Laps

After all the whining that's been going on here the past couple weeks, I'm thrilled to say that I've got a happy post for a change.  I went skating today for the first time in two weeks...and I managed to do five sets of one complete lap of "speedskating!"  The laps were slow--so slow that I had to throw a few straightaway strokes into my "into the wind" corners--and still quite painful; but I was surprised and very pleased that I even felt like attempting full laps, and even more surprised at how well they went.

Prior to this, I've done mostly single straightaways in "speedskating" position; every time I've tried crossing over in corners I've regretted it, so I've stuck with "skate the straights and coast the corners."  But today, although the pain was still there, my mobility and strength felt up to the task of trying corners, and when I did try, my crossovers felt more like real crossovers than the lurching-and-wobbling attempts I'd previously made.  So I tried a continuous lap...and I could do it!  And I even was breathing a little hard after the lap--so there's hope for getting a good cardio workout sometime soon.  So then I did four more laps, with one lap of rest between each--and then my hamstring felt pretty tired and it seemed like a good time to stop, so I just did upright "rest laps" for the rest of the ice session.  With a huge smile on my face.

Maybe the improvement in skating ability was due to having run a mile (a blazing 10:20, but a significant improvement over my previous 11:40 mile) immediately before hitting the ice and thus being completely warmed up before I tried skating; maybe it was due to just general improvements in strength and flexibility; maybe the dry needling or the ARP wave or the massage had an effect; or maybe I was just better at ignoring the pain and getting on with it this time.  Whatever the reason, I'm delighted, and I'm already planning this week's skating workouts.  Let's see, maybe I could skate Tuesday and Thursday after CrossFit (yes, I'll be well warmed up to skate!)...maybe try a short "pyramid" workout on Tuesday of 1-2-3-2-1 "real skating" laps, with one lap of rest between each set of real laps.  And then maybe on Thursday I could time a lap...

It's so much fun to finally be able to start thinking about real speedskating workouts!

I Had a Dream...

The other night I dreamed that I was speedskating, and as I was crossover-ing my way around a corner, it occurred to me--"hey, this doesn't hurt at all."  Later that night, I dreamed that I met President Obama and he complimented me on my arm muscles.  Sadly, at the rate my leg recovery is going I think it's more likely that I'll hear the President directing a "nice guns" my way than that I'll skate pain-free any time soon. Or do CrossFit pain free.  Or sit or drive or...well, you get the idea.

Yeah, things aren't going so well.  My five-day Time Out From Exercise turned out to have no effect on my leg pain.  It did, unfortunately, have an effect on my waistline; when I can't exercise I get cranky and when I get cranky I want to eat.  Lots of pizza and ice cream was sacrificed last week on the altar of "I Need to Get Myself in a Better Mood Before I Kill Someone."

So Monday, after my five days in the recliner were completed and were proven to be a dismal failure, I turned to a couple of new options for improving recovery: electrocution and stabbing.


Or, well, technically, ARP Wave Therapy and Dry Needling.  Yes, both were very painful.  No, I didn't exactly plan to do both on the same day, it just sort of happened.

I had stumbled upon the ARP Wave Therapy at a CrossFit competition I was watching a couple weeks ago.  They offered a free consultation/trial treatment, so I figured what have I got to lose? So at 6 am Monday, I gave it a try.

ARP Wave Therapy uses electrical stimulation to improve healing and retrain the brain to send and receive impulses to/from injured muscles appropriately.  Or something like that.  For the therapy, they take an electrode (for the record, nothing good has ever come from a sentence that begins with the phrase "they take an electrode...").  Anyway, they take an electrode and move it all over the injured body part as they deliver electrical current through it.  Yes, it's painful. And what are they looking for?  Why, they're looking for the most painful spot. I was told they're looking for a "10 out of 10" pain spot, but since I'm pretty sure a 10 out of 10 would actually result in the patient either kicking the technician in the teeth and ripping the electrode off, or huddling on the floor in the fetal position sobbing and peeing on themselves, well, I can confidently state that we did not get to a "10" pain level on my leg.

