Life with a new fast leg (surgery recap)!

This friends, is a gorgeous, flattering picture of my new fast leg:

I know, try not to be jealous! 

I have no intention of boring you with the play-by-play of surgery, but it went very well. Dr Theodore IS the best in the business, and I am incredibly happy with my choice in doctor. He talked to me before the procedure, and confirmed that this IS the best thing I can do to save my running/endurance athlete career. 

We chatted a bit (well, he chatted, I just shook my head in an anesthesia-induced haze) after the surgery. He did the procedure arthroscopically with a fiber optic lends, and assured me the incisions are quite small.  He also mentioned that he made the decision once he got in there to release all four compartments, based on what he saw. 

I am stuck in this compression wrappish thing until Sunday night, which I cannot remove OR get wet (taking showers has been hilarious). My leg is going to look dead sexy when I take this thing off later this week. And no, I will NOT post pictures. You're welcome. I am also on crutches for a week or so, and was allowed to begin bearing some weight with crutches yesterday. 

He mentioned that I would be back to "regular volume" of running in 8-10 weeks, but he wasn't going to restrict my activity. He said verbatim "you'll know". I thought that was bizarre, but he's totally right. I tried to be a hero yesterday, and gimp around without crutches for about an hour. I was then confined to the couch for the next 3 hours because I was in a whole lot of pain. When I used my crutches (even bearing a little bit of weight) the rest of the day, I felt so much better by bedtime. Turns out he's right; with this type of surgery, I'm pretty sure I'll just "know" what's going to work and what's not. 

I am able to get a ride to the gym tonight, so I'm going to attempt some upper body lifting, and see what feels good. My last workout was a 15-mile run on Sunday, and after 2 days completely off, most of my body is ready to sweat. While there will be no cardio, and I will be VERY careful to not stress my leg at all, it'll feel good to do some upper body and core work. 

Thank you all for the messages, emails, and texts - I appreciate the support more than you'll ever know. I feel so lucky to have the best support system anyone could ask for, and please know I never take it for granted. 

I'm so happy to be on the other side of this surgery, and can't wait til I can take this off and see how fast my new fast leg really looks!!! 

Happy Training!!