Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

[B][U]August 13 and 14[/U][/B]
Flying/driving back from Canada so no workouts.

[U][B]August 15[/B][/U]
Frustrated by my sore calf muscle, I decided to do "AdamBrown" Rx'd today. That was a mistake. I warmed up to all of the Rx'd weights and did a couple of reps at those weights. I felt strong and everything felt pretty doable. Unfortunately, I strained my lower back at the very end of the first set of 24 deadlifts, I was pretty run down after two days of traveling and lack of sleep and should never have attempted that workout rx'd today. I've been foam rolling my calf muscle and that makes it feel even worse. Now I feel like the Black Knight in the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The Black Knight fights King Arthur until all four of his limbs are severed and then offers to call it a draw. When King Arthur starts to ride away the Black Knight threatens to bite his legs off. I definitely need to take a couple of days off.

[U][B]August 16[/B][/U]
Rested today and made an appointment to see my Orthopedic Surgeon/Sports Medicine doctor about my calf on Wednesday. I want to get a diagnosis and make sure that any treatments I am doing are going to make my calf better and not worse. Both my back and calf are feeling a bit better today. I'll probably swim tomorrow and maybe do some pull-ups and shoulder presses for the 5/3/1. That would complete week three and bring up a much needed deload week. I'll only do squats and deads if my back is feeling healed.

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

Jim: You might want to do a little research on trigger point therapy. Often the point in a muscle where pain manifests isn't where the problem is. I have found it very effective. Lots of info on google. Should be able to find a general location that affects your calf. When you locate a trigger point, it will be VERY sore to direct pressure. Specific massage methods (self applied) will relieve the referred pain.

This will not work if you have actually torn or strained the calf muscle, but if there isn't localized swelling and bruising, this could be the problem. Couldn't hurt to check it out.

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

Thanks for the suggestion Dave. I will look into it. I am a bit concerned about aggravating a tear or strain. Hopefully I'll know more after seeing the doc on Wednesday! This forced inactivity is driving me mad....:ranting2:

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

[B][U]August 17[/U][/B]
Took another CrossFit and Strength rest day to let my broken body heal.
[U]Cardio[/U]
Swimming: All freestyle in yds in 25 yd pool
1x500 warm-up (untimed)
1x200 (3:30) 1 min RI
6x100 (1:47-49) 1 min RIs
4x50 (0:43-44) 30 sec RIsf
Stretched to warm down

Back was still sore today, but felt good during swim. Calf and arch of foot started cramping a bit by the end of the workout. Overall, felt good though.

[U][B]August 18[/B][/U]
[U]Warm-Up[/U]
3 rounds: squats (10x45# rd 1, 5x135# rd 2, 5x185# rd 3), 10 push-ups, 15 sit-ups, 5 DH pull-ups, then shoulder press: 10x 45#, 5x95#
[U]Strength[/U]
Back squats: 5x205#, 3x230#, 5x255#
Shoulder Press: 5x110#, 3x125#, 2x140#
Didn't quite push to true "failure" today, since my back is still somewhat sore. Everything felt great, but I didn't want to take any chances in case my form slipped on one of the heavier reps. With good form, back squats and shoulder presses shouldn't aggravate my back, but on heavy reps things can occasionally break down.

[U]CrossFit[/U]
15 rounds for distance of:
Sprint 20 seconds
Rest 40 seconds
Start each round at previous round's end point.
Subbed rowing due to sore calf.
1870M
I have no idea what that distance means, since I don't have a rower and hardly ever row. I really enjoyed the WOD though. Spent a fair amount of time between rounds trying to fiddle around with the settings to see which one maxed out the distance. Turns out setting 10 was the best for these short spurts.

Went to the orthopedic surgean/sports medicine doc today. He didn't see anything structurally wrong with my calf and said it was just an overuse injury and minor strain where the achilles tendon and gastroc mucle attach. He suggested some rehab, stretching, massaging and calf strengthening exercises. He said I could ease back into running and should stay away from plyometrics for a while until it feels better. He thought the foam rolling would be good.

Glad it isn't more serious. I guess I just need to rehab it and ease back into things without behind pig-headed and impatient (sometimes a problem with me). My calf still feels tender, so I might cross-train through Labor Day and focus on the rehab exercises, stretching, massaging and icing until then.

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

[B][U]August 18[/U][/B]
No time for CrossFit or Strength today, as I had a busy day at work and then needed to start loading the UHaul. We're moving my daughter into her apartment tomorrow in Montreal to begin her second year of university. I did the following though:
[U][B]Cardio[/B][/U]
Cycled to/from work, about 10 miles each way. I take a slightly different and hillier route home, but both routes have a lot of hills.
morning commute: 30:29 (just off record pace)
evening commute: 31:25 (PR by 1:03)

I am feeling pretty strong right now, except for the calf muscle and that is slowly getting better.

I'll try to get some swimming and CrossFit WODs in this weekend in Montreal.

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

My last post should have been dated August 19th.

