Toning Class 8/10

This class is working for me right now.  Not much about it changes from week to week, but right now with the injury problems this class is pretty risk free, and I pretty aware of those that are there.  I also like Brian (the instructor) does a great job of working every major muscle group.  I am always shocked by the sweat that I get from a non-cardio class.  Also, the class is a good way to get me to really focus on my abs, and the form of each of my exercises.  I always place myself close to the instructor so that I can check my form easily.   

Monday 8/9 Continued Improvement: Plycore

After Sunday's run I wasn't sure if I would/should attend Plycore on Monday morning, but after going through my treatment routine again, the achilles still felt just as good as it had on Sunday morning.  I decided that I would attend class, but that I would once again limit myself and only do the exercises that I felt comfortable with.  I knew that we would start the class with a run outside and even though I had some reservations about it, I wanted to do the run because I am entered in a 5k on the 21st, and I needed to see if I would really be able to take part.  I once again got there early and warmed up with some simple brisk walking.  Luckily, we decided to alter our normal running course to one that is much more flat, which made me feel much better.  The course was 2.64 miles, and I finished in around 27 mins.  I felt really good after the run.  After this I did a bunch of abs and push ups before stretching.  I was happy that I could do this, but I wasn't sure how I would feel after sitting at my desk all day at work, but as it turned out I still felt good and I promised myself that I would not run at all on Tuesday.

Sunday 8/8: Dramatic Change!

I am not sure how to explain, don't think that I could, but after plunging to a new mental low regarding the state of my achilles on Saturday when I woke up on Sunday, I felt good.  Very little soreness, not to stiff, really such a dramatic turn around that I couldn't trust myself that it was real.  By the time 1pm rolled around and the gym opened up, I was pretty sure that I would be able to run, but I had decided not to use the treadmill but to run on the indoor track.  I felt that it would let me control my pace a little better.  I started with 5 warm up laps .33 miles.  I then ran two miles on the indoor track.  This was the first time that I had ever run more than a mile on the gyms track.  But, I really liked it because I was able to give myself a good run without having to worry about falling of a treadmill or getting hit by a car (nice!).  I think that I'll do this more depending upon the traffic on the track.  Overall, I felt so good after this!  I did some ab work and afterward I stretched but was careful not to over do it. I then went home, iced, elevated, and put on some Flexall, and hoped that Monday would bring another good day and that I could return to Plycore.

The Worst Achilles Day Yet! Sat. Aug. 7th

I don't want to dwell on this day because it is in the past, and my achillies has improved greatly since then, but this was a hard day to take.  My achilles was pretty sore when I woke up on Saturday morning, but I thought/hoped/deluded myself into thinking that it would improve as the day went on.  Let's just say that it did not!  I just got worse and worse until I was mentally exhausted by it all and had convinced myself that I would soon be wearing a boot on my foot.  Basically, I am pretty sure that I had overstretched my legs and caused my achilles to flare up. 

The day went badly because instead of just lifting or swimming I tried to run on the treadmill.  I stretched a little before getting on the treadmill.  And I was hoping that after walking for 5mins. my achilles would warm up and allow me to run, but it didn't it just got worse as I began to run and the soreness was so bad that after  10mins running I got off of the tread mill without my customary 5mins walking.

I went and did some abs and stretched, then I iced, showered and went shopping with my wife.  The longer I was on my feet the worse I felt and the more my mental stat began to plummet.  The heat and crowds in the stores were making me nuts and I wanted to cut my feet off with a rusty hacksaw!!  Luckily, when I got home I had the sense to ice my achilles, take some anti-inflammatories, and put on some muscle cream.  I also made sure to keep my legs elevated.  As the night progressed my mood improved a little, but I was still not hopeful that Sunday would bring much improvement.  However, when Sunday rolled around I would be shocked!!  I will save the details for my next post, but I will say this . . . It was a good that came at the right time because I am not sure that I could have taken a repeat of Saturday!  Sometimes the world like to just pile it on, but thankfully, Sunday wasn't on of those days!

