In some ways my leg is much better, and in others it seems much worse. What I know is that I now have to train not to hurt it. Thinking I could resume running sleds at 20% yesterday only to get slapped down to under 5%. That was a discouraging wake up call. But the rule is, stay under the pain threshold and it will get better quickly.
This is not a hamstring because I can lift heavy and feel nothing. It's not the groin or the quad, it's a little muscle on the inside of the leg. The last time I had this little ding it went away and I was fine pretty quickly. That only happens if I leave it alone or stay under the pain threshold.
As my orthopedic surgeon used to say, "Bone heals in 8-10 weeks, so if a soft tissue injury takes longer than that then you just flat aren't letting it heal". Message received. Have a great day and thanks for coming by! Bubba
From the super group, Black Country Communion - "Great Divide" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocgO6iSiU3g Glenn Hughes from Deep Purple, Jason Bonham and the great Joe Bonamassa on guitar.
My last session I could run maybe 15-20%. Today, four days later, I had to scale back to 5% to keep from feeling pain. WTF?! Then I went to the gym and was stronger than ever. Leg presses and leg curls went up again. What is this stupid little muscle causing me this random issue?! Bubba
Godsmack - "I Stand Alone" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYjZK_6i37M
Once I decided not to jump in Ft. Collins, I thought it might be a good time to take two days off and resume Thursday. My leg is much better but I want to take the next nine days to blast my training. I will run sleds, do bars and lift legs every other day for five rotations. The in between days will alternate upper lift days. I should be pretty crippled at the end of this, but physically much better. Have a great day and thanks for being here! Bubba
John Mayer - "Slow Dancing in a Burning Room" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwMfS594qfE&list=RDrwMfS594qfE
Yesterday I took a calculated risk and jumped. I felt my body was ready for this next step and it was, almost. I got a cramp in my left inside of my leg muscle after clearing 11'6"/3.51m from 3 lefts/6 steps/33' run. I did not feel anything during the jump or even after I landed. But when I got up to walk off the pit, a cramp was suddenly there. It did not hurt on leg lifts, including leg curls.
A cramp has a way of working itself out over a few days to a week. I figured I have 14 days to Ft. Collins so I should be fine. This morning on sleds, I could run better than I thought I could, but was limited by grabs when I tried to go faster. My guess is that I will be able to run close to 100% without pain by meet time, but I won't be ready to vault at the level I want, so I will skip the meet.
I'm afraid of the Colorado curse. Six weeks after a hamstring injury in Reno, I jumped at a "low level" in Colorado Springs and dinged it again putting me out for eight more weeks. I'm not going to turn this cramp into an injury and I'm not going to jump in a meet at a level below where I presently am. It serves no purpose and will not be worth the effort.
In fact this has me re-thinking Belton on January 3, since it's only two weeks before Reno. Things are going way to well to rush through these type of things this early in the game. Have a great day! Bubba
Dedicated to my love/hate relationship with my body and it's unpredictable betrayal - Kris Dahl - "Love Me" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2d0LevWxjs Guitar lesson at the end.
For better or worse, I decided last night that I think I feel good enough to jump low level on my 13'1"/4m poles this morning. It's two weeks from Ft. Collins so why risk? I felt like trash the day I jumped Thursday and again on Friday, but Saturday my body rebounded and felt somewhat recovered. For me to move forward with the big picture I need to introduce a manageable challenge on days like this. I figured I could start on my smallest 13'1", get in 2-3 jumps and stop; I got 5.
I've never been on my 1360/17.4 from 2 lefts/4 steps/22' and suddenly in warm up it feels I might have a shot at of doing it. So I jump 10'/3.05m, 10'6"/3.21m and 11'/3.36m all on first jumps. I move back to 3/6/33' and blow through my 1365/16.8 badly at 11'6"/3.51m. The next jump I blow through my 16.6 but still make the bar. So again I'm closing in on my benchmark of 12'/3.66m from 3/6/33'. I made 11'8" from there Thursday and 11'6" today.
I'm thinking I need the next pole and as I go to walk across and step off the pit I feel a cramp behind my left mid leg near the inside. I know it must be a cramp because I felt nothing before or doing the jump. Still, it's biting at me pretty good so I stop.
I go the gym and decide for "trial by fire". I start with my quad that felt tight last Sunday and all week. No problem making my lifts. OK, let's see if this is a hamstring ding. I started with the lowest weight of 22 lbs./10kg and feel nothing. I raise the weight up two more times and still no strength deficit. Yep, it's a only cramp because I also have no pain.
I go home and start a long stretch to loosen any "ball" a cramp may produce. It got looser as I went. Tomorrow I will do 10 X sleds very slowly and see if it will let me build up. If I can run sleds 100% before my last session a week from Tuesday then I'm a go for Ft. Collins.
Right now I'm pretty sure I'm 90-95% certain it will pass. In warm up in Torino, Italy a year ago my foot caught the runway on one of my runs and felt similar to this. I was able to work it out slowly and still jump high enough to get 2nd in the Word Masters Games. So with two weeks I'm pretty sure this will be fine. If not I'll worry about it then but I would be very surprised.
The difference between today and other days was that I really didn't feel like I was taking a risk. I feel pretty much in control of my body and vault so I felt I could reel it in or cut it off if I felt an issue arising. I think I just didn't hydrate properly last night and this morning, like I normally would if I'm jumping. All in all it was a risk I believe was worth taking, and I never take risks this close to a meet. Have a great day! Bubba
ACDC - "The Razor's Edge" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6w9PXA2UXAQ
The best exercise program for any person is one that you will do. Thousands of good intentions have been erased by inconvenience. I keep "meaning" to get into and incorporate yoga but it just hasn't happened. That doesn't lessen my need for better flexibility. So I looked at that component and decided I was rushing through rather than holding my stretches long enough. So bad was my stretch reflex holding that I couldn't even effectively get a PNF type stretch after it released. One month into almost double the time committed to stretching, I'm feeling faster and more limber. Good lesson - you can't skimp on the easy stuff. Have a great day and thanks for your support! Bubba
Deano, this one's for you too! Glad your surgery was a success - ACDC - "Bad Boy Boogie" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeubb1Lti2M
Now that I have survived my last jump day before Ft. Collins, uninjured, it's back to the grind. Hard lift day today which felt good. Nothing more really to say. Another brick in the wall! Thanks for checking in and have a great day! Bubba
To Dean "The Machine" - ACDC - "Let There Be Rock" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6TZsSQyeAE Get well soon buddy!!
