Beginning a Comeback?

Today the ACL rehab really began for me, finally. I have been in PT for 5 weeks now, religiously doing my stretches and my exercises to try to regain flexibility and strength in the joint, but all the time since that fateful basketball game on January 26 the cardiovascular engine that I have been building and tuning up for several years has been wasting away from disuse. But tonight Kay and I and the younger boys went to the gym and spent an hour in the pool. I spent probably 30 minutes of that doing real cardio activity, swimming laps, something I generally hate to do, but it got my heart beating and my lungs blowing, and that felt like a million bucks. The epithet that Luke and Tim gave me about my swimming, “leg dragger,” reflects how poorly I do it, but at least tonight it was good to feel that wholesome out-of-breath feeling. My knee did pretty well! I intentionally tried to keep it fairly straight and kick from my hips, which is better form anyway as I understand it, and it worked pretty well. I think the plan now will be to try to get a swim in at least three or four times a week at least until I can start “jogging” again. Of course, probably even when I can start “jogging” I won’t be able to put enough stress on my cardio system to do any good. I may have to keep swimming for a while and overlap that with the beginning phase of my running recovery. But at least it feels like the beginning of a comeback.