GOooooooAL!!! In the spirit of professional soccer announcers, who go crazy with excitement when their team scores, I can’t help but feel the same thrill as I announce that Clay reached his “GOAL”! It is truly a victory for Clay and his team—Brandon and Sharon—I have greatly enjoyed my front row seat, as I watched “Team Clay” reel-in this amazing win!

Clay’s doctor gave him the official word that he is, in fact, cleared for full participation in ALL activities—and yes friends, THIS INCLUDES SKIING in Lake Tahoe for this year’s annual ski trip. No sitting on the sidelines in the lodge for Clay! No sir, the lodge is no longer a sentence that he is banished to, but a REWARD of relaxation and evening comfort, where Clay and company will sip warm drinks and reminisce about their favorite ski-runs, antics and follies of the past day.

Clay was always confident in his ability to achieve his goal, but there is nothing that can top the satisfaction of actually getting there. His reaction is both enthusiastic and realistic in regards to what he and Brandon must work on next…conditioning for the best possible ski experience in Lake Tahoe!

“The doctor released me to full activities this week,” said Clay. “Now is the time to get conditioned, to have a great time (while skiing in Lake Tahoe), and prevent re-injury. I think that I could ski today, but doing so would stress my leg muscles and cause swelling and stiffness. That would be a setback and restrict how many days I could ski.  My goal is to continue to work on my range-of-motion and strengthening the leg muscles so I can ski four-hours-per-day by the end of February.”

So Clay, with the help of his personal trainer Brandon, are carrying-on with their conditioning regimen; only now Brandon’s approach is to design a program for ski specific conditioning, as well as, increasing the range-of-motion that Clay has when he bends his surgically repaired knee. Brandon focuses on exercises that mimic, strengthen and increase endurance while skiing; he utilizes balance discs, rubber band tubes, Bosu balls and stability balls for balance and range-of-motion conditioning.

“As a result of having a bad knee, for years, my knee was permanently bent, and as a result of walking incorrectly many key muscles were atrophied or improperly developed.  The surgeon was adamant that he wanted me to regain 100% of my range-of- motion,” said Clay.

The limited range-of-motion, however, will not impose a restriction to Clay’s activities. It is just a new challenge that both Clay and his doctor believe he can overcome, and with continued hard-work and dedication Clay believes he can turn his once damaged knee into a near perfect knee once again.

Of course Clay couldn’t help himself from tacking-on some additional activities after receiving the good news. “Now we are working on the next guy’s golf trip in April,” said Clay. “We’re going to walk the Master’s in Augusta (while golfing) for one day, and we plan on doing 36-holes that day.”  He continued to explain that the trip entails five full days of golfing, in addition to the 36-holes at Augusta, at various courses in the area.

Clay consistently praises Brandon for his knowledge and expertise, citing Brandon’s services as being a major factor in the reconditioning of his knee. When I asked Brandon what he thought his role was in Clay reaching his goal Brandon simply deferred his statement to Clay’s character and accomplishment. “I consider Clay an athlete, even at 65 years-old, he has a warrior’s spirit…I’m just happy it gives him back something he loves in his life,” said Brandon.

We have an exciting Video Blog for our final segment—Come back next week to see and hear Clay, Brandon and Sharon in action—just click the “Orange Button” at the top of the menu bar; when you hover over it, it will pop-up. All you have to do then is “click-on-it” to receive new articles as they post!