Ok… here we go… week three. Over the past two weeks I did a great job babying my knee. No weight for two weeks kept the swelling down to a minimum. I Managed to get around pretty good on crutches over the past few weeks…. but now it was time to say goodbye to the helpful sticks under my arms. I hit up thereapy at the great Howard Head physical therapy center at the beginning of week three. My two therapists Kristen and Barb, basically slapped me upside the head and asked me why I was still using cruthes with NO weight on my bum leg. Hmmmmph…. Apparently I was allowed to put 50% of weight on “Rolley” (Rolley is my knee, I named it). Did not know that I had the OK to put weight on my knee around mid way through the 2nd week. So skip the 50% weight bearing stage and let’s just jump into 100% weight on Rolley, and heck why don’t you try walking. Kind of scary…. but after the muslces remembered their role I was limping around the PT clinic.
My instructions for the next few days where to use one crutch opposite of the bum leg and work on full extension while I step out. Tough task ahead me I came to realize quite quickly as my kinked leg liked it current position.
The goals for week 3-
1. To obtain 0 degrees while sitting on the floor. (basically to have full leg extension completly straight while at a resting sitting position on the floor.
2. To get my range of motion to approx 120 degrees.
3. Reduce the swelling.
4. Walking without a limp.
The problem- Very quickly I became mobile with 1 crutch and 3 days into week three no crutches…..but with the mobililty I gained, also brought a ton of swelling. Huge problem. With the swelling I was unable to progress with my range of motion and full leg extension. I actually degressed within just a few days of being 100% on my leg. Kind of bummed me to be honest. Quickly I tackled the swelling, tons of ice and basically stayed off it for two straight days. Tons of PT, ICE and Rest put me right on schedule as far as my progress goes. (Oh, I also did a ton of massaging to my own knee cap to break up the scar tissue, very helpful)
Happy to be where I am at right now but I did learn the hard way from my AMAZING therapist, Kristen, who quickly put in my place once I lost control of my swelling and my range of motion degressed. I will be sure to stay on top of it this week and hopefully the weeks to come.

The second week after ACL surgery was basically all about Physical Therapy. A typical day consists of: Morning PT for about 45 minutes, which consisted of massaging my knee cap (which breaks up scar tissue), quad raises, the dreaded wall slides (working on extension and range of motion) and finally some light squats. After I finish my exercises, ICE!! Then I usually wait 30 mins and ICE again. I have come to the conclusion that ICE and elevation are extremely essential to my recovery. I notice a huge difference with my swelling level when I skip an ice session. I repeat these steps approx 3 to 4 times a day. When it’s time to hop in bed….I hook up the CPM machine (Continuous Passive Movement) and rock it through the night. The CPM machine, a component that you strap your whole leg in… and it moves your leg from a straight position to a bent position. Back and forth, and back and forth. There are different speed and flex settings that you can adjust the machine too. Not my favorite part of the day.
Towards the end of the week I had a visit my therapist. NOT GOOD! My therapist took one look at my knee/leg and I knew I was in trouble. Yup!! She whooped me into shape pretty quickly. Apparently I was not pushing it hard enough in my PT at home. My range of motion was only about 90 degrees where it should be 110 degrees by the second week. Also I was not able to extend my leg into a straight position (0 degrees). I was not happy. Especially since I have been doing PT 3-4 times a day!! What the…Two main reasons why I was not at 110 degrees and not able to have a straight leg: I was not pushing through the pain in my personal PT, and second, I become much more mobile the second week and was on my feet which resulted in swelling in the knee. I walked out of PT and was pissed. I took the next two days off from being on my feet and basically PTed around the clock. No worries….125 degrees in 36 hours. Back on track and hopped on a bike today.
Words of advice- You will not hurt yourself, PUSH yourself in the PT!! And ice, ice and ice!!

