Zen and the Love of Hockey

Quote: Face

The Ace bandage must be on the list of the top 5 inventions of man. It's like duct tape for the body.
I certainly wrapped it, and it was like a miracle. I couldn't get it too tight .

If you want it really tight, you can actually use duct tape
on top of the ace bandage. But you don't want it that
tight yet.

Quote: TheCesspit

I put ice skates on and went on the ice. It's very generous of you to say it was skating.

You're welcome. Remember, even Yzerman began by falling on his ass =)

Quote: TheCessPit

But you are a braver less intelligent man than me going back out there not fully recovered. My break did me some good... it made me realize how much I enjoy the running. It's a stupid sport. There no mental work out. It's repetitive and mostly competing with yourself. You end up where you started on most runs, and rarely get to 'enjoy the scenery'. But, somehow, it works for me better than any other sport I've tried except for American Football.

Fixed your post.

I won't knock running. Don't get me wrong, I abhor it personally, but I have much respect for those who can do it. My girl is currently training for a full marathon, one of a few she'll probably do this year. Having to get back into shape after her time off from brain surgery is a wonder to behold. The amount of dedication... hell, I dunno if I've ever wanted anything that bad. It's certainly beyond my ability.

But even if you "just run", you're doing something. And although you say it's "not mental"...ok, maybe you don't have to make 100 snap strategic decisions per minute, but when you're running, are you worrying about work? About bills? About relationship issues, or what you're gonna do for the holidays, or any other little niggles that tend to drag you down throughout the day? I imagine as the yards tick by, things start to drop off one by one until you reach a sort of focus. I know when I ran (way back in the day), it wasn't long until all I could think about is putting that foot in front of the other one more time, and trying to sort my breathing to ensure I was doing it as effeciently as possible.

In other words, it still reaches the same goal. Escapism, coupled with a sense of accomplishment.

Quote: TheCessPit

It's when it's two days after you have to really worry... :)

Oh, I'm dying right now. It keeps locking up as I sit at my desk, and then I have to break it loose again. By last evening, I couldn't break it completely loose anymore. And that tightness has not only filled my knee, but it has reached up and grabbed ahold of a knot in my hamstring from a years old baseball injury. Oddly, the iritiation of the old injury is the worst part. Feels like I have a sea urchin in my hammy. God, it's irritating ><

Quote: Evenbob

If you want it really tight, you can actually use duct tape
on top of the ace bandage. But you don't want it that
tight yet.

I won't want it that tight ever. Just snug, enough to give support and kind of hold it all together. Whenever I've wrapped something tight, it ends up falling asleep, and then it hurts 1,000 times more.

Quote:

he iritiation of the old injury is the worst part

that should tell you how long this can go on. Guy, even if you do everything the right way, this thing is going to go on forever. I'd sure as hell nurse it.

Quote: odiousgambit

that should tell you how long this can go on. Guy, even if you do everything the right way, this thing is going to go on forever. I'd sure as hell nurse it.

Not "forever". Just 40 more years. 50, max ;)

To nurse or not to nurse isn't even a question now. It's completely crippled me. I can walk with a normal stride relatively easily and have been doing just that (I just have to walk on tippy toe, as if wearing heels) but that has strained many other muscle groups to the point that everything's on fire. I'm in complete cripple mode, walking to kitchen/bathroom and nowhere else, until I have to work again and then it'll be by crutch only.

I've fortunately had a rescheduling luck fest, as all my league games gotten pushed back to the end of February. The next time I'm going to be tempted (See also: demanded) to use it is Valentine's weekend, as I have a scheduled tournament in Michigan. I suspect by the time it gets here (3 weeks from now) I'll be mended quite well, and as it is pond hockey, I can relegate myself to playing full time goalie and basically stand there whiskey drunk for 45 minutes ;)

Thanks for all your concerns and advice =)

Highly paid athletes often burden their joints but later take solace that their pain killers are being paid for. Of course it can be a crap shoot too. First game injuries can take place.

If you go to a university track or a upscale but not particularly social gym you can often see people in their seventies and eighties working out regularly. You know they've been doing it all their lives. Endorphins? Perhaps. We don't condemn them as drug addicts though. And we sure don't blame them for our high health insurance premiums.

One man rode his ten speed from home to one gym, worked out, had lunch, worked out again, rode the bike to another gym, then dinner and home (occasionally with a young lady from the gym that would be twenty years or so younger than he was). His retirement was not wracked with pain and doctors and hospitals.

There are entire industries built on people who buy clothing and equipment to climb rocks, repel off cliff faces, tackle ice, all in safety. Look at all the sailing schools and outdoors schools. Being physically active is often the norm, its the injuries from ignorance that amaze us. Skate boarders doing unplanned stunts on stairs and art sculptures. Some entrepreneurs open skateboard parks and pay whopping premiums to provide a modicum of safety.

There are options and balances. Often the poorest sailors are the most skillful. They have to be.

I see no reason to over stress bones and joints without some reward. Climbing gyms may not be the real thing but they may be the best thing that is available. We still run risks all the time but its best if it is risks with commensurate rewards.

Quote: Fleastiff

Endorphins? Perhaps. We don't condemn them as drug addicts though. And we sure don't blame them for our high health insurance premiums.

I can be honest and say, yeah, there's something to that.

