| Injury rehab is so emotionally draining, and this is by far the biggest one and the longest timeline I've had to battle with. I lost it last night because shit just wasn't going well at football practice. Any sort of resistance - be it hands or a push back - and I just couldn't hold a drive block to save my life. It's so humbling and frustrating and embarrassing - I used to be good at this sport and now I feel so far from where I was. Forget improving this season - I will be lucky if I am the same player I was last year. That is a difficult feeling to come to terms with and as the first game looms every closer (10 days today) the reality eats at me all the more. I'm about 50/50 to even play in that game and that 50% requires a whole lot of improvement to come in the next week as it relates to driving out off my toes. Some days I just get really tired of always being in some kind of pain. I'm transitioning more from joint-specific pain to stabilizer pain, which is good news in terms of making progress but sucks in terms of feeling general muscle fatigue all the time. I'm taking a forced rest day today because I need to let the muscles in my calf and foot simmer down. My foot sweats non-stop. It's kind of gross. If I have my socks off because I'm doing stabilization or mobilization or whatever, I leave sweat footprints in the carpet. Pretty hot, I know. I did back squat 135 for 5 last night - my depth (in oly shoes) was actually rock bottom, so that was cool. I noticed today that my talus is tracking way better and I am getting some calf strength back, such that I can get up on my toes both easier and higher than last week. So I mean, progress, just never the progress that I want. Skipping is truly terrible. I favour my left leg over my right and can't string together more than like five jumps. Embarrassing. Lateral hurdle jumps are better than forward, but neither are great. I can't successfully jump backwards over a 6" hurdle (which is a huge piss off). |
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Just one of Those Days...
Monday, April 27, 2015
Squats! Squats! Squats!
I've been eyeing up my olympic weightlifting shoes for the last little while and wondering if they could push me over the edge in terms of being able to hold the bottom position of a squat. As we approach six months of injuries that have kept me from being able to do full squats (with my hamstring/meniscus/whatever injury in November, and then my ankle in January), my hips are definitely feeling it. Waiting on my ankle mobility to allow me to hold the bottom barefoot has become, IMO, counter-productive. With that in mind I threw them on and stuck the bottom of a squat. And then accumulated 10 minutes in the bottom. Which took...more than 10 minutes.
My hips, adductors and anterior shin were definitely the tightest, with the anterior shin being the one that surprised me (though it makes sense given my ankle injury and mobility issues). I've added the 10 minute squat accumulation to my goals for the week and I think it's really going to make a difference for me.
Having held the bottom of an air squat, the next big milestone to tick off the list was an actual, weighted squat. I started with a front squat with just the bar, and that worked out well enough. From there I went to back squat with a safety squat bar (side note: I am the only person at CFSP that uses the SSB...guys, you are missing out). I finished off with old reliable, the back squat. I didn't go heavy (stopped at 105), but it felt good. I'm happy with my positioning in the bottom, and I'm activating pretty well out of my bottom. And...I get to squat again!
Yesterday was day 99 post-injury, so I kind of wanted to do something pseudo-special to commemorate. I settled on my favorite CrossFit workout, Grace, which is 30 95-pound clean and jerks for time. My (incredibly old) PR was 3:10 and I finished it yesterday in 3:15. I hadn't actually done this WOD since 2011 and healthy I should easily be able to do this in 2:30 or so (my PR for 30 95-pound snatches is 2:55 and the snatch is a more challenging movement). But I was happy as (i) I had just finished press work immediately before doing the workout; and (ii) my ability to drive through my toes to push the bar overhead improved as the workout went on.
After we got home, I was watching hockey and trying to decide whether I was at a point where I should start trying to run again. My ankle felt pretty rough on Friday after football practice (I suspect the primary culprit was actually jumping ladders before football) and I was swollen both Friday and Saturday before returning to my normal swelling size on Sunday. I finally decided fuck it, and went downstairs to hit the treadmill and see where things were at. I started by doing a couple intervals at slower jogs (4mph, 4.5mph, 5mph, 5.5mph) at minute on/minute off, before getting to 6, which is pretty much your standard average everyday speed for a 5k. (6mph = essentially a 30 minute 5k). I did a minute on, sucked wind, and called Marlies downstairs to check how limpy I looked. She watched my next interval and said I looked pretty good (some favouring, but not enough to be like HOLY SHIT STOP), so with that I decided that it was time to buck up and start trying to get my legs back. It was very humbling to do Day 1 of a 5k program - which is 9 1:00 running intervals with 90 seconds walking in between) and have my legs be burning at the end of each interval. It's not like I've ever been the greatest runner to begin with, but this is a new low. :P But on the bright side - I completed all the intervals, my ankle didn't feel terrible, and I don't feel awful this morning.
My hips, adductors and anterior shin were definitely the tightest, with the anterior shin being the one that surprised me (though it makes sense given my ankle injury and mobility issues). I've added the 10 minute squat accumulation to my goals for the week and I think it's really going to make a difference for me.