The 7 or so that we hit was bad enough.

And then, after they've found the most painful spot, they stick the electrode there and proceed with a workout I like to call "The Devil's AMRAP." For those who don't speak CrossFit, an "AMRAP" workout is one in which you complete As Many Reps As Possible in a stated amount of time.  The Devil's AMRAP looks like this:  Attach electrode to most painful spot of injured body part.  Turn up electricity to "10" pain level (or as close as patient will let you get).  Perform a movement that typically causes pain in injured body part (in my case, I did 5 squats).  Pain from the electricity will theoretically drop with this exercise.  Crank up electricity to "10" again, and do 5 more squats.  Repeat for 7 minutes.

In my case, unfortunately, the pain level never really decreased, which indicated that either I didn't let them crank up the volts enough, we didn't find the right spot, or the therapy would be unlikely to work for me.  So the trial was disappointing as well as painful.  I haven't ruled out a repeat trial if things don't improve in the future, but in the meantime we've got to see how the stabbing dry needling performs.

I didn't intend to try dry needling the same day I tried the ARP Wave, but when I got to my Monday afternoon Physical Therapy session I, of course, whined extensively about how my leg pain has not decreased at all in the past two months or more, and about how frustrated I'm getting.  So the PT suggested we try dry needling.  Which is basically a more Western version of accupuncture.

So yeah, it involves needles.

Fortunately we only had time to needle two spots on my leg...and also fortunately, the needles were not nearly as painful as the electricity had been.  The combination of both, though, was enough to make the CrossFit workout that I did immediately after the PT appointment fairly interesting.

Not being content with trying two different treatment methods at pretty much the same time, I also tried therapeutic deep tissue massage a couple days later.  Unfortunately, none of the three treatments have yet produced much pain reduction.    So I'm not sure what to do next.  I think I'll ask the PT, when I see him again for more needles on Monday, if and at what point we start to wonder if something is actually wrong with how my leg is healing. Am I just a slow healer?  Should I go back to the surgeon and ask more questions?  Should I be concerned about this, or do I just need to be patient?

In the meantime, I'll keep hitting the upper body workouts hard in case I happen to bump into the President.

Time Out

No, not time out from blogging...although you might be forgiven for thinking that, given how infrequently I'm here!  No, I'm talking about time out from working out.  I'm currently on Day Four of a self-imposed five-day hiatus from working out.  No skating, no CrossFit, no running, no rowing.  I plan to serve most of my time-out (when I'm not at work) in my recliner.

Since I only have one day left after today, I think I'll make it.

Actually, since I chose to put myself in time-out rather than having a coach or a PT or someone else do it, it hasn't been so bad.  After all, I put myself in time-out for a reason: pain.  And the same pain that put me in my recliner makes it very easy to say "no" to workouts.

I'm not sure what to blame my increased pain on, but increased it definitely has been these past two weeks.  Ever since my surgery it has always hurt to walk, to sit, to drive, and to exercise...but I didn't expect that, at almost five months post-surgery, the pain would be increasing rather than decreasing.

I think skating is probably the main culprit.  Most exercises that I've done (once I got past the first few weeks of attempting to do anything more strenuous than walking to the kitchen) have been only mildly to moderately uncomfortable at the time; skating was actively painful from the very first right-foot push, and I'm still almost completely unable to do crossovers at all.  So skating is probably the main cause of the increased pain...but I can't forget that, in addition to the four skating sessions I've attempted in the past two weeks, I've also added several new things at CrossFit: cleans, weights in squats, and light deadlifts.

Or, well, supposedly light.  In my second deadlift session, I was planning to start at 50 pounds and work my way up to 70.  Unfortunately, I was thinking "50 pounds" as I approached the weights, and so of course I grabbed two 25 pound plates--completely forgetting about the weight of the 35 pound bar.  It wasn't until two more sets--and two more additions of weight--that I realized "hey...that's not 60 pounds on the bar...it's 95."  Apparently I need this shirt:

It's from Yakked Industries, which you can find on Facebook.

