17 months afer surgery, and every day it still feels like the bad wheel is getting stronger. I’ve managed 5 months now of basketball, once or twice a week, as well as some lacrosse practices and games (indoor and outdoor). It has been almost a transition from one new “soreness” to another, first the weak ankle on the bad leg (ankle exercises and a compression sleeve have taken care of this for now), then sore calves and hamstrings as I ramped up the sprinting and cutting, etc., etc., etc. But I just tell myself that it is all worth it at the end of the day!!!

My exercise regime these days consists of core work and stretching every day, basketball / lacrosse twice or 3x a week, weight training twice a week, and a 5km jog every now and then. The bad leg is still not 100% but it continues to get stronger and hopefully by the 2 year anniversary it will be completely “normal”, and I would guess I am now about 12-15 pounds down from my weight back in March or April of 2011 when my rehab really started.

For those who are just entering the world of ATR’s or still rehabbing, keep in mind that I am 40+ and so the return to competitive sports and “normalcy” takes longer than it would have when I was in my 20’s or even 30’s. The old adage is one week of training for every one day off your feet after the age of 40, and it is proving to be pretty much true in my case. The good news is that I am now totally over the mental and emotional hurdle of the injury, and am able to push myself harder and harder in terms of training and conditioning.

Good luck to everybody out there, unforunately there are more folks joining our little club every day. Here is some video I took to celebrate the 17 months, in honor of the NCAA lacrosse tournament that is now in full swing : )