I'm in North Carolina visiting my sister's family for the Christmas holiday weekend. I did a round of my current strength routine today, but I didn't paddle: my mother and I drove over here in her car, which isn't equipped to carry a boat. So I'm out of the boat until I get back home Monday or Tuesday.
I was sick the week before last. I had either a mild flu or (more likely) a very bad cold, and it was a stubborn crud that kept me on the down-low for almost the entire week. But I did manage to get in the boat a couple of times that week. I met Joe for our usual get-together on Tuesday, and between my feeling crummy and his being on a very tight schedule, we settled for an easy paddle from the marina to the mouth of the harbor and back, a 35- to 40-minute undertaking. By Saturday I was finally regaining some energy, and it was an unseasonably warm day (mid 70s Fahrenheit), so I went down and got in a one-hour session in the harbor.
This past week I was more or less back to normal, and knowing I'd be boatless this weekend I paddled Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Tuesday Joe and I did a lap of the harbor in 80 minutes or so, and on each of the next two days I paddled a one-hour session with some long surges (Wednesday) and some short sprints (Thursday) thrown in.
I mentioned up above that I've got a strength routine going. I picked out six exercises from the Michele Ramazza video that require almost no equipment so I wouldn't have to bring a bunch of stuff to my sister's with me. Here's how the routine goes:
1. Leg kicks and leg kicks-swim (demonstrated by Michele at 3:33 and 3:44 of the video)
2. Pushups (done with dumbbells like Michele is doing them at 4:54)
3. Butterfly crunches (demonstrated at 3:22)
4. "Draw stroke" with rubber band (demonstrated at 4:37)
5. Plank crunches (demonstrated at 4:03)
6. Air squats (demonstrated at 2:15)
I do the routine three times a week, going through it twice each time.
I mentioned in my last post how my plantar fasciitis seems to come and go, and these last two weeks have provided a good example of that. During my week of being sick I was in bed for much of each day but did make a point of stretching my calves, and there were moments when I almost thought I was rid of the pain at last. But in the last week, as I got back in the boat and went through the usual motions with my feet against the footboard, the pain flared up again. During the long trip over here it hurt bad every time I got out of the car and walked around. I'm trying to be diligent with the stretching during this otherwise leisurely stay at my sister's house.
Saturday, December 24, 2016
Monday, December 12, 2016
Offseason conditioning, the pains in my feets, and other news
During baseball season, my favorite team's website gets updated several times a day. The team plays a game almost every day, after all, and there are always subplots like injuries, trade rumors, shuffling of the lineup, and the like to report on. In the offseason, by contrast, two or three days might go by in between website updates. It's not that there isn't anything going on: the players are busy with winter ball or carrying out their offseason conditioning regimes, and the front office is constantly looking for ways to assemble the best possible roster for the next season. But without a new game each day and a chance for the team to improve its place in the standings, the urgency just isn't there to deliver up-to-the-minute news to the fans.
And so I offer my excuse for the lack of activity here on this website. Even though I am definitely laying some groundwork for next season, it's hard to get inspired to write a lot of stuff when there are no competitions right around the corner.
Life has been full of the usual adult responsibilities along with the family obligations that accompany the holiday season. But there is, in fact, plenty training happening, albeit in a quiet, behind-the-scenes way. I've just finished three solid weeks of my latest strength routine, and starting this coming week I'll be doing a new one. I got in the boat twice a week all through November, and since the beginning of December I've bumped that up to thrice a week. Most days I paddle for 60 to 80 minutes, and it's generally steady paddling though I do try to throw in some 8-stroke sprints and some long surges and stuff like that to keep my body used to the idea of going harder.
