Desperate times call for desperate measures

I had some really bad days in the first couple weeks of August. The sit in your bed and cry all day kind.  That's very unlike me, as I am generally a very positive and upbeat person (though I do my fair share of whining and complaining on here, no thanks to the pain). I am grateful and appreciative for what I have in my life, despite going through one of those top-stressful-life-events like I'm having to do now. I know that chronic pain and depression are strongly linked and I simply wasn't getting enough pain relief, which was creating a downward spiral in depression. I upped my motrin dose from 1000 mg a day to 1200 mg a day and added a daily vicodin back to the mix. That kept me out of bed and happy enough for a few hours a day, which makes a huge difference.

I absolutely hate being on so much medication, which led me to my general doctor to ask for suggestions on better ways of dealing with pain relief. I was thinking she could refer me out to a pain management center or physical therapy for some hands-on work (though I do soft tissue work for a few hours a day, so I'm not sure what else could be done), but instead she recommended a medication known to treat chronic pain and depression, Cymbalta (an SNRI, a type of drug I'm extremely hesitant to take because of side effects and the eventual withdrawal, based on my past experience with an SSRI I came off of four years ago). Unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover it as a first line of treatment, so she called in Effexor instead. Also an SNRI, it has very similar mechanisms to Cymbalta and is used off-label for chronic pain. She said she wanted to "break the cycle" of pain and depression. I thought back to when my podiatrist said that I shouldn't be in this much pain before the fifth surgery. He knows I'm not a complainer and that I hate pills, so if I say I'm in pain he believes me. After seeing what was left of my subtalar joint in the first surgery, he has a lot of respect for my pain tolerance. But where is this much chronic pain coming from?

That's when the lightbulb went off. I started researching pain receptor damage in surgery and found that sustained inflammation or surgery can damage pain receptors called nociceptors and a condition called allodynia can result, where a stimulus like light touch can cause extreme pain. I had significant inflammation in my ankle from the first day it was operated on until well after the fourth surgery when the screw came out, a span of over 12 weeks. I think five surgeries in a short amount of time constitutes a significant risk to receptor damage as well. Is this the real problem? Time will tell but I'm off to a really good start. I'm maintaining 1200 mg of motrin a day because I still get extremely stiff.

Day one of Effexor (14 August): I noticed within about an hour of my first dose that my pain was significantly diminished. When I stood up from sitting it still hurt, but not in the usual I-want-to-pull-my-hair-out-and-scream sort of way. I had trouble sleeping and only got about four hours that night. I was feeling hyper-alert, very thirsty, and had a bit of nausea before bed.

Day two: Woke up with some sensitivity to light and sound (my pupils were pretty dilated). My son had to get his blood drawn for routine testing and asked for donuts after so we went to a local bakery and picked out a dozen. I gave myself a high-five for not being able to eat more than half a donut. Finally the sugar addiction was kicked! The donut wasn't satisfying at all. I took the kids on a walk around a local lake for the first time after living here for nearly a year. The walk was approximately two miles, and I was fine. Started feeling a little stiff towards the end but nothing horrible. It was around dinnertime that I realized not only was my appetite for sugar gone, but my appetite for everything was gone. This is new territory for me, as food brings me so much enjoyment: from shopping for it, preparing it, and especially eating it. Forcing myself to eat is dreadful. I got about five hours of sleep, again feeling hyper-alert upon waking.

Day three: Bouts of nausea come and go. I have to remember to eat, which is crazy. When I get out of bed there is still pain, but minor compared to what I'd been dealing with. I can hear and feel "crunchy" sensations of scar tissue breaking up with the first few steps. I managed a 30-minute nap and woke for my third dose. I want to try a workout and am waiting for it to get a little cooler outside. My head feels very trippy overall, but wow how my mood has improved!

Now the fun stuff.

