March 31st - April 4th

No training on Thursday the 31st, my body was a bit exhausted from the body-pump the previous day.

Therefore, I celebrated April's arrival with a spinning as well as core-session. Guess I could've had some more resistance during the spinning but it's hard to know how much is enough if you want to be able to accomplish the core-session afterwards as good as possible. Some days the spinning is fairly painless even with a higher level of resistance and some days it kills you after five minutes. The core-sessions are getting easier and easier and for that I'm thankful, don't even want to think of how much pain I was in after the first couple of times.

Went train- and bus-hoboing for hours on the Saturday with a friend all over Stockholm and after that I did feel some pain in my knee which my mom wasn't too happy about. According to her I shouldn't walk longer distances in Converse but according to me it's ugly to wear trainers so no way in hell that's going to happen.

No training yesterday but a couple of hours ago I came home from the physio therapist as well as the gym. Faced my first difficulty when I did the side-jumps and the knee capsule started to ache. On that particular area I've been sore since all this shit started but last time I did the exercise it went completely fine. The physio therapist told me to avoid those kinds of loads for a few days and then try again. Afterwards I crossed the street to the gym and cycled for 20 minutes on level 10 and 8. Did 12x3 in the adduction (44 kg) and abduction (63 kg) machine and after that my intention was to do some back lifting but stupidly I didn't know how to adjust the machine so I finished the session with a bit of stretching. When the joint is warm I can bend the knee almost all the way in, think it was a new record today.

March 30th

Just got home from the body pump-session and felt some improvement from last Sunday. In the end I managed to do an exercise which I impossibly could've done during the last session. So, progress, I like it. Tomorrow's ache will probably be the worst so far in my life, I'll take a picture of my soon-to-be-swollen-biceps and show you. If you wonder about my very healthy intake of nutrients afterwards, it consisted of:

• Three buns.
• Two slices of cake.
• One glass of cordial.

I love having my both grandmas between my house and the bus.

March 23rd - March 30th

Wednesday: Went to the physio therapist in the morning and got some new things to do. Did a couple of exercises that had a higher level of weighting on my knee and thigh such as walking up and down a step (appr. 50 cm high) having the pressure on the right leg. I also got to do the funniest thing so far- dodges (jumping from side to side like an ice-skater). The knee felt really stable which was a relief. If the knee is unstable, I'll most likely have to do a new surgery but as it felt as good as it did, I have the best of gut feelings. In the evening I went to the gym and had the best work out so far. Increased all the weights in the machines (and accidently had 40 kg in the leg push for the injured leg instead of 10, maybe not too clever) and increased some repetitions. However the ones I decreased were in the machines in which I increased the weights the most. My coach told me that what the purpose of my training should be, is to activate the muscles and especially improve their reaction, rather than just building even more muscle-mass. When I get back to floorball the most important thing is that the muscles react as soon as my knee is suddenly rotated and therefore I'll from now on work on my explosiveness, hence the decreased repetitions. Spinning for warm up and and...warm down (the opposite, to get the waste products in the thigh in motion). After that hour I wasn't able to lift my shin bone from the ground, my hamstring sure didn't love me.

On the Thursday I...wait for it...brought my stick and played some floorball! For the first time in almost three months. Fantastically and amazingly wonderful. Even though I didn't do more than some shooting and a few rushes with stick and ball it was just the receipt I needed for my motivation to keep alive. Things are going forward, just like I want it. The knee felt normal when I did the tempo-changes and ran in curves which I think is the situations when the knee is under the most pressure.

No training until Sunday when my first Body Pump-session was on the schedule. Really good work out I must say but I've noticed from the ache that I've had since then that I put way more pressure on my left leg than on my right. Probably unconsciously.

Tuesday yesterday and played some more floorball. Shooting and some careful running with stick and ball.

Wednesday today and a new Body Pump-session in the evening, think I'm going to do some spinning as warm up just before and perhaps stay for a while afterwards and work my back.

March 10th-March 22nd

So, what have I been doing the last couple of weeks? No idea, that's why I'm going to grab my calendar and take a sneak peak.

As I mentioned in the last post, I went to the physio therapist on the 11th and got a new training programme. Lighter weights and fewer repetitions to start off with the week after but screw that, I went to the gym the morning after and began with the exercising a couple of days earlier than what the doctor had told me to. I'm not going to make a comeback if I don't train, right? Anyway, it felt a bit irritating to decrease for instance the weights in the "thigh-push"-machine from 70 kg to 40 with both legs and from 40 to 10 with the injured one. Did some spinning for half an hour and normal physio therapy as well and when the knee is warm I can actually bend it almost the whole way in.

Continued the gym settlement on Monday the 14th and did basically the same as on the Saturday. Jumped of happiness when I without problem could increase the hip abduction from 63 to 72 kg and the adduction from 36 to 45 kg. Also increased the repetitions from 12x3 to 15x3. Was still careful with the knee and kept the weights I'd been adviced to use by the physio therapist.

Didn't go to the gym until Saturday last weekend (the 19th) as the teachers thought that their subjects were more important than my knee. Meanwhile my friend shook her booty in a zumba session (which I will participate in when world peace has come and Gaddafi has turned into a nice person) I went spinning for half an hour and then joined her in the core session. Both my physio therapist and coach (Mr. Chiropractor) have said that a strong core is important if I plan to stay free from future knee injuries as all stability comes from that part.

No training since then but tomorrow morning it's time for physio therapy-meeting again.

In addition, I can announce that my team has advanced to division three, being undefeated the whole season and is the team that has let in the least goals in the whole Stockholm-district, both junior, senior, men and ladies divisions considered. 104 scored and 24 let in in 16 games which gives 6.5 goals done/game and 1.5 goals let in/game. Now that's really good.