Anyway, between the skating and the new stuff in CrossFit, I've probably violated my PT's strict instructions to "not add too many new things at once."  And that's probably why I now find myself wearing sweatpants to work again, cussing my leg every time I walk or sit, and yes, feeling a bit sorry for myself once again.  Add up increased pain and absence of workouts, throw in a calorie deficit due to trying to lose the weight I've gained during my previous months of recliner-surfing, multiply by approximately 20 hot flashes per day, and it all adds up to one very cranky skater/CrossFitter.  That's some scary math right there.

So I'm trying some time off.  So far I don't notice much difference, but I'm hoping that will change by Monday, because I fully intend to go back to CrossFit on Monday, pain or no pain.  In the meantime, I'm also looking into a type of recovery therapy--ARP Wave Therapy (no, not AARP...although I am old enough to qualify for that)--that I stumbled upon at a CrossFit competition that I went to to watch last weekend.  It's an electrical-stim therapy that supposedly improves recovery time and reduces pain, (although Hubby Jim says that its main effect is probably to lighten the wallet), and since they offer a free consultation/trial I'm looking into it.  

In the meantime, I'll be in my recliner with visions of workouts dancing in my head.

Oh, Here I Am...

Oops, I see that I haven't posted on here in, oh, 22 days.  The only reason for this is that I seem to be getting bored with writing about recovering (I'm certainly bored with doing the recovering).  I don't want to write about it or think about it or even record my workouts during it (I know!  Me, the data queen, not recording a workout!)  All I want to do is just be done with it.

But still, there have been a couple things in the past few weeks that are worth recording.  I've done a few weighted squats, I've rowed quite a bit, I've run a mile (a blistering 11:40), and yesterday, for the first time since the injury, I did deadlifts.  Very slow, very cautious 45-pound deadlifts, but still deadlifts.  I can do hang cleans and hang snatches (but not "real" ones from the floor), as well as box step-ups and double unders (well, as much as I could ever do double unders).  I want to try handstands and rope climbs again; I don't think they'll present a problem (again, other than the problems I always had with them).  Still on the no-fly list are box jumps, kettle bell swings, cleans, snatches, jumping in Burpees, weighted lunges, and heavier squats.  And probably a few other things I'm forgetting.

So, what about skating?

Well, I tried it last Tuesday.  To say it did not go well would be a gross understatement.

I went to PT on Monday and he checked my range of motion and cleared me to try skating.  So on Tuesday I happily packed up my skates and my warmest winter gear--it was about 5 degrees, with a wicked wind--and headed to the oval.

Here it is, looking all innocent and festive...

Looks like fun, doesn't it?

Wrong.

As it turned out, skating was the most painful thing I've done since my injury and surgery, including when I slipped and fell a couple months after surgery.  And I didn't skate long or hard; I mostly coasted around, pushing very gently with my right leg because anything close to full extension was very painful.  And when I finally got up the guts to attempt crossing over in a corner, I learned that this is a very bad idea; way too much stretch and strain on the ol' hammy.  And in addition to the pain, I was not enjoying watching all the other skaters glide smoothly and strongly past me..I couldn't help staring at their legs and envying their nice functional hamstrings.  So in the end, I wobbled around for maybe 30 minutes and then had to quit.

That barely-visible "thumbs up" is a lie.

But my skating was not really done.  No, it turns out that skating is now the gift that keeps on giving. Four days later, my leg is still sore and swollen.  I've had to wear sweatpants to school for the past three days (fortunately that's not too much of a fashion downgrade from my usual attire), and my leg hasn't been this cranky since my post-surgery slip-and-fall.

My PT says I can continue to try skating, but to be very careful not to overload myself by doing it when I'm otherwise stressed, or have just done something new at CrossFit.  And since I'm currently sick (third cold since October, yay) and I did deadlifts for the first time yesterday...it's looking like I should wait a few more days before I get back on my skates.  And I'm pretty sure that I'm looking at next season before any real meaningful training on skates can take place. Good thing I've got CrossFit to keep me sane and exercised and happy.

And so the recovery continues...