On the injury front, I'm happy to say that most of my body is feeling good, but I've spent a full year now trying to get rid of some pain in an unlikely place for a paddler: my feet. My right foot started hurting around this time last year and after spending a few months hoping it would go away I finally saw a doctor about it. The doctor said it was a textbook case of plantar fasciitis, and he gave me one of those splints to wear in bed at night and recommended a couple of stretching exercises. These remedies helped some but never quite solved the problem for good; by the time I took my trip to the Northeast in August the pain was flaring up again and was threatening to get into my left foot as well. My buddy Rob, the chiropractor in New York, showed me a better stretching exercise and he also agreed with my suspicion that the condition was caused by my more aggressive use of my feet while paddling, pushing against the footboard with my onside foot while pulling against the strap with my offside foot. So there you go: paddling has given me a foot injury. I never would have predicted such a thing.
Since seeing Rob in August I have tried to push and pull less intensely with my feet while paddling, and I have been pretty conscientious about doing the stretch he showed me. I think it has definitely helped: as I write this the pain in my left foot is gone. But I can't quite seem to shake it from my right foot. There are periods where it feels almost pain-free, but then it flares up again. I have had all kinds of stubborn ailments in the past that did finally work themselves out, and I hope this one will too, but I'm trying to stay on top of it and keep it from developing into a bone spur.
Winter does seem to be moving into the Mid South. This past Thursday a stiff north wind and a Fahrenheit temperature in the mid 30s prompted me to break out the pogies for the first time. On Saturday it was about ten degrees warmer and less windy, but I didn't get down to paddle until late afternoon and it was almost dark when I finished. I was chilled to the core as I put my boat away and by the time I'd walked up the ramp to my car I was shivering violently. At this early stage there's no telling what kind of winter we'll end up having, but in most years I'm utterly weary of winter by the beginning of February.
And so I offer my excuse for the lack of activity here on this website. Even though I am definitely laying some groundwork for next season, it's hard to get inspired to write a lot of stuff when there are no competitions right around the corner.
Life has been full of the usual adult responsibilities along with the family obligations that accompany the holiday season. But there is, in fact, plenty training happening, albeit in a quiet, behind-the-scenes way. I've just finished three solid weeks of my latest strength routine, and starting this coming week I'll be doing a new one. I got in the boat twice a week all through November, and since the beginning of December I've bumped that up to thrice a week. Most days I paddle for 60 to 80 minutes, and it's generally steady paddling though I do try to throw in some 8-stroke sprints and some long surges and stuff like that to keep my body used to the idea of going harder.
On the injury front, I'm happy to say that most of my body is feeling good, but I've spent a full year now trying to get rid of some pain in an unlikely place for a paddler: my feet. My right foot started hurting around this time last year and after spending a few months hoping it would go away I finally saw a doctor about it. The doctor said it was a textbook case of plantar fasciitis, and he gave me one of those splints to wear in bed at night and recommended a couple of stretching exercises. These remedies helped some but never quite solved the problem for good; by the time I took my trip to the Northeast in August the pain was flaring up again and was threatening to get into my left foot as well. My buddy Rob, the chiropractor in New York, showed me a better stretching exercise and he also agreed with my suspicion that the condition was caused by my more aggressive use of my feet while paddling, pushing against the footboard with my onside foot while pulling against the strap with my offside foot. So there you go: paddling has given me a foot injury. I never would have predicted such a thing.
Since seeing Rob in August I have tried to push and pull less intensely with my feet while paddling, and I have been pretty conscientious about doing the stretch he showed me. I think it has definitely helped: as I write this the pain in my left foot is gone. But I can't quite seem to shake it from my right foot. There are periods where it feels almost pain-free, but then it flares up again. I have had all kinds of stubborn ailments in the past that did finally work themselves out, and I hope this one will too, but I'm trying to stay on top of it and keep it from developing into a bone spur.
Winter does seem to be moving into the Mid South. This past Thursday a stiff north wind and a Fahrenheit temperature in the mid 30s prompted me to break out the pogies for the first time. On Saturday it was about ten degrees warmer and less windy, but I didn't get down to paddle until late afternoon and it was almost dark when I finished. I was chilled to the core as I put my boat away and by the time I'd walked up the ramp to my car I was shivering violently. At this early stage there's no telling what kind of winter we'll end up having, but in most years I'm utterly weary of winter by the beginning of February.
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