Day 31-today

So, here we go again, after exactly two weeks. Last time I wrote, I had just gotten home from a spinning session and the morning after I felt a cold coming. Due to the surgery that I was going to have the Tuesday after (Tuesday last week), I had to stay free from all sorts of infections and illnesses and because of that I didn't do any exercise except for some minor physio therapy up until the day of operation.
The arthroscopy went well and the anaesthesia was just purely awesome. Afterwards, the doctor came to me and said that what they had found out was that my cruciate ligament is 50% torn and that it is the half of the ligament that controls the rotation stability (tell me about it, I've felt that a couple of times). Also, I had lots of scar tissue between the kneecap and the ligament which they erased while they were in there. No pain during the first couple of days and straight after I woke up I felt that extending the leg was much easier. She also said that there are two alternatives to consider at the return visit in 6 weeks:

1. If I have managed to built a muscle power sufficient to keep the knee stabilized in every motion and rotation, I most likely won't have to do the surgery when they repair the ligament.
2. If muscle power just isn't enough, I will have to do the surgery and that would mean a rehabilitation period of 6-9 months. That is saying that I won't be able to play floorball until 2012 and thinking about that is just causing a mental breakdown.

However, the good thing in this is that I according to the doctor actually have a chance to not do the surgery. If they had thought that "No way that you're gonna play with that knee", they would have repaired the ligament instantly or booked in a new operation straight away. So, what I have to do for the next couple of weeks is to live at the gym and get steroid-legs. Have been to the physio therapist once since the surgery and going there this Friday as well. In the beginning of next week I can start working with the machines at the gym but will have to create a new programme with lighter weights and fewer repetitions to get the knee used to exercising again.

Just took the last bandage off my knee and see two small dots. Those scars will be pretty at my wedding...

Day 27-30

Sunday: Rest-day that day, the ache in the abdominal muscles after the core-session the previous day wasn't something you wanted to play around with. Also my thighs felt a bit pumped out of energy after the spinning-session.
Monday: Went to the gym again and worked out with the ususal machines. Started off by spinning-interwalls for 15 minutes with the levels 14 respectively 10 but had to decrease both two levels after five minutes. Never overestimate your own ability just because your friend has thighs like Ben Johnson and a determination as great as a robot's. Added one round of repetitions on almost everything and also started to do back liftings- 10x4- to prevent future injuries (some clever guy told me that a strong back might be good for you but I don't know, maybe he lied).
Tuesday: Went to see our normal floorball practice and was just about to start the physio therapy when I was interrupted by a man from the national radio station's sport section. Honestly, I knew this a week in advance so I'm sorry if I sounded completely surprised. He asked me (as the team captain and because our coach thinks that I'm the one who can talk to grown ups without feeling uncomfortable) about the current measures our club is taking to enhance the chances for the a-teams to climb in the charts and also a bit about my injury and upcoming surgery. Have I mentioned that I'm getting an arthroscopy on Tuesday? No, don't think so but that's the case. Thus, if you understand Swedish you can listen to Radiosporten on P4 sometime next week and you'll hear a spluttering giant baby in falsetto, that's supposed to be me.
Wednesday: Went to my physio therapist this morning and for once, I actually got to exercise. Primarily my thighs and afterwards I could barely walk downwards in stairs normally. She said that we were not going to make anything harder before the surgery and that I just have to keep on going with the training programme I have. Booked in a new meeting with her next Friday, three days after the surgery when the knee hopefully has started to loosen up and gotten rid of the stiffness. Came home from a one-hour spinning session a couple of hours ago and God it felt good to sweat like that! Maybe spinning isn't the best you could do to improve your gone stamina, but the thighs are now drop dead. Note to self- never train the heck out of your thighs and then expect a spinning session to be as a sunny summer's day by the ocean.

Ledsen Anders om jag överdrev lite inom den där parentesen om radiointervjun men jag tar mig den friheten eftersom du tvingade mig att göra bort mig. Hoppas du har det bra i Spanien, ta med lite värme hem.

Day 19-26

Issues with the account, quite strange since my usual blog's been working properly the whole week. Anyway, I'll give you a quick resumé- last Saturday to Tuesday I didn't go the gym but did some physio therapy at home. Nothing extreme, felt a cold coming thus my body was pretty tired. Went to the gym on Wednesday and started with the normal machines, didn't increase the weights though, just stuck to the programme I used the week before. I did manage to squeeze some spinning interwalls for 20 minutes in but I really noticed how lame my muscles were. No training on Thursday and yesterday my friend forced me to come to a spinning/core-session, 30 minutes each. Sadly, the music playlist at the spinning wasn't that challenging so my stamina was barely worked on. The core-session was however awful, we were shaking like aspen leaves after 15 minutes and I'm not sure if we even "beat" the fat woman infront of us which was our common goal. Although if I am to defend ourselves, my friend's a goalie and I'm a cripple so losing that battle might be justified.

Now, the fun part of this post begins. Yesterday I also went to the knee specialist and what a professional I got to meet! Told her my version of the story, was asked to take my pants off, the knee was examined for barely a minute and after that she was pretty sure that doing an arthroscopy is the only way to really get to know what type of injury it is. According to her, you can only tell that there really is an injury on the cruciate ligament by doing an MRI but not see which sort of injury. Therefore, the easiest way is to go in with a camera and take a look and meanwhile clean some shit up inside of the joint capsule which she thought was the reason for why I don't have optimal movability. She continued:
- So, I'll put you up on the priority list and we'll have the surgery within 14 days.
You say WHAT? 14 days?! That's nothing! But I'm happy, not complaining at all, just glad that they want to fix it as quickly as I want to. Looking forward to it!