7 August

Spent the day at the Disney parks, over 12 hours on my feet. Every couple of hours I'd have to stop and massage the tissue in my feet and lower legs, but I made it!

8 August 

Joint mobility

10 swings
5+5 snatches

20 swings
10+10 snatches

30 swings
15+15 snatches

20 swings
10+10 snatches

10 swings
5+5 snatches

I used a 12 kg bell for the swings and 8 kg for the snatches. My hands started feeling a little hot towards the end so I had to put band-aids on both ring fingers where they were starting to blister. It was a challenge to get through but felt great.

11 August

Joint mobility

bottoms-up clean and press with band-assisted pull-up 1-2-3, two rounds (8 kg)

Turkish get-up, 6 alternating (3 each side), continuous (8 kg)

5+5 snatches, 10 swings - 5 rounds (12 kg) Total of 50 snatches and 50 swings

I wanted to try the bottoms-up press to see the differences between the right and left side and was very surprised at how much weaker my left hand is grip-wise is than the right. The grip would fail right at the top of the groove and the kettlebell would sometimes come down on my forearm. I still attribute this to my right foot.

13 August

Joint mobility

5:00 pull-up practice (unassisted), I-go-you-go format with my 11-year-old son, alternating between neutral and underhand grip

TGU I-go-you-go, 1+1, three rounds (8 kg)

Two rounds:
Goblet squat - 3 (8 kg)
OH squat - 3+3 (8 kg)
1-leg deadlift - 3+3 (12 kg)
Reverse lunge - 3+3 (8 kg, slight assistance from my bed when the right leg was back from limited range of motion)

1-arm swings, 12 kg, 10+10 continuous for 40, two rounds (80 total)
2-arm swings, 12 kg, 40

This was the most fun I'd had in awhile because my son was interested in doing the workout with me. He would use the step stool for pull-ups and did TGUs like a champ with the 7-lb kettlebell. He even kept up with most of the circuit and wanted me to teach him how to do the exercises. There was a significant amount of scar tissue breaking up during the workout, and I was really excited by that. The next morning, however, I was just as stiff as any other day getting out of bed. Very disappointing.

These were taken using my phone and a mirror, so this is my right foot. The surgery scars can be seen under my ankle. This is the range of motion I had at the end of my workout, which was significantly more than at the beginning.

 This is the range of motion I have with my left foot that has not yet been operated on. Quite a difference.

I hit a new record with how deep my goblet squat can go. I had gotten below parallel a few weeks earlier, but this was several inches lower. Slow and steady progress, emphasis on slow.

(please excuse the messy pile of music books on my nightstand. I'm in the midst of giving my kids music lessons on several different instruments)

I'm interested to see how my body will respond to working out on this medicine. I should be accustomed to the drug in a few weeks, so hopefully my appetite will return and my eyes will go back to normal. I feel like I've had too much coffee! Fingers crossed this does the trick and my recovery can continue on a better and faster track.

And yes, my hair is now red. When I walked in to see my stylist last week for a touch-up, she took one look at me and said "No. We will make your hair flaming red like fire, yes?" in her sweet Ukrainian accent. She knows I'm up for anything so I let her do her thing. I was a little hesitant at first but it's really growing on me :)

(also please excuse the cracked-out look. It's that hyper-alert thing with the dilated eyes)

After the post-surgical euphoria wears off...

I felt great after surgery. Better than I had any right to feel, actually. I only took pain meds for the first 48 hours post-op. I started a very slight amount of crutch-assisted walking 4 days post-op. I'd taken my son to Downtown Disney for a new Lego set as a reward for helping me so much on bed rest, which probably wasn't the best excursion for the first day out of bed. We also went to Ra Sushi and Whole Foods beforehand and Bruxie after. The day out reminded me of how much I don't like being on crutches.