Christmas Comes to Buttcamp

When I left the Long Track Life after updating on Wednesday, I was bummed.  Very bummed.  I had been on restricted lower-body activity--no rowing, no squats, no Burpees, no anything fun--for 10 days, and I had just gotten word that the restrictions would be extended until my right leg matched my left in mobility.  Which, when you're as inflexible as I am, could be a very long time.  I was afraid I was looking at a very, very long time of no skating, no CrossFit WODs, and no fun.

So after I whined extensively here on the blog, I called my surgeon. I wanted to know if my recovery was on track; if the pain I was feeling was expected, and if I truly needed to restrict my activity in order for my leg to heal properly.  It's not that I don't trust my PT; I do--he's the one who was finally able to cure the low back pain that I'd had for seven years, so I know he knows his stuff.  But I was desperate for a different opinion, and anyway he only put the restrictions in place in response to my complaints about the amount of pain I was experiencing, so I figured that if we found out that the pain was to be expected at this phase of healing, then maybe the restrictions were unnecessary.

So I got an appointment with my surgeon for Friday afternoon, and to cut to the chase, that's exactly what he said.  Healing is progressing fine, pain is as expected, no need to limit activity at this point

Let me repeat that: No need to limit activity at this point!!

Well, he still doesn't want me to try skating until I can run further, but other than that I can do pretty much anything I want. In fact, he even said--although he appeared somewhat baffled by my discussion of my hamstring being too tight to do things like deadlifts and cleans--"well, if you can't pick the bar up off the ground, pick it up off something higher."  Hmm, I think he just gave me clearance to do hang cleans and hang snatches!

So, elated with my newfound freedom, I went home and checked the SISU site for the Saturday morning workout.  Saturday is Büttcamp day at SISU--but of course everyone ignores the umlaut and calls it Buttcamp.  Buttcamp workouts generally have more people than weekday WODs so they're usually team or partner events, and they tend to be more cardio-oriented than strength.  I haven't gone to many Buttcamp workouts because Saturdays are either my day off of workouts, or race day.  But now I wanted to work out as soon as possible, and I particularly wanted to do some of the newly-approved lower body movements.  So when I checked the next day's Buttcamp workout and found Cindy, I felt like Christmas had come early.  That's right, Cindy, the same Cindy that I had been so delighted to do the day before Thanksgiving...and before my activity restrictions.  20 minutes of 5 pullups, 10 pushups, and 15 air squats.

Friday night I was as giddy as a girl getting ready for the prom (I imagine.  For the record, I never went to prom.  So I'm guessing).  I got my clothes all laid out for the morning, I signed in on the online checkin to reserve my spot, I prepped my protein shake and shaved my hands. (No, I don't have hairy Hobbit fingers; I have calluses from all the pullups I've been doing lately, and it's best to shave calluses down with a razor to help prevent hand rips.)  Then I made sure my spiffy new WODGrips hand protectors were packed, and went to bed with visions of squats dancing in my head.

There's that pink again.

And Saturday Buttcamp was everything I could have wanted. From the moment Coach Tyler introduced the workout with "Who here has done Cindy?" and one of the guys responded with the inevitable quip "Who's Cindy?," through the warmup that included rowing that--surprise surprise!--didn't hurt this time, to the 20 minutes of Cindy, it was a complete blast.  I was partnered with a woman who has only been doing CrossFit for a couple weeks, but she did an awesome job and in fact sometimes she did her reps so fast that I wasn't done resting yet when it was my turn.  Despite having to take turns doing the reps, which forced rest time, I ended up doing a few more reps this time than the last time I did Cindy--8 rounds 3 reps versus last time's 7 rounds 23 reps.  I'm crediting my speedier pullups for the extra reps--I actually did the first 3 sets of 5 pullups unbroken, which is a PR for me (kipping, of course; I still can't do more than 3 strict unbroken).  The only tiny fly in the ointment was breakfast; I'm so used to doing low-intensity workouts that I didn't worry about finishing breakfast less than an hour before Buttcamp.  Bad plan...even with my super-slow-and-careful squats, the WOD was intense enough that I spent several post-Cindy minutes lying on my back regretting breakfast and trying to make sure it didn't make a surprise reappearance.