The first week after ACL surgery was quite the roller coaster. Having NO idea what to expect, all considering it went ok…. not good but rather just ok. Bam…. next day I was off to rehab. I had a thousand questions for the therapist and surprisingly left there feeling good. OF COURSE I felt good, it was the fact that I had a nerve block tapped into my femoral artery that distracted me from what my body should really feel. The nerve block’s purpose is basically to limit the amount of feeling from the groin down. Leaving the hospital with a little fannie pack filled with anesthesia that was on a drip to my femoral artery was unexpected…. in hindsight…. a gift from heaven. BUT.. beware future ACL surgerical repaired paitents, once your fannie pack of anesthesia is gone, typically 3 days after surgery, your’re in for a rude awakening. I took a look at my little anesthesia ball only to find it was empty which meant it was time to remove the IV from your femoral artery. Seems scary and a little bit unnerving, but not a big deal. The IV is a little bigger then your floss you use at home and it simply just slides right out and you feeling nothing. Once my nerve block was removed, pain, pain and more pain. Time to up the pain meds. I am not a huge fan of the heavy pain realivers, but became one for a few days.
I was told to keep up on my pain meds religiously. If you skip a dose or are late even by a half hour…. plan on pain. I learned real quick to keep up on my pain meds the first few days. Once the nerve block runs out, expect more pain. I actually ended up giving my doc a shout on the phone and he gave me the OK to up my pain killer dose.
OK!! As much as I loved the pain meds… ON day 5 the pain disappeared and in came the nausea. To my knowledge the pain meds made me sick to my stomach. Ahhhh it was awful. Day 6 was the last day I took a pain pill.
I want to throw out a thank you to my 2 sisters and brother in law. The first week I was completly laid out and not able to do anything on my own. It is pretty crazy that your once powerful leg turns complety into just a slab of meat. Literally my awesome sister’s and bro had to physically pick up my leg and move it every time I had to move. There was no way the first week that I could use my own leg muscles to move my leg. Thank you fam. If you are going to have ACL surgery or already had it and have questions, post a comment and I would love to get back to you.
Tommy Gogolen

While playing soccer a couple of weeks ago, Tommy had a freak hit from a fellow competitor which tore his ACL. Fortunately he was refered to Dr. Tom Hackett in Vail who has performed surgery on a number of professional athletes. Tommy is already rehabing and hopes to be on a stationary bike this week, which would be ahead of schedule. He hopes to return in February, giving him a goal for rehab of 6 months. Injury and rehab are not a new situation for Tommy and he is looking to return stronger and more motivated than ever.

Race day… Last race day might I add!! Wake this morning feeling pumped for today’s race. Pumped, but anxious because this is the last race of the Worlds. After breakfast I took off early to head to the hill to get in a little alone, focus,and train time in. Inspection begun…and nerves kicked in. Today was the Sprint Classic which includes GS gates, Jump, More GS gates, go into the wrap, and then a short skate at the finish. The trail is a world wide famous trail for hosting World Cup events on the Alpine skiing circuit. Super demanding, icy, steap and rolling knolls.

Start time!! Nerves nerves and more nerves. Jump in the start gate, no teammates because I was the last American down the hill. The goal was to limit the penalties. I figured if I slowed down a bit and concentrate on making clean turns I would avoid the penalties. Time to rip, I skied the top conservative (so I thought) got to the first big roller and nailed it….Pumped…. had a few turns before the jump, picked up a penalty as I knew I did not make a proper tele turn…the jump…boosted off it and nailed the line landing in a perfect tele turn, after the jump I opened it up and let the skis run baby…cranked a few turns trying to gain some time…had two more big turns left and got really late barely making the gates…headed into the rap (which was extremely dicey today) and then off to the skate where I have learned that the skate might actually be a strong point for me, weird…. got into the skate to be greeted by tons of fans… made the first switch back and met a few of my teammates inside the ropes running along side me cheering me to the finish…. powered through the skate and felt strong through the finish….instantly looked up a the jumbo tron…..saw myself in my yellow and purple suit, saw my bib number 53 then saw my place……25th….shocked…..and split second later my teammate comes up to me and throws a huge hug to me and says “Tommy, 1 penalty!!”
Finally I slammed a good run down without a ton of penalties.

Nerves nerves and more nerves…The second run was later in the day for TV purposes so that it would be aired prime time. 600,000 viewers viewed it two days ago. My teammates very pumped for my good run that I posted and encouraged me to put down one more run…it was good to hear that from a few of them.

Second run- Depending on how you finish the first run determines where you start for the second run. So instead of going 53rd like I did the first run, I went 25th and moved up a lot. This is a good thing because the course will be smoother since there were will be less traffic. Well as I am waiting at the top of the hill to race my 2nd run all the guys that are usually standing around are no where to be seen… Its all the guys that I have been watching and learning from all week..all the guys that have been finishing in the top 20….Arrrrrhh, nervous feeling it… I tried not to let any doubt or insecurity creep into my head but rather stay focused…

I am not sure if I mentioned this or not in my earlier emails, but I did have a personal goal for myself. That was to finish in the top half of the field. In the previous races, I have not accomplished that.

