Let me start this article off with saying, injuries are never fun. On September 17, 2023, an unfortunate side-step during a game of intramural flag football resulted in a complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in my left leg. A month and a half later, on December 1, 2023, I underwent surgery to reconstruct my ACL using a quadricep tendon graft. Thus began my (soon-to-be) 11-month recovery journey.
The process has been a rollercoaster of emotions: frustrating, enlightening, but also rewarding. A couple of weeks after surgery, as I began physical therapy, I discovered that my quadricep muscle struggled to fire properly. I found myself unable to voluntarily flex the muscle, and occasionally, it would seize up, pulling like a charley horse cramp. Thankfully, several sessions of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) helped retrain my brain to communicate with my leg and I was back to being able to walk (semi) normally with the help of my crutches and brace.
Once my brain and leg were in sync, the recovery process smoothed out significantly. I committed to physical therapy twice a week from December until March, transitioned to once a week from April to June, and now attend sessions every other week. The first three months of physical therapy focused primarily on regaining strength and mobility. I faced challenges with extension in my left leg, which lagged significantly compared to my right—only achieving 5 degrees in my left versus -10 degrees in my right. A common test for ACL recovery, the Biodex isokinetic test, revealed a 60% deficit in strength in my left leg compared to my right. Two months later, that number improved to 55%. Yet, progress felt painfully slow. The stiffness and pain in my knee often hindered my ability to push through during these tests, despite my functional strength improving. Dry needling sessions helped alleviate some pain, allowing me to gradually increase weights and repetitions.
Each small milestone—walking with full body weight on crutches and a brace, then ditching the crutches, and finally the brace—brought bursts of joy reminiscent of ringing the PR Bell after achieving a personal best at the $5K. On June 7, Global Running Day, I took my first running strides on a treadmill since surgery. It felt amazing.
Now, at 11-months out, I have set my sights on the Coast Guard Half Marathon in March 2025. I had registered for the Coast Guard Marathon in late September 2023 when I thought the pain was just a sprain. But after an MRI confirmed it was indeed an ACL tear, it was clear that I wouldn’t be able to race, so I deferred my registration. While I’m not quite ready to dive into marathon training just yet, I’m excited to begin training again.
Throughout this journey, I’ve learned the importance of listening to my body, of being patient with myself, of embracing and trusting the healing process, and of celebrating every little victory. While I’m sad my first marathon will have to wait a little longer, I remind myself that there will always be another race, but I only get to have one body.
