Speedbump 2: Injury and Pain

This is a continuation of my story documenting the parts of my life that have brought me to Day 0, when I decided to change my daily habits for life, and for the better, to ultimately achieve my goals of reaching the best shape of my life, being fit and healthy, and full of energy. For other posts, see the rest of my story.

After my crazy year in Grade 10, I slowed down my high school sports compared to the previous year. In Grade 11 I only played soccer and golf in the fall, hockey for one team and basketball in the winter, and then volleyball (and some golf) in the spring. It still was a lot, but at least I would get days off to rest. It was this year that my second speedbump started to manifest. I started having lower back pain, the great affliction that most people associate with getting old. I was 16. It wasn't too bad in Grade 11, it started out as mostly just a dull ache and I never thought too much of it. I would get spasms every now and then when I was playing hockey. Later in the winter season though, I injured my right knee in a game of basketball, straining my Lateral Collateral Ligament (LCL). I went to physiotherapy for ultrasound treatment, did some resistance band exercises, and strapped my knee into a brace and kept playing. Hey, no pain, no gain, right?

Well, the knee wasn't too bad and got a bit better after a few months and was probably around 90% and by volleyball season I was running around making digs just fine. By the time summer came around again though, the nagging back pain started to affect my golf swing a little bit. The previous summer I had my best year of golf, qualifying for Nationals and winning and placing in a lot of the local tournaments after making a decision to drop baseball and focus on my golf game (two totally different swings!). Maybe it was mental burnout as well, but I failed to make it back to Nationals that summer, or even come close to my performance from the previous summer.

Into Grade 12, my senior year, the back pain started to progress even more. During hockey games, the spasms were getting worse and more frequent. They were getting so bad that my body would freeze up and I wouldn't be able to move temporarily. In a fast paced game like hockey, this sort of thing can't happen. I finally got to a doctor to check into it and I was back to the physiotherapist that had worked on my knee with some back exercises and ultrasound treatment. We experimented with taping up my back for hockey games and wearing a funny brace, none which helped stop the spasms. By the end of hockey season, the spasms had progressed into more pain in my hip and shooting pain down my leg. Throw in a pulled groin late in the hockey season, and it was apparent that my body was shutting down on me.

Speedbump 1: Burnout

This is a continuation of my story documenting the parts of my life that have brought me to Day 0, when I decided to change my daily habits for life, and for the better, to ultimately achieve my goals of reaching the best shape of my life, being fit and healthy, and full of energy. For other posts, see the rest of my story.

My Grade 10 year in high school was perhaps the busiest I had ever been. Fall was filled with golf and soccer as usual, but by the time winter rolled around, I found myself on two hockey teams, as well as the varsity basketball team. Most schools around here limit a single persons athletics to a single team, but our school was small. Our basketball team lacked numbers, and our high school hockey team lacked a goalie. Between 2-3 practices and 1-2 games a week per team, I was so busy that I barely ever had a day off, and it was impossible to make everything because of schedule conflicts. My town hockey team took first priority, but alas, the girlfriend I had for all of 3 weeks was probably at the bottom. I guess that's why it only lasted 3 weeks. It's not like I could blow off a game and let a whole team down just to hang out with her. Girls just don't understand...oh, those wonderful teenage years.

Well, during this period of my life, I never suffered any major injuries, but it was about a 6 month stretch in my life that left a mark. I was young and reckless and felt like I was in great shape. I didn't realize it at the time, but I had burned myself out. I hadn't given myself a chance to let my body rest and recuperate. I probably blew my chance of hitting my goal of reaching 5'6 too. I wasted too much of my energy on sports, and not enough on growing! Well, given my genetics, I don't even think 5'6 was in the cards for me, but a little guy can dream, can't he?