Good News, Bad News

So, what happened on Friday of Week 3 that has potentially killed me for the rest of the RDWC challenge?

After a week of taping my ankle to help with support, I’d had the tape off for about 2 days, giving it a chance to prove itself before derby on Sunday. My quadriceps were still pretty sore from the previous weekend, but I was still stubbornly believing that there was nothing to worry about, and that I’d be fine by Sunday. Then, on the way to watch the football with some friends at the pub, my ankle gave out. I landed heavily on my knee (thankfully not the dodgy one!), and all of my weight went back. Those crazy tight quads screamed, and so did I.

It took me almost 10 minutes to limp the 30m from where I fell to the pub. A skinned knee dripping blood down my leg was the least of my worries. My right leg couldn’t bear weight without feeling like I’d been stabbed in the thigh.  I was fairly convinced I had ripped the muscle from the bone. I spent 2 hours sitting on one bar-stool, my leg supported on another, with ice wrapped around my quad, before I felt like I could put any weight back on it. Thankfully, my favourite team was playing their pre-season game, so in between growling, yelping and crying, I got to see them play. After hobbling to the car, and then from car to boyfriend’s couch, I spent the rest of the night with ice on and off. The pain localized, and seemed to be focused on my vastus intermedius, the middle section of the quadriceps, the type of pain suggesting partial tear, rather than full snap. Despite being good friend’s with my physio, and knowing he was open the next morning, I decided to wait it out until my appointment Monday afternoon. I knew the drill: RICE. Rest, Ice, Compress, Elevate. Saturday, could weight-bear for short distances, but rested up as much as possible. Sunday, the first day of RDWC’s Week 4, I decided to test myself.

Derby.

I couldn’t strap anything but my ankle, thanks to the amount of sweat that appears on a 38C day. I got 3 laps of the track at a teeth-clenching jog before having to pull out in pure agony. No luck with squats, even less with lunges. 50 wall push-ups and about the same of crutches later, and the uninjured Fresh Meat had finished their warm-up. Threw on the skates, made it halfway around the track before having to rip everything off. I was in tears, and not just because of the pain.

The following three hours were seriously depressing. I watched as my fellow Fresh Meat worked on their falls and slides, learnt the fine art of the slalom, and practiced their hops. I didn’t want to be sitting on the side-lines, I wanted to be out there, falling on my arse, laughing, learning. Instead, I watched, and I listened, and I tried to remember everything that was said, in the vain hope I’d be back the next week. Once the Fresh Meat had finished, I was the only one to stay behind for the level 2 and up training, like I do every week, even getting the opportunity to act as penalty timer for scrimmage. It was great, I learnt a lot, and our Fresh Meat coaches were fantastic, encouraging me to come along next week even if I was off skates, and telling me they’d run me through a one-on-one catch-up session when I was back on my wheels. That made me feel better (Thanks Ace and Fink!), but I still couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that in the space of one week, I had blown a year of physio and hard work. Home to more ice and an early night.

Today, I saw my physiotherapist.

“A Grade Strain”. After 15 minutes of explaining what happened, how it felt at the time of the injury and since, discussing my suspicions, and having a bit of a poke around (Ok, actually more technical than that, but you don’t want details of my screaming and crying), those three words were a sweet relief. A strain I can handle, as long as the muscle is intact. An intact muscle doesn’t need surgery, it just needs some gentle love and attention until it is healed.

The verdict? Minimum two weeks recovery. I have set exercises I have to do 3 or 4 times a day, and am restricted to walking, with a reassessment in one week. In the words of my physio “No running, no jumping, no hopping or skipping or lunges, and for gods sake, no skates!” Any core work involving my legs is out, so no planks, wall sits or push-ups (unless they’re one legged, against an upright surface, on my good leg). It’s boring, and it’s horrible, and I’m annoyed, but you know what? I’ll do it. I’ll take the weeks off skates until I’m approved again. I’ll research a million-and-one ways to work my core, back and upper body without engaging my quads. Because I want it. Because derby is worth fighting for. And because I’ll be damned if I’m letting my body get the better of me again.

