Vegan Pancakes

It has been quite some time since I have sat down to write. And there is a reason. If fact, I can sum it up in one word: depression. Yes, I have been slightly depressed about an injury I sustained. Basically, I over did it which makes it even more depressing. It could have easily been avoided but I was feeling so great and not really paying attention to my training plan. In hindsight, I made a very big mistake.

On January 31st, we had a hard session on the bikes in the AM and then a particularly hard session on the track in the PM. The following day, I woke up early to do a tempo run. So I ended up doing 2 back to back hard running workouts with only about 10 hours rest in between. On my last repeat that Wednesday morning, my left knee started bothering me. Ack! What a bummer. I had been doing so well and feeling so great but now I would have to slow down and skip some workouts.

I continued cycling and swimming as my knee seemed to fare pretty well during these activities. And I started doing more stretching and strength training. In particular, I started doing some leg lifts that a previous PT had told me to do. These exercises immediately paid off and with some rest and lots of foam roller, I was able to travel to run the Virginia is for Lovers 14k with Melissa on February 11th. During the first part of the race, my knee was a little gimpy but as the race went on, the pain went away and I was pain free for most of the race. Granted, I was taking it easy during this race.

I am still gimpy and need to continue to take it easy on the running. Also, long sessions in the saddle tend to aggravate the knee a bit. At this point in my training, I don't think I will be able to beat my last years time in the upcoming Monument Avenue 10K. I am not giving up hope entirely but this race may just have to be a fun race for me. Since I am doing a triathlon two weeks later which will entail a 1500 meter lake swim, a 24 mile bike ride, and a 10K run, I am not too worried about the Monument Avenue race. However, I am still a little down about the whole knee thing.

I thought I was past it but alas, it appears I am not. Worst of all, I know what needs to be done to fix myself up and prevent future occurrences. But more stretching, more warmup, more cool down, more foam roller, more yoga - these are the less than glamorous parts of triathlon training and racing and it is hard to get excited about more injury prevention activities and less actual running. I just don't have the time to do all the necessary injury prevention exercises and put in the volume I would like to put in. That said, I can still compete. My run leg during races is just going to suffer slightly. I will have to walk more and my times will not be as good.

So there you have it. I am still here training but I am also dealing with an injury. So you might not see as many blog postings from me this month. It is just a little depressing. Of course, things could be so much worse and I want to make sure that readers understand where I am coming from. I am blessed by so many things in my life, I really can't complain too much about a gimpy knee. Yes, it brings me down but at the same time, life is good to me. I need not list all the reasons why but here are some: Melissa, Love, Family, Health, Friends, Good Job w/Good Pay, Freedom, Security and of course, Vegan Pancakes.

Soccer Injuries-Part 1

People familiar with soccer know that it is a contact sport that can be hard on the body. Besides the running, jumping, quick starts and stops, there is also contusions, twists, sprains, and bruises. I had been pretty lucky throughout my soccer playing days. Sure when I was a kid, I had the two broken wrists as I described earlier. And I had my share of ankle sprains, groin pulls, and sore hamstrings. But I had never had any major injuries in the many years I played.

My first major injury happened as an adult playing in the CVSA. Our team captain was a member of the CVSA board which lead to a neat opportunity. There was a British Navy ship that was going to be docking in nearby Hampton. The men of the HMS Richmond wanted to play a soccer game against a local amateur team. Our captain, Mario, was able to get the Galaxy onto the pitch for a friendly.

The game was set for a Saturday at Bryan Park. There were more spectators than usual at this game. My dad had come into town to watch and there were various family and friends from both teams at the game. The match was really a fun one. I thought I had a pretty good game with an assist and a goal.

During the course of the game, I had a breakaway. I was driving down into the penalty box and was leveled by an opposing player. The referee decided it was not a foul but upon video review (the game was being taped), it was definitely a foul. When I went down, I landed on my hand and hurt my thumb pretty bad. I kept playing though. Soccer players are like that. We just keep playing and deal with the injuries after the game.

We ended up winning 4-3 and afterwards we all hung out in the pavilion to socialize. I was not in a socializing mood though because my thumb was throbbing and was black and blue. I put ice on it and did not hang out much. My dad and I went home and he left to go back to NOVA. Now I know that immediate black and blue from an injury is not a good sign.

The next day my thumb was still hurting a great deal. I decided I better go to the Patients First to get it checked out. Melissa was out of town at a conference so she was missing all the fun. At Patients First, they did an xray and said that I had broken my thumb and sent me to a specialist. So the next day I went to Advanced Orthopedics (my second time at AO). The doctor informed me that I needed surgery. He also told me that since he was going on vacation later in the week that he would need to fit me in the next morning.

So I had injured myself on Saturday, went to one doctor on Sunday, the specialist on Monday, and was being operated on Tuesday. The surgery was relatively minor but any surgery takes its toll on the body. I had what was called a "game keepers repair." I had a co-worker drive me to surgery and pick me up when it was done. I was sent home with pain medicine and a soft cast.

It was challenging doing things with one hand especially since I had hurt my dominant hand. I went back to Advanced Orthopedic for physical therapy. The therapy went well and I regained almost a full range of motion. Not 100 percent though. I can still bend my left thumb much more than the right one that I injured.

Next time I will describe another injury that is more typical of athletes.