Over the past 7 days I've played Ultimate: 1 hour on Monday, 1 hour on Thursday, 3 hours on Saturday, 1.5 hours on Sunday and I'll be playing 1 hour tonight. I told myself not to do this, but when someone asks "Can you sub for Ultimate", I just can't say no. However, while playing, I'm fairly conservative. I'm barely breaking a sweat by the end of the game (although my legs do feel a bit tired). I'm still cautious when changing direction and going for a long sprint. It seems when whoever I'm guarding goes deep, I don't keep up. This wasn't the case before the injury, so over the next 2 months this is my goal: Do a full field length sprint and keep up with who I'm guarding.
I've also ditched the knee sleeve as it wouldn't protect me from tearing anything and it makes me aware of my weaker leg. Right now, treating my surgical leg different than my good leg is a bad idea as according to this study, I'm about 3 times as likely to tear my good leg than bad. (2.8% vs 1%). That study also showed there's no difference in re-injury if you return to sports at 5 months vs 9 months (assuming patellar tendon graft was used). Also this study showed (and every other study I've read) there was no statistical difference in the outcome of acl reconstruction if you wear a brace or a sleeve.
I played against a guy yesterday who was recovering from his second acl surgery (he's torn both legs). Since I do not want to go through this process against, I'll be sticking with Personal Trainer 2 times a week until I'm treating both legs equal.
Last Saturday I had the unfortunate experience of seeing a girl go down while playing ultimate and hear the words "I was running and then I heard a pop". Hopefully not a full ACL tear but it still makes me cringe and feel sorry for her. On the bright side, at least I know from experience it's not the end of her sports career!
So my goals over the next month or two will be:
- Get both legs equal in strength and usage!
- Full field length sprint
- Don't play so much Ultimate (this will be a tough one!)
My 1st Post in 3.5 Years; Almost 5 Years Post-Op
9 years ago
2 comments:
That is a great (and encouraging) study! I love reading about how old farts (i.e. above 25) like us are less likely to re-tear. Hehe.
Wow, you're really back into the Ultimate. Keep training hard on the side and you'll be fine!
http://mytalee.weebly.com/index.html Check out my ACL blog!! I made video blogs for each month of the recovery! it has some great facts and tips for anyone going through an ACL recovery or who is interested in it
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