Neysa xo

RDWC2012 - Week Two & Three Wrap Up

Ever feel like your life has just been picked up and thrown around a bit, to the extent you’ve lost a certain amount of control? That’s been me for about the last 2 weeks. I had best intentions of posting a weekly round-up for this challenge, but life had other ideas! So, how’s the challenge going?

Week Two

After the shaky start in Week 1, I was really happy with the progress made in Week 2. My body recovered well when I put my calorie intake back up and cut out some of the meat proteins. On the Sunday I had 2 hours of derby training and felt fantastic, bouncing straight back afterwards, with little soreness the next day. Every day that week, I rode my bike for at least 30 minutes, on one day for around 90 minutes. (House-hunting is fantastic for this!). I did push-ups and sit-ups every second day, giving my abdominals a chance to recover in between, since I know I have a history of over-working them. Due to some knee and ankle issues that have flared up, I didn’t do much leg work outside what my physio gave me, but at the end of the week, I was pretty happy with where I was. According to my food diary, I was still about 300 calories short a day, but I was probably operating a touch under my calculation values, so I wasn’t too stressed.

I didn’t have too many major challenges during Week 2. I didn’t want to push myself too hard after how my body had reacted in Week 1, but I was still happy with my increased activity levels and my food choices.

Week Three

Week 3 started quite well. Fresh Meat training on Sunday was great, though I started to get a niggle in my ankle while doing some stopping drills. Monday afternoon I had an appointment with my physio, who diagnosed acute tendonitis and some lower-leg muscle weakness. A quick refresher in support taping, and an adjustment to my exercise regime, and I was out the door again. More push-ups and crunches on the Tuesday, and I was feeling good! Then, Wednesday. I had a rather epic day of riding around to house inspections, only to get clipped by a car while on my bike on my way to the last house on my list. Thankfully, no major injuries were sustained, but I was rather shaken, sporting a few bruises, and had some doozey road rash. Took Thursday and Friday fairly easy, not wanting to do more damage to already bruised muscles.

On the Saturday, I was somewhat unexpectedly called to play a game of baseball, something I haven’t done in about 3 years. I played a season as an undergrad, then shifted clubs as a scorer, and eventually left the game behind, before taking up softball for a season in my final year of undergrad, and giving it away again when I started my research career. 4 hours of running around the outfield in sweltering heat made for a super-sore body that night. My quadriceps were a lot tighter than normal, but I attributed that to lack of use, and figured it would mend with some stretching. Sunday, I was still sore, but roller derby awaited! We spent a whole 2 hours working on our knee slides and falls (Ok, well maybe half an hour was spent learning sticky-skating). By the end of it, my quads were screaming at me, and I ached pretty much everywhere. Not to worry, nothing some stretching and ice wouldn’t fix. That night, at a BBQ (Meat and salad, yay! A ginger beer, oops. In my defense, still came in right on my calorie intake for the day!), one of my friend’s fell through a section of roof, and I ended up heading to hospital with him after holding a tourniquet on his arm until the medicos arrived. Thankfully, when I finally got to see him in the ER after getting checked out, he hadn’t done any serious damage. He had a bruised butt, a bit of a bump on the head, and a lovely deep laceration that laid the muscles on his arm bare, but thankfully hadn’t severed anything vital. Once he had settled in for the night, I met up with some friends at the pub, and being the good girl I am, didn’t have a drink. Didn’t do much else either, still being rather sore from all that sport. Still, nothing stretching, ice and rest wouldn’t fix, right?

Oh how wrong I was. When by Tuesday I still couldn’t move properly, I should have given my physio a call. My gut told me something was wrong, but I convinced myself that if I kept up with my normal recovery routine, I’d be fine. I shifted from ice to heat, stretched out my legs every chance I got. I cut out everything that wasn’t prescribed by my physio. I took a ridiculously long, hot bath and THEN stretched. Friday morning, I was starting to feel better, but was still tight. Needless to say, called the baseball girls and put in my apologies for the rest of the season, and eternity.

So what went wrong? Find out in Part 2!

Neysa xo

P.S. Friend is fine. After a nice 3 day hospital stay, he had surgery to reattach all his skin, and is now recovering at home. He's vowed never to climb on a roof again.

RDWC2012 - The Week One Wrap-Up

First things First!

