Toe saga

I've been off Mobic for about 3 weeks now and I have to admit that this past week my big toe has been quite sore again - to the point where I'm limping at times..... So I have reluctantly filled my last script and started taking Mobic again as of yesterday - Once again the result is almost immediate, within a few hours the pain is gone and I can walk freely. The surgery has definitely made the joint more mobile but the pain is still a problem. To this end I am considering making a followup appointment with Dr Blackney to discuss the ongoing pain management. We'll see.....

Last week also saw me in hospital for a minor procedure, womens heath stuff. In and out of hospital same day. When the surgeon asked if I had any questions - before I could even ask , he raised his hand and said... "no sex for 72 hours" I laughed and asked... "More importantly, when can I train??". "72 hours...." I was back in the gym 24hrs later training chest and back.... light of course.

Prior to all this I trained at Doherty's with Leigh on both Friday evening (bi's, tri's and calves) and Monday (squat) with Leigh supervising and correcting my squat technique. Started out with some jump squats and jumping with the bar from a static start. Followed up with partial hack squats, again concentrating on getting out of the bottom.

Saturday, the annual DARC ride to the pub for lunch. Got up the paddock at 9am only to discover that Mojo had lost a back shoe. Put the boot on and set off to meet Jane at Claire's paddock. As we entered the state forest, something spooked Mojo and he did the wild pirouette dance and loosened off one of his front shoes - Great (not). With a loose shoe the ride to the pub became a 'walk' to the pub and I had to arrange for Jane to come back after lunch with her float and take us back the to the paddock. Anthony is coming today (Thursday) to re-shoe Mojo. I hope it stops raining.....

Loads of work done in the garden this week, barrowing mulch up from garage level up to the back garden area and taking soil down to the garden bed outside the garage where I've planted some pittosporums.

Bought a Garden arch from the nursery, hoping it would fit into the back of the truck, but no... had to disassemble it and reassemble after carrying it bit by bit up the back yard and also planted a new weeping cherry where the old one had died.

I missed training on the Monday, as I'm on holidays I forgot that being a public holiday for Australia Day the gyms hours were shorter and so I fronted to the gym 5 minutes after it had closed, then Tuesday with all the gardening work (above) it was too late in the evening..... so I ended up doing my next squat session at Definition on the Wednesday morning. Same again, jump squats, squatting against the wall, low smith squats (no hacksquat at Definition) and finished with bent knee good mornings.

Last night had the clan around for dinner, the girls, Leigh and Andrew - mayhem prevailed as usual! Sleep in late this morning, listening to the rain - doesnt look like I'll be doing any gardening today.

My backyard... well part of it

Its official

After months of work getting the documentation right I can finally announce the promotion to SENIOR SERGEANT of Constable T-Bear..... Yes he may have skipped a level or two, but that is just to show what a diligent young officer he has been...... Check out those stripes!!

Of course this has resulted in a little jealousy from the other constabulary in the house, in particular one newcomer Constable SOG (Special Operations Group) Bear.... They'll have to reside on separate bedside tables until their dispute is resolved.

As a side note I should also congratulate my sexy boyfriend Leigh on his promotion to Senior Sergeant also :-) You earned it sweetie!

Well last I left off I was heading into the weekend with the pager and as expected, worked much of the weekend. Sunday morning, an early session at Doherty's with Leigh to train biceps, triceps and calves. The extra tricep training each week should help towards a bigger bench press.


Monday evening:
Trained under Leigh's command for squatting and sorted out a problem with my technique. Couldn't find the safety squat bar so made do with some jump squats and low hack squats.

Shaz an Jojo were there again, they're really getting into the boxing - female fight club as Shaz described it while asking if I'd like to join them sometime.

Tuesday:
Cleared the decking, washed it down and put the first coat of 'aquadeck', once again managing to blister my knees crawling around the deck. Then took the girls to see '27 dresses'. Tempted as I was to invite Leigh and tell him it was '27 warriers' I left it as a girly outing. Enjoyable fun movie. Then it was off to Jo's place (my Jo, not Shazza's Jojo... confusing huh) and I set her up on facebook while we chatted.

Tonight, I'm heading into Definition for a light bench workout and some high rep back stuff. Right shoulder is still giving me a bit of trouble but I'll get thru it.


Long weekend coming up (not that it make a difference to me as I'm on holidays next week too....) Saturday is the first 'unofficial' adult riders rally of the year and per usual its a Navigation ride to the pub. Its good to catch up with all the ladies after the Christmas break - shame we don't have any men-folk riders.... Sunday will see me out in Sunbury for my niece's two girls birthdays.

Then it all starts over......

The week in review

Sunday:
Tricep & Bicep training with Leigh at Doherty's

Monday:
Squatted light to correct some posture problem that Shaz was pointing out. Plus hurt my shoulder holding the bar ,after feeling that I'd made some progress with the rehab exercises Andrew Lock had given me.... :-(
Glute/hamstring raise 3 sets of 10
Attempted reverse hypers with Mil on top of a exercise ball which was then put on a bench - more difficult on the grip than on the hamstrings.
Wasnt feeling at all good about my squatting so I performed hacksquats 5 sets of 8 as punishment.

Went home feeling a bit frustrated and down about the whole squatting thing. Ok the next day. Quads very sore (for 2 days)

Wednesday:
Physio appointment with Andrew Lock: Keep up the same rehab exercises. Feels better after Andrew has attacked it with pressure points.

