injured

haven't posted in a while. mid-year's resolution: to post more often.

today's topic: being injured and why it is GOOD. yes, that's right: there are good things about being injured. the BAD are obvious: can't play ultimate, can't train for ultimate, start to suck at ultimate. so what are the good? here is my perspective.

first, it makes you slow down and listen to your body. i can't run right now -- the back of my leg, behind my knee, hurts when i fully extend my knee or push off. (it's more of a calf thing than a knee thing, thankfully.) but i would go INSANE if i didn't exercise in some form, so i am trying different things and seeing if they aggravate my injury. swimming, biking, and walking up stairs all don't hurt to do. but i have to listen to my body to see if it hurts.

(aside: this is really helpful for me to get in touch with my feelings. yes, that sounds mushy, but i often find myself really stressed or anxious, and i don't realize it until i'm completely freaking out, nor do i know why i've gotten so worked up. so i've been trying to be more in-tune with what's going on with me -- what i'm thinking, my expectations of myself and of others, how i'm reacting, etc. and the whole listening to the physical part of my body helps me listen to the mental part. 'cause who am i kidding, i'm a huge mental.)

stretching becomes important. i stretch the injured area, and while i'm at it, i stretch all over. stretching -- which i like to do via yoga -- is good. yoga also teaches you to listen to your body (and your breathing).

strengthening comes back into the spot-light. i probably got hurt because i tried to do 3x100 reps of jumping rope without really having worked my calves out at ALL this winter. mistake! as a result, after i've rested sufficiently, i'm going to start back with some nice and easy calf-raises. body weight, then some weight. then maybe i'll just hop 10 times on both leg, then on one leg. then maybe we'll try jumping rope again. baby steps. strength training helps prevent injuries. and i will be working out every other muscle of my body as well, in the meantime, so none of them will get injured either. oh yeah.

i am forced to be creative in my workouts, which in turn prevents burn-out and makes working out actually fun. sunday, at practice, kris kelly had us do a conditioning circuit. i got a pretty freaking good workout, considering i couldn't/didn't run at some of the stations. i'm inspired to get a good full-body workout again, on my own.

recovery has small, attainable steps & goal. i am goal-oriented. i like making a plan, following it, and checking things off my list once they're accomplished. rest, ice, stretch, strengthen; X-train, jog, run, sprint, jump.

more specifically to ultimate, an injury which prevents me from running forces me to focus on throwing, which we all know is something i can work on. i made a break-through in my throws when i was injured around this time last year, and i think i may have figured out another something this weekend by fooling around sunday at practice. disc skillz are not to be overlooked or underrated in their importance to the sport of ultimate.

i will hopefully, maybe, FINALLY get back on my bike (yes! i bought a road bike and i LOVE it). i also swam today, which feels so nice: arms, legs, core, lungs all in one! besides, these workout without all the jarring impact of running, jumping, or cutting are heaven on my joints.

this post is becoming incredibly inane. sorry. let me modify that resolution: i will try to post interesting things more often.