Straight off the bat, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone that read my last post, and for all of the positive feedback both here and on Facebook. 246 visitors in 24 hours is a new record for this blog! I love that I got to use my nerdy science powers for good rather than evil, and that it may have helped people to think about the way they approach a new diet plan. So big *MWAH* to you all!

So how did I go with Week 1 of the Roller Derby Workout Challenge?

Blah.

Sunday to Wednesday I had stuck pretty close to the meal plan. I spent most of the first week (Monday-Thursday) feeling pretty flat. I was lethargic, I tired very quickly, I was cranky, I had headaches, I couldn’t concentrate on work. I did do a long session of physio, followed by stair-runs, jumping jacks and planks, but I was knackered after only two sets of each. I tried to run one afternoon, and felt very faint even before the end of the first kilometer.  Basically, I’d get home from uni, try to exercise, and face a body that literally could not handle it. Enter the nutritional analysis.

After fixing my calorie intake, dropping the sodium, and upping the vegies, my body responded really well. I played kick-to-kick and tennis with my boyfriend, spent a half-hour swimming at the beach (actually swimming out the back of the breakers, not frolicking in the surf!), went for a run on the sand. And it felt GOOD! Ok, I didn’t stick strictly to the workout plan, but I was getting my heart-rate up, which I’m happy with.

This week has already started out much better, but I’ll fill you in on that in another post.

Tracking Progress

At the moment, I’m using Fleetly to track my exercise progress, and Myfitnesspal to track my food intake. I’ve found the Roller Derby Challenge groups on both websites, which I’m sure will be really helpful! I’ll probably start tracking my exercise through myfitnesspal too, so I have all my info in one spot, but I like the points set up in fleetly, it appeals to my competitive nature! I’ll also start logging my dietary intake once a week on Foodworks, just to keep an eye on my overall nutritional picture, but for now, I’m happy with a general idea of my intake, rather than a detailed one.

Hope you’re all having a good crack at it this week, look forward to seeing everyone’s progress!

Neysa xo

The Roller Derby Workout Challenge 2012 – An Introduction

How Did I Find the Roller Derby Workout Challenge?

A few days ago, while catching up on the Derby Deeds podcast, I heard mention of the Roller Derby Workout Challenge (RDWC). Given my desire to improve my fitness for skating, I couldn’t help but check it out on Facebook, and found myself deciding to give it a crack. The challenge officially started on the 29^th January, and runs during the same period of time as my Fresh Meat training. I’ll be blogging about my experience with the program in addition to my roller derby progress.

So What IS It?

For those of you who haven’t heard of it (or can’t be stuffed looking it up), RDWC is an 8 week fitness and diet program designed for roller derby, by lovers of roller derby. Of course, you can also do it if you don’t do roller derby, looks like it’s going to be an amazing workout. The program focuses on building strength, rather than weight-loss, a very appealing proposition for someone with my aversion to fad diets. Every week, a meal plan, workout plan and a series of ‘homework’ questions get posted for members to follow, with the Facebook group providing a community to support and encourage, trade ideas, and generally be as awesome as roller derby communities tend to be.

The Food Plan

Now, I should point out that while it does include a diet-plan, I probably won’t be following it too strictly as I’m not worried about my weight, it is too meat-heavy, doesn’t seem to incorporate enough variation for my liking, and doesn’t match with what is seasonally available here. That said, I like most of the underlying principles they have used in the creation of the food-plan, such as cutting out highly refined sugars and carbs, reducing processed meat, upping your vege intake, and putting a stop to that pesky drinking habit. I’ll probably be switching around some proteins (chickpeas instead of all that chicken!), having salads instead of cooked veges, and finding some form of substitute for nuts considering my seriously allergic housemate comes home in a couple of weeks. One thing I would like to see is the nutrient breakdown (Carbs, Protein, Fats, Calories, etc.) that they used, so that I can work with it in my own way, rather than trying to figure out what appropriate substitutes for each individual meal are. I’m going to give it a week, and then decide whether or not to continue with it.

The Exercise Regime

Whilst the exercise program originally calls for a copy of the official workout DVD, the admins have also provided an alternative workout for people who do not have the DVD, a god-send for someone like me that can’t afford the extra cost at the moment. This program is obviously designed to be supplementary to derby training, with two days using it as the primary exercise, but I’m guessing it could be substituted for any high-intensity activity, like a good long run, gym session, swimming, etc. I’ll only be having 1 derby practice a week, so I’ll have to experiment to find a replacement for the other.

