Back on the Wagon

Ok, so three weeks ago I decided I was tired of all my injuries and opted to train for the Stuttgart BB and Figure show here on August 27th, 2011. I'm off to a good start and leaner than I have ever been but a long with that is a huge loss of size/muscle mass from lack of training over the last 5 years. My goals for this show are to see how tight I can get and to get back into the mindset of eating and training correctly.

So stats from two weeks ago (May 13):
Weight: 139
BF: 12.2%

Stats May 26:
Weight: 139
BF: 11.5%

I am working with Nick at eNVy Fitness in FL. He's been really supportive and helpful. My diet right now is a carb cycle and my workouts are 2 days on, 1 day off. Legs are circuit training with plyos. I am unable to do plyos right now so I just do modified movements for those. Additionally, I have just started doing 20-30 min of cardio after every workout session.

I had about 4 days off this past weekend for Memorial Day. We had a trip planned to go to Nice, Fr so I took a little break and am taking this week to get dialed back in.

The road to the show will be intersting as I have two more trips planned over the summer. One is a work trip to Africa and then another week long trip 4 weeks out to S. Africa! The work trip shouldn't be much of an issue as I can pack an extra bag of food...not sure how S. Africa will go!

I'll figure out how to post or link to my meal plan/workouts shortly...

Here we go again

So, I am terrible at keeping up with my blog and thus a lot has happened since my last post. I managed to get through 6 weeks in the boot and started walking in a regular shoe in addition to going to physical therapy. I was having a lot of issues with my ankle and swelling so I wore an additional ankle brace for 3 weeks. The swelling wouldn't stop even though I tried compression socks and tried to keep it up as much as possible. Unfortunately, my office is not set up to where I can work with with leg elevated in addition I had ben tasked with attending many more meetings so I was walking all over post. I had also started driving my car (5 spd) two weeks ago)

That catches us up a bit. I was getting ready to go to my 6th physical therapy appointment (Mon, Aug 16) when I stepped on the zipper of the dog bed with my bad leg, instinctually jump off of it and heard an incredibly loud pop. My husband was downstairs and heard the pop too. It immediately started to swell but didn't get huge. I decided I would still go to PT and ask the dr. what she thought so I drove to the clinic and was absolutely devastated when she said she thought I had torn my achilles again. I laid there and cried while they iced and applied electro stim to calm the area down a bit. My husband drove over and picked me up and we were off to the hospital.

At the ER I saw the Dr. that saw me the first time. Herr Dr. Stenz studied English Lit in England and is a Trauma Dr. I told him a brief synopsis of the story and his response was simply - no problem we will do it again. Great - I almost burst into tears again with the though of surgery. During the exam Dr. Stenz called in the surgeon who did the surgery the first time and Dr. Hoffmann wasn't sure it was a rupture so they ordered an MRI. The MRI experience was much more like a three stooges act. The nurse and tech were very nice but what it boiled down to was that the machine was new and they didn't know how to set it up. So they crammed me in, handed me the emergency button, giggled as they said they hoped I didn't need it, shoved the ear muffs on my head and slammed the door. Um, great...30+ minutes of trying not to move my leg that was NOT in a position that was particularly pain free.

MRI done, we are told that there was in fact another rupture closer to my calf and that they would do a more invasive surgery this time. I would have to stay at least one night. So we started the process of getting set up for surgery on Wed, Aug 18. They re-cast my leg and 6 hrs later were on our way home.

Wed, Aug 18th - We arrive at the hospital to check in at 0730. They are doing expansions to the hospital so all you hear are jack hammers and drilling all day. Nice. I get checked in and then go to our ward where I'll be staying at least one night. I am shown my room, which is fine. I shared a room with another german lady who had surgery for a separated shoulder. She was very nice and spoke more english than she let on initially. So, I went in to surgery and all seemed fine. I wasn't nearly as sick this time from the anesthesia as I was the first time. It was quite painful a couple of hours after surgery and they gave me a paracetamol drip that really didn't do much. I essentially spent the rest of the day sleeping on and off.

The next morning Dr. Hoffmann came and said that the damage was more extensive than they thought so the cut the tendon from the calf and doubled it back on itself. They stitched it together and then reattached it to the calf. I am still waiting for the write-up to be sent to us since we are still a little confused on the procedure. A bit difficult with the language difference.

So, I ended up staying two nights in the hospital. I am home now and 4 days post op. It's not nearly as painful as the first surgery, however, I am to be in the cast and non-weight bearing for two weeks before starting in the boot. Amazingly there is very little to no swelling which makes me at least feel that things might be fixed better than the first time. I go back next Thursday for a check-up.

A couple weeks later...Week 4 post op

Well, I took out one insert from the boot last Wednesday and have been experiencing a new pain along the outside side of my heal. I tried to get an appointment with the physical therapy office on post and was told they couldn't see me for a month so I should just go in town...that would be fine if someone from the Tri-care office would actually answer the phone to give out the phone numbers. So, I decided to make a follow-up appointment with the Orthopedic Clinic at the hospital where I had surgery. I will go next Friday to see what's the what and how things are going.

I have had a a little trouble with the internal stitches that are supposed to dissolve. The external knot was catching and rubbing in the boot and caused a bit of irritation. We cut the threads down today but it seems a bit irritated. It might be slightly infected but it's not big and the irritation is not deep so I will watch it for a few days.