Having held the bottom of an air squat, the next big milestone to tick off the list was an actual, weighted squat. I started with a front squat with just the bar, and that worked out well enough. From there I went to back squat with a safety squat bar (side note: I am the only person at CFSP that uses the SSB...guys, you are missing out). I finished off with old reliable, the back squat. I didn't go heavy (stopped at 105), but it felt good. I'm happy with my positioning in the bottom, and I'm activating pretty well out of my bottom. And...I get to squat again!
Yesterday was day 99 post-injury, so I kind of wanted to do something pseudo-special to commemorate. I settled on my favorite CrossFit workout, Grace, which is 30 95-pound clean and jerks for time. My (incredibly old) PR was 3:10 and I finished it yesterday in 3:15. I hadn't actually done this WOD since 2011 and healthy I should easily be able to do this in 2:30 or so (my PR for 30 95-pound snatches is 2:55 and the snatch is a more challenging movement). But I was happy as (i) I had just finished press work immediately before doing the workout; and (ii) my ability to drive through my toes to push the bar overhead improved as the workout went on.
After we got home, I was watching hockey and trying to decide whether I was at a point where I should start trying to run again. My ankle felt pretty rough on Friday after football practice (I suspect the primary culprit was actually jumping ladders before football) and I was swollen both Friday and Saturday before returning to my normal swelling size on Sunday. I finally decided fuck it, and went downstairs to hit the treadmill and see where things were at. I started by doing a couple intervals at slower jogs (4mph, 4.5mph, 5mph, 5.5mph) at minute on/minute off, before getting to 6, which is pretty much your standard average everyday speed for a 5k. (6mph = essentially a 30 minute 5k). I did a minute on, sucked wind, and called Marlies downstairs to check how limpy I looked. She watched my next interval and said I looked pretty good (some favouring, but not enough to be like HOLY SHIT STOP), so with that I decided that it was time to buck up and start trying to get my legs back. It was very humbling to do Day 1 of a 5k program - which is 9 1:00 running intervals with 90 seconds walking in between) and have my legs be burning at the end of each interval. It's not like I've ever been the greatest runner to begin with, but this is a new low. :P But on the bright side - I completed all the intervals, my ankle didn't feel terrible, and I don't feel awful this morning.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
MRI Booked
Got a call this morning from my physio encouraging me to purchase a lottery ticket. My MRI requisition went in on April 17; they came back with a date of May 10th. Less than a month turnaround for an MRI is pretty damn good. So I guess I just keep my head down and focus on rehab between now and then and cross the playing bridge if the ankle allows it. I have my next follow up with my orthopedic surgeon on May 6th; it would be awesome if I felt ready to play by then.
I did a lot of mobilization work yesterday as an active rest day before football practice. I did 10 minutes in the bottom of a (banded) squat, with a good chunk of that time spent with a 25# plate on top of my knee/quad to help promote active dorsiflexion. Figuring some of my problems are also upstream with my hips in particular, I spent some time in a super frog, which was as unpleasant as I remembered it to be. Following that I spent some time in a middle split wall stretch, where I discovered that my adductors are pretty much so tight that they feel like bone. Awesome. That felt great. I was also in the zone and wearing noise canceling headphones and didn't notice when the crossfit class lined up to do sprints. They were nice (and a small class) and didn't use the fourth lane that was taken up by me. :)
Between yesterday and today I've compression flossed my left knee three times and having done so, have regained enough mobility that I can hit terminal knee extension. It's one of those things that makes me curious whether my problem is or isn't meniscal, but I guess I'll find that out in a few weeks. The whole area feels kind of weird though.
I worked through a few drills at football yesterday. I'm still very slow, which hurts my pride, but it's good to be building my confidence and getting the mechanics back. I did some ladders with the full team; I'm at maybe 50% of my healthy speed. People are supportive though, and happy to see me doing something. I worked the basics of locking up and drive blocking against limited (no) resistance and that went pretty well. Pass blocking I need to work on having a softer knee and driving through the toes. We did some lateral mirroring too, which went better than expected. It was probably my best lateral movement to date, which I credit to thinking more about what my partner was doing than about my ankle.
I did a lot of mobilization work yesterday as an active rest day before football practice. I did 10 minutes in the bottom of a (banded) squat, with a good chunk of that time spent with a 25# plate on top of my knee/quad to help promote active dorsiflexion. Figuring some of my problems are also upstream with my hips in particular, I spent some time in a super frog, which was as unpleasant as I remembered it to be. Following that I spent some time in a middle split wall stretch, where I discovered that my adductors are pretty much so tight that they feel like bone. Awesome. That felt great. I was also in the zone and wearing noise canceling headphones and didn't notice when the crossfit class lined up to do sprints. They were nice (and a small class) and didn't use the fourth lane that was taken up by me. :)
Between yesterday and today I've compression flossed my left knee three times and having done so, have regained enough mobility that I can hit terminal knee extension. It's one of those things that makes me curious whether my problem is or isn't meniscal, but I guess I'll find that out in a few weeks. The whole area feels kind of weird though.
