Over the past year, here's what happened:
Nothing.
Really, nothing at all. I stopped my PT exercises. It had been about 2+ years of various types of PT stuff, and I felt it was getting me nowhere since I couldn't run without pain. I stopped doing the core work and pushups, I stopped riding on my rollers regularly.
What happened? Well, I gained 15 pound, all fat. My weight went from 155 to 170, my body fat % from around 12 to around 20. All of the cardio I had, shot. Muscle tone? Gone. Size 32 pants? Gone...well, stored away. Even some of the size medium dress shirts for work that I had (medium/slim) stored away. I plan on getting back to them.
So over the past year, I hit a low; a low I had not hit since I was around 215. A low I had not experienced during or after the surgeries. As I stopped doing any sort of exercise, my mood dimmed, my smile faded, and I had a hard time staying positive. I was definitely in some sort of depression, and am still climbing out of it.
I tried one particular knee brace, but it did not always work, and it left my quad feeling tingly. I tried an old knee brace I've had for about 20 years- a basic open patella neoprine sleeve- but that didn't help one bit.
I went months without running, and finally decided, in May, to try out some Hoka One One's. I hated to spend the money, but I wanted to run again. With and without the brace, they didn't help at all. My thought was, well, there's goes another $150.
During early August, I started looking around the internet at different knee braces, reading reviews, etc. I decided I wasn't ready to give up (I had already gotten back on my bike, on the rollers and doing some push-ups). I found one, the Don Joy one I have now, and gave it a try. They had a 90 day money back guarantee, so I had nothing to lose.
I slipped it on for work one day, and was able to walk around with out any pain at all, though it was uncomfortable to wear for a full day. Not having any pain for a FULL DAY was amazing. I knew then it was time to give it the run test.
My plan was to do my usual post 2013 knee surgery run: 2 minutes walking, 2 minutes running, repeat...though it was not repeated often as pain usually brought me to a walk back home.
I slipped it on, with my Hoka's, and did some warm-up stuff (about 20 of the 100-ups I used to love), then headed for the walk. The walk was just fine, as I figured it would be. The two minute mark came and went, so off I went, to a slow, light, barefoot style-sans barefeet run. I was a bit tentative as I kept expecting the pain to come, and it didn't. I hit the two minute mark and decided to keep going until 1/4 mile. That came and went, still no pain. Then I decided to go for a half mile...same thing! NO FREAKIN' PAIN! I turned around and headed home- running the whole way! When the mile was done, in about 11 minutes and some seconds, my knee, with this brace, passed the test- NO PAIN!
I've since done two more of the same (though the 2nd run I did walk for 2 minutes in the middle to be smart, but really I was being scared of what I might do, and what my knee might not let me do).
The third run, a few days ago, was a true test. My knee was sore pretty much the whole day, and was really bothering me even as I slipped the new brace on. I figured I'd just walk most of the mile and try to run a bit here and there. Well, I walked for two minutes, and my knee felt fine. So, I ran...and ran...and ran. I ended up running the entire mile, with NO PAIN! Even after having an achy knee for most of the day (and it was still sore after, but not as much) the run, with the Don Joy brace did not hurt one bit!
So, that's the past year...
Oh, diet wise? I'm still vegan, still no sweets. The weight piled on with late night snacking and lack of exercise...no matter what food you eat, moderation is the key. I proved that!
Next post? Details about the brace :)
Happy running!
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