Saturday, August 29, 2009

Fifth Month, finally good progress!

So, my last post was a bit of a downer. I did tweak my hamstring, which was a concern because it was on my left leg. Which was the one that was reconstructed. I had just purchased some new running shoes. Some under armour shoes. So, I decided to visit a running store, and get some actually running shoes. After purchasing some 130 running shoes, I was excited to test em out. The following day, it was on the treadmill, and like night and day my hamstring was feeling better. I had no pain, and good balance on the treadmill. Over the next few weeks, I started to do more running, and finally stepped up the weights again. My knee cap pain has gone away. I had a patella tendon procedure, so most of the pain is on the knee cap. I also started to progress the time running. I am now up to about 30 minutes of straight running from speeds of 5 to 8.5 mph. I do some on the higher speed, then when my leg gets fatigued I slow down a bit, but then move back up. I am running at this rate between 3 to 4 days a week. While mixing in weights, and balance. I am going to start more plyometric work outs here in the next week or so. I may wait till I see my doctor again in mid September. Those workouts are essential for injury prevention, and general over all strength. I have returned to the field on a very light duty basis. Still no cutting or pivoting is allowed, but I am throwing, transferring weight, and dropping back to pass. My arm strength is better than pre-surgery, accuracy and mechanics are rusty, but its all about progress. I think at 6 months which is a few weeks away, I will start to cut, and run harder. My personal schedule, is get back to normal strength, then work on injury prevention. It's the only way to ensure the next time I have to put stress on my knee's they will hold up. The other thing to consider, my ACL was detached during a collision. Not torn because of a false step, so under a stress full condition my knee help up, it was a strong collision with a 260 lb linebacker, that messed up my knee. All you can do is train, and hope your body can hold up. Until next time, stay positive, work hard, and smart.

Fernando #5