I worked through a few drills at football yesterday. I'm still very slow, which hurts my pride, but it's good to be building my confidence and getting the mechanics back. I did some ladders with the full team; I'm at maybe 50% of my healthy speed. People are supportive though, and happy to see me doing something. I worked the basics of locking up and drive blocking against limited (no) resistance and that went pretty well. Pass blocking I need to work on having a softer knee and driving through the toes. We did some lateral mirroring too, which went better than expected. It was probably my best lateral movement to date, which I credit to thinking more about what my partner was doing than about my ankle.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Three Months...
It occurred to me yesterday when we were on the way back from Calgary that three months has officially come and gone as of Friday. Ironically, I rang that day in finding out that I probably have medial meniscal damage in my left knee and need an MRI/possibly surgery. We'll see what happens there, but it wasn't the outcome I was expecting when I agreed to a consult for injection therapy on my supposed chronic hamstring problem. I'm just going to stay the course in terms of rehabbing my ankle and cross the meniscus bridge when I'm actually clear to play. I'm mostly annoyed that I had an ultrasound done in November about this that was negative for any meniscus damage and we've been treating as a hamstring problem ever since. Part of me is also at least slightly concerned because I'm pretty sure this started a few years ago during the CrossFit Open and I've just continued to make my meniscus worse. I also really don't want to play another season on a crazy swollen left leg like I did in 2013.
Other than the intense emotional breakdown that I had when they told me I probably had a meniscus tear and probably need to get it fixed, three months was relatively uneventful. I'm doing some work with a sled to try and encourage greater dorsiflexion and confidence forcefully coming up on my toes. I did a modified CrossFit workout on Friday as well that pretty much beat the crap out of me. My engine is that of a small lawnmower right now, apparently. :P
I had the bright idea to do one-legged single skips on Saturday instead of double unders in a workout. It went fine in the moment, but my calf has been so freaking tight since! Smart plan, that one was. I also jogged a 400m with Marlies to finish off the workout and that went ok. I made sure that she came along because I needed her to watch my gait as I went. I was slow as molasses, but my gait was good.
Ankle goals for this week:
1. Walking lunges
2. Single leg heel raises
3. Dorsiflexion work - sled + compression flossing
4. Running mechanics
5. Lateral movement
6. SQUAT
Other than the intense emotional breakdown that I had when they told me I probably had a meniscus tear and probably need to get it fixed, three months was relatively uneventful. I'm doing some work with a sled to try and encourage greater dorsiflexion and confidence forcefully coming up on my toes. I did a modified CrossFit workout on Friday as well that pretty much beat the crap out of me. My engine is that of a small lawnmower right now, apparently. :P
I had the bright idea to do one-legged single skips on Saturday instead of double unders in a workout. It went fine in the moment, but my calf has been so freaking tight since! Smart plan, that one was. I also jogged a 400m with Marlies to finish off the workout and that went ok. I made sure that she came along because I needed her to watch my gait as I went. I was slow as molasses, but my gait was good.
Ankle goals for this week:
1. Walking lunges
2. Single leg heel raises
3. Dorsiflexion work - sled + compression flossing
4. Running mechanics
5. Lateral movement
6. SQUAT
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
So, Let's Start With the Theraband...
The differences between my two physios are really quite significant. If I were an outside party just observing, I'd find it kind of fascinating, as it's somewhat representative of the clientele they most frequently deal with, but living it, I often just find it annoying.
The more annoying of my two physios also has a student. While I have nothing against either of them personally, every time that student tells me to start with the theraband I want to smack her. Unlike a large percentage of their patients, I am doing my exercises. In fact, I do them multiple times a day. I have therabands attached to the table in my office. I have a wobble board in my office. Hell, I have measurements taped to the ground so that I can do the dorsiflexion lunge test and gauge my progress. I digress, but seriously, fuck your therabands. I am not fucking up my theraband exercises, and you're not even watching how I do them anyways, so why are we running through these in my appointment?
If we aren't gauging my progress or adding a progression to the equation, don't make me do these stupid exercises at my appointments. You are unnecessarily adding time to my appointments and driving me insane.
Thankfully this week she didn't try to get me to move my toes more forward as I attempted squats. I WILL NEVER SQUAT TOES FORWARD; IT'S NOT HAPPENING. I just looked up videos from my last squat cycle healthy and my toes are in fact even more out than I thought (and I'm in weightlifting shoes, which lift your heels/take some of the need for dorsiflexion away). I'm all for improving my movement patterns, but how about we start with a goal of getting me back to the movement patterns I had previously...
Anyways, in happier news, I was in the clinic before my workout last night (they are attached to my gym, so I stop by most days to warm up my ankle on the wobble board and with some bosu work) and Laurie (who owns both clinics, used to treat me, and is someone I will often ask questions to) was like "oh, I called an ortho surgeon to ask him about you. Come talk to me, I have some context and answers". So that was great. She has downgraded me picking up a 465 yoke on the week-end from "OMG WTF" to "ok, it's not the end of the world, but it's not a movement you really need to be doing right now, so please save us all the stress for a little bit longer". At least she no longer believes I'll break my hardware (something Marlies has been saying from day one. She does failure analysis on metals for a living and is quite confident in the load bearing abilities of my seven screws and plate). So at least this batch of anxiety producing garbage can be laid to rest.
