Season Ender

Well, It's been quite a while since I have posted. Not that I'm a consistent blogger or anything. It's just been a tough season with some health issues and finding something really motivating to write about has been a challenge. But here is an update for the few that do read my blog.
As November approaches, I have been battling a mystery knee problem for almost a year. I was able to race this season with some OK results but was unable to run any ultras or do any long training runs in the back country with my buddies. That is more of a bummer than not racing.
So I decided a few weeks ago after my second MRI in ten months, which only showed knee history and a "gray, unconvincing spot" and total frustration with my situation to get my knee scoped. My Doc was focusing on the entire knee but had a gut feeling that I probably had a meniscus root tear, posterior. The plan was set in motion. Worst case with a root tear repair would be six weeks non weight bearing and possibly running again in 3 months.
I arrived at surgery yesterday morning and was on the table at 7:30 sharp. The next thing I know is that I'm waking up in recovery. The first thing I asked was what time it was? 11:30 am. Right then I knew I had a tear and that they fixed it. A few minutes past, my wife showed up and then the Doc. He started explaining what he had found. It then turned to shit!
In 2002 I suffered a full ACL tear in the same knee. That ACL had a "10% tear" spot on it. He fixed it. That's good. He found signs of arthritis. This is to be expected, I suffered juvenile rheumatoid arthritis as a young child in both knees, I was just hoping it wouldn't start to show up until later in life. He then got to the real shitty news. He confirmed that yes the meniscus root had torn and that he repaired it with three sutures (for added strength). He and the other Ortho assisting him felt they had nailed it. They then did a range of motion test, a simple flex of the knee to an angle common of spinning on a bike, and all three sutures ripped through the meniscus. This then resulted in meniscus removal. I'm still pretty groggy as he is explaining this to me but awake enough to know that I'm fucked. He backed all this information up with photos of the procedure. Not that I didn't believe him, but it was good to see the pictures.
My Doc explain to me that this tear was most likely a result of my ACL tear from 2002 and that for the last seven years I was hammering it with the running and that it wasn't until a year ago that it finally got so fucked up I finally started feeling the pain. He did give great credit to my ACL Ortho but told me that seven years ago, they weren't looking for tears like this with an ACL tear. But that now, it's standard practice with an ACL tear to look for meniscus root tears. That's the short story.
So, of course the question was will I run again. He said yes, to my surprise. Will I run another ultra? Most likely not. Will I run another road marathon? Absolutely not, no road running at all. He told me I will be able to run, but that I need to take a more focused approach to my training and save the efforts for racing. He also very clearly warned of downhill running that that is where I will experience the most discomfort and do the most bone damage. What do you think of when you hear that? True mountain running! Euro style - Climb, Climb, Climb! We also chatted about the arthritis developing in my knee and that hard pounding efforts is just going to speed up that process. We even discussed using cadaver meniscus to do a full replacement. In all honesty, as much as I love to run, that is not a route I'm crazy about taking. I may have a different feeling about that idea if I was a collegiate star looking at a pro career.
So, my season comes to an end. I now need to recover from the knee intrusion and get on some rehab and back to the strength training. Time to start researching mountain bikes - maybe do some endurance mountain bike racing? Nordic season is right around the corner and that's always fun. And as soon as the La Sportiva Mountain Cup races get posted for 2010, it'll be time to make a plan. I'm also undertaking race directing for 2010. Check out www.sunvalleyrunning.com for some new Sun Valley area races. Starting to ramble - enjoy the fall, be sure to get out and do something!