Today is my birthday and now it’s mostly over. I’m glad that I was able to live these last 18 years. I’m especially grateful to my mother. I hugged her today when I got home. I hugged her like how I used to as a kid whenever I knew I just loved her so much, whenever I just wanted to be around her. I haven’t been the best kid the last 18 years. I don’t understand my mother and she doesn’t understand me. Nothing is complete. Barriers come between us sometimes and language especially slows me down. I despise this difficulty, my lack of patience, and my demand for wholeness/perfection. But I think this is the high school me. This is me growing up. I have to learn to break from my parents and learn how to come back as well. So, after I’ve grown up enough I think I’ll come back home and speak to my parents in a more fluent tongue. I’ll do things for them even though I can never compensate and I’ll love them the way I think I should. As for now, though, hugs will be enough to cross the barriers. And one day, too, they will be enough to bring me home.
March 2012
10 posts
Surgically removing a portion of muscle knots has led to the discovery of the presence of unusual deposits of protein within the tissue. There is also a theory that an excessive amount of connective tissue surrounding the muscle may also contribute to the development of muscle knots. However, very little research has been done on the matter of connective tissue, so most doctors do not recognize that as a contributing factor in the development of a myofascial trigger point.
There are several recommended treatments for muscle knots. Some involve the application of massage therapy to calm the knots. While massaging the knot may be somewhat painful during the process, there are reports of a temporary easing of the muscle spasm process. Other treatments involve the application of hot or cold packs to the muscle knots, as a means of helping the muscle to relax…
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-exactly-are-muscle-knots.htm
Solution: apply constant, gentle pressure/one of the above treatments
“Now it’s the day after and you have athletic hangover.”
Hahaha, I like that. Athletic hangovers.
Sore muscles are usually damaged muscles. As with any injury, sore muscles must be given time to heal. This may require a few easy days of cycling, or another light workout. After a few days you can begin to push harder again.
But don’t go too hard or too fast, because you’ll wind up back on the sidelines again. Remember, the best way to prevent or reduce muscle damage is prior physical conditioning.
http://www.active.com/mountainbiking/Articles/It_s_not_about_the_lactic_acid__Why_you_re_still_sore_after_yesterday_s_ride.htm?page=2
Solution: Ice & warm water.
But lactic acid isn’t the only culprit in DOMS. In fact, lactic acid is removed from muscle anywhere from just a few hours to less than a day after a workout, and so it doesn’t explain the soreness experienced days after a workout. What is it then that causes DOMS for days after exercise? The answer is swelling in the muscle compartment that results from an influx of white blood cells, prostaglandins (which are antiinflammatory), and other nutrients and fluids that flow to the muscles to repair the “damage” after a tough workout. The type of muscle damage I am referring to is microscopic (it occurs in small protein contractile units of the muscle called myofibrils) and is part of the normal process of growth in the body called anabolism. It is not the type of damage or injury that you see your doctor about. The swelling and inflammation can build up for days after a workout, and that’s why muscle soreness may be worse two, three, or even four days after a workout (it can take up to five days for muscles to heal completely depending on the intensity of the workout).
http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=78966
Solution: Ice bath & warm water bath
Gotta stretch calves properly before and after practice everyday from now on.
When these tendons are over-stressed they become inflamed and painful. Swelling may come with the inflammation but not always. Most commonly it is the extensor tendon to the big toe (EHL) that is affected. In other cases the extensor tendons to the lesser toes (EDL) are affected.
Top-of-the-foot pain is typically considered to be a form of tendonitis but can also just be a muscle strain. The most common factors that cause extensor tendonitis are excessive tightness of the calf muscles, over-exertion during exercise, and falling of the foot arch. A barefoot runner will not have to concern himself so much with the falling of arches as the forefoot strike most commonly strengthens and builds the arches. That would mean the barefoot runner would typically be dealing with calf tightness since he is now using the calf muscles more than before. So if you switch to a forefoot landing after years of heel striking, then you are suddenly activating the weak muscles opposite the strong muscles you have been using your entire life. The pain in the top of the foot is usually going to be some form of tendonitis as these tendons are not used to being pulled on and stretched. The other problem is that in switching to the fore/mid-foot strike you are also contracting the calves more than before, which will then cause stress on the opposing muscles and tendons in the top of the foot.