I heard back from Miles, my other physio today as well reference my progress and next steps. He is going to send me for another x-ray. Having past 12 weeks, I should have a hard callus on my break site. I am hoping, if everything looks good on x-ray, I could potentially get cleared to start doing some controlled contact drills. I'd mainly like to start working on drive blocking with a friend I trust and/or Marlies; I'd also like to try hitting our tackling dummy.
The three criteria for me returning to play from my first physio were:
1. Full mobility
2. Full strength
3. X-ray that shows I am ok to take contact.
Miles has said he would be happy with 90% mobility and 80% strength, as he anticipates my mobility and bony integrity will be back sooner than the strength will. In terms of mobility, I've been measured at 16/20 degrees of dorsiflexion and 33/50 degrees of plantarflexion. I am going to get Miles to re-measure tomorrow since we didn't measure last week, but my other physio said I didn't have a change over the last week (which was frustrating). I think the last couple degrees of dorsi are blocked by swelling still, but I'm not sure with plantar.
My five goals for this week:
1. lunges - have improved substantially. Last week when introduced, I was struggling with balance and arch mobility, such that it was hard to get into a lunge with my right foot back. Last night I was competently doing walking lunges in sets of 10.
2. single leg heel raises - not there yet, but improving. My double leg I can do freestanding now, with a 10 second hold on each rep at the top. Balance is still a bit wonky at the top. Single leg I'm up to two reps of starting at the top of a two leg, transitioning to single while holding on to something and slowly lowering, followed by 5-10 reps of single leg as high as I can go.
3. strengthen foot - rolling on the beastie ball while at work and at least 3x30 seconds of foot stretches.
4. lateral movement - steadily improving. I've been upgraded to "at least as fast as our slowest player" on the ladder.
5. free squat - improving. still can't hold in the bottom.
The more annoying of my two physios also has a student. While I have nothing against either of them personally, every time that student tells me to start with the theraband I want to smack her. Unlike a large percentage of their patients, I am doing my exercises. In fact, I do them multiple times a day. I have therabands attached to the table in my office. I have a wobble board in my office. Hell, I have measurements taped to the ground so that I can do the dorsiflexion lunge test and gauge my progress. I digress, but seriously, fuck your therabands. I am not fucking up my theraband exercises, and you're not even watching how I do them anyways, so why are we running through these in my appointment?
If we aren't gauging my progress or adding a progression to the equation, don't make me do these stupid exercises at my appointments. You are unnecessarily adding time to my appointments and driving me insane.
Thankfully this week she didn't try to get me to move my toes more forward as I attempted squats. I WILL NEVER SQUAT TOES FORWARD; IT'S NOT HAPPENING. I just looked up videos from my last squat cycle healthy and my toes are in fact even more out than I thought (and I'm in weightlifting shoes, which lift your heels/take some of the need for dorsiflexion away). I'm all for improving my movement patterns, but how about we start with a goal of getting me back to the movement patterns I had previously...
Anyways, in happier news, I was in the clinic before my workout last night (they are attached to my gym, so I stop by most days to warm up my ankle on the wobble board and with some bosu work) and Laurie (who owns both clinics, used to treat me, and is someone I will often ask questions to) was like "oh, I called an ortho surgeon to ask him about you. Come talk to me, I have some context and answers". So that was great. She has downgraded me picking up a 465 yoke on the week-end from "OMG WTF" to "ok, it's not the end of the world, but it's not a movement you really need to be doing right now, so please save us all the stress for a little bit longer". At least she no longer believes I'll break my hardware (something Marlies has been saying from day one. She does failure analysis on metals for a living and is quite confident in the load bearing abilities of my seven screws and plate). So at least this batch of anxiety producing garbage can be laid to rest.
I heard back from Miles, my other physio today as well reference my progress and next steps. He is going to send me for another x-ray. Having past 12 weeks, I should have a hard callus on my break site. I am hoping, if everything looks good on x-ray, I could potentially get cleared to start doing some controlled contact drills. I'd mainly like to start working on drive blocking with a friend I trust and/or Marlies; I'd also like to try hitting our tackling dummy.
The three criteria for me returning to play from my first physio were:
1. Full mobility
2. Full strength
3. X-ray that shows I am ok to take contact.
Miles has said he would be happy with 90% mobility and 80% strength, as he anticipates my mobility and bony integrity will be back sooner than the strength will. In terms of mobility, I've been measured at 16/20 degrees of dorsiflexion and 33/50 degrees of plantarflexion. I am going to get Miles to re-measure tomorrow since we didn't measure last week, but my other physio said I didn't have a change over the last week (which was frustrating). I think the last couple degrees of dorsi are blocked by swelling still, but I'm not sure with plantar.
My five goals for this week:
1. lunges - have improved substantially. Last week when introduced, I was struggling with balance and arch mobility, such that it was hard to get into a lunge with my right foot back. Last night I was competently doing walking lunges in sets of 10.