Bruxie's Liege waffle sundae with Belgian chocolate and caramel- SO good

I walked into my doctor's appointment without crutches 5 days after surgery. He was very happy to see that, and gave me the green light to do as much as I comfortably could. He removed the stitches to save me a trip from coming back the next week, so I took it a little easy and kept a butterfly bandage on the incision site to keep it together. I noticed there was some nerve damage, because every time I touched the site to put ointment or a bandage on, I would feel shock waves down to my toes. It's difficult for me to touch it (or let water in the shower hit it) because of the discomfort. It's getting a little better, and I know these things take time to heal. 

One week post-op, I went to Disney to celebrate my son's 11th birthday. We park-hopped for about six hours and I didn't use any narcotics, just an 800 mg motrin. By the end of the night, I knew I couldn't stand in the very long line to get back to the parking lot, so we hopped on the handicapped shuttle. I was hurting but still refused to medicate with anything strong. 

I did my first workout the next day, on July 19th.

Joint mobility

press/ pull-up ladder 1-2-3 with the 10 kg, 2 rounds

naked get-up, 1+1, successful! 

8 kg get-up, 1+1, 3 rounds

Swings- 16 kg, 5 rounds of 10

It was a nice, easy workout to transition back in, and I was still feeling great.

Next workout was July 21st.

Joint mobility

press/ pull-up ladder 1-2-3 with the 10 kg, 3 rounds

TGU- 1+1, then 2+2, both with overhead squats at the top

TRX circuit, two rounds:

Body saw (5)

Crunch (5)

Pendulum (5)

Pike (5)

All were low plank except I did the last round of pikes in high plank

1-arm alternating swings with the 12 kg, three rounds of 25

I felt great after that one. I was happy to be able to use the TRX at home, as my patio cover was just replaced. The wood had rotted to the point where I was afraid to try to hang anything from it, but it's perfect now. I have plans to hang a pull-up bar from it as well.

This is about the time I started having some real trouble with my recovery. The scar tissue is building back up in the joint after just having been freed from it, so walking is still difficult and painful. When I've been sitting for awhile, I get extremely stiff and the joint screams at me for putting weight on it. It takes a few minutes to be able to walk comfortably, though sometimes it's still with a limp. I have good days and bad days. On the bad days, it's hard to get out of bed at all. On the good days, I feel ok.

I didn't do another workout until July 26th.

Joint mobility

press/pull-up ladder 1-2-3-4 with the 10 kg, 3 rounds

Kettlebell circuit, two rounds:

goblet squat, 10 kg, 5+5

double windmills, 10 kg (top) and 12 kg (bottom), 5+5

1-leg deadlift, 12 kg, 5+5 (very difficult when standing on my right foot)

get-up sit-up, double 8 kgs, 5

Swings alternating with the 16kg and 24kg, 6 sets of 10 (30 total with each weight)

I think the issue with my left shoulder being weak in presses has more to do with my right foot being jacked up than doing anything wrong with the left shoulder. I'm going to stop focusing so much on presses until my right foot gets a little more mobile. 

I started having more bad days than good. I limit my vicodin intake to once a week, when I simply can't deal with the pain. I had a week where I overcompensated with sugar and pasta, and gained two pounds in the process. Sometimes I think it would be better to take the pain meds than medicating with sugar. I've had to go back on a steady diet of motrin to cope. I try to take 400 mg in the morning, 400 mg midday, and 200 mg in the evening. Some days I go without, and those are really, really bad days. I just can't win.

I did a TRX/ kettlebell circuit workout on July 28th.

Joint mobility

Three rounds:

Squat/ press, double 8 kg, 6

TRX side plank with hip drop, 6+6

Overhead squat, 10 kg, 6+6

TRX chest press, 6

Assisted pull-up, 6

TRX pike, 6

I am trying to include as much ankle mobility in my workouts as possible. I put my tennis shoes on for the TRX side plank and pike, knowing that it would put some different angles of pressure on the joint, without putting too much pressure on any particular part of my foot. It felt great.