Progress

Day 1 was interesting. It was the first day I’d actually had enough money to go grocery shopping since coming back from my trekking around, so contrary to my usual method of “feed what the body is asking for”, I actually sat down with the meal plan, made a shopping list, and then went to the supermarket. Took forever, but in the end came home relatively happy with my choices, including a few substitutions based on availability or preference (i.e. switching lunch ‘meat’ for tuna, pears for bananas, brussel sprouts for green beans etc). I decided to pre-cook a few things for during the week, like turkey mince or pork fillet, so I could just throw some in to a container with salad and rice for uni. I also made a batch of tahini dressing based on Bonzai Aphrodite’s offerings, which, due to its immense yumminess, I can foresee going on EVERYTHING! In terms of what I actually ate, it was a bit of a shambles. I’ll save it for a later ‘Week in Review’ post, but suffice to say it wasn’t the best start. *grins*

Outside of RDWC2012

I utterly failed in my aim this week to start getting back to my strict physio routine, mostly because my usual exercises have been making my ankle hurt a lot more than is usual, and I’d prefer to see my physiotherapist before continuing too hard. Because I was only doing some exercises, that meant I slacked off a lot with the others too, so this week, it’s back on the table: Physio for Neysa!

The last week, with Australia Day, glorious warm weather, and a fridge full of ciders, I drank more than I should, and the tennis has been on so it’s been a lot of late nights (But last night’s final, WOW!), so I’m looking forward to using February as my ‘reset’ for the new year, and getting my butt back on track!

I hope you’ll all join in on my journey, be it encouragement, chastisement, or just having a general chat.

Neysa xo

This Is Roller Derby.

Darby, by Myka Jelina

Today was the day. Today, I became part of something bigger than myself. Today I started roller derby.

The Geelong Roller Derby League had their sign-up day today, so at 4.30pm myself and about 10 other women were sitting in the sweltering heat of the big blue Barwon Valley Activity Centre shed, listening to some of my derby heroes talk about what we are going to work through during our Fresh Meat course. Can I just say, Ace of Hearts, Eva War, and Boneyard Betsy are really wonderful in person, and I now respect them even more than I did for their on-skate performances.

The tenish of us are all different. I didn’t get a chance to really talk to anyone before everyone left, but we’re all different ages, have different body shapes and sizes. Some have piercings and tats, others (like me) had none. Some came in full make up, hair up etc, some didn’t. And pretty much everyone signed the form to start training. I like that we have such a diverse group, and look forward to getting to know the other women in my intake, as well as the rest of the league, in the weeks to come.

Fresh Meat starts on Sunday in 2 weeks time, and will include both off-skate fitness & strength training, as well as learning how to skate safely, fall, lean and all the other fun derby stuff. Some people looked surprised at the prospect of having to do push-ups and sit-ups, something which I was already anticipating from years in other sports, and from my research of derby. Being honest, the prospect of the fitness training excites me, as I’m really looking forward for a new opportunity to push myself.

And I am going to have to start pushing myself. Over the two months since I left on conference leave, I’ve been very very slack with my physio, and it’s starting to show. If I’m going to be any good at derby, and avoid needless injury, I have to start getting back in to it, so that’s what I’m going to do. As of right… NOW! I’m going to work hard, train hard, and get back to my peak. I’ll be aiming to run through my full physio program twice a day, as I was when I hurt my shoulder this time last year. I’ll also be aiming to spend at least 30mins on my skates every day, even if it is only around the house, as I was doing before I went overseas.

I’m very excited that I am finally able to make a start in the sport of roller derby, after a couple of years of waiting, watching, and wishing.  Bring. It. On.

