d_p_pank’s BodyBlog

Ok, I’m glad I made it to spinning class yesterday and then found the energy for a good chest workout. Spinning is the closest thing to running I should be doing right now. I don’t want to have to much swelling/inflamation going into surgery. Today is supposed to be my last day for all the NSAID’s with my pending surgery. Ice is my friend again. Definitely had a major eat whatever day as I ended my day with a post-coaching hawaian pizza split while watching the Pens v Islanders at the local sports/pizza joint with my hockey friends. The good part is I had fruit on my pizza and only had a small Coke. Beer and Pineapple are an odd combo.

I did make it through the entire chest workout and even fit some ab and tricep work. I’m trying to make this next week as fun as possible since I realize my mobility will be limited until around Christmas.

The winter grey is here and I was really thankful for soccer to be played indoor last night. My team never likes the cold weather and were extrememly mis-matched skill-wise last night. My team is basic travel team and they were matched up against a cup-level select team last night. They only lost 3-2 so I tried to explain to them that they played very well. It was the third goal that forced me to realize they needed to pull back and work on frustrating the other team as the other teams midfielders were all able to dribble through the defense. It’s always fun to tell a bunch of 10-11 year olds that our formation is going to change mid-game. I had no other options as my slower defenders were getting beat too easily by the other teams fast footwork.

I have added a yoga type static stretching warm up for my team as the facility we play at has no real warm up space for 10 kids on 8 teams at the same time. So far its worked as I’ve been using this time to reinforce what I expect them to do when they step on the field.

I’m really on a kick right now as I’m expecting lessened activity in less than 2 weeks.

1. Sticking to a healthy nutrition plan. I made soup again last night while watching the election returns.
2. Fitting in at least 45 min of cardio a day. I’m typically breaking my workouts into an AM and PM or lunch.
3. Hitting legs every third day. I need to have my right quad/hammy/calf combo ready for the new graf.
4. Coaching. I enjoy passing on my athletic knowledge to those younger. I’m also learning the importance of teaching others how to best utilize their individual players to create a successful environment for their players.
5. Oh killing my arms so they are ready for two weeks of crutches.
6. Trying to stay sane. . . .

Number 6 is the biggest challenge right now. I’ve stored up on DVD’s and TV shows I need to catch up on during the first week, however I need to reprogram my brain to take things slow all over again.

Here is my one election issue that I’m still not settled on. . .why is Healthcare an issue? Why do we worry about it in just terms of Healthcare? Living a lifestyle where I do my best to make sure I’m in good health, I get frustrated by all of our high cost health care issues. I’m hoping we take this health care issue to the next issue. Let’s create a nation of Wellness, not just health care.

I tend to work in a high stress environment. I have several co-workers that tend to do the food stress reduction program. I love it when I get the looks by bringing in my little cooler each day, but it sure beats breaking down on some of the neat dips and deserts that show up daily.

This was extremely hard to deal with especially after I was getting back to normal activity post-op on my knee.

I’ve currently started ramping up the cardio to at least 45 minutes daily. Sometimes it will be a walk around my work campus, sometimes I’ll save it for an evening spin class. In order to deal with the food stress group at work I’ve started disappearing to the gym on high stress days for lunch instead of working through my lunch which often happens when I have too many fires to put out. I realize a 30 minute weight or cardio session typically gives me that energy boost for the afternoon. Not to mention the milk and protein shakes for that mid afternoon snack.

I wished I could invite the rest of them to join me, but I wouldn’t want to be accused of being a health pusher. I mean when I retire, oh wait that will never happen for me, but if I were as close to retirement as some of my coworkers I’d definitely be investing in my health the way most of them are loading up on their 401K contributions. 

Anyway enough about pushing and more about making the right choice.

After coaching soccer the other night I definitely need to go ahead with the ACL reconstruction later this fall. Why? I like coaching soccer. I like demonstrating as I play. I tend to feel that playing along teaches more that a clipboard or screaming from the sidelines ever will. I realized that without the reconstruction I will need to put a do not cut in front of me jersey on as I’d hate to kill one of my U-12’s since I can’t stop on a dime right now. The kicking thing may be back but the cutting is NON Existent.