Race time!!! (I will make this one quick) This time all my teammates were at the top!!! They got me quite pumped up as I blasted out of the start and was in my charge attack mode. I skied the top fast, picked up a few quick penalties but charged on to the jump. Once again, nailed the jump and skied hard to the wrap…. hit the wrap well and then off to the skate….huge burden off my shoulders as I knew I had the hard part of the course done and I could let it all hang out in the skate. Killed the skate as I made up time there for some of the penalties I picked up. Crossed the finish line and was happy. Not as good as my first run. But I came to the World Championships with a goal set, and I reached it!! 28th place. I am thrilled!!!

My team and coaches were quite excited for my result as were a few of my new friends from other countries that I met.
Walked away from today, feeling…thankful. I am blessed with the opportunity just to be here. Thank you Lord for the gifts you have giving me.

Well after 2 days off from racing…. tomorrow is race day!! It has been a fun stress free 2 days but now its time to get refocsued and see if I can get post another solid result. It has been a great 2 days off filled with plenty of time to get to know other races and just kick it with team members. Oh, and I also have been spending tons of time with the gate judges. I’m Serious!!! They are all college students, and besides the fact that they are the gate judges ,they are a great time……hmmm, I might have other motives as well.

Well, last day of racing coming up! I am very excited and anxious to get out there and race. We race tomorrow on the other side of the mtn where it is more suitable for fans to access. Today a bunch of TV trucks arrived as well as tons of huge tents were set up. Since this is the weekend, the organization is expecting a lot of spectators to arrive tomorrow. It will be filmed on TV, and be able to be stream it online at www.fromsportcom.com. (thats not a misprint with the com’s) The times are 11:30 to 12:30 and 3:00-4:15ish. Your time would be 4:30am MST and 8 am MST. You eastern time people, do the math youself. The TV station was kind enough to give each team a DVD of the full coverage of the race. Ummmm….it was awesome to watch.

Race day tomorrow, means early night in bed. Kind of bummer, cuz there is fun stuff going on in all the tents set up outside of our condo right now. The local Norwegians are out and about having a good time. Me, in bed, trying to be responsible before race day.

link to article

Today was the GS!! No skate, just gates and a jump. I was pretty pumped after taking a good look at the course during inspection. It was a wide open course set. Meaning…. it was going to be FAST!! Not so technical…. but more athleticism. Time to let em rip.

The jump….I was hoping to be a little more difficult, but because it was a fast course, guys were holding great speed into the jump clearing the line.

Before my last lift ride up to go tear through this course I was down by the lift when seriously 4 school buses showed and dropped off students to watch the race. It was incredible!!! They had horns, signs, painted faces, and thunder sticks. As I walked by to get my skis 4 boys came up to me waiving an American banner that they made and had me all give them high fives. Really cool.
Jumbo tron!!! Well a few months ago I was on the jumbo tron at an MLS soccer game for dancing during half time…. this time I was going to be on the TRON skiing it up. The jumbo tron was awesome….it was so cool to be down at the bottom and watch your teammate rip out of the starting gate and have TV cams follow them all the way to the bottom… all this being displayed to the crowd on the jumbo tron. Seriously, the jumbo tron was one of the highlights of the trip so far.

Start time!!! I was super excited, and very nervous. Nervous that I was going to crash while this thang is nationally televised. I mean there is no disguise if you screw up big time. Nerv racking to be honest, cuz you want to ski fast but also do want to make it down in one piece. Also, tons of Norwegians lined the course as well cheering you on for a little added pressure.

Race time- Ripped out of the starting gate and nailed the steep section of the course, felt really good and gained some quick confidence. Got to a flat section and tried to remember my new technique that I have been working on with the coaching staff to avoid penalties. But… tough to recall those things when you are actually racing. Coming out of the flat section I had a ton of speed and I felt good heading into the jump!!! Jump came and I boosted off it clearing the line by a huge margin (not good) making me late for the next gate that I barely made. (sidenote… the jump is an odd thing, you have to make sure you clear the line, you have to jump as hard and far as you can, but if you go to far then it puts you in trouble, but if you dont go far enough then you get penalized 3 secs. Most guys dont clear the line) Made a great recovery move and had one more steep section before I headed to the finish. I decided to let the skis go, and rip. Took a chance, but I was feeling good so I went for it. As I was approaching the finish I felt good, fast!!!!