Last week was a really bad week. I'm constantly craving vicodin just to get a break from the incessant pain, but am stubbornly refusing to give in (for now). Backing off the sugar isn't easy but I'm making it a priority. I know it makes me feel worse, past the initial instant gratification of whatever happens in my brain when I bite into some mint slice or tim tams. 

My most recent workout was another kettlebell/ TRX combination on August 4th.

Joint mobility

TGU 2+2, 8 kg (feeling super weak)

side press, 8 kg, 5+5

TRX cossack lunge, 5+5

bottoms-up clean, 10 kg, 5+5 (no chalk)

TRX suspended lunge, 5+5  (my son was holding my hands so I wouldn't fall, just to be safe)

double windmill, 8 kg on top and 10 kg on bottom, 5+5

TRX low row, 10

I had intended to do a swing/ snatch combination at the end but ran out of time and motivation. 

I know all the sugar I had really affected my strength. I'm also not sleeping well. It's very frustrating to be where I am right now. I started getting ultrasound treatments on my foot and ankle 15 minutes a day, 4-5 days a week. I've noticed a big improvement, and my ankle makes some interesting noises immediately following treatment. I'm also spending a few hours a day working on the soft tissue in my foot and lower leg. The tightness is progressively moving up my leg, which I think is a good thing. My ankle can barely get to 90 degrees, so going down stairs or slanted ground is still very challenging (especially when a shopping cart is pulling me down towards moving vehicles). It's easy to let the negative emotions overpower the positive ones, so that's my biggest battle at the moment. 

It's been 10 months since I sprained my ankle prior to the first surgery. Five surgeries later, waiting for my body to recover so I can get the left subtalar joint fused and get on with my life, and I'm having a lot of trouble staying positive. I found some interesting articles on chronic pain and its effect on mental health, and I'm not too surprised by what they say. Chronic pain really is a mindfuck.

ABC news article

Harvard news article

Playing catch-up on the blog posts and surgery #5

I can see from the stats that while I have been neglecting to post new blog entries lately, people are still reading my old ones. I'm glad I'm posting interesting enough things to keep up the world-wide traffic! It's such a battle to keep going sometimes. My absence from here is for several reasons. I had gotten pretty sick and also went on another quick trip to NYC. My allergies had an overreaction to something when I was run down from personal stress and insomnia, which was awful to fly across the country with fluid in my ear. I was still fighting the pain battle and kept trying to go off my pain medication, without much success. Chronic pain is a real mindfuck.

My next workout wasn't until June 19th. I could still feel and hear fluid in my ear so I did a really light workout.

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with assisted pull-ups, 1-2-3, three rounds

Two rounds:
10 kg windmill, 3+3
10 kg goblet squat, 6

10 kg snatches, 10+10, three rounds

The highlight of the practice was accomplishing getting below parallel for the goblet squat, something I hadn't been able to do in 7 months since my first surgery. It felt amazing!! Once the hip flexors open, great things happen :)

It was also my first workout in new vivobarefoot shoes, which I absolutely love. They are more responsive for training than Converse, and now my top choice for workouts where shoes are necessary. Of course barefoot on my concrete patio is still my favorite way to train.

Workout June 22nd

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with band-assisted pull-ups, 1-2-3-4, three rounds

10 kg TGU 1+1, four rounds

Band-assisted pistol squats, 3+3, three rounds

24 kg swings, 10, 5 rounds (50 total)
16 kg swings, 10, 1 round (10 total)
Double 8 kg swings, 10, 1 round (10 total)

Grand total of 70 swings

I was pretty done after that workout!