2. single leg heel raises - not there yet, but improving. My double leg I can do freestanding now, with a 10 second hold on each rep at the top. Balance is still a bit wonky at the top. Single leg I'm up to two reps of starting at the top of a two leg, transitioning to single while holding on to something and slowly lowering, followed by 5-10 reps of single leg as high as I can go.
3. strengthen foot - rolling on the beastie ball while at work and at least 3x30 seconds of foot stretches.
4. lateral movement - steadily improving. I've been upgraded to "at least as fast as our slowest player" on the ladder.
5. free squat - improving. still can't hold in the bottom.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
But Does it REALLY Matter?
One of my physios asked me today if it "really matters" if I'm back this season. Considering she plays high level soccer and we are in a similar age bracket, I was kind of surprised it came out of her mouth.
Football season is just over two months (May 2-July 5). This year it is slightly extended due to Nationals (July 28-August 2), but that's it. As a team we start practicing in February in the gym and then April outside (obviously I haven't been able to practice...I've gotten to watch every damn one). So two months of playing, three months of practicing (two of which are boring gym shit), and SEVEN MONTHS OF WAITING. That is the life cycle of a football year. So yeah, having gone through seven months of waiting and three months of injury, with an impending two month season before another seven months of waiting begins, it does "really matter" to me if I play this season. Beyond the fact that I'm trying to get noticed for Team Canada, let's also factor in the fact that I am 32. I only have so many good years left as a player. So yeah, it does "really matter" to me that I make the most out of them.
Does it really matter? Yes. It matters.
When I plan out my lifting cycles, I have certain goals that I am looking to attain. I may not hit them exactly, but you stick the carrot out there, you plan the process, and you see what happens. Here I'm going to deload, here I'm going to hit a max, you plan all of this stuff out. You can't guarantee the destination, but you map your path out. I was trying to explain this today - ok, maybe I don't hit the goal of playing on May 9th (because you can't guarantee the destination) but I don't feel like I have a mapped out path right now and it is driving me insane. I need to know what the next little milestone is, what the steps are to getting to where I need to be. Am I 50% there? More? Less? I just can't do this "oh hey, enjoy the journey" type set up. I'll embrace the journey (because I have to), but I need it quantified. It's just the type of person I am.
Football season is just over two months (May 2-July 5). This year it is slightly extended due to Nationals (July 28-August 2), but that's it. As a team we start practicing in February in the gym and then April outside (obviously I haven't been able to practice...I've gotten to watch every damn one). So two months of playing, three months of practicing (two of which are boring gym shit), and SEVEN MONTHS OF WAITING. That is the life cycle of a football year. So yeah, having gone through seven months of waiting and three months of injury, with an impending two month season before another seven months of waiting begins, it does "really matter" to me if I play this season. Beyond the fact that I'm trying to get noticed for Team Canada, let's also factor in the fact that I am 32. I only have so many good years left as a player. So yeah, it does "really matter" to me that I make the most out of them.
Does it really matter? Yes. It matters.
When I plan out my lifting cycles, I have certain goals that I am looking to attain. I may not hit them exactly, but you stick the carrot out there, you plan the process, and you see what happens. Here I'm going to deload, here I'm going to hit a max, you plan all of this stuff out. You can't guarantee the destination, but you map your path out. I was trying to explain this today - ok, maybe I don't hit the goal of playing on May 9th (because you can't guarantee the destination) but I don't feel like I have a mapped out path right now and it is driving me insane. I need to know what the next little milestone is, what the steps are to getting to where I need to be. Am I 50% there? More? Less? I just can't do this "oh hey, enjoy the journey" type set up. I'll embrace the journey (because I have to), but I need it quantified. It's just the type of person I am.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
12 Weeks
Today marks 12 weeks post-injury (tomorrow is 12 post-surgery). I had asked my physio to help me set a lofty but achievable goal for me starting to run again and he had given me 12 weeks. So this week has been marked by a trepidatious determination to try and make it happen.
Made it happen. Got up to 4.7 for a couple one minute segments after doing a couple pieces at 4.0 earlier in the day.
I'm close to being able to hold an air squat in the bottom without losing my balance.
I box squatted 75-85-95-105-115x5 on Friday. I'm on the road to fixing my knees collapsing in. My body positioning is improving.
I can competently get up on my toes when on two feet. One foot is improving but I still need a wall brace.
I can walk up stairs properly. Down is getting closer.
Lunges are improving. My issue is more in my foot with my arch and extensors than having any issues with my ankle. The stretch in them is unreal particularly with my right leg back. With walking lunges I feel it on the tibia side on push off. I will nail these next week.
Worked on lateral walking and walking backwards this week. My push off is getting better.
Looking to be able to put more force into the ground. Continuing to push the running will help.
Made it happen. Got up to 4.7 for a couple one minute segments after doing a couple pieces at 4.0 earlier in the day.
I'm close to being able to hold an air squat in the bottom without losing my balance.
I box squatted 75-85-95-105-115x5 on Friday. I'm on the road to fixing my knees collapsing in. My body positioning is improving.
