Knee Surgery-Getting Old is NOT for Sissies.

2016 has proven to be a very frustrating year in terms of my health. I had knee surgery for a torn Meniscus on my right knee back in April. I missed 6 weeks of work and it really put my fitness behind the 8 ball, as it made aerobic work difficult, to say the least. The original injury was from warming up before a Metropolis RFC rugby practice about 9 years ago, when I stepped into a hole while doing some warm up laps. I lived with it for a long time, and finally decided to get the knee worked on, as it was starting to catch on me.

As Harrison Ford said, "It's not the years-it's the mileage"

Well, I had so much fun getting meniscus repair on my right knee, I somehow managed to tear my meniscus and some cartilage on my good, or LEFT knee. I did it while I was recovering from the first knee surgery. It made for a crappy summer and put a major crimp in my training. The knee discomfort forced me to miss Sharkapalooza in New Port Beach, which a a super fun old boys tournament down in Newport Beach, California every August. I have played there with Pasadena RFC and with Huntington Beach. 

Not being able to play any old Boys rugby has been very depressing, to say the least. The knee discomfort has made me feel every one of my 55 (soon to be 56) years. 

Difficulty doing leg training has also made it hard to train for over 50 highland games events. I had to  bow out of throwing in this past weekend's Seaside Highland Games in Ventura, California. I had a really good time competing there back two years ago.

This picture of me wiping out in the hammer throw two years ago sums up my 2016.

I had my left knee meniscus repair a little over two weeks ago, and I am just hoping that I can get back into the swing of things and do a couple of the things that I really enjoy-the camaraderie in rugby and Highland Games sport is pretty hard to beat. Still...it's nice to have a carrot on the stick for me to give me a good reason to keep going to the gym. I have been able to do upper body training, but if you are going to play prop or throw heavy objects, you gotta have a good base to work with, so I am hoping I can get my legs doing better to get back to doing what I love. 

Indeed, Old age is NOT for sissies...