Got to the finish, looked up to the jumbo tron, saw myself,(cool feeling) heard my teammates cheering for me, heard my time from the announcer, heard my teammates react to my fast time, heard the crowd react to my fast time considering I started so back in the pack and moved up, 25th place, my heart leaped, and then heard my penalties!!!!

booo,Plagued by penalties again…Got 7 penalties which knocked me back to 39th. Bummer… but encouraging, cuz I felt good. My teammates and coaches were pumped on my time for sure, and encouraged me to get rid of those penalties and I was in there. Went to the video real quick in between runs, only to NOT find where my penalties where and little confused. Out of the Americans, I had the 4 fasted raw time with no penalties added, but once you added them I was 7 of 11.

Second run…… same story. I thought I skied cleaner but I guess not. Its not the judges by the way, its me… I just have to figure it out. I skied fast again, but knocked with penalties. Only 30% cleared the jump, as the line was farther down the hill 2nd run. Not a problem. Its those silly penalties. Finished 44th.

All and all….happy with the day. I skied really well, and proved to myself I can compete with these guys.

What an atmosphere as well. Eeeesh, autographs, high fives, pictures, screaming kids, jumbo tron….

Americans skied well today, we had two guys finish in the top 10. Very impressive today from team USA!!!

So, below is a video that my teammate filmed from my iphone of me racing on the jumbo tron. Look for my penalties too, there a mystery to me… haa

Also it was on TV this morning. Was anybody able to view it… I will try to send you more links. My next event is Saturday night. I did not qualify for the grueling, “classic” (the really tough race)
apparently you had to qualify on the world cup circuit earlier in the year. So my next and last race will be on Saturday night. It will be aired live on Eurosport and NRK.NO I will try to find out more info and exact times as well.

If the link does not work, then click on the attachment.
Thanks for reading!!!

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150423405340375&notif_t=video_tag

Today we woke early, stretched, ate breakfast and headed to the hill to train some gates on the hill we will be racing on. Apparently I had a lot to work on since my recent penalty spree I went on at the World Cup Finals in Hefjell. But after a lot of video and some good words of advice from a teammate I feel better about overcoming the penalty spree. We will see tomorrow.

After training we all tuned our skis. My skis have never been so sharp in their existence after I got done with them today. It is pretty crazy how religious the athletes are about tuning their skis. There is not a day that goes by where these guys don’t tune their skis. Kind of puts me in the position where I have to tune mine, thats a good thing. After tuning….. The Japanese!!! Yup, they challenged me to a ping pong match. Lets just say America dominated! booyaaa. It has been really cool to get to know everybody that is on the World Cup Circuit. They are extremely friendly and fun. The French borrowed my tuning stuff the first night and in return gave me French candy. Pretty good I guess.
Tonight was the opening ceremony. Very cool. They had this pop singer come and perform a show for us. Yup, I had a little crush on her, no big deal.

After the show, they had local dressed up Norwegians march in with all the Countries flags and do this march thing. Then they called all the athletes up and we had to go stand by our flag. Pretty cool. Dont worry Mom…. I got pictures.
So tomorrow is the GS. There is no skate section to the GS, but rather just gates and a jump in the middle. It will be on TV in 12 Countries, the US.. not one of them. But you can try to watch it online on the TVs website. I do not know to many details since I have never watched anything on this site before but these are the instructions and time….

It will be on http://www.nrk.no/. The times tomorrow are 10:45 and 2:45 That is 5am for you guys out in Colorado and 7 am for the people out on the East Coast. We are 6 hours ahead of Denver and 4 hours ahead of East Coast.
Once you get to the site, look around the site for “tv schedule” then just look on the tv guide section until you see “Telemark” I think it will see WV Telemark. WV stand for World Championships, not sure how that works.
It will be on TV (that site) all 3 days. Weds, Thurs, and Saturday night.

I have no idea if they will be showing me since I am not one of the top guys. They tend to show only the top guys.

Boooo.

I have no idea if there is a replay button, in case you wanted to watch it at a later time.
I will have a better idea of how this all works after tomorrow once I get feedback. But if anybody is able to see it online tomorrow please let me know so I can inform people.

Well I am pretty excited about tomorrow. Should be a great day of racing. Nerves….. ahhhhh who cares…. all the tv trucks, fans rolling into town, sponsors showing up, interviewers floating around…..no worries right. ya right, little nervous but very excited.

Till tomorrow-bed time