I can competently get up on my toes when on two feet. One foot is improving but I still need a wall brace.
I can walk up stairs properly. Down is getting closer.
Lunges are improving. My issue is more in my foot with my arch and extensors than having any issues with my ankle. The stretch in them is unreal particularly with my right leg back. With walking lunges I feel it on the tibia side on push off. I will nail these next week.
Worked on lateral walking and walking backwards this week. My push off is getting better.
Looking to be able to put more force into the ground. Continuing to push the running will help.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Day 75
Well, it's been a while since I posted an update. Which is problematic, because stuff has actually happened!
Cleared to bear weight on March 11th. The most annoying part was probably when the surgeon asked me if I had already started physio - no, you hadn't cleared me. Had you done so, I would have gladly started earlier. Oh well - he was very happy with my x-rays and said the fibula fracture (which I had plated/pinned) wasn't really even visible anymore. He also said that my hardware, which we initially hoped would just happily live on inside me, will most likely drive me nuts and need to come out, as I just don't have a lot of fat around my ankles and I do a lot of sports where I will likely rub against my screws. So we will cross that bridge when we get there, but I may get that removed down the road.
I moved from two crutches to one crutch a few hours after we left the hospital because dammit, it was time to get started on learning how to walk again. Balance was a definite issue, as was atrophy in a variety of places but in particular the stabilizing muscles in my foot. My arch had fallen and it was a really weird sensation to walk and feel like my entire foot was on the ground (it felt that way because it was...).
The 12th was my first physio appointment, and I went with "my guy" (Miles), as I wanted to get things started off on the right foot before having to see someone else for my seven free appointments through Alberta Health (break some bones and have surgery, they give you some freebies to get you moving again, apparently). Mobility in the joint tested pretty well considering the severity of my injury. I started "skateboarding" on the treadmill - essentially my good leg on the side rails and my broken one on the treadmill, working through proper range of motion. This was painful, but very helpful in terms of re-learning movement patterns.
The 13th Marlies and I headed down to Calgary for my work. I was sitting without my foot elevated for a good portion of the week-end, and man, the swelling in my foot/ankle/calf at the end of the day was outrageous. The amount of pitting that I had (essentially, poke your swelling and see how big a dent you can make/how long it takes to go away) was hilarious and gross all at once. The 15th, while I was shuttling stuff back and forth in the soccer centre for medal ceremonies, was when I ditched my second crutch once and for all. WHAT A FEELING. Hobbling in the boot is frustrating in its own right, but it gave me BOTH HANDS FREE! This was amazing.
The 16th was when I decided I was going to try driving. I wandered out to my car, switched from boot to shoe, and gave it a shot around the block. Felt that I had more than enough mobility to safely maneuver a car on city streets, and declared myself a motorist once more. This was great, because it took away needing to coordinate rides so I could get to physio, a thing I was dreading. The 16th was also the day that I decided I was going to deadlift something. I worked my way up incrementally and then stopped at 225, a weight that is still quite light for me. I had no pain, and actually felt really happy because I was finally able to do some semblance of something I love. This deadlift would become a point of contention between me and my other physio (Christina), and remains one of the reasons that I am waiting out my seven appointments with her so that I can go back to Miles full time.
Between the 16th and the 20th I tried to spend as much of my indoor time as possible out of the boot. Scary outside world was still inside the boot. I was hobbling my way around out of the boot at Senior Provincials on Sunday and started to have a lot of fatigue related pain. Trying to be smart about things, I went back into my boot for some support. I did still have to walk around a lot over the week-end (especially on Sunday) and definitely felt it.
I took my boot off once I was done at Provincials on the 23rd and shoved it in the back of the truck. I haven't been back in it since. This is going pretty well. Mobility and strength are improving. On the 26th, Miles suggested some compression to help deal with my swelling. I picked up a cheap (this is a relative term - they were $40 socks) pair of 20-25mmHg socks to see if they made a difference. I was secretly hoping they wouldn't, because $. Having tested what my foot/leg look like after a day in an ankle sock vs. a day in a compression sock, I have to say that the difference is quite substantial. So for the foreseeable future I am rocking a highly fashionable look of one ankle sock and one compression. It looks most awesome when I'm at the gym in shorts.
My appointment on the 26th was also when I put Miles on the spot and asked him for a lofty yet somewhat achievable goal for me beginning to run again. He told me three months/end of week 12. I will be 12 weeks post-injury on April 12th. My goal is to hit at least 4.0mph on the treadmill by that day. Based on that, I've been adding 0.2mph to my speed during each of my daily treadmill sessions. This slow progression seems to be working thus far - last night I hit 2.4. If I can add 0.2 until I hit 3.0 (which would be Saturday), then I can go up 0.1 some days and 0.2 others until I get there. We'll see what happens.
