Training Log Archive: Bash

Trail work with Bent in the Palgrave Conservation Area on another beautiful fall day. About 3 hours, but I'll call it one. This is great for upper body strength - lots of log hauling and holding the heavy pruner in high, awkward positions to trim branches. We do this each fall in preparation for XC skiing, but the orienteers in next week's farsta may appreciate having slightly fewer thorns in their clothes and skin. Warning: we only completed about 4 km of the trail network, so there are still thorns and raspberries out there!

I went for a run!!!! Who would ever have thought that I'd be so excited about a short jog around the trails of Palgrave West?

I've been reading (and reading and reading) about ACL injuries, and there seem to be three approaches:

1) "Choose a different lifestyle." No details are provided, so maybe I'm supposed to become vegan or gay, not that there's anything wrong with that.

2) "Go under the knife." Not recommended unless you have a complete ACL tear, and not necessarily even then.

3) "Suck it up Princess, and learn to run with an unstable knee, if you can."

Option #3 is what my chiropractor has done with his own ACL injury, so I tried it today after three weeks of not running at all. It felt bizarre and slow with a foam orthotic hurting my foot and a definite limp and the knee rattling around and my body feeling like a sack of potatoes after not running for a few weeks... But I was running!!! :-))) It wasn't long, but so far, no pain. The only bad moment was when the knee accidentally hyperextended - something it's very good at now, with only a floppy ligament holding it together.

Maybe I will be able to do some of the Ontario O Champs after all. So far there is nobody else in my category, so I've got a good chance for a medal. ;-)

Biking mostly on rail trail with some gravel roads. Bent and I were running late, so we had a speedy ride into town to attend the launch of the new book on the history of Palgrave. The book talks about the main street building that Bent owns, in which his dental office is located. It was built around 1885 and has a long, colourful history as a former hotel, town hall and popular bootlegging establishment.

On the way back, Bent turned off into Albion Hills for some single track. In deference to my knee injury, I continued on the rail trail. What an amazing, crisp, sunny autumn day! It's hard to imagine living anywhere except the country on a day like this. I'd planned a very short ride, but just kept going, whizzing past colourful autumn wildflowers, glittering ponds, trees tinged with red leaves, fields of ripe corn, and contented chestnut horses. I felt a bit like Forrest Gump - I just wanted to keep riding and riding. But upon arriving in Caledon East, well beyond my planned turnaround point, I reminded myself that I am actually a "Forest Gimp", so I'd better go home and rest my wounded knee. To celebrate the beautiful day, I stopped by the gourmet food shop and managed to stuff crab cakes and Belgian dark chocolate biscotti into my Camelbak as a surprise for Bent. Today is the final day of Post-Big-Race Eat-Whatever-I-Want week, so I might as well make the most of it.

Lower body strength exercises. Still trying to develop an awesome set of hamstrings to hold my renegade knee in place. I've been resting since finishing our 69-hour adventure race 5 days ago. My knee has been sore on the surface, but not too bad - except for Wednesday, when for some reason it felt so out of alignment and painful that I could barely walk upstairs. The sports chiropractor thinks that if I strengthen my muscles sufficiently, I should be able to hold the knee in alignment enough to be able to run again. I went to my family doc to get started in the medical system, figuring that it can't hurt to do that in parallel to my muscle strengthening strategy. She referred me for an MRI, but the wait is so long that I have decided to pay to get one in Buffalo next week. Before looking at the MRI, the general opinion from several professionals seems to be that I probably don't need surgery. I sure hope not - my family doc warned that I'd need to wait 13 months to see the local orthopaedic surgeon for a first appointment - let alone the surgery, recovery, etc. If it comes to that, it would be less frustrating to give up on athletics and take up knitting or something. Yikes!!!