First, an injury update: I'm extremely annoyed by these damnable shin splints. Dear reader, if you've never had shin splints before, they are one of the most annoying painful injuries there is - sharp shooting pains up the front of your lower leg, or, in this case, up the inside of my lower leg. I was hoping that taking some time off would really help a good deal, and it has. The pain is, at least, not excruciating now. But it's definitely still there.
I've found myself beating my head up against very typical frustration. I get annoyed at my body very easily when it won't do what I want it to do. In this case, it won't let me do the hard training that I need to do to start getting ready for the next season. I had to skip Sunday's skate practice, which not only screws up my attendance for the month, but deprives me of an opportunity to skate, which is just... depressing, frankly. I didn't make any off-skates practices this week, and even though I tried, I would have been an idiot to try to force my shins through hard plyometrics on concrete floor.
I'm trying in the best ways I know how to distract myself from sitting here screeching in my head "WHY WON'T THEY JUST HEAL?!" I've alternately been very down in the dumps about it, and very motivated to train through it. In order to turn off the harpy that wants to just ignore the injury and keep pushing it until I get a stress fracture, I've forced myself to be super-organized about how I'm training while I'm not skating.
Cardio has been the most difficult part. The best way for me to get cardio is by skating, but I don't want to push that right now- what if I skate and make the shin splints worse? That will set me back. I can't run for the same reason- too high impact, even worse for the injury than skating. I can ride our communal bike, which is an acceptable substitute, I suppose. At least it's on wheels. But I've frankly not enjoyed it near as much as I enjoyed biking as a kid. My preferred method of cardio would be swimming, but I've been too down in the dumps to go sign up for a membership at the local pool. I suppose I need to get over that, since it's pretty much the perfect cardio substitute until my shins get better: low impact, something I love to do, and great exercise.
I've divided dry land training into three components, attempting for the life of me to use my obsessive Capricorn ordering skills to produce something productive out of something very frustrating, and frankly depressing.
1) PT/Shin Strengthening. Though, as noted, I took a break on Sunday, today, plus last Friday and Saturday, I began a program of shin strengthening meant to help with the weak ankle muscles that cause feet to pronate when you run (or skate). So far, exercises for my shins have consisted of special stretches designed to prepare the area (as many shin splints can be linked to inadequate stretching), plus walking on my toes and heels, plus toe raises in various permutations: leaning against the wall, as preparation to take a step, and toe raises that push the ankle outward and keep the ankle from pronating.
I'm still experiencing shin pain, but I can feel definite muscle resistance and burning (the good kind) when I do the exercises. I notice that when I try to flex my feet upwards, I experience a lot of inflexibility, and suspect this may be part of the problem with my running gait- maybe my skating stride too. I have no complaints about the program I've adopted to ease the injury and strengthen the area- after all, I haven't even been at it a week yet. I'm also taking Aleve regularly, and icing my shins (not as often as I should). In a week, I hope to update a bit more with some details as to how the program of treatment is working.
2) Core Training. If I were to describe my approach to this injury, it might be "Killing Myself with Core Training." However, considering how important core strength is for derby, I figure if I can't work on things like explosive power, agility, and skating endurance, I can amp up my core strength for when I'm able to return to skating. Again, I took a break on Sunday, but otherwise have been core training Friday, Saturday, and today. A brief list:
25 crunches x6 different types (straight, to each side, obliques on each side, and hip lifts); straight leg lifts; side leg lifts; Rover's revenge (both quick and isometric); step-downs; and different styles of leg lifts, like scissors, flutter kicks, hundreds and just straight leg lifts for anywhere from 30-45 seconds. I've also thrown in pushups, planks (basic and side) and supermans for good measure.
I've always known that my core strength wasn't as good as it needed to be, so in retrospect, it's not such a dumb idea to do this instead of exercises that always focus on my leg strength. My legs are pretty strong- but the core above them sometimes not so much.
I'd love to say I see results, but I'm not quite sure I do. My abs feel about like they usually do- that is, I can feel some strength and definition, but there's definitely a layer of padding over them. I've lost almost 10 pounds since starting to monitor my calories seriously, but it's hard to notice the difference sometimes, which is a bit discouraging. I don't know how to measure the results of core training, in any case- my guess is that it will best be measured by the difference when I actually skate and have to use my core to hold me in place, in which case I plan to exercise my core fairly relentlessly over this week, and if that gives me results when I'm back to skating, then I'll keep doing so. Crossing my fingers.
3) Resistance Training. I'll be the first to say that I've never been a weight trainer. I signed up for a boot camp when I was in derby with Belles 'n' Bombshells this summer (and ended up giving it up after one week, admittedly), which required weights, and I learned some things about it then- namely that resistance training wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, and that maybe I should give it a chance.
My resistance training so far (today is the second day of it) involves basically circuit training with 5 pound handweights. I'm starting off with small weights for a couple of reasons. First, as I mentioned, I'm a total amateur with weights. Second, because of injuries to my wrists from six years spinning flags in marching band, I've got cubital tunnel syndrome, which makes my wrists weak, and gives me a little difficulty gripping things. I don't want to start off my weight training too heavy and end up dropping something on my toe.
The list goes in a circuit like this: flat chest presses, flat chest flies, shoulder presses, lateral raises, front raises, single arm row, upright row, shrugs, hammer curls, concentration curls, kickbacks, squats and dumbbell lunges. Today, I'm planning on 30 secs. per exercise, and 3 reps through of the circuit.
Again, I don't know what the difference would be. When I first tried these exercises on Saturday, I could definitely tell that my body was unused to weight training, and that many of the muscle groups I was exercising were underdeveloped. I'm planning on continuing to weight train a few days every week, even when I get back to skating, just to keep those muscles developed. A stronger body means a stronger skater.
Overall, I'd love to say that all this exercise has made me feel awesome. In a lot of ways, it does; I'm pretty sure I've mentioned before how singularly AWFUL my discipline has been in the past when it comes to actually keeping a detailed workout plan, and sticking to the things I plan to do. The very idea of off-season endurance training, and improving enough to skate with this wonderful team next season has made that a piece of cake. In that way, I'm impressed with the results: I've been able to keep a dedication to getting fitter and monitoring how I treat my body like never before. And the mental results have been pleasing as well- admittedly, I feel good about myself when I exercise, and I feel good when I clock in under my calorie count for the day, and I feel good when I step on the scale and see that I've lost weight.
One thing I HAVE discovered is that the years of depression and sedentary moping haven't served me well. I can't believe I was able to get through ONE season of roller derby with this poor body conditioning, total lack of strength and endurance. That in itself, I think, speaks to my want to play this sport, and my determination. But although roller derby is deeply psychological, it's also deeply physical. The body WANTS to be well toned and kept to play a sport like this. When you know that the machinery won't fail you, then the philosophy behind that machine has less chance of doing so as well.