First Friday Bike Ride

The video above is from the July First Friday Bike Ride.  I just wanted to put it up so that people might get an idea of how many people show up for these rides.  We meet the first Friday of every month at the NCSU bell tower and then ride through Raleigh to different art museums and other events.  My wife and I went last Friday and it was really fun but hot!  As you can see from the picture below, I nearly melted!!!!:

This was a really good workout, but between the walking in the galleries and the biking, my achilles was really sore.  Also, I am fairly certain that I have been over stretching my legs, which has just really complicated an already frustrating injury.  I think that I was able to find a proper balance since last Friday.  But at the time of this ride, my achilles was in pretty bad shape!

Start of Something Bad: Wed. Sports Conditioning

I don't regret going to this class.  What I regret is that I didn't use my head and avoid things like step ups and jump rope.  Not really sure what I was thinking, but my best guess is that I just wanted to be better so badly that I tried to push it just a little too much.  The class started out well with a great ab session that I really enjoyed.  But I should have known that the rest of the class would push me in  ways that I am just not ready for at this time.  Also, I should have know that once I started taking the class that I would not back off.  When I go back to this class, I will limit myself to the ab portion of class and then move on to my own thing until my achilles are fully recovered.  Because, Thursday wasn't good, Friday was bad too, and Saturday was one of the worst days I have had yet.  Luckily things improved mightily on Sunday, but I go into all of that later. 

The Day After & Tuesday Toning

Honestly felt pretty good on Tuesday.  A little stiffness when I woke, but the achilles did well for most of the day.  It started to feel a little weird around 4pm, but once I got to the gym a stretched out my legs if felt fine.  I had expected it to fell much worse than it did.  However, it has not progressed as much as I would like, but I know that this is going to be a process rather than a quick fix.  I am still using the foam roller, which really seems to help. 

The toning class went really well, I was able to do all of the warm up exercises without any difficulty.  Last week I had to swap out some of them, but this week it was fine.  The whole class went really well.  We did tons of abs, which I really needed to do.  I used the 18lb body bar and a set of 10lbs dumbbells throughout the class. 

Back to Class: Monday Aug 2. Plycore.

After a weekend of stretching and and hamstring rehab exercises, I felt good enough to return to Plycore class.  I made up my mind that I would be cautious before I even started the class.  I arrived forty-five minutes early so that I could warm up and stretch my legs.  I felt really good throughout the class.  We began with a 2.3 mile run through the city streets.  I was able to finish the run, but I didn't try to push it.  Also, my conditioning had clearly dropped off from where it was prior to my achilles issues.  I did not take part in any leap frogs or stairs.  Instead, I did dips, walking lunges, and leg lifts as alternatives.  After the class I did a lot of stretching and used the foam roller.  I felt good for most of the day, but I did start to stiffen up towards the end of the day, but my wife help me to stretch and massaged my legs.  Overall, I was pleased with my effort and the class, but I still need to be cautious.  My legs are still being effected by my injuries, but I am optimistic that I can take classes again.  We'll see how it goes.

Break Through . . . maybe !?! July 29 to Aug. 2

Ok. I know that I have said this before, but this time I really do think that I am starting to put this injury behind me. Here is the thing, last we sucked! My achilles was just not feeling good, the rest of my left leg was starting to feel really tight as well. I was freaking out to say the least, so I was on the Internet looking up everything that I could find about achilles injuries. After a long while I ran across the video below: 

Which is really boring to anyone who doesn't have an achilles injury, but what is important about it is that he talks about how even though someone fells pain in their achilles ofter the root of the injury is located elsewhere in the leg, and that doctors often need to treat this other portion of the leg in order to relive the pain.  I didn't even have to watch the whole video before I felt like I know the cause of my pain!! 