Neysa xo

From one joint to the next

Don't let the laugh fool you, this was my hell for most of 2009

In January 2009, I injured my knee quite severely. I spent the best part of a year on crutches or wearing a brace, not able to bear weight. I went from 5 days a week at the gym, softball, baseball, triathalon and rockclimbing, to nothing, losing 10kg in 4 months, my thigh wasting to half its size within that time. Despite visiting naturopaths, physios and surgeons, having MRIs, CT scans and gods only know how many tests, no one was actually able to tell me what was wrong. There were plenty of theories, ligament damage, ruptured ACL, meniscus tear, cartilage damage, but none seemed to cover the complex range of problems I was experiencing. I iced, heated, strapped, massaged, drugged, herbalised, rested, exercised and stretched, with very little improvement for many months. Eventually, my body adapted, and the other parts of my leg took over from whatever the injury was. I went to the local community physio once a fortnight. Eventually I was able to walk without aids, and even run (very!) short distances, but I didn’t regain the strength or stability. Rather than helping me toward my old form, the community physio refused to see me once I regained function, i.e. I could walk. Things like rock-climbing or triathalon were, and still are, completely out of the question. I still have issues with pivoting, balance, loading, and couldn’t walk for 3-4 days a few months back because of jarring my knee on a wet floor.

This morning, I actually got a definitive answer.

I’ve been seeing a physiotherapist since dislocating my shoulder a month ago today, about 7 visits in that short time. Thanks to a highly intensive program, it’s back to 80%, which is great, as it hasn’t been 100% for years, and now it feels like it might actually get there. Basically, short of my doing more stabilization, endurance and strength exercises at home, there’s nothing more we can do for it. So, we moved on to the knee. He had read its convoluted history during the week, put me through the motions this morning, and within 10 minutes was shaking his head…

“How did they not pick this up as a meniscus tear?”

I swear, I bounced… on the good leg. Of course, there is a long road ahead. In order for me to be able to walk, other muscles had changed their usual function. We have to retrain everything from the hip down to go back to their original state. Even the two small and relatively easy exercises I was shown today had me fatigued and breathing hard after only 5 reps. It might be tiring, but I’m excited, I’m hugely motivated to get my body to where it should be, and I’m fueling my recovery with yummy creations like this! 

Monster tower of an organic lunch.

Local leg ham, grilled zuchinni, eggplant and sweet potato, vintage cheddar, baby spinach, sundried tomato and basil pumpkin hoummas on a fresh crusty roll. Delicious lunch, and great fuel for rebuilding muscle!

Hopefully I'll have some new recipes to put up in the next week or so, including rhubarb jam and maybe something involving a rabbit. Might also throw in to a conference wrap-up from my fun weekend in Lorne if I can pull anything non-sciency out of it! In the mean time, enjoy the last of our sunny summer weather, cause autumn starts next week!

Love Neysa xo

Physio and Pizza

I seriously forgot how much work physiotherapy can be. This morning I had my second appointment in 3 days, with another scheduled for Thursday, and whilst I am already seeing the benefits in terms of an expedited recovery, I would not want to be doing it if I wasn't working from home this week! Every two hours, I have to lie down with a rolled towel along my spine, arms stretched out, and ice packed around my shoulder for 15 minutes. On top of that, I'm doing a number of isometric exercises, and some other fun things involving a pulley and using my own body as a counterweight. Time to do anything other than physio – approaching zero.


It's not so bad. I have actually managed to be rather productive today aside from that. Grant writing and eye checks for the win! I also tried getting a bit acquainted with the Nike+ application/gadgetry I've had sitting around since I got my Macbook Pro back in December. Hooray for pre-Christmas deals! Basically it's two parts – the receiver, that plugs into your iPod, and a sensor that goes in your shoe. I've heard good things, and figure once I start running (waiting for the green light from the physio), it won't hurt to have a decent way of keeping track of workouts. If anyone has had any experience, I would love some feedback on how you use it.


And on the food front – amazing pizza for dinner today.

How can you say no to something like that? I feel a bit guilty for buying the base, when I already had the stuff to make one at home, but I was being impatient, and didn't want to wait for dough to prove. Tomato paste base, chorizo, mushrooms, sliced fresh tomato, kalamata olives, topped with the epic cheese combo of tasty, pecorino and bocconcini, and torn fresh basil. Mmmm, heavenly. Of course when Matt finds out I didn't make the base, I'll be hearing all about it. His pizzas are always outstanding, mostly because he wouldn't be caught dead buying a base, and gets amazing, crispy crusts on his pizza stone. For that dedication to the pizzariffic cause!

