Potholes got nothin’ on me!

Who would want to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to run 8.4 miles? This guy!

… and almost 40,000 other people.  A couple years ago, a doctor told me that I may never be able to run again.  I showed him wrong, and then I managed to give myself a mild ankle sprain around the 5 mile mark.  Being the unusually highly motivated guy that I am, I still managed to limp my way across the finish line.  All the while my wife is telling me to go to an aid station and stop.  I just really wanted my “finisher” shirt. 

My ankle was a little swollen after the race.  

I treated it with a little thing called PRICE:

P - protect the affected area from further injury
R - rest allows the body’s healing process to occur
I - ice helps reduce pain and bruising
C - compression helps control the bruising
E - elevation also helps control bruising and may help reduce pain by stimulating drainage

This technique is great for reducing inflammation and pain after an ankle sprain.  The sooner it is done the faster you can recover.  I waited till after the race, but I was able to put weight on my ankle the next afternoon.  It is now 6 days later and I’m pain free and have moving around freely. 

Just remember that pain is an indicator that something in your body has been damaged.  Take the time you need to recover, or you may end up being hurt for much longer than you should be.

Next week:  24 hours in a wheel chair

A Healthy Restart

I’ve told this story hundreds of times, but I’ve never written about it.  I used to be an Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Technician in the military.  Bomb Squad for short.  I’ve had more near death experiences than most people would have in three lifetimes.  The last one almost ended my life.  I survived but my military career was over because of injuries.  The road to recovery is one that I still travel and it is full of potholes.  It’s been exactly 931 days since the last time I’ve been blown up.  Going in and out of physical rehab has been common for me the last couple years of my life.  I do it so much that I’ve decided to return to school for a Physical Therapist Assistant degree so that I can take care of myself better.  After a year of school, I can say that my plan is working.

That brings me to today.  I’ve recently been able to return to a more intense fitness regimen now that my knee is in better shape.  It has been 3 weeks and I’ve lost 5lbs.  I’m stronger, faster, more flexible, and have more energy than I know what to do with (oh wait, I have 7 classes this semester).  

One of my favorite exercises involves using a larger, heavier than normal medicine ball.

It has a 14 inch diameter and weighs 20lbs.  The exercise is called the wall-ball.  Throw the ball in the air and catch it.  Simple right?  It like this exercise because it is a full body work out that works all your major joints and associated muscles.  I prefer using large medicine balls because they are heavily padded.

So why would I even do this?  The cardio aspect is the biggest thing.  When the movement is done in succession as shown in the video, the fast paced full range of joint movement with added the added load of a medicine ball can make this an intense workout.  Also, the speed that you work and the weight of the ball can be scaled to your ability level.  This is safer than throwing a dumbbell in the air.  And, if you never tried anything like this before, doing it will challenge in whole new ways. 

 My best time for the workout in the video link is 00:08:05.2

NEXT WEEK: The Great Aloha Run… Jog… Walk.