - Farmington - Unionville -North Canton - Barkhamstead - New Hartford - Canton Center - and back to New Britain

This was the last practice session for the month.

April 2009 Total: 560miles on the bike and 20200 yards in the pool

P.S. Happy Birtday Rob! a

Rider down on Route 61...

Josie, Rob and I went out for a 62 (55) miler starting at the Quassy Amusement Park. The weather was incredible...almost too incredible. It was 84 degrees for the first time this year. We stacked up on water and gels and left towards Lake Waramaug. It was long ride #2 for Rob this weekend and without any substantial nutrition over the past three days his energy went down very quickly. I was concerned he will hit a wall at some point during the ride but he managed to stay with us for the most part. When we got to Lake Waramaug Aid Stations had been set up around the lake and runners where crawling over the pavement. At some point I saw 50k turn....100k turn written on the pavement. "=ultra marathon". The runners didn't look too happy at that time which wasn't very surprising with this kind of heat. RESPECT TO ALL OF THEM. After a little break I took the chance to break away from the other two for 1 1/2 loops around the lake for fast 10miles. I kicked it up in the big gear and gained about 5 minutes. Before we left the loop around the lake the helpers at the aid station refilled our water bottles for the last 20miles and off we went. Josie and I felt great so we climbed quickly up some good hills on 106. Eventually we hit route 61 which took us into Bethlehem were we started to decline. Josie followed my lead and Rob wasn't too far off.
At about 25-30mph we went downhill when all of a sudden I passed a pothole by about 2 inches. I didn't see it until it was right below me so I screamed "Pothole" but it was too late. I looked back and until now I have this picture of Josie at a 45 degree angle in my head. I slammed the brakes, through the bike on the road and ran back cuz Josie took a dive on the pavement. Luckily the car behind was able to stop. Josie took away a bunch of scratches on her hands, hips, knee, stomach, etc. The people were so nice to patch up Josies bruises with their first aid kit. The husband even called an ambulance from Bethlehem. The fire department and an ambulance moved out for her :) They blocked the entire street for Josie and with about 12 people they patched up Josie again :) Luckily no broken bones or other scary injuries so her wounds are hopefully healed in a few days. I will give her a rating of 10 for the dive. Great landing without head-pavement-contact. Well done. *crowd is applauding* The people that stopped drove Josie back to the car and Rob and me finished the last 8 miles. (For some emergency pictures check out Rob's blog)
After the shocking event we drove to Carvel to get some well deserved ice cream/hot dog to analyze the crash again. Josie then took me back to CCSU where she noticed that my tire was almost down to the tube. My OMFG brake slam resulted in this...
Good thing the Triathlon Club Summer Santa just brought me a new pair of continental tires. All the best to the fastest female triathlete that I know personally :)

38 pages lighter...

Wow....I just finished my longest paper ever. 38 pages on economic regression analysis and forecasting methods. I have never been so happy. The worst part is that this huge ass paper only counts for 10% of my final grade. There is still one tiny section missing but I can't even look at it anymore. I have to submit it by 12am tonight. The thought of having it done is almost as rewarding as finishing a race...almost..not quite as good. The result...Yesterday I went out to ride with Josie and Rob. We met up in Middlebury to ride down to Lake Waramauge for two laps and back. We totaled 58 miles and averaged a little more than 18 mph. The weather was amazing and New England roads still suck. At one point I thought I was going lose my teeth (the real ones) because the road was bumpy as f...k. Rob kept holding on to his water bottles that he stored in his jersey and Josie couldn't feel her hands anymore from all the shaking. I took some nice pictures of Rob in his Jan Ullrich jersey and of Josie now aka Rosie the Riveter. This has been my longest ride this season and I felt pretty good afterwards. The last two miles up hill I started a Lance Armstron attack to break off the two men field and I gained a two minute lead on the duo behind. It was a fun ride that ended with a large milk shake from Carvel's. Josie is officially the worlds slowest ice cream eat...it took her almost 20 minutes to finsh her cone one the way home. Increadable that it didn't melt and evaporate before.

what a smile after 58 miles...
not sure if that is pain in his face...