But other than that it was fun, fun, fun. I tried to explain my joy to Hubby Jim when I returned home, but I could see he didn't get it.  Maybe it's weird that I find doing pullups, pushups and squats until I almost puke to be fun...but I do, and I'm thrilled to be able to do it again.  And I'm really hoping that, now that I have the surgeon's assurance that my healing is on track, I can finally get off the Recovery Rollercoaster that I've been riding for the past couple months and make steady progress towards full-on CrossFit and skating.

Which would truly be the best Christmas present ever.

Pity Party Number...oh, I don't know...Twenty?

If this post had bullet points like the last one did, there would be a lot more in the "bad" category than the "good."  In fact, pretty much everything from last week's "good" category has now moved into the "bad."  When I went to PT the day after I wrote my previous post, I complained to  PT TieGuy (remember, he's my old skating coach Coach TieGuy's brother) that my leg hurt a fair amount, a fair amount of the time.  Now, I'd cleared with him pretty much everything I was doing, before I started doing it...but when he had me run through the whole list of what I'd been up to in workouts--Burpees and squats and rowing and running and box step-ups and a little skating dryland--well, he told me to stop it.  All of it.  No Burpees or squats or rowing or dryland or box step ups.  Oh, he did let me keep the running...all 200 yards of it that I can do.

Apparently, I've been overdoing it a bit.

Really, I think it would have been fine if I hadn't fallen five weeks ago...but I did fall and it's not fine.  I have read of other people with my injury who were running 3-5 miles at this point in their recovery, so I really don't think that what I was doing would have been out of line without that additional fall. But I did fall and apparently my hammy was not happy with my increasing its workload, so I'm back to extremely limited lower body work...except that now, I can't do elliptical or go swimming for a cardio workout because I, in my infinite wisdom, decided I was far enough along in my recovery that I could cancel my Lifetime Fitness membership.  Oops.

We did figure some things out at PT today, though.  It seems that the inner thigh pain I've had ever since the injury is likely the hamstring muscle that I tore (as opposed to the one that I tore off the bone, which is reattached at a location away from the pain), which is still healing. And the pain on my outer thigh--again, away from the attachment site--is likely from walking with a limp for a couple weeks.  And, of course, the pain at the attachment site is, well, from the attachment.  So it's nice to have that all explained.  Even if it does still hurt.

Bottom line, though, is that I'm not allowed to do anything fun--no Burpees or squats or skating or rowing--until my injured leg has the same range of motion as my non-injured leg.  Which, based on current stiffness, could be at least a month if not more.  I had hoped that in the ten days of rest I'd taken since my last PT appointment, my hammy would have improved enough that today my PT would have lifted the restrictions.  But he didn't, and so, upon hearing that, I reacted with my usual cheery optimism and appropriate coping behavior.

In other words, I swore extensively and then went and ate a donut.  And an ice cream cone.

So for the foreseeable future it's back to my upperbody workouts at CrossFit, with a little jogging and maybe some elliptical if I can find a time to get to the cardio room at the high school (free for school staff!).  On the plus side, my pullups are coming along nicely...I did 75 kipping pullups in a WOD the other day, mostly one at a time...and given the 7 pounds I've put on since I hit the recliner, I'd say that means my arms are pretty strong!  Which is good, because until I can start skating and doing lower body stuff at CrossFit, my arms are going to be responsible for keeping me exercised, sane, and out of the cookie jar.

I hope they're up to the job.

Time for More Bullet Points!

Recovering from an injury isn't nearly as much fun to write about as, say, training for a CrossFit competition or racing in a long track skating meet.  There are a few high points--like doing Cindy Rx--and a few low points--like slipping and falling again; but usually there's not enough to write about to fill a whole blog post.

So enter, once again, the Bullet Point Post.

