1 Month, 23 Days

Time for another weekly update. I have been doing the jogging intervals daily and it's been going quite well. I've been able to slowly increase the internal distance while keeping the number of intervals at ten. I increase the distance based on feel for each interval - I start with a few 20-pace ones to warm up, and then I start extending them little by little. The longest one I've done so far has been full 40 paces.

I rode my own bike yesterday, for the first time since the surgery, and then once more today. It felt a bit strange for the first few minutes, but very good overall. I've had no pain from the left knee, riding both in and out of the saddle (very careful and deliberate in the second position though). Nevertheless, I'm keeping it short and easy at the moment: it's been a while and it's not just the legs that need to get used to cycling again, but the back, neck, shoulders, and the rest of the body. I did 4.5 km on the first ride and 7.5 km on the second, 17-18 km/h average.

First ride on my bike since the operation

Other than that, I'm also working harder in the gym. I'm increasing time on the elliptical trainer in the gym slowly, up to 10 minutes now, and I've added 2.5 kg to the bar for squats. It's not much, but I'm making progress.

Overall, the knee is proving to be functional, but I still feel occasional aches and pains. Standing in one spot or walking too slowly is the worst as the knee swells up noticeably, but ice and some rest helps in those cases. It sometimes complains on the first few steps after sitting for a while, buy it settles down when it warms up a little. I do still have to remind myself from time to time to keep pushing it out of the comfort zone, but so far it has taken everything I throw at it with few complaints.