Right, off to ice my shoulder and have dreams of pizza.



Love Neysa xo

Shoulders, Sumac Salmon and Salad

Strapping tape + hot weather

So I've blown my shoulder.

No idea how, as seems to be the case with every single one of my major injuries in recent years. Physiotherapist can neither confirm nor deny the possibility that it was a subluxation (partial dislocation) that caused the damage, all we know is that it's painful, I'm lacking movement, and I'm not allowed to start the training regime I had all figured out. Boo. Hopefully time, rest and physio will solve all my problems, but in the mean time...

After discovering him on FoodBuzz, I've been reading The Kitchen of A Runner, though blogger Matt has recently started up a new blog, The Athlete's Plate. He's one of the few bloggers I still follow religiously (And I promise it's not just cause his name is Matt!). Reading his blog over the past several months has really inspired me to take up the fitness mantle, especially the way he seems to manage to balance uni, work, family and his training, something I'm still trying to get a handle on. I also really enjoy his style of blogging, and his use of the medium to record workouts, interesting food, and all that good stuff. I was hoping to do something similar when I started training properly (instead of just the occasional swim or jog), but we'll see how long the shoulder takes to heal. However, while we're waiting for that situation to run its course, I can maintain the yummy foody side of things!

When my boyfriend came home from Thailand/Malaysia this week, I was rather keen to have him around for dinner. I seriously miss cooking for two people, and food is a great way to rebond. He'd not been terribly happy with the lack of vegetables during his stay in Malaysia, so when he got home, I wanted to make something healthy and green. While he was away, about 3 weeks, I had seriously cut back on my meat-based proteins (other than fish, only had meat 3 times in 3 weeks!), and had been eating a lot of raw food, and I wanted to stay true to that form as well. Enter this yummy number!

Sumac-crusted Salmon with Summer Salad

I've been making lots of trips to the green grocer and farmers markets lately, trying to avoid supermarkets and maintain healthy eating. Salads usually consist of whatever is on offer, which when you're buying from these sorts of places, tends to be more seasonal, and better for you! This super salad had the following:

• 3 large radishes, thinly sliced
• 3 medium sized tomatos, diced
• 1 lebanese cucumber, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 3-4 handfuls baby spinach leaves
• A generous handful of kalamata olives and alfalfa sprouts

This was all thrown in a bowl, and then had a simple vinaigrette tossed through: a few tablespoons olive oil, 15-30ml apple cider vinegar, one chopped red chilli, two tablespoons passionfruit pulp, put in a jar, and shaken till well combined. Yum! I'm a bit weird, I like my salads better the next day, once all the flavours have had time to meld, but the greens are still fresh.

For the fish, I had two pieces of fresh Tasmanian Atlantic salmon, boneless but with the skins still on. Heat a pan over high heat, and lightly spray with a little bit of olive oil (you won't need much). Pour some sumac onto a flat surface, such as a plate, and then coat the skin-free side/s of your fish. Once the pan in hot, place the fish skin down until it goes nice and crispy, then sear the other sides. I prefer my salmon quite rare, so I find an inch-thick piece will be fine with about 20-30 seconds a side. The sumac should turn a very dark red, almost black. Allow to rest for about a minute, then serve alongside salad.

• Sumac is a red/purple spice from the Middle East and Mediterranean, slightly tangy with citrus notes. And we all know anything red or purple is good for you thanks to all those antioxidants like anthocyanins and resveratrol. Mmmm.
  
• I'll admit that I borrowed the sumac-crust idea from work's menu. At Mr Hyde, we have a sumac-rubbed tuna served on a white anchovy and caper dressing with micro-herbs to garnish. Salmon, tuna and lamb cutlets are all amazing with sumac, and it just gets better if you pop them on the BBQ!
• If you're just after salad, but want something a bit more substantial, I've recently been making the same basic salad, then adding things such as grilled sweet potato, Meredith goats chevre, or shaved pecorino. Use what's local and fresh, and you can't really go wrong!

So where's the photo?
Oops. I started writing this before Matt arrived for dinner, and was so excited to see him I promptly forgot the camera. Bad habit I must break! Will update soon. In the mean time, would love to hear about other people's experimentation with sumac!

Love, Neysa xo