As of next Tuesday I'll be 14 weeks post surgery.  Here are some of things that are going on lately:

The Good

• On Friday Dec. 5, 102 days after my injury, I was finally able to do a workout at full intensity.  I've done some of the WODs in CrossFit in the past couple weeks, but I've always had to be slow and cautious so I haven't felt like I've really "done a CrossFit workout" yet.  Even Cindy, although it left me a bit breathless, wasn't truly full effort--I was super cautious in the squats.  So I really haven't gone all out yet...until Friday.  The  6x250 meters rowing with 1 mn rest between each row that I did on Friday certainly felt like a "real" CrossFit workout!  I had to sit on my nice little butt pad on the rower seat, and my leg hurt a little, but I was able to row as hard as I could.  When I unclipped my feet after the sixth set and basically rolled onto the floor to assume the classic Post-WOD Roadkill pose, I was able to rediscover the weird masochist joy of completing a high-intensity workout.  Man, I've missed that!
• New things I've done recently:  stepping up on the 20 inch box with my bad leg leading; jumping rope; doing weighted squats (just 35 pounds for the back squat and 15 for the overhead, but still--weighted); rowing (I had done it before my slip-and-fall three weeks ago, but it's been too painful to do until just this week); running (well, jogging 100-200 yards at a time); and dryskating (well, I did 8 strokes with each foot and then my bad hammie said "enough").  So I'm still making progress.
• My kip seems to be improving.  A little.  I've never, despite a lot of very good instruction, been able to figure out the kip.  And until I started competing, I didn't care.  I had heard that kipping is hard on your shoulders, so I didn't even try--I stuck with strict pullups with the band.  But if you're going to compete you need to be able to kip in order to complete the high number of pullups that you might find in a competition WOD.  So, after working on strict pullups for the past 6 weeks to strengthen my shoulders, I'm now trying to kip again.  The coach gave me some more instruction at my personal training session on Thursday, and it might be starting to click--on Friday I did 4 kipping pullups unbroken.  Hey, it's a start!

The Bad

• There are still many movements that I'm unwilling to attempt.  Some, like climbing the rope, would be fine if nothing went wrong--but like Hubby Jim says, you have to consider the failure mode, and flailing around in a rope-climb-gone-bad could cause all sorts of problems.  Also in this category are handstands and double unders.  Other movements make my hammie hurt just thinking about them: deadlifts, snatches, cleans, kettle bell swings, wall balls, toes to bar (not that I could ever do those anyway), and walking lunges.  Oh, yeah--and skating.  Actually, skating lands in both categories--I'm sure I'd be able to just wobble around in rec-skater mode, but if I slipped or lost my balance or fell, really bad stuff could happen.  On the other hand, I can't even imagine being able to get into "real" speedskating position right now, let alone being able to actually skate.  So there's still quite a ways to go.
• Yesterday I went to the Oval to watch the American Cup/John Rose Open long track meet. In addition to watching some good races and talking myself hoarse updating all my friends on my hamstring issues, I managed to find myself spending money at the Cascade Speedskating booth set up in the lobby (no, that's not the "bad" thing!).  I bought a jacket and a pair of full-zip bibs to wear to the starting line of cold outdoor races.  When I  tried on the bibs, my first thought was "man, that's some poor quality control.  The left leg of these bibs is a lot tighter than the right."  A couple seconds later, of course, I realized that I had just answered fellow speedskater and hammie-avulsee Steve's question from earlier in the day..."Is you injured thigh still a lot smaller than your uninjured?"  Um, I guess it is!
• Recovery is still definitely having its ups and downs.  I was pretty bummed after doing a couple CrossFit WODs in my new "slow and careful" style, and realizing how much fitness I've lost--not just in my legs, but in other areas like my core (although, yes, my pushups and pullups and ring dips are progressing nicely).   After Thursday's personal training and Friday's rowing WOD, though, I'm feeling more optimistic again.

The Ugly

• The day after I got back from my parents' place, where we spent Thanksgiving, I stepped on the scale and realized that I have now officially gained back all the weight I had lost last spring in the SISU Nutrition Challenge. Enough said.

So there you have it...the current state of Operation Hamstring Recovery.