[B][U]August 20-22[/U][/B]
In Montreal helping my daughter and her roomates move into their apartment in Montreal as they begin their second year of University. I would have gotten a workout in on Saturday, but I needed to take one of my daughters roomates to Ikea since she arrived from Calgary with no furniture and nothing to sleep on. That store is a real nightmare. I did load and unload the UHaul trailer though.

[B][U]August 23[/U][/B]
Cycled to work (10 miles). Wife drove my car to work later so I could drop her off at the dealership to pick up her car. Drove home since I worked late. No time for anything else, as work was very busy. Didn't time my bike ride since I used my old bike (dodgy weather) and the clock didnt start properly.

[B][U]August 24[/U][/B]
[U]Cardio[/U]
Swam at Lunch (all freestyle yards)
800 warm-up (untimed)
5x100 (1:42-1:47 range), 1 min RIs
4x50 (0:41-0:44 range), 30 sec RIs

Cycled home from work (10 hilly miles - 32 mins - new pr by 29 secs on old bike)

[U]Strength[/U]
Did 5/3/1 deload week sets for all 5 exercises after cycling home
pull-ups: 3 x 5 dead-hang pull-ups with some one arm hangs
bench press: 5x100#, 5x125#,5x160#
deadlifts: 5x130#,5x160#,5x190#
shoulder press: 5x60#, 5x75#, 5x85#
back squats: 5x110#, 5x135#, 5x160# (practiced going real deep on the reps. In the past, I've only gone just below 90 degrees, the bare minimum to get the standard. May try this with heavier weights and see how it goes.)

Will see my physiotherapist about my calf tomorrow afternoon. Will try to do Coe hero WOD at lunch and some weighted pull-ups.

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

Good luck at the doc's!

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

[U][B]August 25th[/B][/U]
Saw my physiotherapist, who said my calf problem is likely a result of inflexibility in my calf muscles and perhaps even my hips, which impacts my stride on my left side. That combined with overuse (running, crossfit, cycling, plyometrics, even pushing off the walls while swimming all engage the calf muscles). I'm going to have to stay away from running and plyometrics until mid-to-late September, but can swim, cycle, weight train, etc. Today I just did a bunch of calisthenics and about 45 mins of calf and ankle flexibility exercises.

[B][U]August 26th[/U][/B]
Cycled to/from work- 10 miles each way. At about record pace with the old bike (~ 32 mins each way). Felt good!

[U]Strength[/U]
Bench: 10x45#, 10x135#, 5x165#, 5x195#, 10x215#
Deadlifts: 10x135#, 5x 185#, 5x210#, 5x245#, 11x275#
Wtd. Pull-Ups (dead hang): 3x5 reps, 1x10#, 1x20#, 1x25#, 1x#35#, 1x40#, 1x45#, 1x55# (F)

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

[B][U]August 27th[/U][/B]
Travel day from NJ to Utah. Did 3 sets of 5 DH pull-ups just to do something.

[B][U]August 28th[/U][/B]
[U]Morning[/U]
Mountain biked in Park City with my son. We got almost to the halfway point of the mid-mountain trail before we turned around due to concerns about thunderstorms rolling in and being without any cover up on the mountain. Almost 3 hours of uphill riding (prob nearly 2,000 feet of elevation gain) and a fun 45 minute downhill session on single track. We definitely felt the altitude today since it's our first day on the mountain.
[U]Afternoon[/U]
Warm-Up: 3 circuits of 250M walk/jog, 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats, calf stretching and calf rolling with my running stick.
WOD
10 rounds of Cindy (5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats) 8:07
Ran two miles (slowly). First mile at 10 min pace, second mile at 8:30-9:15 pace.
Warm-Down: 1/3 mile slow jog/walk. 20 minutes of calf stretching and calf rolling.

My calf muscles are feeling much better after beginning the calf stretching and calf rolling routine that my physiotherapist recommended. Today's short and slow run with lots of stretching felt fine. Hoping to [U]ease[/U] back into the running again to get ready for Tough-Mudder in Nov.

Re: Down in Jim's Garage
 

[B][U]August 29th[/U][/B]
Hiked Mt. Timpanogos in Uintas National Forest with my son. Including our initial foray on the wrong trail and scramble up a dry waterfall, we hiked about 16 miles and 5,000 feet of vertical. We got within 10 feet of a mountain goat and its baby. Quite a spectacular day.

[U][B]August 30th[/B][/U]
Well earned rest day after the past two days in the mountains. Our legs are sore, so we don't mind the rest. Drove from Park City to Laramie Wyoming.

[B][U]August 31st[/U][/B]
Hiked 12,013 foot Medicine Bow Peak outside of Laramie in the Snowy Mountain Range with my wife and son. Seven or eight mile round trip hike with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain. Another great workout, but not nearly as strenuous as Mt. Timpanogos. We're not feeling the altitude as much anymore and felt good today. Got a nice close-up view of a golden eagle and mountain bluebirds. Lots of other good wildlife sightings as well.