I have known for sometime now that my left Hamstring is very tight and needs a lot of stretching.  It has caused me a good deal of pain in the past, but it didn't occur to me that it could be the source of this latest injury as well until I cam across this video.  I immediately stopped trying to treat my achilles and stared focusing upon my hamstrings and response was nothing short of immediate. First off, I really stared focusing on doing long periods of deep stretches and using the foam roller on my legs.  My God, the first time I tried to really stretch my left leg, I thought that I was going to explode and I was basically in tears, but my hammy was so tight.  I bent over to touch my toes, which was impossible, but I tried to keep my knees straight and hold the stretch for thirty seconds.  During that time, I tried not to wet myself and cry like child in the midst of a meltdown,; I could feel the stretch all the was up into my gluts and lower back as well as down into my achilles.  After I end the stretch my achilles felt so good !  better than it has after any of the calf stretches or exercises that I have been doing.  Basically, I think that all the stairs that I had been running tightened up my Hamstring and caused a strain on my achilles, and all efforts to to treat the achilles itself mealy irritated the and caused more stress on the achilles than it needed.  

I spent all of Thursday and Friday stretching my whole leg focusing mainly upon my hamstring, and by Saturday, I was back on the treadmill running a mile, and the difference from Monday was night and day.  It felt so much better.  My leg tightened up some that night, but my wife helped me stretch and gave me and a great massage, and on Sunday the leg felt great.  I took Sunday off just to rest up, but Honestly I feel so much better about where I am.  Cross your fingers, knock on wood, and all that Jazz! 

Good Riddance July!

Dear July,

The thirty one days that we spent together were rather disappointing.  In fact, I would venture to say that they were for the most part they were aggravating and annoying.  I know that some of this was not your fault.  July, I know you had nothing to do with the chest infection or achilles problems that bothered me for your whole visit, but July -- we had so many plans for those days that were basically wiped-out by these injuries and illness that really made it difficult to enjoy our time together.  However, I must say that what really messed up your visit was your insistence upon doing the same thing day after day!  Last year your visit was lovely, we enjoyed picnic's in the park with a cool breeze, trips to the farmers market, hiking, nice thunderstorms, mild showers, and tons nights outside eating myriads of summer fruit, drinking tons of Japanese teas, and watching stars.  But this year July, all that you wanted to do was lay out in the sun and bake.  I know that I have a dark complexion and tan easily, but skin cancer is not in my plans, neither do I want to spend every waking moment that I am not in the sun bottled up inside with the air conditioner blasting! So, my friend as our visit comes to an end, I say to "Good Riddance".  I looked forward to you for most of 2010, but now I am sure that I will look upon your next visit with trepidation and doubt.  Next year, you mustn't be so unyielding with your plans and considerate of others!

--G--

Lifting July 28th:

The Workout:

--Chest--
Dumbbell Press:
12 reps @ 30lbs
10 reps @ 35lbs
8 reps @ 40lbs
6 reps @ 45lbs
12 reps @ 35lbs
Dumbbell incline Press: 12 reps @ 35 lbs.

--Back--
Pull ups:
12 reps @ level 20 assistance
10 reps @ level 19 assistance
8 reps @ level 18 assistance
6 reps @ level 17 assistance
7 reps @ level 19 assistance DNF
Seated  Cable Rows 12 Reps @ 80lbs
--Shoulders--
Seated Dumbbell Press:
12 reps @ 25lbs
10 reps @ 30lbs
8 reps @ 35lbs
6 reps @ 40lbs
12 reps @ 30lbs
Front Raises:
12 Reps @ 20 lbs
--Biceps--
Preacher Curls:
12 reps @ 30lbs
10 reps @ 40lbs
8 reps @ 60lbs (couldn't get the 50 lbs bar)
6 reps @ 60lbs
12 reps @ 50lbs
Alternating Dumbbell Curls:
12 reps @ 30lbs
--Triceps--
Dips
12 reps
10 reps
8 reps
6 reps
12 reps
Lying Triceps Press (two handed):
12 reps @ 40lbs