June 26th

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with assisted pull-ups, 1-2-3, four rounds

Circuit, three rounds
10 kg bottoms-up clean, 3+3
10 kg front squats, 3+3
10 kg get-up sit-up, 3+3
10 kg 1-leg deadlift, 3+3

16 kg swings 5+5+10 (1-arm, 1-arm, 2-arm), three rounds
16 kg swings 10+10 (I wasn't paying attention and forgot to switch after 5), one round between rounds two and three of above sequence
16 kg swings 20 2-arm

Grand total of 100 swings

My hamstrings were talking to me for FOUR DAYS after this workout. Brutal!! But it was really fun and I'll do it again with pleasure :)

I didn't do another workout until July 2nd. I did minimal workouts from then on, as I was in a very dark place at the time. I didn't enjoy the workouts and had to force myself to do what I did. Before surgery, I had to discontinue use of a few things that keep me feeling good, including kombucha and ibuprofen. I hope I don't feel like that ever again. I watched four seasons of Gossip Girl in 11 days and was almost comatose. The kind of pain I was in made it hard for me to do anything, so I withdrew from everything and everyone, including my kids. Like I said, a dark place. It happens.

July 2nd

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with assisted pull-ups, 1-2-3, three rounds

12 kg 100 2-arm swings, consecutive (no rest)

July 7th

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with assisted pull-ups, 1-2-3, four rounds

14 kg swings, 25, five rounds (125 swings total)

July 9th

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with assisted pull-ups, 1-2-3-4, three rounds

Double 8 kg swings: 20, 10, 20, 10, 20 in 3:45 (80 swings total)

The breakthrough of that workout was that I was playing around with different pull-up grips and decided to see if I could do anything unassisted. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that I could do a neutral grip pull-up from almost a dead hang, and that I could do an underhand pull-up from a dead hang. Who knew??! Still working on that overhand unassisted pull-up though.

I did want to mention that with the minimal training I'm doing, through all this horrible pain and my issues, my body has never felt or looked healthier or stronger. I saw some friends in NYC that I hadn't seen in a few years, and they all had the same reaction. I don't spend hours in a gym or even that much time with kettlebells at all. Just some consistency and basic moves, coupled with a good diet. It really is that easy. No need to reinvent the wheel when there are RKCs around!

So this brings me to now. I had a fifth surgery yesterday, and am back on bed rest. It doesn't really feel like I've spent much time outside of my bed in the last 8 months though!! My doctor went back into the joint, removed three inch-long bone chips (pieces of the artificial bone matrix used to help "glue" the subtalar joint together back in November), and removed the excessive amount of scar tissue from the deep wound site that was binding the joint. Now that the local anesthetic has definitely worn off, I am very pleased to find that the pain in my joint is gone. I have some post-op pain from the procedure itself and have been treating it with vicodin every 12 hours and using my cold therapy machine twice a day. The cold therapy machine is the only thing I've actually had to pay for in all of my surgeries, and it has been worth every penny. I have a special foot and ankle attachment that fits very well with the help of some velcro pieces, so cool water is continuously cycled through the entire foot and ankle area. I can even adjust the temperature if it feels too cold or not quite cold enough. Genius. Anyway, I'm FINALLY feeling good. It's amazing what the removal (or even significant diminishment) of chronic pain can do for how I feel, even if I can't walk and am back on crutches. Here's to hoping the stitches stay closed and I regain full range of motion :)

Thanks for reading and keeping up with this journey!

RKC 2 envy

I'm so excited for my friends that are going to the RKC 2 in Italy next week. However, in the midst of their excitement and hard work, I find myself frustrated that I'm nowhere near ready for the course. My goal is to be ready by the time I need to re-certify next year. I'm seven months into the recovery on my right foot and still have to do the left, so it may not be a realistic goal, but it is something to work towards. If nothing else I'll be overly prepared to re-certify at level 1. With that in mind, I went a little heavier tonight.

