Happy New Years Folks!

I've been still hitting the gym every few days. I missed a couple before Chritmas due to work commitments but overall pretty reliable.

The nice thing is I've actually dropped a few pounds since the beginning of December rather than the normal gain during the holidays.

As for my knee, it's still feeling much better although not 100%.

My workouts still include 20 minutes on the treadmill at about 4 MPH, a pretty brisk walking pace.

I expect to keep at this through January and hopefully at that point can kick into some running on the treadmill.

Continuing to Progress

I"ve continued this week with the same workouts every other day.

At this stage the knee is continuing to feel a bit better. I think I'll try a 30 minute outside walk tomorrow and if that gives no pain it will be time to kick in with the C25K again. I'll probably start around week 3 and take it from there.

Finally Back.

It's been nearly 2 months since I posted. Please forgive me.

I lost the inclination to post as my running was completely on the shelf for a number of months.

The diagnosis I had on my knee way back indicated 3 problems.
Strained MCL
Bone Spurs
A bit of arthritis

The pain a few months ago really meant I had to stop.

I had a visit with a sports medicine doctor, and subsequent visits with his recommended physiotherapist voer about a month

Frankly I wasn't improving a great deal in that timeframe.

There I subsequently joined my local YMCA (not your father's old Y, let me tell you)

I had a fitness assessment and a program worked out for me.

The Oakville YMCA uses equipment called Technogym. http://www.technogym.com/ca/viewdoc.asp?co_id=13&la=2

Check out the video of system that they use. It called the Wellness System.

http://www.technogym.com/ca/viewdoc.asp?co_id=683&target=commercial&video=nN9UrIe4SxY

This gym is absolutely loaded with equipment. I expect there is about $4 million in equipment in this facility. It's absolutely incredible.

Anyway, initially the program worked out for me consisted of a 10 minute bike warmup. Followed by 10 different strengthening exercises on the technogym equipment, followed by another 20 mintes on the bike. The physio advised against leg extensions because of the knee, but said any other leg exercise would be fine.

Initially I did 2 sets of 12 reps of all 10 machines. I've been at it about every other day 2 months and have increased the weight about 10 lbs. across the board and this week swithched over to 3 sets of each. My weight is down 5 lbs., and my BMI down 4.

Gradually the knee started feeling better over the last few months, so I transitioned from bike to bike/treadmill, and this week to 20 minutes treadmill at 4 MPH.

I gradually moved to treadmill so I could eventually work my way into running again. Over the next few weeks I'll move the tempo up to a running pace.

At this point I'm happy to report even with 20 minutes of brisk walking and all the strengthening exercises the leg is nearly pain free. I'd say it's about 85% and it's not getting worse from the exercise.

So, if everything continues to improve as it has so far, I expect I'll be back to running in early January. At that point, I'll probably go back to the C25K program and start in around week 3 or so.

Cheers for now, and I hope all is well.
Batman

Update from the Bench.

Running is still on hold for me as I work on overcoming a problem with Runners Knee.

I've been going to a physiotherapist twice a week for the last 3 weeks and it's been about 5 weeks since my week 7 day 1 run on my C25K program.

Progress has been OK but not stellar. Generally the leg feels OK if I don't run or walk but as soon as I start walking the symptoms come right back.

I have a series of exercises and stretches I'm doing to recuperate so let's hope we're seeing more improvement in the next few weeks.

I'm also riding a lifecycle every other day for 42 minutes in an effort to keep the general fitness up.

I've had to skip 2 runs that I've been registered for, and at this point, I'll skip signing up until I'm sure I can make it.

On a positive note, I signed up for Steve Runner's Kick the Couch 5K. I mainly walked the distance last Friday. I probably shouldnt have gone but I didn't want to miss this one.

Also, on Monday, Thanksgiving Day here in Canada, in one of the races I had to skip, my son-in-law Mike covered the 5k in 19:43. Nice time for a relative beginner to running. My daughter was in at 26:20. They were 6th and 9th in their respective age groups!

Congratulations Lauren and Mike. Dad is extremely proud of both of you and I really hope you keep at it and keep enjoying running the way you are right now. I'll never forget the day.

Dad

Batman to the rest of you.

On The Bench.
I had the first follow up visit with the physiotherapist yesterday followed by my earlier meeting with the sports medicine doctor.

The phsio conducted a 40 minute assessment of me that included my feet, walking gate, strength, flexibility, leg shape, shoes and workout. It was a great review.

The overall assessment of my knee is that the problem is a combination of things.

I have a strained MCL, extremely tight leg muscles on both legs, and probably a bit of dehydration. Those items all together mean the knee cap isn't tracking properly and is and the tendons around an under it are inflamed and swollen.

The great news is all of this is completely curable over a few weeks.

1) Drink more water that I have in the past. Probably about 10-12 glasses a day.
2) Cut down coffee, which as a diuretic, dehydrates and cancels out the effects of the water.
3) A group of about 5 stretched twice a day, held much longer than I've ever done before.
4) 3 more visits to the physio, where he'll do a bit of acupuncture on the mcl to speed healing.

Even after only one day, I'm feeling a some improvement, so I'm very optimistic this is going to take care of the problem. All the water is probably going to be good in the weight loss department as well.

On a negative note, for the next 10 days or so running is off limits, therefore I'm going to have to skip the 5K I've booked for this weekend.