I have been able to work out at the gym for the last two weeks. I manage to ride the bike for about 20 minutes and then a good bit of upper body or single leg exercises and abs. I figure it's not worth sitting around since my left leg (ATR leg) is already noticeably smaller than my right after 4 weeks and I can walk in the boot. Since I needed my legs to get smaller for physique competitions I am trying to see the silver lining here.

I will take another insert out next Wednesday but considering the weird pain I am experiencing I may wait until we return from Madrid the following Sunday and after the Drs. appointment.

On the road to recovery

So, on May 25th I went to practice for the first time with the ladies volleyball team here in Stuttgart to prepare for the IMCOM Volleyball Tournament Jun 11-13. As luck would have it, with 2 minutes left to practice I felt a strange pain in the back of my left leg and fell to the floor. It would seem that the jumping action while going for a spike had partially ruptured my achilles.

For someone who has never seriously been injured - meaning, hospitalization or surgery, this was pretty scary. I decided I would document my recovery since most of the reading I have done of others has been from those in the US and I had noticed that the recovery and recommendations are very different than what I am experiencing here in Germany.

Timeline:
5/25/2010 - sustained injury
5/26/2010 - proceed to the ER for diagnosis
5/27/2010 - surgery
6/2/2010 - start with Achilleswalker - walking boot with 3 heel lifts (The Drs actually wanted me to have the boot on 5/29 but we had to order it)
6/6/2010 - remove butterfly stitches

workouts
6/8/2010 - ride bike for 15 min (boot on), TRX (chest, back, arms - 1 set each)
6/10/2010 - bike for 15 minutes, TRX (chest, back, arms - 1 set each), abs


As of today, I have had the boot for one week and it is getting easier to walk without the crutches. My foot still swells if I spend a lot of time up and about. I try to moderate how much I walk with out the crutches to short periods. I am also doing some massage in the evening although, I managed to sprain my ankle at the same time as the rupture so everything is still pretty sore.

The Drs did not advise any physical therapy after the 6 weeks in the boot, which I found strange so I enlisted the help of some friends and will be going to see a physical therapist on post next week. In the mean time, this is the second day this week that I have ridden the recumbent bike (boot on) and done a short workout on my TRX suspension trainer.

Time flies when you're having fun...or not

Wow, how time flies. I am doing research for a blog we are setting up for work and realized that I haven't posted here since march. It might be because that was the last time I thought I was going to do something with my fitness "career". Each day I am inspired by someone to get off my diff and start training again only to be beat down by some injury or annoyance. I know, I know, excuses, excuses. I have never been very good with just working out because it's good for me. I need to have a goal and I need to focus.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that regular submissions resume shortly as I am always trying to get re-started.

Thursday...a day late

So I realized after I turned the light out last night that forgot to make my entry for Thursday. It was a hectic day that seemed to fly by.

9:30 am Coffee

10:30 am 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2c rice

1:30 pm 1 bbq chicken breast, 1/2c rice, 1 can green beans

4:00 pm TRAIN - Legs

5:30 pm 1 scoop Syntha protein w/ water

8:30 pm 4oz pork loin, 2c spinach salad

Ah, Wednesday...

The end of the week is typically the hardest for me - eating-wise and working out. Don't get me wrong, I love the weekends but there's something about Thursdays and Fridays that just doesn't feel good for working out....and Wednesdays can sometimes start it off. I am starting my log a little later than normal. It's almost 8pm and I usually like to add to it during the day and finish up right before bed. Today was just a little hard to write anything before now. It didn't help knowing that due to a prior commitment that I wasn't going to make the gym tonight - instant downer when you are trying to be sure you stay on track.

So, as best I can remember for times today...

6:30 am Coffee

8:30 am 4 egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1 packet low sugar oatmeal, green tea

12:00 pm - 1 can tuna, 1 med apple, 2 thin mint girl scout cookies

The morning just flew by and I knew I had to eat (even was hungry) but needed to get through some stuff at work.

2:45 pm 4 oz tilapia, 1c rice, 1c asparagus

5:15 pm 1 scoop Syntha protein, 1c 2% milk

I experimented with making a warm protein shake...similar to a hot chocolate. It kinda worked but you still have that protein shake smell so it kind of kills the experience. I was really hungry too so I was hoping the milk would help curb the hunger knowing that I wouldn't be eating again until after 8p.

8:45p 4oz pork loin, 2c spinach salad, 1 sugar free jello cup, water

I am almost convinced you can teach any man to grill properly with the Webber Grilling Cook Book. Thanks babe for the delicious dinner :).

So, I am happily in bed before 10:30 pm and actually quite tired today. I am working from home tomorrow so I know I will be able to hit the gym. It's a leg day. I had a hard start to the day when I put my pants on and they felt smaller in the legs - ack, really? 3 weeks of training at high rep with moderate weight and this is what I get? So in a panic email to my trainer and good friend, I pitch my sob story. The result - lower reps with higher weight. Huh? I am confused, but I trust my trainer/friend so tomorrow I, fearfully, load up the weight and hit legs. I think I get it but can't explain it right now. I may bring the jump rope and do active rest. Hmm.

I am finding this blogging thing quite therapeutic in the evening. Not that anyone really reads this or cares about what's going on in my head throughout the day and I'll probably regret having had this on the internet at some point in my life. Although, aside from being appalled at the writing, not too much of interest for future issues.