Torn ACL and a new direction

I haven't mentioned this on my blog ( mainly because I've been horrible about updating) but late in May I completely blew out my ACL. The easy story on it was that my right leg was locked down by a pretty good jiu jitsu practicioner and I made a stupid mistake. He did exactly what he was supposed to do and straightened out the lockdown. My knee came completely out of joint for a second, wobbled, then went back in to place. We both felt it. He let go immediately and I rolled out of it expecting a searing pain to hit. It didn't. In fact, it hurt a little, but felt more numb and swollen than anything else. Sadly, after two weeks of rest and recovery, it didn't improve. In fact, it got worse.

So, off to the doctor I went. Where he told me what I already knew. "You blew out your ACL and you'll need surgery". The MRI showed that I actually fractured my knee bone when it popped out of the socket and then slammed back in. More importantly, by studying the MRI, it looks like the ACL has been "broken" for years. We saw a picture that showed where the ACL actually hooks to the bone, it had torn away a piece of the bone. He said, "that is not from this event". Hmmm.... so I've had a torn ACL for a while? This could explain a lot. It seems my IT band has been trying to act as my ACL in some of my training and racing, so this explains my problems in the Northface race, my early cramping in my right quad in most of my 1/2 Ironman races. So I guess, I can look at this as a blessing. I get a new ACL and hopefully, a better working right leg at the end of this.

That is exactly what I keep trying to tell myself, because not being able to do any aerobic exercise makes me a little nuts. I am spending a lot of time working out with weights on my upper body, but I feel like I am losing a lot of what I've spent years to gain. I've heard that endurance ability comes back quickly. I guess I'll get to see for myself. I'll let you know.

So, August 19th at 7 am, I go in for surgery. The doctor, who seems like a really good one, is going to be inserting a cadaver tendon into my knee and anchoring it with 2 screws ( more screws in my body- yeah! I've already got some in my elbow). They say the recovery is 6 months to full lateral use sports. Which means I'll be able to go back to my jiu jitsu classes in February. Wish me luck.

Now, for the new direction part of this post. I am going to be using this blog, from now on, to not only post athletic endeavors, but also any and all self-improvement areas of my life. So, I'll be posting on books that I am reading, classes that I am attending, businesses endeavors, and family endeavors. My goal is to capture all parts of my life that I am trying to fine tune into this blog so that hopefully I can add some insight for my readers. It is said that the highest form of learning is the teaching of the subject matter, and this forum will provide that for me.

Thanks for reading.

Chris