Colin's Footblog

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 24 Dec 2004 22:07

Injury woes...

My right knee has been giving me a bit of shit since about September, but not bad enough to keep me from playing. It hurts when I crouch down and use my quadricep while the knee is at a deep angle. It never bothered me while playing, so I let it be and just put extra weight on my left knee when I had to crouch.

Well, last week I went curling, and slipped while trying to run as fast as I could on the ice. I Landed square on my LEFT knee, leaving a monster bruise that shows no signs of dissapearing yet (eight days now). Anyways, this bruise has made it really painful to exert any force with my left quadricept when there's basically ANY angle on the knee. This has kept me from being able to favour my right knee, and it has gotten noticably worse in just the past week. It (my right knee) gives me trouble whenever I walk up or down stairs, and sometimes just when I'm walking on flat land. I'm pretty freaked out by this, as I don't know how long this bruise on my left knee is gonna be there, and I don't even know what's wrong with my right, only that it's getting rapidly worse...

This had to happen over my break... I wanted to play 2 hrs + per day all this week.

B_Man · Post by **B_Man** » 25 Dec 2004 22:34

That sounds like a patella tendon problem (also known as jumper's knee). The best thing that I did was a lot of rest, stretches, and sqauts. Obviously you don't want to go all out but do approx. 2 sets of 6 - 9 every few days just to help stimulate the tendon.

The main thing though Colin is rest. Rent a few really really good xbox, gamecube, ps 2 or whatever games and indulge!

I hope both your knees turn out alright and that you had a very merry Christmas

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 04 May 2005 20:26

Byrin, I was at a personal low when I wrote that last post, and although I've been on the board ever since, this is the first time I noticed your responce. Thank you

.

Right knee is still shit, but I've found lately that schooling flicky toe kicks helps it.

Played seriously tonight for the first time in ages (for about the hundredth time), turns out that I can do atomic sets? Hit my first legbeater, which is my first atomic trick. Umm, booyah?

Mostly working basics though, baby steps. Flicky toe kicks help my knee, and I suck at them, so it's doubly good for me to do them!

B_Man · Post by **B_Man** » 04 May 2005 21:16

My knees are still giving me a bit of problems as well, but they are growing stronger! I've been doing a lot of stretches lately (30ish minutes a day) and I'm telling, it is already paying off. That combined with the supplements I've been taking (Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM and when there is no orange juice, Vit. C), I have been noticing definite improvments

Way to go with your Legbeater too!! Atomic sets are totally the cool thing to do these days

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 05 May 2005 19:04

Sore today from footbag for the first time in a while. Happy sore. Footed legbeater both sides tonight, but didn't hit either. Decided not to injure myself (hip joints are burning!). Shred is good, stress is bad.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 16 May 2005 23:16

No footbag news to speak of, but life in general. Mom moved to South America for a year or so yesterday, and my brother will be replacing her in the house. It's a pretty sweet deal, I think. First order of business was to move my piano from the living room upstairs down to my room in the basement. Half a dozen guys and a few beers got the job done. I wonder if they're all as sore today as I am?

Anyways, all is well. Greater freedom to organize and dedicate my time will hopefully lead to more shred, and more music. Constructive hobbies... Getting rid of my computer tomorrow. It's an awful addiction, this thing kills my productivity, kills my enthusiasm. Not so much 'getting rid of', but tossing it out of my room, putting it upstairs. I like to spend lots of time in my room (it has my guitars, it's my shred spot, and now it even has my piano) but it ends up wasted on this damned machine. No more.

Will almost certainly shred tomorrow. Basics for an hour or so. If I still have gas in the tank after that, I think I'll try some atomic stuff. Flux, maybe.

Happy days, folks. Live good.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 28 Jun 2005 16:55

Lon Smith style...

SLEEP: 0:00-9:35, missed first class

SCHOOL: slight improvement, needs work

DIET: mediocre. hunger eating good, social eating bad.

MUSIC: progress made, good day, almost at last section of piece. right ring finger getting stronger

SHRED: not yet...

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 29 Jun 2005 16:00

SLEEP: 100 - 800

SCHOOL: a little better. need to spend time in distraction free library.

DIET: pretty good. no out-and-out garbage.

FIRZBEE: game, loss, hard fought, fun. team improving it seems.

MUSIC: learned tricky part with right hand, new section starts tomorrow.

SHREDit: solid drill sesh. lots of guilty toe moves. infinities. sweat.

HG · Post by HG » 29 Jun 2005 19:16

Hooray! Colin playing footbag. WOOT WOOT

Drill>freestyle>freestyle>repeat

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 30 Jun 2005 16:25

Henry -

SLEEP: 000 800

SCHOOL: an actual productive day. a fucking mericle by my standards. fingers crossed for similar success through the long weekend.

DIET: not great, but not awful. So... big improvement.

MUSIC: not much time for music today, too much schoolwork got done! Brushed up a couple of rough spots, fully ready to start new section now.

SHRED: right now.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 01 Jul 2005 09:00

Last night got hijacked, making for no shred, and pretty awful diet. Ah well, shit happens, on to today.

SLEEP: 230 1100

DIET: good so far, but canada day weekend => BBQs to the max

SCHOOL: first day of long weekend. no school.

MUSIC: none yet, probably won't have a chance

SHRED: nice one hour morning session. lots of tiltless toe drilling, lots of fun, lots of sweat

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 03 Jul 2005 17:45

Weekend wrap...

SLEEP: cancelled due to drinking

DIET: coulda been worse. not bad, really.

SCHOOL: got very little done. need to spend time in library tomorrow.

MUSIC: little progress made, but lots of fun had. lets call that a victory.