My appointment on the 31st was the worst. My appointments with Christina go so differently than with Miles. Miles normally has me on the treadmill to start (10-15 minutes) and then some rocker board and wobble board. Then we do some joint mobilization, followed by some needling of my calf (and then my left hamstring, since we are still finishing up treatment for that injury, too). Then I get stim applied to my ankle (which is always fun because I have nerve damage from my surgery, so if they line the pads up in the right spots I can jack the machine up all the way and still feel nothing) and finish with ultrasound. We'll speak frankly about issues that I'm having (currently achilles pain) and what needs to be pushed through versus what might be bad. I feel like we are on the same page and like I am getting somewhere and that we are being as aggressive as possible to get there.
Christina I start with some joint mobilization. Then I go on the bike for 10-15. Then I do all the exercises that I do at home, which seems like a waste of time, SINCE I DO THEM AT HOME. If things go exceptionally well, we maybe add an exercise, which I then have to demo for a student. Then there some stim and some ultrasound. These appointments take close to two hours (Miles I'm there about 90) and I feel like I get half as much out of them. The worst part of Tuesday, though, was when the student said "well you look pretty active, you've probably squatted before?" COME ON LADY. Because she's a student, too, she's less inclined to modify treatment based on the needs of the individual patient and more one size fits all. I have never squatted toes forward, and I will never squat toes forward. I am not built in a fashion to accommodate this, and despite what Kelly Starrett says in his mobility books, not everyone is going to squat this way. But anyways, trying to get me to not toe out while I recover from a major injury, when it's not something I would do when I'm healthy, really just not working for me. Both Miles and my third physio (Laurie, who owns the clinic where both Miles and Christina work) have said to just squat toes out. When I explained to Laurie what's been going ton with my squat in general, she told me that I was working through it properly (band assisted free squats to counter-balance pitching forward and then box squatting).
Anyways, I've made the decision that since my time in physio is going to last at least seven weeks anyways, I'm just going to see Christina once a week, and then Miles for my other appointment. That was I can minimize my frustration and not have feelings that I'm not progressing like I could be.
My goal by the end of March was to sub-22 my 5k row. I did some high rep benching on Friday and then again on Sunday, so my pecs and triceps were a little fried so I delayed until the 31st and gave myself one crack it. Happy to say that goal is smashed - my 5k was 21:42. It's essentially just over a 2:10 500m pace (that would be a 21:40 5k). I'm going to have to get down to a 2:05 500m pace to get sub-21, so that's going to be fun. Not a bad goal to try and achieve though. Can't hurt in terms of trying to get my legs back.
I squatted for the first time post-injury yesterday. I box squatted 65# (box was three 45s and a 10). My glutes need to re-learn how to fire, but overall it was too bad. Honestly, in terms of restoring some of the ROM to my ankle joint, it was probably one of the most effective things that I've done. My treadmill session last night was my best one yet - well, after I got over some initial pain on my tibia side. Sometimes I just have to work through pain pockets around either of my fracture sites and then they go away. Pretty sure it has to do with swelling and scar tissue.
Lofty goal is to play football in 37 days. We'll see what happens.
Cleared to bear weight on March 11th. The most annoying part was probably when the surgeon asked me if I had already started physio - no, you hadn't cleared me. Had you done so, I would have gladly started earlier. Oh well - he was very happy with my x-rays and said the fibula fracture (which I had plated/pinned) wasn't really even visible anymore. He also said that my hardware, which we initially hoped would just happily live on inside me, will most likely drive me nuts and need to come out, as I just don't have a lot of fat around my ankles and I do a lot of sports where I will likely rub against my screws. So we will cross that bridge when we get there, but I may get that removed down the road.
I moved from two crutches to one crutch a few hours after we left the hospital because dammit, it was time to get started on learning how to walk again. Balance was a definite issue, as was atrophy in a variety of places but in particular the stabilizing muscles in my foot. My arch had fallen and it was a really weird sensation to walk and feel like my entire foot was on the ground (it felt that way because it was...).
The 12th was my first physio appointment, and I went with "my guy" (Miles), as I wanted to get things started off on the right foot before having to see someone else for my seven free appointments through Alberta Health (break some bones and have surgery, they give you some freebies to get you moving again, apparently). Mobility in the joint tested pretty well considering the severity of my injury. I started "skateboarding" on the treadmill - essentially my good leg on the side rails and my broken one on the treadmill, working through proper range of motion. This was painful, but very helpful in terms of re-learning movement patterns.
The 13th Marlies and I headed down to Calgary for my work. I was sitting without my foot elevated for a good portion of the week-end, and man, the swelling in my foot/ankle/calf at the end of the day was outrageous. The amount of pitting that I had (essentially, poke your swelling and see how big a dent you can make/how long it takes to go away) was hilarious and gross all at once. The 15th, while I was shuttling stuff back and forth in the soccer centre for medal ceremonies, was when I ditched my second crutch once and for all. WHAT A FEELING. Hobbling in the boot is frustrating in its own right, but it gave me BOTH HANDS FREE! This was amazing.
