After our second training camp of the summer in Bend, OR I rushed back to Canmore to have my knee surgery the next day. I have been dealing with a bad knee for almost 5 years now, but lately it was bothering me more and more. The surgery went well but it's too early to tell if it's made a difference. Recovery so far has been a slow and boring process, the first week was for sure the toughest. I am so used to being active and always on the move, keeping myself busy, so to be stuck lying down icing almost all day was pretty much the worst kind of torture for me. After getting through the first week, I was given the green light to start physio and walking. The team set me up with a really amazing physio in Calgary to help me get better. I am making sure that I am doing everything I can since this is a pretty serious setback. I have been working with Kevin Wagner at the Calgary Olympic Park, this guy is the real deal, he is so knowledgeable and I have no doubt he will leave me stronger than I have ever been. The first day of physio made me feel a bit discouraged…I was barely able to do a half squat with 25 lbs total… It’s a demoralizing feeling when your brain is telling the muscle to fire but nothing happens. I have been working hard and my knee is slowly improving. I am now able to do some uphill walking, spinning on a bike and half-squats on a wall with body weight.
This past week I travelled down to Pacific City, Oregon for a surf trip with my little brother.
I wasn’t doing much surfing, I was more there for moral support for Austin in the water. I had so much fun teaching him how to surf and watching how fast he picked it up.
One of the days I rented a kayak to do some paddling intensity to try and save some of my fitness. After intensity I took the kayak into the surf and caught some really fun waves. It's crazy how big the waves feel when you are sitting in a kayak. It was intimidating looking up at the waves and realizing that I don’t really know what I’m doing in a kayak. I had a few close calls in the kayak...I'm sure a few kids had their life flash before them when my kayak was careening towards them. Somehow I managed to keep stay upright and not injure any kids all day.
One of the days when the surf was small I had a the idea to build a 100ft waterski rope and tie it to the back of my car and attempt to tow Austin on his surfboard. After a few tries we finally were able to get him going!
We found this shark on our morning beach bike ride! It was really cool to see this beautiful animal up close. I glad we didn’t get this close in the water!
Now I am back to physio here in Canmore until I am cleared to start doing my regular ski training again. It has been a nice break from normal training. I worked really hard all summer and I know I can get my fitness back in no time when my knee feels stronger. The main priority right now is just making sure my knee is completely healed so I don’t prolong my recovery.
Breaking News: I was given the Ok to go stand up paddling this morning, felt awesome to be back on the water!!
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