NEWS & EVENTS
FLOYD LANDIS Two Month Medical Progress Update
Brent W. Kay, M.D.
November 30, 2006 Murrieta, CA - Floyd has now passed the eight-week mark since his Birmingham Hip Resurfacing procedure. His recovery from the operation went extremely well. In brief review; Floyd returned home the day following his procedure on September 17. He began physical therapy within another day and began spinning lightly on his Cyclops cycling trainer within the first five days. Looking back, that week in September may go down as one of the most important weeks relative to Floyd's health.
Since our last update, Floyd has been slowly transitioning from his original physical therapy routines that focused on stretching and flexibility drills over to more time on his bike. It's been very cool to see Floyd get some bike time with the new hip, not only because it symbolizes Floyd resuming his training but also because we have one of the greatest athletes in the world who now has addressed a physical issue that had been limiting his potential. With his new and improved hip we have yet to see the best performances from Floyd.
A recent performance of note was Sunday, November 26. Floyd and I were invited to be part of traditional Sunday group ride north of Los Angeles. Over 60 miles, nearly four hours and 4500 feet of climbing, this was to be Floyd's longest, most difficult training ride yet. Like a true professional, Floyd had a perfect day at the office. The ride was beautiful, first heading southwest to the coast, winding down the Pacific Coast Highway before turning up the famous Yerba Buena Road. Yerba Buena is a very tough climb. It is almost eight miles of climbing at varied gradients. Decent pavement and scenic views are the reward as you climb. The descent that followed was another illustration of how confident Floyd is with his new hip. He literally FLEW down the mountain. If you didn't know it, you'd be hard pressed to believe that Floyd was on crutches about a month ago.
Here is some Power Tap data from the ride: Average watts for 3 hours and 48 minutes: 250w Yerba Buena Road Climb Average Watts: 380w Yerba Buena Road Climb Max Watts: 500w
Floyd is now at the point where he has no physical limitations related to his hip. Soft-tissue healing continues as the muscular strength in the area returns. He still has some work to do on his flexibility and range of motion and has specific drills for this but most of his continuing rehab work will be on the bike. On the bike, his training hours will be going up. Looking ahead, there are many. |
