The only way to recover well from total knee replacement is to become obsessed with it. There couldn't have been a better surgery for a person like me.
Within three days I was on the trainer. By day five I had purchased the latest Wahoo Kickr, subscribed to Strava and was using Zwift. By day six I was doing a forty minute training session three times each day. I swapped out my hardy LeMond Revolution `dumb' (no internet) trainer and was stumbling around setting up the Wahoo Kickr. By day twelve I experienced my first `overtraining' incident, having to cut back on the Kickr. The day before I was listing local bike races and invitationals I would do in July.
Yeah. I know it. Obsessive. I'm a psychologist. And I'm also a headstrong and stubborn Irish Mick who thinks normal rules of mortality don't exist for me.
But I've become somewhat of an armchair expert on the most complex joint in our body, the knee.
Knee replacement surgery is better considered as knee `resurfacing' surgery. The tip of both the femur and tibia are simply cut a little bit, reshaped and covered with a metal tip that is screwed and cemented into the surface of each bone. The metal tip of the tibia has a hard, slippery plastic surface that allows the smooth metal tip of the new femur to slide over when rotating on it. The quad tendon, muscles, patella (knee cap) and original ligaments are not touched or cut.
But, the human body being what it is, the tendons and ligaments have to `adjust' to the new shapes. And the soft skin tissue simply takes time to heal ... like on band-aid.
My particular `overtraining' event has to do with the lateral collateral ligament that runs on the outside of the femur and tibia. Too much use, too soon, for too long. "Too much is never enough."
Now my time on the trainer is reduced to fifteen minutes thee times per day. `Rehab,' not `training.'
I really have no problem with the fact that I'm getting old. `Whining' is what people do when they have no plan to fix a problem. `Complaining' is necessary to identify and address problems, so that we know what the problem is and can get to work solving it.
I can't `solve' aging. But I can work to lessen the impact of the inevitable and increase and maximize the capacity and potential I have.
I had two knees that wore out. Eighteen marathons in my 30's, genetic loading for arthritis and decades of ultracycling. So I had the worn out knees replaced with metal and plastic, completely eliminating this problem.
Resting heart rate in the mid-40's. Blood pressure spot on at 130/70. Good weight for my body type.
What remains is the wisdom that 70+ years of living has earned me. Balance.
- A wonderful family I can barely believe I have.
- Work that is good, engaging and a real contribution to the welfare of others.
- A genuine joy of bicycling on the recumbent.
Training is the effective method to be competitive in cycling. The road is clear.
And it is up to me.
In a few days I'll experience another medical miracle: knee replacement. Second one in less than a year.
The right knee has seen about 5,000 miles and 140,000 feet of climbing since it was `installed' in August of '18. Radical -- RADICAL -- improvement. Though I experience fatigue from muscles and ligament there isn't a hint of pain.
If the rehab for the left knee goes as well as that of the right knee I'll be on the trainer in a few days and on the road in about 3 weeks.
There is no question that I am fortunate.
- I have the time to invest in bicycling.
- I have, though modest, a lifestyle and budget that permits investment in cycling related things.
- I have a family that values the fact that cycling is my `fun.'
- There is a medical establishment that has perfected joint replacement.
- I have Medicare.