I've often compared cocaine to adrenaline. To me, they are incredibly similar. The rush, the increased heart rate, the feeling of invincibility, the wave of confidence...other than the numbness and the cost, I find them very different to differentiate. It is certainly a sensation I actively seek out, and something I highly enjoy. I can see how that part of me may lead me to do things outside of common sense.

Quote: FleaStiff

I see no reason to over stress bones and joints without some reward. Climbing gyms may not be the real thing but they may be the best thing that is available. We still run risks all the time but its best if it is risks with commensurate rewards.

To me, that reward is everything. It's very much a large part of my identity. That adrenaline buzz coupled with a "runners high" of a completely exhausting match is better than anything I've ever taken on the street. It like being completely keyed up to maximum alertness, while at the same time being utterly relaxed and content. Like every part of mind and body is in harmony, all the scattered pieces fall into place into a perfectly focused ray of energy.

But nothing in life is free, and the toll on my body is the price. Like gambling, you win some and lose some. You can't gain without risk, and you'll never get ahead unless you play. I suppose in that analogy, I need to work on RoR and protect my bankroll =p

Quote: Face

You're welcome. Remember, even Yzerman began by falling on his ass =)

That is the one and only time I will ever be compared to Yzerman.

Quote:

Fixed your post.

I won't knock running. Don't get me wrong, I abhor it personally, but I have much respect for those who can do it. My girl is currently training for a full marathon, one of a few she'll probably do this year. Having to get back into shape after her time off from brain surgery is a wonder to behold. The amount of dedication... hell, I dunno if I've ever wanted anything that bad. It's certainly beyond my ability.

I know two big time runners. Their dedication blows me away. Still, I have a vague plan to run a 50km ultra next year. I used to abhor it, for about a year. But it was the only activity I was able to make sure I did regularly, and not wheezing when walking up the stairs was a good enough benefit. Now I race on a regular basis. I come last in my age group, but I don't really give a stuff about that too much. I'm =improving= and thats all that counts. This weekend, got paced by a good friend, and ran my second fastest 10km, but also managed to run my fastest mile, km and 400m over the last part of the course...

Quote:

But even if you "just run", you're doing something. And although you say it's "not mental"...ok, maybe you don't have to make 100 snap strategic decisions per minute, but when you're running, are you worrying about work? About bills? About relationship issues, or what you're gonna do for the holidays, or any other little niggles that tend to drag you down throughout the day? I imagine as the yards tick by, things start to drop off one by one until you reach a sort of focus. I know when I ran (way back in the day), it wasn't long until all I could think about is putting that foot in front of the other one more time, and trying to sort my breathing to ensure I was doing it as effeciently as possible.

In other words, it still reaches the same goal. Escapism, coupled with a sense of accomplishment.

Your right, there is a meditative, zen like calm that comes eventually. Takes a couple km to clear the mind. I tend to run to music or audio books, but I'm starting to find if I'm doing a more serious pace, going audio free is the way forward. But yeah, hadn't considered that too hard.

Quote:

Oh, I'm dying right now. It keeps locking up as I sit at my desk, and then I have to break it loose again. By last evening, I couldn't break it completely loose anymore. And that tightness has not only filled my knee, but it has reached up and grabbed ahold of a knot in my hamstring from a years old baseball injury. Oddly, the iritiation of the old injury is the worst part. Feels like I have a sea urchin in my hammy. God, it's irritating ><

Yeah, cos all that old scar tissue will flare up. Best you can do is try to make sure the new stuff isn't as bad as the old stuff. Massage, stretch and break that know up.

http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/the-nhl-is-the-ultimate-breeding-ground-for-mumps/


Hockey: the ultimate breeding ground for Mumps.

Quote: Fleastiff

http://www.macleans.ca/society/health/the-nhl-is-the-ultimate-breeding-ground-for-mumps/


Hockey: the ultimate breeding ground for Mumps.

Interesting. First time I ever saw anything about vaccinations not being just as good as getting the disease in childhood. I wonder if this is often the case.

In the case of Chicken Pox, I would hope not, as not ever catching it seems better otherwise due to the shingles thing.

The way we were immunized generally was a sometimes concerted effort to make sure all the kids were exposed to the childhood diseases. Vaccinations were for smallpox and polio only. IMO it worked well except some kids wound up without immunization for this or that and for some reason these things clobber adults something awful.

I'm surprised there isn't more.

The time between washings of gear is often measured in decades. If a goalie doesn't show, I'm borrowing helmets and jocks and whatever else I need, also unwashed. Lockers and showers, especially those in the city, must rival ancient Rome with the level of neglect for sanitation. Abrasions abound, allowing anything present access to your insides. Floors are often covered in sweat, spit, and blood. An angry shout or manipulation with clunky gloves often sends the mouth guard splashing to the floor, where it is immediately retrieved and jammed home into your maw. One minute you're pulling your mouthpiece out, the next your readjusting your jock, the next you're wiping blood from somewhere, and 30 seconds later you're face wash the jerk that slashed you.

A mass, league-wide orgy would probably be less infectious.

MRSA came through a few years back. One of the Sabres, Stafford, I think, was out many weeks from it. It even got a guy from our league. But my Carlin based stance on filth has so far appeared to have protected me. No athlete's foot, no jungle rot, no jock itch, nothing. Toe nails crystal clear and shiny. Catching colds are all but given, but we haven't yet resurrected consumption or the pox.