I'm a couple of days shy of the ten month mark. Good lord, how did that happen? It's summer time, and I feel like I want to make the most of this summer to reclaim
some of what I lost last year. Last summer is this big black pit in my memory. I associate it with being hot, swollen, and uncomfortable because that's how I spent most of July and August. Not this year! This year I'm dreaming of lots of bike rides, beach trips, and outdoor concerts. (Although side note to River to River: your lineup is kind of weak this season!) I want to maximize time with friends, time outside, and time exercising/running around. Hikes! Tennis! Long walks around the city! All of these things are like gifts.
Here is the ten month knee status update:
I'm jogging on the treadmill regularly, but still just for short distances. The longest I've done so far (non-interval) has been 2.5 miles, but that's probably as much out of laziness as it is out of legitimate knee concern. I go three to four times a week now, and it feels stronger but still not 100%. It still gets a little swollen and sore every time I jog or go for a long walk, or even wear flat sandals for a day. I guess it's supposed to be 2 years until the new ACL is fully integrated into my body, so maybe that's how long I'll have to wait for these things to go away. Or maybe they never will? Maybe 28 was simply too old to completely come back from surgery with no ill effects. Everyone I talked to beforehand who told me "I don't even notice it now!" was like 16 when they had the surgery. I'm just not as resilient as I was in high school.
I'm still much, much, much slower than I was before surgery. I admit I haven't been actively trying to increase my speed, but it's a bit of a bummer that my all-out sprint now is like a fast jog was for me before. In my brain I'm still fast, but my body just won't cooperate. It's like that awful dream we all have of running but being stuck in place. Again, maybe this will improve with time (and, um, some concerted effort on my part. Oops.)
I'm playing kickball now with some friends from my old soccer team (and a bunch of other random people). Turns out kickball's not really a sport! I got soooooo annoyed with all the random girls on our team when they showed up for the first game in full make-up and huge hoop earrings, but I am actually the foolish one because kickball's pretty worthless. I mean, it's fun, but the only sweat I break is on the bike ride to the field. So this has not turned out
to be much of a test of my athletic prowess. The only thing it has done is make me crave soccer. Like, craaaaaaaaave. I have dreams about it! (And in my dreams I always play like a young Mia Hamm, of course.) I wake up from them and feel so sad. It's partly that I miss my soccer friends, but even more than that, I miss the competitive outlet. I've basically played soccer for the last 25 years of my life, give or take a few years. All this is to say that I've been seriously thinking about playing again. Is that stupid? I swore I was done after surgery, that I would do anything and everything to avoid ever going through anything like that again. But I think it's like having babies--if we stuck to our oaths forever, no one would ever have a second child! I just miss it so much. I miss the rush, I miss the excitement, I miss the team aspect, and I miss body-slamming dudes twice my size. I think I would be much more timid this time around, but even so, maybe I could reclaim some of that? I dunno. People do it though. It's not completely insane (is it?) People do play the same sport that burned them after something like this. And not just professional athletes. I don't know. I'm thinking about it.
