8 More Degrees to Feeling Normal

Measured my degrees of flexion yesterday at PT and I am bending my left leg to 143 degrees! That means I can almost touch my heel to my glute! This feels more like stretching should feel, and I feel less inhibited by pain and discomfort like it had been.  My therapist warns me not to stretch it too far; that 135 degrees is normal and my ligaments and joints lean towards being loose and over-flexible; I need to keep things stable and strong in that region. In other words, I'm probably right where I should be.

I'm still working some gentle plyometrics into my routine along with hiking, which are both a real mark of progress to me at this point in my recovery. For plyo I'm using one of those aerobic platforms and doing toe taps, and side steps over the top (no spins yet), for about 10-15 minutes. My knee joint is very sore for a few days after either one of those activities. The "doing" part is not painful - it's empowering, liberating, and just feel really good. I can't remember if I wore the IT support band during my plyo routine or not last Saturday, but I need to do that in hopes that it reduces the soreness afterwards. 

I'll probably starting "running" in the next couple of weeks. This means getting on a treadmill and jogging slowly for about 30 seconds, then walking for a minute. Do a few sets of that and then I'm done. Keep doing that for about a month, and continue increasing the running interval time and decreasing the walking interval time. Building this up to a solid 5 minute jog will probably take another 3-6 months. The idea is to still be able to walk and function normally at the end of the day. A little soreness is fine, but I have to be able to go up and down stairs at the end of the day without too much sacrifice.

Pilates has a brilliant way of showing me my strengths and weaknesses. As I progress out of PT (which includes 30 minutes of Pilates right now), I am looking at doing a once a week group Pilates reformer class for $25 at The Pilates Center in Boulder. They also do a FREE mat class on Thursday nights, so that's what I'm going to check out tonight.

Oh! Much to my warm-weather delight, I am able to wear flip flops and other "flimsy" shoes for about a hour or two every few days without repercussion. I still mostly rock the big white tennis shoes with every outfit but this is also a mark of strength and progress... and vanity!


Thanks for reading up on my life... :-) Hope you all are doing great, too! Someday I will write about something different.

Physical Therapy Highlights!

Today was a fantastic day at physical therapy! Flexion was measured at 135 degrees with the unwavering assistance from my physical therapist, April. I made it to this position not once, but twice. It was awesome! Of note, I can be released from physical therapy once I am able to bend to 135 degrees on my own.

Last week we made some of my exercises more difficult. The most challenging is the one-legged, side-lying squat with a squishy balancing disc placed under my left heel (for pushing off of). Two sets of 5. It was remarkably easier to get started and keep the momentum this week, though still teeth-clenching and bursts of vocalization to make it through each repetition. Some day I will be where this girl is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tME4WKWr5d8. The next hardest would be the "monster walk". Imagine taking a thera-band (silver - maximum resistance), tied around your ankles, held taught at about should width apart, bending into a partial squat and stepping side ways. Going quite slowly to keep control of movement of both legs, and remaining in a squat. Each leg, inside and out, gets a total work out, not to mention the glutes, hamstrings, and calves. I did three laps across the gym floor (about 25 feet in one direction). And my legs and butt were on fire! Here's a muscly guy doing a wimpy version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CGNwL5xSd0.