The 16th was when I decided I was going to try driving. I wandered out to my car, switched from boot to shoe, and gave it a shot around the block. Felt that I had more than enough mobility to safely maneuver a car on city streets, and declared myself a motorist once more. This was great, because it took away needing to coordinate rides so I could get to physio, a thing I was dreading. The 16th was also the day that I decided I was going to deadlift something. I worked my way up incrementally and then stopped at 225, a weight that is still quite light for me. I had no pain, and actually felt really happy because I was finally able to do some semblance of something I love. This deadlift would become a point of contention between me and my other physio (Christina), and remains one of the reasons that I am waiting out my seven appointments with her so that I can go back to Miles full time.
Between the 16th and the 20th I tried to spend as much of my indoor time as possible out of the boot. Scary outside world was still inside the boot. I was hobbling my way around out of the boot at Senior Provincials on Sunday and started to have a lot of fatigue related pain. Trying to be smart about things, I went back into my boot for some support. I did still have to walk around a lot over the week-end (especially on Sunday) and definitely felt it.
I took my boot off once I was done at Provincials on the 23rd and shoved it in the back of the truck. I haven't been back in it since. This is going pretty well. Mobility and strength are improving. On the 26th, Miles suggested some compression to help deal with my swelling. I picked up a cheap (this is a relative term - they were $40 socks) pair of 20-25mmHg socks to see if they made a difference. I was secretly hoping they wouldn't, because $. Having tested what my foot/leg look like after a day in an ankle sock vs. a day in a compression sock, I have to say that the difference is quite substantial. So for the foreseeable future I am rocking a highly fashionable look of one ankle sock and one compression. It looks most awesome when I'm at the gym in shorts.
My appointment on the 26th was also when I put Miles on the spot and asked him for a lofty yet somewhat achievable goal for me beginning to run again. He told me three months/end of week 12. I will be 12 weeks post-injury on April 12th. My goal is to hit at least 4.0mph on the treadmill by that day. Based on that, I've been adding 0.2mph to my speed during each of my daily treadmill sessions. This slow progression seems to be working thus far - last night I hit 2.4. If I can add 0.2 until I hit 3.0 (which would be Saturday), then I can go up 0.1 some days and 0.2 others until I get there. We'll see what happens.
My appointment on the 31st was the worst. My appointments with Christina go so differently than with Miles. Miles normally has me on the treadmill to start (10-15 minutes) and then some rocker board and wobble board. Then we do some joint mobilization, followed by some needling of my calf (and then my left hamstring, since we are still finishing up treatment for that injury, too). Then I get stim applied to my ankle (which is always fun because I have nerve damage from my surgery, so if they line the pads up in the right spots I can jack the machine up all the way and still feel nothing) and finish with ultrasound. We'll speak frankly about issues that I'm having (currently achilles pain) and what needs to be pushed through versus what might be bad. I feel like we are on the same page and like I am getting somewhere and that we are being as aggressive as possible to get there.
Christina I start with some joint mobilization. Then I go on the bike for 10-15. Then I do all the exercises that I do at home, which seems like a waste of time, SINCE I DO THEM AT HOME. If things go exceptionally well, we maybe add an exercise, which I then have to demo for a student. Then there some stim and some ultrasound. These appointments take close to two hours (Miles I'm there about 90) and I feel like I get half as much out of them. The worst part of Tuesday, though, was when the student said "well you look pretty active, you've probably squatted before?" COME ON LADY. Because she's a student, too, she's less inclined to modify treatment based on the needs of the individual patient and more one size fits all. I have never squatted toes forward, and I will never squat toes forward. I am not built in a fashion to accommodate this, and despite what Kelly Starrett says in his mobility books, not everyone is going to squat this way. But anyways, trying to get me to not toe out while I recover from a major injury, when it's not something I would do when I'm healthy, really just not working for me. Both Miles and my third physio (Laurie, who owns the clinic where both Miles and Christina work) have said to just squat toes out. When I explained to Laurie what's been going ton with my squat in general, she told me that I was working through it properly (band assisted free squats to counter-balance pitching forward and then box squatting).
Anyways, I've made the decision that since my time in physio is going to last at least seven weeks anyways, I'm just going to see Christina once a week, and then Miles for my other appointment. That was I can minimize my frustration and not have feelings that I'm not progressing like I could be.
My goal by the end of March was to sub-22 my 5k row. I did some high rep benching on Friday and then again on Sunday, so my pecs and triceps were a little fried so I delayed until the 31st and gave myself one crack it. Happy to say that goal is smashed - my 5k was 21:42. It's essentially just over a 2:10 500m pace (that would be a 21:40 5k). I'm going to have to get down to a 2:05 500m pace to get sub-21, so that's going to be fun. Not a bad goal to try and achieve though. Can't hurt in terms of trying to get my legs back.
I squatted for the first time post-injury yesterday. I box squatted 65# (box was three 45s and a 10). My glutes need to re-learn how to fire, but overall it was too bad. Honestly, in terms of restoring some of the ROM to my ankle joint, it was probably one of the most effective things that I've done. My treadmill session last night was my best one yet - well, after I got over some initial pain on my tibia side. Sometimes I just have to work through pain pockets around either of my fracture sites and then they go away. Pretty sure it has to do with swelling and scar tissue.
Lofty goal is to play football in 37 days. We'll see what happens.
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