All of you who started out with calf pain transitioned to top-of-the-foot pain for that very reason. Your calves got extremely tight and sore. A lack of proper stretching and relaxing caused a counter balance problem, which manifested itself in the connective tissues in the top of the foot. Remember that every joint in the body is a balancing act between muscles, and the pain you feel is rarely coming from the spot you are feeling where you feel it.
With top-of-the-foot pain you should stretch the calves and arches as well as taking anti-inflammatory meds. Getting the calves to relax and loosen up should be the main focus, as this will allow the release of the muscles and tendons in the top of the foot. Icing the top of the affected foot will also help in the recovery process. As with any injury the main prescription is rest. This may be the toughest of all pills to swallow, especially for someone who has just learned the pure joy of running bare, but rest and time, stretching, and ice will heal this issue, allowing you to get back out there and do what you love.
http://gobarefooting.wordpress.com/2010/04/21/injury-top-of-the-foot-pain/
He’s a silent and simple man,
But not a simple man walks the earth.
Simple in constraints and heavy with complications.
Not a perfect man exists.
He speaks with words and sounds and noises
None of which really matter.
Everything is just a massive gathering and collection
when seen from no point of view.
He just picks and picks and picks
Only to choose, move, and progress.
Within a given time frame
He rises and falls on countless occasions.
Up and beneath him there are many natural things,
all of which are just presented to him,
But these are those that he needs not possess,
because life to him is comfort enough to resist.
“Hahaha, I’m excited and I hope for lots of laughs afterwards”.
-February 29, 2012
Hahaha. Hear my laugh before reading this, because I want to talk about anger”.
-March 1, 2012
Hahaha. Hear my laugh before reading this, because I want to talk about anger.
So, I experienced one of those rare, hot fevers in which I wanted to just smash something or make a terrible scene today. I used to get these moments a lot when I was a kid and I feel like I used to have anger problems.
During one of our dinner conversations today, while talking about my graduation, my mom mentioned a scene from my past, mentioning the part where I used to be such a bad kid and all. She specifically chose to talk about this one event in which my aunt got called to go to school because I apparently violently kicked the teacher’s door or something. Hahaha. When I heard that, I laughed out loud, because I saw myself as the kid and just imagined how extraordinarily outrageous the scene must have been. My mom also mentioned many teachers who used to call home, because of me. One in particular taught me for three years, becoming my teacher in 1st grade, 3rd grade, and eventually 4th grade. This teacher in particular probably called home more than any other teacher. Hahaha. This laugh is sort of inappropriate, but anyways, I moved schools to Jefferson in 8th grade. And in 8th grade this teacher who called home so many times posted a picture of me up on her classroom entrance door. In this little picture I was bald, next to a paper fireplace, and smiling widely next to my yellow card. (It’s the green, yellow, and red card system and my head was bald because I shaved it to become a monk for a day some time before the picture was taken)
I’m not sure where I want to go with this now, because I’ve digressed somewhat.
Well, I guess I’ll go back to what happened today. Basically I got mad and I controlled my anger, but it was a little different. Instead of taking it out on someone, I just ignored him/her as I continued to do my thing, knowing that I’d apologize later and that I would continue to seethe for a while. Apparently it became obvious why I was upset and he/she understood, so the person helped me out afterward and I felt even more sorry as hell for ignoring him/her. I apologized as soon as I could with my unrelenting anger and, well, it just faded away. I guess what I really wanted to say was that I chose to let anger pass and that ignoring outside sources caused the least amount of destruction. Not sure if I’ll always be able to afford doing this, but it certainly works if I can help it.
Controlling anger is such a primitive thing and I’m still working on it. I’ve avoided true anger for months and have allowed only small bursts of madness to overcome me. You don’t know, but I don’t think it’s worth it. I think it’s better to get angry than avoid it, but control it. I feel like it’s more effective and just more human this way.
