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den 16 februari 2004
improving every day
Dear friends,
The new racing season is here. Daytona 500 this weekend and the first Indy Car race in just 2 weeks in Homestead, Florida. The team has been busy testing in preparations for the first race and I hope for a good start of the season, everything becomes so much easier then. We’ll see soon.
It feels a little strange not to be able to be in the middle of the action and instead follow everything from home. But I have made very good strides in rehab the last couple of weeks and feel more and more energized for each week that goes by.
Weekly that’s how the improvements come. Mondays I feel the best and then by Friday I feel really tired after having worked out maximum everyday.
Then I get a couple of days rest over the weekend and then we start over again.
I am still not sure when I will be back to “normal” but I can tell you that I am very determined to make an as fast recovery as possible and am working as hard as I can.
In one month I have gone from being “wheelchair bound” to walking on my own without any aids. My level of energy has also greatly improved, I can without problems manage everything I need on my own now and be up all day.
A couple of friends came over from New York to visit and we went out Friday night. We drank lots of fluid and had a good time. I am not quite sure how I managed to walk up the stairs when I got back home on crutches, but nevertheless it’s a sign as good as ever that I am on my way back to normal!
Apart from that, this weekend I’ve been taking it very easy, trying to rest as much as possible as it’s been a grueling week in terms of physical activity. Last Monday we started to workout with heavier weights as my bones, or more precisely, the right ankle now can take it. I felt really tired and sore Friday and Saturday. Worst were my right ankle as we have stretched and pulled it in an effort to get the mobility and full movement back after 4 month of nearly no activity. But like the saying goes “no pain no gain”.
A week ago I could actually walk on my own for the first time, without any aids. It was a great feeling. But now, in the end of the week, I am using one crutch to take some of the load off the right ankle so that it has a chance to rest up from all “punishment”.
The rest is as an important factor as the actual workouts. In order to improve you need to carefully balance this.
Now I feel I have taken another leap to the next fitness level. This week we are going to work with even heavier weights to break me down once again. And so the week’s goes by, and my strength improves. I have gained about 6 kilos (about 15 pounds) to 61 kilos in the last month so things are really improving from this respect too.
Having said all this I am not sure if the improvements will continue in this tempo or if it will slow down and become harder and harder to reach the next level. I guess I will only know how this progress works after the fact. The most important is that one enjoys what one does and I do, to many that may seem strange. I see it as just another “project”, like so many I have taken on during my career. You can get through most things if you believe you can and are prepared to put in the work required.
Sometimes before you know your limits it’s easy to become overconfident and think that you can do more than you actually you can. Last weekend I had such a situation. I visited a friend who is in the hospital. As I was very happy being able to walk on my own I took no crutch with me, just an extra item to carry, right, and I was not going to need it anyway. But I guess I forgot how big hospitals are. After having walked for about 30 minutes and nowhere near his room, I was in the middle of this long corridor and I just could not go on anymore because my ankle hurt so much. I walked like a bad imitation of John Wayne. After a while a nurse came by and I got her to get me a crutch and the journey could continue. After about 15 more minutes and still nowhere near his room I was stuck again. I got hold of another nurse and after cursing to her about parking lots and distances she got me a wheelchair. In the end I reached his room. Perhaps not the way I wanted. Nonetheless, it was a very good workout!
It felt a little strange not to be the patient but I had no problems recollecting how it feels to be laid up in the hospital.
Karma is doing good too. She’s growing and is now starting to smile and do all kinds of facial expressions we’re just not sure what all of it means just yet!
We’ll talk again soon.
All best,
Kenny
kennybrack.com
KB
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