I think I like this guy!

I saw this Video Blog from the CEO of Go Daddy and thought the info it contains is really good. It is about being successful in business and since a secondary goal of this blog for me is to pass along things that I've learned about success, I thought that I'd post it.
For your viewing pleasure.......

Exactly how I blew my ACL

For those of you that have asked, I thought I'd post the video that shows exactly what I was doing when I blew my ACL. As you watcht this video, I would have been the guy in the red/black top. At 1:38 in the video he taps due to the pressure from the submission. Because I was pretty flexible, I did not tap. As soon as I realized that I didn't have to tap, I attempted to yank my right leg out of the lockdown that he had on it with his legs. Because my ACL was already torn pretty significantly ( a fact that I did not know at the time), and because he held the lockdown perfectly and straightened his legs to tighten it down even more when I tried to pull out ( the perfect response), my knee dislocated momentarily and blew the ACL. This would not normally have been the outcome and I beleive that if I had a proper knee at the time, it wouldn't have been the case. I thought this video would better illustrate what I've tried to explain to many of you.

Range of Motion Study*

An interesting study that I just saw on the Mona Vie site ( really, it was the first time that I had seen this study). If you think this would benefit you, let me know.


During a 12 week study on MonaVie Active, all participants showed a statistically significant improvement in range of motion with regard to the lumbar region and knees. In addition, participants noted a significant decrease in perceived generalized discomfort at weeks 8 and 12.

* This study was conducted in a relatively small number of healthy adults. Further studies with larger sample sizes are needed before these results can be generalized to the population at large.

http://www.monavie.com/Web/US/en/monavie_active.dhtml

10 minutes on the bike trainer yesterday. How silly that 10 minutes would make me proud, but in my current state, it does.

Back on the bike! ( sort of )

Friday's physical therapy session put me back on the bike. Yep, I was able to jump on their recumbant bike and pedal with the following directions; only use your left leg for power, your right leg ( the repaired one) is just along for the ride and the range of motion. Easier said than done.

I have practiced one-legged pedaling drills for years to smooth out my pedal stroke and get the most out of every rotation, but I've always had clip on pedals and the right shoes. There at the PT office, I had neither, so it was an exercise in brain-to-foot communication to force it to pull up on the upstroke and push over the top of the stroke. I was able to do it, but I was sure that when I had the right shoes on at home.

So this morning I pumped up my bike, which is currently on a bike trainer device

and carefully got onto my bike, which was actually very tough with the use of only one leg. I strapped myself into my clip on shoes and almost immediately had a religious experience as I turned the first full rotation of the pedals. It turns out that my triathlon bike puts my knee to at least 120 degrees of reflexion as it comes around. Bear in mind, that I can get to 120 degrees with the help of my physical therapist pushing on it. And, I'm it hurts. So, repeatedly hitting that 120 degree mark as I pedaled involved cussing, sweating, and prayers to God for help- repeated over and again in various order. I was able to stay on the bike for 5 minutes and will make it a daily happening from now on, while trying to increase my time each day. What it did make me realize is how far I still have to go before I am "normal" again. I'll need to be able to pedal without pain in each stroke and I know it will happen, but getting from here to there seems like a long way off. Wish me luck.

Stir Freakin Crazy

As of tomorrow I will be 3 weeks post surgery and I'm going crazy. I know that patience is a virtue that I need to work on and maybe this is God's way of helping work on it, but I'm not sure I'm going to pass this test.

3 more weeks until I get to put my foot down. I'm watching my upper thigh atrophy and I haven't broken a real sweat in 2 months. I know it's only temporary, but I can't wait until this is behind me. I think the physical therapist said that I get to start soft pedaling a bike next week. If that is the case, I am going to type a huge "Yahoo!" when that happens. I have my bike on the trainer in the garage and the minute that I can start using it, I will. I'll never take working out for granted again.

Yesterday, I worked out in the garage. I did 3 sets of bench press and some crunches. Since, I haven't done any working out in the last couple of weeks, I stopped there knowing that I'd be sore. I was right. Sure enough, I woke up this morning hurting. That would normally be ok, but now that I am using my arms to walk around on crutches, it just plain stinks. And the best part, tomorrow should be more sore. I am considering working out tomorrow night again, but can't figure out which body part won't be too bothered by the crutches.

2 1/2 Weeks Post Surgery

Ok, so I am 2 and 1/2 weeks post surgery now, so I thought I'd give you an update.

Aside from the fact that I am on crutches for 3 1/2 more weeks and can't put any weight on my right leg until then, everything is going great. The reason that I am 6 weeks of no weight bearing is that the cartilage repair that they did with the microdrilling is the thickness of a postage stamp and they want to make sure it is healed properly.

The physical therapist is good and has my knee bending to about 120 degrees of motion. It hurts when he does it, but I can tell that everyday it is getting looser. It sucks to watch my, already skinny, quad muscles atrophy. But that is par for the course when you don't use them for 6 weeks. Our goal is to have them equal size again by month 6, then I have been instructed by the doctor that he wants 20 percent increase in both of them in the next year. Hah! I say. I've cycled thousands of miles trying to grow these legs and it doesn't happen. But I will give it a try anyhow.

All in all, things are going great. I am enjoying some time off from work. I still work from home, but I don't have to go in and deal with the day-to-day office crap that goes on in there. I've been able recently to focus in more on developing our Mona Vie distribution team, which is where I'd ultimately like to derive the majority of my income anyhow being that it is passive, residual allowing for a way more flexible schedule, and the top out income is significantly higher than the radio station. I have been drinking my two 2-ounce glasses daily knowing that good nutrition will be instrumental in the healing process.

My amazing wife has been lived up to her billing in all of this. She's a taxi driver, super helper, and listens to my whining like she cares. God bless her, she's had a whole bunch of extra duty added to her plate and hasn't skipped a beat. She rocks!

Well, that's it for now. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and will appreciate working out more than ever when I can get back to it. Tomorrow morning I'll head out to my gym in the garage for my first upper body workout since the surgery so I can start fulfilling my need to sweat.

Talk to you soon.