These old knees are masquerading as young knees again. It's been almost three months since I blew out my left knee during an ill-advised stepped-up training for the 2015 edition of the Brooklyn Marathon.
My advice for others looking for such a recovery? Don't have surgery on your knees -- or any joints, unless you absolutely have no other option. I was lucky with my knee. I didn't suffer any structural damage. Near as anybody can figure -- and when it comes to the threat of higher malpractice costs, it's amazing that doctors tell us anything at all -- something called the IT band slipped out of place along the left side of my left leg and went for a short trip over the knee cap and back into place again, inflaming nerve endings and otherwise causing killer-painful discomfort and wobbliness that lasted for weeks.
What has got me back on track? Physical therapy, in which I strengthened the muscles around my knees, through a 80-minute regimen built around lunges and squats.
Slow and steady. Straight ahead, Mac. I feel the knee start to squawk when it feels lateral stress (for now tennis, a passion of mine, is out of the question.)
I'm still jogging, not running. But my knees feel as good as new. Hit 3.7 miles today (Jan. 26) in a 40-minute run on the treadmill.
It is such a great pleasure to be back at it. When you are used to running every other day for going on 40 years, you miss it.
Many people stop running following an injury. I certainly understand why. But if, after injury, you can find your way to avoiding surgery and finding a no-nonsense, hands-on sports rehab practice, you can beat the odds and, yes, if the gods are with you, run for your life.
Next: Running for Your Life: Sentences to Fear
