I had surgery for a torn meniscus and have been able to return to Ironman racing. I am much more cautious about the running mileage than I was before. I am happy to still be on the playing field at 61.

Thanks Ian

Thats positive as I am younger

Thanks for feedback

Torn meniscus (had surgery) in 2015 when I was 54......compared to other triathlete stories in ST, my recovery was longer than most. It took me over a year to get back to feeling 90% when I ran. I lost 30 seconds + off my pre-injury mile pace. I only run 2-3 times per week now, usually 4-6 miles at a time. Im also dealing with arthritis, which exacerbates the twinges and aches..... That said, I did HIM in 2016 and 2017 and I did IM Maryland in 2018 (4:44 IMMD marathon on a relatively low volume run training regimen). I tend to think each individual's injury and recovery path is unique, so its tough to compare against others. Best wishes for a complete recovery.

Much Appreciated on response

Well Done on what you have achieved since injury

I'm 29. Had multiple meniscus surgeries. Longest recovery was 3-4 months. The last one was only ~6 weeks.

Highly suggest finding a PT that treats a lot of athletes and understands that it's not just about strengthening the muscles around the knee but also hips, core, etc.

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Strava

Thanks for feedback

Yep will get good PT

Torn meniscus and surgery spring 2017 when I was 57. It went well. I was able to do my IM that fall without incident. Still pounding out the miles. Now my other knee......

I tripped during a x-country race in 2008 and partially tear my left medial horn. I essentially had a piece of meniscus flapping in the breeze in my left knee. I was 48 at the time.

First doctor told me he couldn't fix it and that my running days were gone.

Second doctor told me he could perform surgery and reattach it but it may not heal correctly and I would still be in pain. There isn't a lot of blood flow in that area.

Third doctor was the orthopedic doctor for the NY Jets. (the advantages of living in the Tri-State area). He essentially told me to "man-up." He said that with the proper PT and sufficient amount to guts I should be able to go back to doing whatever I wanted, as longs as I didn't mind a little pain.

11 years later and here I am, still doing whatever I want, although there are nights when the only way I can go to sleep is with ALEVE. I don't go to PT any longer, but I still do the exercises on my own when I think about it. It isn't exactly brain surgery

Small price to pay.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

Have had back to back surgery on both knees in consecutive years. I water ran (sometimes up to 2 1/2 hours) prior to surgery so was in exceptional shape. Doc made me promise to not run for 2 weeks, which I did. 2 days after the first one I was in the water running. Ran 2 weeks to the day; 10 miles within a month. The next year similar scenario but MRI missed all the damage in the meniscus so did the surgery after weeding out other possibles. Stayed awake on both to hear what he said, as I had been running for a number of years already and was over 50. Both knees, no wear, arthritis, or ligament damage and multiple tears, flaps, scar tissue, etc. Second surgery he said I could ride the indoor bike the next day......which I did painfully. After 45 mins it loosened a lot and rehab was on its way. I did no PT, as he said he'd "slow me down". Again, ran after 2 weeks. On BOTH some pain existed for almost a year, but different and not in the same spot as before surgery. Not enough to bother much, as he told me it was nothing structural. Both were before my 1 st distance race longer than a 1/2 IM, and now, 10 IM races and multiple ITU WC races, my knees are better than ever at 68. Listen to your body and determine which pain is good, and which bad. My experience with myself and others is that a very conservative rehab does NOT lead to good results. Move it or it will stiffen and cause other issues.

You'll be fine and the 2 week layoff may actually help you! Good luck!

Just do your own research and talk to as many people as you can. What I learned is that there are many different types of meniscus tears and pro's and con's to having surgery and not having surgery. I tore mine in January (Medial Meniscus)....the surgeon didn't want to do surgery and instead wanted to do a very conservative approach with PT, etc... Additionally, he said at times, when we read an MRI and see meniscus tear, we think that is where the pain in the knee is coming from. In my case, he said the MRI also showed a deep bone bruise on the knee and guessed that is more where the pain was from. I took 9 Weeks completely off running, did a crap load of biking an swimming. Slowly got back into running ....while I am not "out of the woods"--I am running and feeling pretty good. Just need to wait and see how the knee feels after I build some volume back

Also, a pretty good article on the issue....

https://www.motionspecificrelease.com/...HIgp8xTHzH1d6tGHEBg4

My one piece of advice would be to make sure you build and keep strength is that leg. I consciously/subconsciously babied that leg which caused more problems than the surgery. You need to have strong balanced muscle the keep things functioning well. As I have pushed harder the better it has felt and performed. If you don’t it will cause issues moving forward.

I had mine done in 2012.
Cut the 2nd week of June.
On a bike the next day (trainer no resistance 10 min)
Started PT 1 wk later
Riding outside within 2 weeks
Running Altra G treadmill in a few weeks
Swimming as soon as the stitches came out.
I did a sprint tri in Sept of the Same year.

I had a full tri season the following year with zero impact from the surgery. This included Ironman Lake Tahoe.

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2017 Cervelo P2
2017 Cervelo S2
itraininla.com
#itraininla

Thanks All

Surgery booked in for Wednesday

Great positive feedback!

Been 5 months going through the medical process
so itching to get things under way!

I've had that surgery twice. Took me about a month before I was jogging again. My first one I had done in early August and still did IMFL in late October. I was 39 at the time. My second one healed even quicker.

I’ve had this surgery maybe 6 times (so many time, I’ve now lost track!). Obviously everyone is different, but you should be fine. Recovery is short.

Good move. Best wishes for the great results many of us have had. You'll be back in the game soon.....

I torn mine in 2012 or 13... I don't remember..but you can add a few cruciate ligaments to my list to go with the meniscus.

I think it depends on the severity of the damage to the meniscus, in my case I dont have much left on my so my mileage is nearly non-existent and I limit myself to 5k-10k at most. I've never done full IM but before the tear halfIM definitely possible.

thank you, that is about the best overview I've seen..

If all else fails there's always AquaBike!

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"They know f_ck-all over at Slowtwitch"
- Lionel Sanders

Thanks so much. I thought so as well. Glad you found it interesting.

Lateral tear in 2014 at the age of 51. Saw a surgeon who told me to give it another two weeks (it has been 6 already) and try to run on it. If it still hurt he would do surgery. It did. I did pre-hab before the surgery to strengthen muscles to support it post surgery and then continued after surgery including joining a strength gym.

They only took 15% of my meniscus and surgeon said the rest of my knee looked great for someone my age. I was able to get back to biking and swimming quickly, but I took my time on running to make sure I have no setbacks. Did short distance tris and running races for a few years before getting back into IM.

If I could have avoided surgery, I would have. I didn't want to give up running.

Echoing the comments above - every injury is different; however, the surgery can be a wonderful thing. I torn mine (during a race no-less!) in 2010. After waiting about 6-weeks hoping it would improve on its own (it didn't) I had the surgery and was racing my annual Turkey Trot 10k only 2 months later with an identical time as the prior year. Here is my big tip - pick a good physical therapist with a Game Time Ice machine and if possible also a Zero-G treadmill (they can be hard to find). These two aids will speed up your recovery...good luck!

I think you mean GameReady... but yeah I own one... it's pretty cool. (pun intended) I basically have a rolling recovery service between GameReady and Normatec.