Well, the visit with the second doc went well. In fact, he referred me to a third doc even higher up the ladder of professional knowledge and skill! Actually the doc I saw today is on medical leave, so can't do surgery. Their orthopedic center is quite impressive, with escalators in the lobby and a nice open feel. The walls are adorned with photos and jerseys of local sports stars, signed with thank you notes.
Basically, the second doc said yes, running is best avoided. Second, he said squats are OK. In fact, he said the reason the meniscus and arthritis issues didn't show up and give me trouble earlier is because the rest of the joint and supporting musculature are so strong. So keep doing squats! He also liked the idea of replacing conventional deadlifts with SLDLs.
He referred me to the third doc in order to look into three possible "joint restoration" procedures: (1) clean up the joint via arthroscopic surgery, (2) "pick' the femur where my articular cartilage has worn away, in order to induce scar tissue, which can serve the same function as the missing articular cartilage, and (3) look into injecting cells that might help maintain cartilage health. This third option is pretty cutting edge, and the third doc he referred me to is a top researcher at the U of M.
So, the visit went about as well as I had hoped. I knew running was probably out, but I'm glad I can keep the squats and deadlifts. The first doc was reluctant to do surgery in the absence of pain, but the second doc thought I could get considerably more mileage out of my otherwise healthy knee if I had these procedures performed. The second doc was also considerably more attentive.
After the appointment, I picked up the free Nordic Track Ski Machine that was on craigslist. So now I have four aerobic options: rowing, "skiing," biking, "street striding." Oh, I guess I can also swim, but I'll put off that possibility for the time being. So it's now a matter of programming a nice mix of aerobic activity to go along with my lifting, which doesn't need to be modified much at all. I will probably avoid doubles and singles from now on, and stick with the SLDL, but otherwise, I'll keep the 5-8-3 weekly wave and six main lifts framework. Spraining my left thumb a little last week on a failed bench single is further reason to give up on the 1RMs. It's just not worth the injury risk, and there's probably not that much training benefit. Plus it keeps all three weekly workouts fairly uniform, efficient, and simple.
I'm sorry I can't comment more on the heart rate stuff. My eyes just glaze over. Back when I was a runner, I always felt I had good intuitions about what an aerobic pace was, what a tempo pace was, and what a good 100-yard interval pace was. Just doesn't seem that complicated. Same with cycling, it's always been obvious to me what gear is best for a sustainable pace. Plus none of the physiology stuff I've looked at, to the extent I understood it and can now remember it clearly, ever gave any credence to Maffetone's fat-burning theories or the importance of avoiding anaerobic exercise while you're building your base. A lot of stuff supports the basic idea of always training different intensities, as there is a lot of carryover. I've certainly found that to be true with my weekly rep-count wave. Really seems to speed up improvements. Unfortunately, I never ran consistently enough to put my weekly intervals-tempo-aerobic program into place long enough to judge results, but it seemed like a good idea.
My plan with cardio stuff now is probably to always maintain an aerobic level, mainly to avoid extra pressure on the knees. But I will seek out hills once in a while I think.