Ok I am out for a swim...laterz

fast ride and a bad quiz

This week I have bombed my first quiz for the semester and I am very glad it wasn't worth much. It hit me in the right moment to realize that the semester isn't over yet and if I wanna graduate with honors I need to keep up the work. I need to complete a huge ass 25 page paper by Sunday night, 3 past due lab reports and I just got a new research paper that is due next week. Well lets start working on it...
On Monday after my 30 mile ride I was kicked out of the CCSU pool 1000 yards to early because they life guards felt like going home. I don't think there was any other reason but I don't blame them. It's not the most exciting job to wait until someone needs to be fished out of the water. The next day I swam with Rob and Josie if you wanna call it that. They basically past me a million times just because they can. It is fun to at least have someone next to you that you can try to hold on to for 25 yards. I did 3300 yards that day +-100 yards for miscounting the lanes.
Today I was sitting in the library for 6 hours working on my paper but at the end I couldn't take it any longer so I decided to go for a 30 mile ride over Talcott Mountain into Simsbury were I turned and went back. The weather was amazing for the first time this season and using that enthusiasm of mine I cranked out my fasted ride for the season at 21.36 mph average. My goal for the season must be a 22 mph average over 56 miles....nothing else counts.
So now I will get back to my paper because tomorrow I am going for a longer ride with Josie and Rob...

3 days without training...damn you DC

Last Thursday I skipped class and went for a 50 miler managing a 20.32mph average. After almost 4 months training stop I have been highly motivated to get out on the bike. I have taken Josie's advice and prepared a training schedule (so far I have always done what I felt like) and the plan is to average 150 - 200 miles per week until I am done with classes. My week also includes 6k -10k yards swimming and minimal running. I have had bad knee problems over the winter and my doctor told me I have a light cartilage damage in my right knee. And since I stopped heavy running I feel good. After this season I will decide if I have to have surgery. It's called microfracture and it could cost me 2 years of recovery...this type of surgery can only be done if you have a lot of patience which I don't...big problem right there. But lets hope I can do 95% of my endurance workout on the bike and only run occasionally.

On Friday I left for a trip to Washington with a friend of mine. The Holiday Inn we stayed in had a gym so I can't say that I didn't have the chance to train but I just didn't. My fault and I feel bad for it. Stupid regrets...yeah the running guy in the picture below wasn't me.

The highlight of the trip was Sunday. The weather was perfect so we took the subway to Georgetown and started walking around. Georgetown was amazing...I could picture myself living there that's how nice it was.

Good news vs. bad news

Background: Over the summer I am working for a hotel & restaurant as the Assistant Controller. July and August are our biggest months and weekends during that time are crazy...especially the weekend we have the 4th of July fireworks.
good news first...
I have contacted my boss and he allowed me to take the weekend of my graduation off. That means my debate if I should walk or not on May 23rd is resolved.
bad news...
My boss did not allow me to take the weekend of July 12th off since that is the weekend we will have the fireworks. That means I won't be able to do the Ironman 70.3 Providence that I wanted to do so badly....sorry Rob. Instead I will be registering for the Griskus Sprint on July 8th. Goal is the podium.
If I can convince my boss to let me take off a weekend in August I might try to do the 70.3 Steelhead (August 1st) or the 70.3 Lake Stevens (August 16th). Lake Stevens is one day after my birthday so maybe I can convince my boss to give me off those days. Will see how it goes...

Debate: Today is gorgeous and it's a perfect day for a long ride...actually it's a perfect day to skip Calc III and do a long ride instead. My schedule says "OFF DAY" but I hope my body will forgive once my brain tells it to enjoy the scenery.

Mo: 3000 yards + 200 warm up
Tue: 3000 yards + 200 warm up
30 miles (20 mph average)
Wed: 40 miles (20 mph average)
Thur: ? probably a 40-50 mile ride :)

Midterms are over...Griskus Sprint 2009?

