Follow Waterville HS senior Alex Jenson's Blog. Jenson is one of the top hurdlers & jumpers in the state. Jenson won't be competing this spring but instead recovering from a torn ACL. Follow Alex this spring as she starts the recovery process.
I have passed the three-week mark and I am feeling better and stronger everyday.
I have been driving to Brunswick 2-4 times a week for my physical therapy. It’s been going well and it feels good every time I add a new exercise. This past week I added biking, hurdle stepovers, unweighted squats, calf raises and hamstring bridges to my list of exercises. The hurdle stepovers are the closest I will get to hurdling this spring but my physical therapist can always make me laugh with his sarcastic comments about my hurdle stepover form. Last season I was sailing over 33 inch hurdles and this season I’m happy to be bending my knee enough to step over 8 inch hurdles.
The only hurdle (pun intended) I have had to overcome since my surgery has been the swelling in my knee still hasn’t subsided. It is a little frustrating because I can only ice and elevate so much before I have to rely strictly on my body to take care of itself. Because of the swelling I was on crutches for an extra week in hopes that it would bring the swelling down. On Wednesday my physical therapist cleared me to use one crutch and I am almost bearing full weight on my left leg. I’m hoping that on my one-month post-op appointment the swelling will be completely gone and I will be walking crutch free and brace free!
A lot of people warned me about the mental toll that this injury would take on me but so far it hasn’t been too bad. I had been working with a sports psychologist prior to my injury for skiing and he has been a great help during my recovery. He really wants me to keep busy so that I don’t have the time to think about what I could be doing if I wasn’t injured. I am constantly getting asked how I am staying so positive through this injury and the answer is as simple as “because I have to”.
I have been living vicariously through track results and I have been “stalking” Milesplit a lot. I use the term stalking lightly but I think I have probably looked at every Maine meet that has taken place in the past month. It’s hard not to look at some of the results and compare the times and distances to some of my own from last season. Although it still makes me sad and a little angry that I’m not running with my team this spring, injuries happen and I know that I can’t get stuck on the “what ifs”.
Community Cup was the first meet I attended since my surgery. Luckily it was a nice day and a fairly flat venue so getting around wasn’t too hard. Community Cup is always a fun meet because there is a lot of friendly competition between all of the teams. It feels good to be part of a strong track program that other teams strive to beat. Coach Wilson has always regarded Community Cup as a tune up meet for KVAC’s and States and even though Waterville won its 9th title, there are areas that need some fine-tuning. With one week to go, I have complete confidence that Waterville will be ready when it really counts.
The championship season has begun and I’m excited to cheer on my team at KVAC’s, States and New Englands. Good luck to all of the Maine teams as they enter championship season!
-Alex Jenson