Joint mobility

12 kg presses and assisted pull-ups: 1-2-3, 3 rounds
(first time using the 12 kg for presses since last year)

Two rounds:

24 kg deadlift- 8
10 kg get-up sit-up- 4+4
assisted bodyweight pistol squat (with the band hanging from the pull-up bar)- 4+4
12 kg side press 4+4 (it was a little heavy on the left side so I used the 10 kg on the second round, darn shoulder acting up after using the 12 kg for the military presses) 4+4

Swings! 24 kg, 10 rounds of 10 = 100 :)

I want to address floor textures. I've been doing the majority of my workouts in my bedroom on the carpet. It was after doing a couple of workouts on concrete outdoors that I realized how much better it felt to be on solid ground. I'm much better able to grip the ground and push against it that way. Luckily I have a great bedroom setup including a very open and laminated bathroom floor that's big enough to work out in while still watching Netflix on my laptop (up to season 3 of Desperate Housewives!... again). I did my presses, deadlifts, assisted pistol squats (the only door frame my pull-up bar fits in is my bathroom due to the smoke detectors in my house), and swings standing on the hard floor. A great bonus is using the square pattern on the floor to make sure my feet are aligned properly so I'm not favoring one side. I strongly recommend using the hardest floor surface possible for your workouts (and for goodness sake ditch the athletic shoes unless they have a hard, flat sole!). Even on the school playground I had to move from the cushy padded part to the blacktop. The cushy stuff was perfect when I was still in very early recovery from the surgeries and extra sensitive to weight bearing, but now I need the stability.

I'm feeling stronger and more confident in my training. I've also gained back a couple of pounds (I'd lost 10 immediately after the first surgery) which is helping my strength and how I feel about myself. Now if I could just get off these darn pain pills I'd be in really good shape. They really affect my thinking, and not in a good way!

So be happy, train hard on the best floor surface possible, and enjoy life. That's all that really matters, isn't it?

Keep on keeping on

My doctor was on vacation last week so his office has just started the process for the next surgery, the fifth on my right foot. He said there are a few bone fragments that should be easy to remove (followed by "famous last words!" haha). It'll probably happen in two weeks since I'm going out of town next week. So for now I'm just doing the best I can.

I feel really good about my last two workouts. Unfortunately I'm not always up to doing them! I usually have a bit more pain the next day so I'm still not pushing myself very hard.

31 May

Joint mobility

10 kg presses with band assisted pull-ups after each press, 1-2-3, 4 rounds

circuit (2 rounds):
double 12 kg windmills, 3+3
double 12 kg clean, 6
goblet squat, 12 kg, 6
renegade row, 3+3 (alternating)
lateral traveling swings, 12 kg, 6+6

5:00 double 12 kg swings!! sets of 10, 50 total :)

4 June


Joint mobility

10 kg presses with band assisted pull-ups after each press, 1-2-3-4, 3 rounds

FULL TGUs, 10 kg, 6 (alternating with each rep, 3 per side)
* this was the very first time I successfully did full get-ups on the left side without assistance
bottoms-up clean, 10 kg, 5+5, 3 rounds
1-leg deadlift, 16 kg, 3+3, 3 rounds

6:00 1-arm swings, 16 kg, 5+5, 9 rounds (90 total)

Highlights were the double 12 kg swings and the full get-ups. I'm still struggling with my pain meds and am trying to limit it to 5-6 pills per week. I'm keeping up with 800-1200 mg of motrin daily to keep the inflammation down. I've had to stop a different herbal supplement I was taking because of the upcoming surgery, so that's been an adjustment as well but overall I think I'm doing ok. It's hard to believe I've been out of work and dealing with this for seven months now. Still waiting to see the finish line.

Nice to have breakthroughs when facing adversity

Today's workout came on a day that I didn't want to get out of bed. No, not because I stayed out late last night, but because the level of pain was incredible. I managed to get out of bed two hours later around 1:00 pm, had a nice breakfast of an organic scrambled egg with a cut-up grass-fed beef hot dog in it (comfort food), a tomato, grape chia kombucha, and tramadol. A couple of hours and lots of water later, I was ready for a good workout.

