Tuesday, August 18, 2009

7 Weeks (almost) Post ACL Reconstruction

It was fun and inspiring to see my teammates at Carlos and Marie's Victory Party last Saturday. Everyone looked so good. I usually see my teammates all sweaty in their tri or cycling outfits. It was nice to see everyone all dressed up. The other interesting observation was that one really couldn't tell that these people had completed an Ironman Tri a few weeks earlier. The Ironteam looked like normal people and they blended in with the rest of the crowd at the club. People were so humble with their accomplishment. I was congratulating everyone and told them how they have inspired me for next year. I hope to see many of them again on next year's Ironteam ( which will start in a few months, November!)

Which reminds me, I talked with our Ironteam campaign manager, Rachel. She says that she'll have my fundraising website up by October. So get ready people... I need your support to make this happen: Vineman 2010!!! Again thanks to everyone who supported me this year, the funds I raised went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma society and I will be credited with 75% of the funds I raised in 2009 to apply to 2010. Which means my fundraising goal for Vineman 2010 will be about $2500.

In terms of my rehab, I went to a shorter and less bulky knee brace. This makes walking and exercising much less cumbersome. I'm now riding the stationary bike at level 15 to 18, keeping my HR in 150-160's. I also started the elliptical and the "Versa-climber".

Thursday, August 13, 2009

6 Weeks Post ACL Surgery

Well today is 6 weeks post ACL Reconstruction. I've been busy at work the last 2 weeks, catching up on a lot of admin stuff. Taking care of patients with a leg brace and a crutch has been a challenge as well. Hopefully I didn't freak out my patients. Many asked what happened to me. "Well I tore my ACL skiing, then last month I had surgery..."

The good news is that week by week I'm getting stronger. I finally got rid of the crutch and now I'm concentrating on walking "normally". I still have the leg brace and its bulky. I hope I can get rid of it and go to something less cumbersome soon. I'm also riding the stationary bike for an hour, 5 days a week. The other 2 days, I'm usually too lazy to go to the gym. Life is certainly different than before my injury when I was working out twice a day: swimming, biking, running... Ah, the "Good Ol' Days".

I'm looking forward to attending my former Ironteammates: Carlos and French Marie's Victory Party this Saturday. I hope to see my friends Louis and Edmund there. After training with them for 5 months from Nov to March, then again intermittently from May to June, I feel like they're related to me like distant cousins or something like that.

Sunday, August 2, 2009

The Missing Vineman

Yesterday was the day I was supposed to become an Ironman at the Vineman Triathlon. Instead of swimming 2.4miles, biking 112 miles, and running 26.2 miles, I spent the day riding a stationary bike for 1 hour and following my Ironteammates on the internet as they competed. It was a bittersweet day. I felt happy and proud of my teammates, but I was sad that I wasn't a part of this wonderful experience. I'm determined more than ever to compete next year at Vineman.

My recovery from ACL surgery is coming along slowly. Due to my meniscus injury I was on crutches for the last month. The last few days I finally advanced to walking with only 1 crutch for support. I also finally started biking. The last couple days, I rode a stationary bike for an hour. Afterwards my knee is a little sore, but tolerable. The swelling in my knee is pretty much resolved. My knee is a little stiff in the mornings and I get a little tired at night. I'm looking forwards to walking normally in the near future. Running is still a few months away.