Before I begin, let me preface that I am not a medical professional and hold no qualifications or certifications (even meaningless ones where you pay one thousand bucks for a t-shirt), and the last anatomy class I took was a 3 week unit in 9th grade biology. I am, however, a lawyer, so I know I need to cover my ass because inevitably someone may rely on this shit. So what I’m saying here is solely based on my own personal experiences, observations, and the ever trust-worthy interwebs. Follow at your own risk.
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| 8 weeks before WTM |
Injury is an inevitable part of being an athlete. It feels
kind of weird to say that, for two reasons: (1) I’ve never really considered
myself “an athlete”, and (2) up until about a year ago, aside from a few broken
bones growing up, I’ve never really been injured. Hurt, yes – but never a
diagnosable injury that has taken me out of training for more than a week or
two at a time.
Within a week of turning 30 (so stereotypical, I know), the
wheels began to come off. 2014 was a year of recovery/rehab from one injury,
only to lead to another injury, probably resulting from compensating from the previous injury. Frustrating, to say the least.
So when people ask me how I came back so quickly from knee
surgery to win World’s Toughest Mudder, I tell them – LOTS of practice. Like
any sport or skill, I’d like to think you can get really good at rehab. While a lot of it has been through trial and
error (I still have a problem finding a good balance), but I’ve learned a fair
number of things along this rehab journey.
