Thoughts and Feelings on a Cloudy Wednesday Hi there, and thanks for visiting! It turns out to have been a mistake to move about all day until now doing chores and yard work. It is quarter to three on the second Wednesday in June. I continue to experiment on myself to determine what the body can take, what is the fastest way to progress, and what is the very best way to heal from injuries. These matters interest me not merely to satisfy my own hubris, but also because I am doing more and more coaching nowadays. We all know that rest is very important to cure sprains, but is there any harm in moving around on this sprained ankle of mine, just as long as I don’t push into the pain or overstretch the ailing joint? No, there appears to be such a thing as too much volume of exercise even at relatively low intensity. You may think that I would have learned this a long time ago, and you would be right. But I am subject to forgetting just like all of us. The difference may be that I really strive for and respect a good memory for making progress. It isn’t just a faulty memory that leads us to error. I know darn well I am going to mend faster with a sedentary lifestyle for a while—ugh! Sitting around a lot doesn’t sit well with me. I must learn to appreciate idle time—at least for the body. I will head out to (Vancouver Island’s Own) Serious Coffee and see if I can finish off the Globe Challenge Cryptic. I doubt if I will be able to resist the temptation to run a few errands while I am at it, shame on me! |
May 26, 2008 I was almost thinking of not going to the rink today on what is at this time of year my one and only session of the week. I had been limping around all morning with a strained ankle—the same one that I sprained a few months ago. I decided to skate and just take it totally easy. I warmed up slowly with stroking and simple field moves and progressed on to footwork and finally a few spins and jumps as the ankle warmed up and the pain subsided. I ended up landing a triple flip! This is a rare event nowadays. I just don’t seem to have the incentive to do triples every session, let alone a triple flip. There are plenty of other elements and innovations to work on. But my double was better than average for some reason and I decided that I didn’t want the opportunity to pass to squeeze out the triple. Oh what a feeling! I am relating this anecdote not merely to impress, but to illustrate four points. One is that sufficient warm-up can help to overcome pain and weaknesses. Two is that tapering before important events can yield results better than all the last minute training in the world. I have been off the ice for two weeks, last Monday having been a holiday, so I rekindled my energy and my enthusiasm for the sport. Three is that sufficient practise on the double can make the triple very easy. I landed the first one I tried after not having done one since last summer, but having strived incessantly for ever better doubles. Four is that it is important to overcome superstitions to advance the furthest. I was not comfortable enough with my weak right ankle to launch any double axels or other triples, and was able to land the triple flip without the psychological advantage of having double axels or other triples under my belt. I just wanted to share my achievement, but more importantly, some of the thinking that went into it. |
| What do you think about this theory? In order to make the most progress as a competitive athlete, you have to push yourself to the verge of injury, but no further. The art of employing this maxim effectively is to push yourself to the brink without overdoing it because injuries hamper progress. Of course, working smart as well as hard is important because many injuries result from bad technique. If you do suffer an injury, the art of allowing it to heal as quickly and thoroughly as possible becomes the challenge. We don’t want to mask our injuries by using painkillers. That is to attack only the symptom, and not the root of the problem. Listen to your body. Exert yourself just shy of the breaking point! |
| Getting started is the hardest part of any task, it is often said. Getting started is a commitment of sorts. I feel good about getting this section of my web site under way. It hasn't climbed high enough in the list of priorities until now. I will make a point of remembering this feeling. It is good. I won't hesitate to sally forth, grip reality a little tighter, fly well by the seat of my pants, and as Doug Leigh would say, "Make a difference" |