Do you remember how I’ve been talking about this big sticking point in my range of motion?
It’s been over 5 weeks now and it was driving me absolutely nuts!
(For reference I had a right allograft ACL reconstruction on May 21, 2026. 5 months ago now!!)
There’s been highs & lows the whole recovery process, but I was surprised how much this sticking point was getting to me.
It felt like all my progress had stalled out and all my hard work was getting me nowhere.
You don’t have to be experiencing an ACL recovery to feel that way either.
Plateaus to Breakthroughs
Maybe it’s a weight that won’t increase, a skill that’s not clicking, or a race PR you can’t seem to beat.
When I figure skated it took me an entire year to learn the axel jump.
Recently it’s been my sticky range of motion that was preventing me from getting cleared for running.
Of course, it’s frustrating and some days are pretty darn discouraging, but give it time.
My motto this month was “small progress is still progress.”
Throughout the month I noticed my ladder drills got quicker & my snaps became more confident.
Even if my ROM wasn’t smoothing out, I was still progressing in other meaningful areas.
The 2nd thing I focused on was being patient and letting myself recover.
Gasp, what?!
I know! In a sport that’s training so many different things and racing all the time and it seems like there’s never enough time to do it all… slow down.
Some things take time. Patience is hard (I’m exceptionally awful at it! lol) but I tried my best the last couple weeks to step back and not stress about my progress.
Sometimes it just takes consistency in the everyday grind to move the needle.
And guess what??
The needle MOVED!!
This week my knee has felt amazing (even with a cold front!) and my PT retested my Y-balance…
I passed!!
They let me try out the Boost zero gravity treadmill and I got to RUN!!
For a total of 3 whole minutes!!
(1:00 3mph, 0:30 5.4mph @ 3x 60% bodyweight & 3x 70% bodyweight)
I’ve missed running so much, it was a huge deal to get to finally run again!!
I’ve never been prouder of 3 minutes in my life. I definitely cried happy tears on the way home!🙌🏼
My knee handled it great and I’m so excited to go to PT this week!!
BUT the point is, plateaus happen to everyone at some point or another.
It just takes patience and persistence to work through them and finally hit your breakthrough!
Knee Update...
I’m 22 weeks post ACL reconstruction!
You already got the update, here’s some pics from PT recently!
(Boost treadmill & Humac Norm)
Speaking of finally…
I finally launched my first 2 DIY Race Prep Programs!
6 Week Deka Build
6 Week Deadly Dozen Build
These are built as 2d/wk race specific blocks you can easily add to your current routine or stack with the Hybrid Strength DIY base program!
Best of luck in your training this week!🍀
