The Elliptical, Ice and Neurosis

Elliptical Time: 20 minutes

Bike Time: 25 minutes 

Motto: Every minutes on the elliptical is a minute I don't have to spend on the bike

I saw Dr. Tex last week. We had a nice appointment. His conviviality continues to improve. His healing approach is a little different than Evan's, but that is okay. A few weeks ago, I complained to Evan how bored I was on the stationary bike. He had hesitatingly suggested I could start riding the elliptical. I decided I'd wait until I got a more ringing recommendation. Last week, Dr. Tex said I was healing nicely and I could swim, ride elliptical, hike, etc.

"When you start on the elliptical, add five minutes per session," he said. "Don't start out riding is straight for forty-five minutes. And ride the elliptical first and finish up with the bike. You don't want to start something new when you are tired."

This would add some weight bearing activity to my exercise plan, which I need. We are going to France in August, and I need to be able to be on my feet and walk around for ten hours a day. Plus, old hotels in France don't have elevators. I will need to be able to schlep my luggage up and down stairs. We will be staying at a hotel on Mont Saint Michel and I'll need to navigate seventy steps to get there. This is noted in the details about the hotel. Staying on Mont St. Michel will be incredibly cool. I need to get into shape. I didn't realize how much this trip would motivate me to be aggressive with my physical therapy. I generally tend to be patient and think I'll get there when I get there.  Not so much anymore.

"Keep icing the knee for another month," Dr. Tex told me. He means ice it three times a day for ten to fifteen minutes. I haven't been icing my leg lately--I don't know why. I think after the surgery, the ice made my feel dramatically better. After a month and a half, my leg would still be swollen and stiff after I iced it, so I kind of failed to see the point of sitting there, leg straight, for fifteen minutes three times a day.

This week, I spent a few hours a day sorting Legos and mediating in the Lego room. I didn't know my knee would get so stiff from sitting and bending and having limited movement, but it did.  Yesterday and today I iced it, and it felt better. The plum was almost completely gone. I am reconvinced that I need to keep icing it. I feel kind of bad for Evan--he has been telling me to keep icing it, and I blew it off. Now the surgeon tells me to ice it, and I listen. In fairness, this week I have been working my knee harder with the elliptical and sorting Legos. But I guess that is the point: I am supposed to continually work the knee harder, and therefore I will get sore, and therefore, I will need to ice my knee. Evan said something to that effect Friday. I finally get it.

While they agree on the ice, Evan and Dr. Tex sometimes have different opinions. I asked Dr. Tex if I could ride a road bike, and he said yes. Sweet! I thought. Evan said I could, but not on the Burke Gilman Trail, not in the U District where I live and not on hills, which is all of Seattle. In short: no. I have to admit, asking Dr. Tex about riding a bike was a little like asking Dad for something when Mom has already said no. When I told Evan what Dr. Tex said, Evan had a painful smile on his face.

"You are wincing," I said.

"Just don't fall," he said.

Dr. Tex also said I could reduce my physical therapy appointments to "once every three or four weeks." I just about choked. Theoretically, I want to be in good enough shape that I can ski again. I won't get there if I have to make up my own fitness routine. I also need to be monitored to make sure I am on track. I told Evan this, and he agreed with me.

"I had a friend who stopped physical therapy after his ACL surgery, and he still limps," I said. Evan knows I loathe the idea of limping.

"Yes," he said. "Most people benefit from a structured program and support."

Yesterday, I was working out at the university athletic center. As Dr. Tex told me, I am supposed to ride the elliptical before I bike. As I have mentioned before, I like riding a bike on the fourth floor in a corner by the floor to ceiling window overlooking the soccer fields, the baseball stadium and Lake Washington. I consider it my bike, which I know is completely insane. I get a little possessive about it. Evan and my daughter both think I need to ride the bike for five minutes to workout, then lift weights, and then go back to the bike.

"You need to warm up before you lift weights!" Claire Adele told me. "You could get hurt!" Apparently the athletic trainer at the high school sufficiently drilled this message into her head. Evan is concerned that I am too tired after forty-five minutes of cardio to get the strength training in. The real reason I can't do it is because I might lose my bike, and that would be horrible. The other bikes are in a pod surrounded by silent television screens. From the screens, I could watch The Price is Right,* CNN's murder of the week, or sports or talk shows, all of which make me depressed. I need my screen free bike.

So Saturday I get to the gym. Here are all of the other bikes and cardio machines on the other side of the track across from my bike:

Nobody riding bikes or doing cardio

No one is there. Nobody. That is why I could take this picture (sorry it is blurry) because no one was there. There was only one person in the whole area, and he was riding my bike. It was horrible. I rode the elliptical next to my bike. Most people at the U sports center don't ride for forty-five minutes like me. I was lucky this man finished riding after ten minutes so I could grab the bike when he was done. Something similar happened to me Friday. There was an older gentleman on my bike, and he would get off the bike every three minutes to stretch. Each time he got off the bike to stretch, I was ready to jump off the elliptical and grab my bike. I am glad I didn't otherwise I would look like a nut.

After riding the elliptical, I am starting to feel stronger. I was able to walk down hill yesterday while bending my knee. This is a major milestone. I am still slow going down hill, but at least I don't look like Frankenstein.

One more thing: With all of this indoor exercise, I am not getting tan. We've had a sunny spring in Seattle, and I've missed the sunshine.

* I like Drew Carey, but not enough to watch a game show.