Coming Back From My Recent Injury (part 3)

With the new confidence my knee was starting to loosen up, I hit rehab with even more focus. I knew I could get my knee back to running condition again. I had to still be really smart about how I did it though.

At the gym, I was still riding the exercise bike for 10-15 miles. I changed up the speed and distance to not only help keep my mind engaged (riding a bike indoors is more challenging for me than running on a treadmill), I also wanted to throw different things at my body. Some days I would ride to see if I could keep a consistent mile pace going. Other days I would do intervals and see how many fast miles I could do. 

After each ride, I would finish up the workout with stretching and using my buddy Mr. Foam Roller. There were at least 5-10 different stretches I would do, all with different focus on my legs and lower back. I knew just targeting one area wouldn't really be beneficial. Using the foam roller was a bit painful (it almost always is). I made sure to roll slow and multiple times over the front, side and back of my legs. It wasn't easy, but I know it helped.

Not being able to run was starting to get to me. I hadn't run in a few weeks and my knee was slowly making a recovery. Was I greedy to consider running again? Should I be content with being able to walk normally again and be thankful I didn't have to have extensive physical therapy or surgery? I told myself to focus on getting through each day and keep working on getting my knee back to 100%. The answer to these questions will get figured out soon.