I stayed close to home today, using my back patio as my workout space. First time I've used it for that now that my workouts aren't too nocturnal anymore, and it was perfect. My laptop was out there with me, playing Once (in order!) and I'd run inside to my door frame pull-up bar with assistance band when necessary.

Joint mobility

10 kg press, 1+1 (+1 pull-up), 2+2 (+2 pull-ups), 3+3 (+3 pull-ups), 4+4 (+4 pull-ups), Four rounds. Very happy doing that, as it was my first time doing the same number of pull-ups between each set of reps instead of doing one pull-up at the end of each set. Very good progress! It wasn't especially easy, but it was definitely do-able.

For snatches, I rolled a 4. I found a song from my favorites playlist that was right around 4:00 so I used it. The plan was to do 10+10, record it with a tick mark, pick the bell back up and do another 10+10. They felt so good I did 10+10+10+10 before setting the bell down to record two tick marks, and then immediately picked it back up and did another 10+10+10+10. That's 80 snatches in 4:00!! Yes, it was with a 10 kg and not a 12 kg, but that's still the best I've done post-op to date. Maybe I'll do a 5:00 snatch test with the 12 kg the night before my next surgery :)

Yay for making good progress while in this much pain from bone chips! Makes me feel like anything is possible :)


******************************
Minor update: My doctor is on vacation this week so I won't hear from him until next week about when the next surgery will be.

Also, I took two days off from the ibuprofen, and I'm in so much pain I'm just sitting in bed almost in tears. I'm dreading getting up to get ready for bed. Back to shoveling the ibuprofen tomorrow.

Bone chips.

Yes, bone chips. Plural. That's what's been bothering me so badly. I was right when I suspected something was being released as I got more range of motion in my ankle. Pieces of bone are floating around now, wreaking havoc. Of course they have to come out. Why stop at only 4 surgeries on my ankle?

In all seriousness, I do need them out ASAP because my pain is still not able to be controlled well even when on pain medication (yes, I'm back on it again. I'm useless on days I don't take it). I should find out in the next couple of days when all the fun and excitement will start up again. I'm glad to know why I've been in such terrible pain and why it has not improved at all, but rather has seemed to get worse with time. I'm now less likely to push through pain, thinking I just need to get through it. No, I just need to get these *#@%!^& pieces of bone out of my ankle.

That being said, I did have a nice workout on May 25th. I went to the school playground in the evening and let the kids run and play while I did my thing. One of the shows I saw on my trip to NYC was Once. I couldn't get the music out of my head, so I went to Barnes and Noble the day before this workout to get the cast recording because they had some bonus tracks that I couldn't get from iTunes. I can't even remember the last time I bought a physical CD. I felt like I was back in high school right at home in the music section of B&N like in the old days :) Once I put it on my computer, I couldn't stop listening to it (and still haven't). I put it on my ipod shuffle to listen to during my workout. It was a wonderfully introspective way to get into what I was doing, and I listened to the whole album. The only thing that bothered me was that my ipod hadn't imported the tracks in their correct order, so that drove me a bit crazy because the flow of the music was completely off. It made the swing portion a little different from my usual very uptempo music (Holiday from the original Broadway cast recording of American Idiot is a favorite standby), but I feel like I was much better locked on and focused this way, being inspired by the music rather than driven by it.

Joint mobility

Press- 10kg 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3
TGU- 10kg 1+1, 1+1, 1+1 continuous work, switching sides with every rep but not allowing time between sets for recovery. Partial TGU on left side to kneeling, full on the right.
Overhead squat- 10kg 3+3, 3+3, 3+3
Cossack lunge- 10kg 3+3, 3+3, 3+3

5:00 2-arm swings, 16kg: 70 (7 sets of 10)

I had brought my TRX along but I really didn't feel like I needed to do anything more after the kettlebell portion of the workout. I'm really happy with how my training is going. For someone in so much pain and with so many issues, I'm not doing too badly.