SHRED: no real session, but a couple of 30 minute bouts with the footbag. I've been managing to string my tiltless moves a little more - 5 or 6 contacts is relatively common now. I've spent a lot of time working flicky toe kicks, and I think it's somehow helping me to do the toe sets (P and F) easier. My flip pixie is getting better, and I've seen some signs of both fairies existing. my strong pixie (which I could consistantly set high enough for a duck) has actually gotten a little weaker though. I rarely used it out of guilt for never using my flip one. bad idea.

session might not be possible tomorrow, but next session's goals are fear both sides, and 15 contacts of mirage > legover > rpt, current record is 14, but was set a long time ago.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 04 Jul 2005 18:47

SLEEP: falling behind. need to catch a bit extra.

DIET: pretty good today. a bit spare.

SCHOOL: some good, some bad. need to go to english class tomorrow, scope out the situation. need to spend time in library tomorrow, didn't make it today.

MUSIC: falling behind my goals. has to be put on the back burner for a little while, until I get school under control. bummer.

SHRED: didn't get the opportunity to play today. didn't take it, anyways... will do some token low impact drilling before bed to stay sharp. tomorrow => session.

FRIZBEE: we finally won a game! 1-4 feels like a fucking awesome record right now. went out for a couple of beers afterwords, enjoyed getting to know some teammates a bit better. I smoked my knee in a collision with an opposing player, no bruise is showing, but it's sensitive as hell to touch. feels like the frigging bone is bruised. plus side: I made the catch, and it lead to a point for us.

LIFE: I'm enjoying my new approach to the blog. i've been generally more productive since. i'm too passive in dealing with my time. letting my days spend me rather than spending my days. workin on it.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 05 Jul 2005 13:35

SLEEP: falling behind before, fighting insomnia now. I'm exhausted from physical activity when I go to bed, but I lie awake for 5+ hours. my body is having trouble recouping from the work it's been doing, and I can feel it in every single one of my joints below the waist.

DIET: mediocre. social eating.

SCHOOL: went to english class for the first time in 10 000 years. it was ok.

MUSIC: none

SHRED: crappy session, lasted about 1.5 hours. didn't hit anything of note. had no energy, knees hurt. fairy sets worse than before.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 07 Jul 2005 19:34

EVERYTHING: Gone more or less to shit. Foul mood, will look better in the morning.

Edit: Typo.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 08 Jul 2005 17:30

SLEEP: still an issue, getting a little better.

DIET: nothing to be proud of, and nothing to worry about.

SCHOOL: couple of good days in a row. I've handed in some assigned work, which is unusual for me.

MUSIC: back burner.

SHRED: AWESOME session tonight. found FOCUS in my game for the first time in a LONG time. stared the bag down like I was trying to burn it. 10+ contacts of ss clip > op clip > rpt. Multiple 10+ ss clippers. 10+ on each mirage. 27 consecutive flicky toe kicks, new record. Multiple 10+ contact improvised tiltless runs.

didn't bother trying to learn anything, was having too much fun. Doesn't matter, there's always tomorrow. I've got the focus back, and I feel no restrictions on what I can learn with a footbag. Will definately play tomorrow.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 10 Jul 2005 16:12

SLEEP: one night cancelled due to drinking. one night real good.

DIET: not bad, not great.

SCHOOL: going ok. no news is good news.

MUSIC: had a load of fun on the piano today, didn't learn anything. stress busting. I think my good mood is completely dependant on hitting the keys every day, if just for 10 minutes.

SHRED: TWO good sessions since last post. SO close to atom AND fairy smashers, on both sides, but haven't hit ANY of them. It's more and more clear that my physical condition (weight) is the most significant bottleneck in my game. More priority to diet, sleep, and exercise (shred and ultimate). I've had to call my last two sessions because of some pain in my left ankle / calf. I've adjusted how my left foot crank works as a result of the crank threads (Thanks, Mosher (fucking 3 years of footbag, and I was doign flip clippers wrong ALL ALONG)), and I think I'm building/destroying some new muscles.

Umm, what else... Going to ontario in a few days, excited as hell. Circle play, oh my!

HG · Post by HG » 10 Jul 2005 17:43

Woot woot colin going to play some footbag with other people. You should come down to wisconsin so i can teach you the ways of the cheese.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 26 Aug 2005 09:35

Cheese, huh? I think I've actually got that way figured out. I'm afraid of tornados, anyways.

First news of any footbag relevance in a while. I went to physio yesterday, turns out that my foot never did make it back into the joint after I twisted my ankle. It has to be popped back in before it'll get better. I figured as much, I had way too little flexability for things to have been 'going smoothly'.

Also, the therapist seems pretty confident that my knee will be easy to fix. This makes me happy, since the knee has been bothering me for about a year now, and I was worried it'd never get better. Seems that my kneecap is pushing up onto my femur, making for some scraping and such. I think I'm getting some x-rays to see if I've done any significant damage to the cartalidge in the joint.

I have three appointments next week. I hope I get my foot popped in one of them. "Won't hurt a bit," he said, winking.

Colin · Post by **Colin** » 01 Nov 2005 13:03

My ankle is still completely unplayable, but I realised that I could be taking advantage of this injury instead of suffering for it.

Starting tomorrow, I will start doing some daily drills of concepts which require no footwork. Consecutive ss clippers, pixie ducking toe > rpt, fairy > rpt. Stuff like that. I think these are safe drills for me to spend time on, and hopefully by the time I've recovered and can start to actually play again, I'll have some new skills to work with.

I learned my flipside clipper while recovering from a broken leg. Now I hope to come out of this injury with a solid fairy set on each side.