And another New England rainy day is coming to an end...
On Saturdays I remember Josie saying something like: "why does everyone wear jammers now a days" and today I became one of those guys too. I tested my new swim jammer and I gotta say it felt good. I went for a 3000 yard swim. 6 x 500yards plus a 200 yard warm up. This has been the longest I have gone so far and I feel great. Not like swimming is that exhausting but only three weeks ago I dislocated my shoulder so I couldn't really swim in the mean time. Last Thursday I still had some pain when I swam but today I felt some improvement. Shouldn't take too much longer until the pain is gone.
I finished my last midterm for this semester today at 8:32pm and I felt the relieve as soon as I walked out of that classroom. I am not sure how I did but I am just happy it's over. Not too far away finals will be bugging my mind but at least for a little while I can concentrate on the sport.
After Rob send me an email saying that he will be doing the Griskus Sprint again I thought about entering too. The race is on a Wednesday which perfectly goes with my work schedule over the summer. So if I can get him to pick me up in New London I think I will be in to give him some extra motivation on the bike. I will probably see you out there...

new start in April

Going out in the freezing New England weather this Saturday was what other people call crazy. Rob, Josie and I met up for a bike ride around Lake Waramaug. Rob's idea was to go for ONLY 70 miles but weather conditions stopped us at half the distance. The weather forecast predicted a 40% chance of precipitation but that was enough to rain when we started the ride. Almighty figured he could do better so he added some tornado like winds to the great conditions which made it feel like...where are my toes? has anyone seen my toes? oh there they are I just can't feel them. After 5 loops around the lake we called it a day but most important was that all of us finished strong....with an extra large pizza somewhere in the nowhere of CT.
After yesterdays weather Almighty had to make up for a crappy day so he created an almost perfect Sunday with a lot of sun and horrible winds. So I went out for another 40 mile ride. The wind like I said was crazy. Coming from West Hartford I went up Avon Mountain into Simsbury. For the first 20 miles I had head winds so I was excited to turn around for the way back. Going down Avon Mountain I tried to refuel so I figured I just let it roll...yeah that didn't work. The hill I usually go down at 40 mph wasn't steep enough...the wind was so strong that I had to pedal downhill at 18mph. On my way back I saw this awesome tree...Every child's dream for a tree house

...and I took some other pictures of the ride.
Random farm at the bottom of Avon Mountain...
Avon Mountain...I think...

I am back...on the road, in the pool, in my life...

I finally got back from Austria two Fridays ago. I just moved into a new apartment right next to the CCSU campus. Austria was great but very stressful at the same time. I was there to spend time with my girlfriend and to study some Math and Economics. I was scared at first because I wasn't sure if I would be able to handle European universities. The beginning didn't seem too difficult but as the semester went on it got tougher and tougher. Towards the end I was in the library studying 10 hours every day. So much for spending time with my girlfriend. Starting just after Christmas I wasn't home much. I had one month to prepare for 4 final exams which I had to pass. Without these credits I would have had to add another semester in the US. I received my grades last week and I passed my classes. I haven't been happier in a long time. Now I am back trying to reorganize my US life....
Since I didn't have time to swim for over a month last week was my first time back in the CCSU pool. It felt weird and I was exhausted pretty quickly but I managed to get in 2000 yards. The time before Christmas I was swimming a lot in Vienna and I felt great in the water. Now I just have to get back to that...
on Thursday I finally got around to cleaning my bike and on Friday I went back on the road. It had been even longer since I road my bike so I started off with an easy 25 miler around Farmington/West Hartford. It was beautiful outside but the cold was taking a toll on my toes. I ordered a pair of shoe covers right when I got back. Yesterday I went out for a ride with Rob. He picked my up and we drove out to Lake Waramaug. At 35 degrees it was just above freezing but the wind around the lake was a real killer. At the parking lot we met this guy named Greg. He is a pure cyclist riding for a team in Boston. Really nice guy. So the first 25 miles we stayed with him until he went home. He lives right on the lake. I wish that house was mine. Greg has the best possible training roads that you could ask for. The loop around the lake is flat and if he wants to ride hills he has Gear Mountain right around the corner. After we dropped him off Rob and I did two more loops around the lake for a total of 42 miles. I couldn't go any further since my toes had no feeling what so ever...but I am glad to back in my life.