Linda Cohn raised her own W55 American record in the javelin, Annelies Steekelenburg upped her own W60 Dutch record in the high jump and I ran the slowest 100- and 200-meter dashes of my adult life Saturday at the Southern California Association USATF Masters Championships at Cerritos College in Norwalk, Calif.
Linda was delighted, Annelies thrilled. And me?
I was ecstatic beyond words.
Say what? Yup, I was hollering with joy Saturday after clocking 14.87 and 31.04 seconds in the 1 and 2 on the Mondo track at Cerritos. I learned that, seven months after ACL-reconstruction surgery, my repaired left knee was completely healed!
In finishing the races with no pain or strain, I discovered that my seven months of rehab had done the trick. And in being able to walk just fine on Father's Day, I realized that my comeback was well under way.
On Nov. 5, 2007, I announced on my masterstrack.com blog: "The IAAF and WMA can't stop me. Tomorrow at 7 a.m., I undergo a two-hour procedure that will make me faster, stronger and extend my track career at least 50 years. I'm replacing my anterior cruciate ligament."
I later shared details of how Kaiser-Permanente's Dr. Donald Fithian, a world-class knee expert, would arthroscopically insert a cadaver's 37-year-old patellar tendon where my 53-year-old ACL had been. (Giving me a chance to claim M35 status.)
At the time of the surgery, I had a matched set of torn ACLs. The right one was injured long jumping in 1974 (and reinjured high jumping in 1984). The left one went kablooey in October 2002 as I attempted to three-step the 100-meter hurdles at the Club West Masters Meet in Santa Barbara. After barely clearing the seventh hurdle, my left knee buckled like a house of cards and I crashed to the track (breaking my wrist in the process).
Over the next couple years, I built up the muscles and tendons and returned to sprinting. I competed at outdoor nationals in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
But I didn't need, or consider, ACL surgery until April 2007, when I reinjured the left knee upon takeoff in the high jump at the John Ward Masters Games in Santa Ana. After icing my knee, I told the gent running the event -- 1968 Olympic silver medalist Ed Carruthers -- thanks for helping. You just witnessed my last high jump.
But the knee got worse. I fell walking down a couple concrete stairs on my front porch. The knee went unstable just by stepping off a 3-inch curb. Time to get serious.
So I arranged to have my left ACL replaced. (And thank goodness my insurance covered everything. The total tab was $14,000!)
With encouragement of many friends, including a couple middle-aged hurdlers who had undergone the same operation, I did what needed to be done. I took it slowly. I focused on quad strength. I didn't jog until my therapist said OK. I learned that the new tissue took six months to revascularize, which means grow all the blood vessels and other needed cells.
The major danger in ACL rehab is stretching the "new" anterior cruciate ligament. For it to work well, it must stay "tight." So I promised to be a good boy.
And I was. I tested my knee in practice -- sprinting first in flats. Then a week before Cerritos, I did a dress rehearsal -- sprinting in spikes at the Pasadena Senior Games (not entering a race but timing myself on the backstretch while my wife competed in other events).
Saturday, my turnover was terrible. My pickup was pathetic. I used a standing start rather than a "down" block start. After someone else false-started in the 100, I was even more careful not to jump -- lest I be DQ'd in my first track meet in more than a year.
But running 1.5 seconds off my 2006 season best was still a revelation. Now I see myself getting stronger, faster, more limber. Now I'm good to go for the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., in early July!
Think I'm kidding? The meet has a pair of "rest days" -- with no elite events scheduled. The second rest day provides adults a chance to run on the Hayward Field track -- an all-comers meets for fans.
But I won't stop there. The USATF Masters National Championships are in Spokane, Wash., in early August. Look for me there. And if my progress continues -- well, then I'll just have to hop a flight.
Watch out, Beijing!
Tags: Comeback Track ACL
