1 Month, 27 Days

I had physiotherapy this Tuesday. We did some jogging again, but this time going for some 50-60 meters at a time. We also did some hopping from one foot to the other, side to side and forward and backward. Finally we did some reverse lunges, before going back inside. Back in the studio we did some squats to shoulder presses, then some deadlifts, both with 8 kg dumbbells. To finish, he had me do shallow single legged squats while holding an exercise ball between the knee of the opposite leg and the wall - quite difficult to coordinate everything while keeping the proper form.

He instructed me to include deadlifts in my gym work plus well as leg presses and leg extensions at the end of training sessions to really work the muscles and stimulate strengthening and growth. He also gave me a green light to increase the distances in my run/walk intervals and to adjust the dynamics as I feel suits me the best. In general, we are moving more and more toward self-guided training where he will just provide advice as an outside observer.

Yesterday I commuted to work by bike. It's very short, just 3 km one way, but it provided a more challenging dynamic than the previous weekend rides since I had to focus on the interaction with the traffic rather than on my interaction with the bike. Nevertheless, it felt good; I was able to relax and pedal without thinking with no complaints from the knee whatsoever. I was pushing harder than on the previous rides, naturally getting into a stronger rhythm. Judging from the sensations from the legs, I would have been able to forget I'm still in the very early stages of regaining my strength and endurance, but a quick check of the speedometer was quick to break that illusion. All in all, cycling feels good and I'm looking forward to increasing the mileage. I guess it's lucky the weather will be getting worse in the next months, so hopefully I won't be able to go too far too quickly.

Today I went to the gym. I warmed up for 12 minutes on the elliptical trainer, then did squats, leg press, leg extensions and some leg abductions, just to give those muscles some attention since all the others have been working a lot lately. I left deadlifts for the next session since the hamstrings still feel a bit fatigued from the PT session. Squats felt very good though, I was able to increase the weight to 25 kg.

I think I've approached the limit of how much the knee can take at this time. It feels a little sore now, the way it didn't last week. I'm icing it regularly and keeping an eye on it. Since the exercises are getting harder, I will be making longer rest breaks in between, and that will hopefully help to find the balance again.