Bench: - 5 x 5 @ 60kg (warmups at bar, 40 & 50) Had Sam spot me for the last set - although unnecessarily it turned out.
T-Bar rows: 5 x 10 @ 40kg
Chest Supp Row: 6 x 8 @40kg (2sets each grip variation)
Overhead rope tricep: 4 x10 @ 100lb
Face pulls - light 4 x 10 @ 80lb
Core work: Dumbell windmills 5lb, 7lb,10lb 10 reps each side. (started to hurt my shoulder so stopped at 3 sets)

Tonight (Friday)
Light deadlifts - prob around 80kg (speed)
Rack pulls
Pull thru's
Cable woodchops
Reverse hypers

On pager this weekend - Blah.... :-(

Delayed due to weather

Oops, has it really been that long since my last post.....

"Blokes" night at Shaza's place on Sat night... joke... Shaza, Jo and me... Beer, pizza and shoot-em-up movies... :-) Bloody hot night - high 30's.

Sunday morning, went out for my first ride on Mojo in what must be at least six months. Rode down to the river and let him paddle his feet. I hadn't intended going out for that long but ended up being about 4 hours.... beautiful day for it, somewhat cooler than yesterday.

Inner thighs sore on Monday, still, off to Doherty's to squat with the boys.... and another newcomer, Cliff - big boy too, bodybuilding background, wants to do powerlifting for a year 'to grow' (like he needs it - LOL)

After warmups, squatted 3 sets of 5 at 80kg and 3 sets of 3 at 90kg. (no suit)
Doherty's have a new glute/hamstring raise - played around in that for a few sets of 12. DId I ever know about that the next day - hamstrings soooo sore!

Wed - appointment with Andrew Lock - Physio, for a nagging shoulder injury (Man, I am falling apart!!) Posterior impingement - or some such - anyway it's muscular and should be easy to treat with some massage and exercises (with a 1kg dumbell - do they make them that small?)

Benched that night - yes I was allowed so - so long as it was nothing that hurt.....
5 sets of 5 at 50kg and 3 sets of 3 at 60kg.
(if I do the big arch and bench low it doesn't hurt the shoulder.

Tbar row: 20, then 40kg - 4 sets of 8
Chest supp row: 60kg 6 sets of 8 (varied grip every 2 sets)
Tricep over head rope press: 100, then 120lb 4 sets of 8

Thursday (roasting hot day 40+ c) Leigh came over for dinner. I made my first chicken and pumpkin risotto - not bad. Late night - not a lot of sleep.... sooo hot!

Fri (today)
Deadlift: 80, 100 (2 sets of 5) 120kg 5 sets of 3
Cable pull thru's: 100 4 sets of 10
Reverse Hypers: 20kg 4 sets of 15
Cable woodchops: 80 4 sets of 8

Weekend plans to go rockclimbing with Jo have been postponed...... never mind.

Street Orienteering

Wed evening Squat work:
A bit all over the place I'm afraid.....
warmed up with the bar, 2 sets of 10.
40kg 2 x 8
60kg 2 x 6 - Hip started niggling so playing around with much wider stance - almost sumo.
70kg 2 x 5
80kg - Hip still 'iffy' so I put on my squat suit and belt for another 6 sets of 3.

Asked Rhys to come have a look at my form to make sure I am getting depth. Way past parallel - Good.

Straight after my squat workout I took up Louise's suggestion to have a go at street orienteering. With profound vision I chose to do the powerwalking rather than running. I have to admit to cheating for the first couple of control points by following the crown. Once I got the hang of reading the map I was on my way, even venturing into the 100 acres reserve on my own and managing to find a couple of control points by myself AND manage to find my way back out of the reserve! :-) About 55mins total time and 8 control points - 72 points out of 100. When I finally got home, starving and exhausted, I needed to ice my foot which swollen and sort. Louise sent me the link to the results the next day and I came in around mid field for the power wlakers - not bad for a first effort.


Course PW (Score Course)

FINAL ARRIVAL OVERALL

NAME 2PT 3PT 4PT 5PT TOTAL PENALTIES SCORE ORDER POINTS

O'BRIEN, VICKI 0 2 4 2 32 0 32 5 72


Toe recovered well by the next day but my shins are still sore today (Friday!)


Bench training last night - rather warm in the gym, was melting all over the benches.....

Rehab stuff:
Incline rotator: 7.5lb 4 x 10
Seated rotator: 7.5lb 4 x 10

Bench:
Warm up with bar 2 x 10, 40kg 3 x 5, 50kg 3 x 5, 55kg 2 x 5, 60kg 5 x 3.
Dumbell press: 35's 10 reps, 45's 2 x 8, 50's 6 reps, 45's 3 x 8, 40's 10 reps

Back:
T Bar row: 20kg 8 reps, 30kg 8 reps, 40kg 4 x 8, 20kg 8 reps
Chest supp row: 40kg 5 x 8 (varied grip with each set)

Triceps:
O/Head rope ext: 60lb 10 reps, 80lb 10 reps, 100lb 4 x 10
EZbar floor crushers: 30kg 6 sets of 6

Monday night will be squatting with Jason and Mil over at Doherty's. Looking forward to it.

Welcome 2008

After being a bit indecisive about what to do on NYE I decided to take up Shaza's invitation to have drinks at Neville and Peter's apartment in Eureka tower. The World's tallest residential building.

Here's some pics - we were on level 42 (Eureka Tower is 92 storeys)

Looking down on the Arts Centre

The crowd on Princes Bridge
Yes those specs are people!

The Fireworks

Nice surprise to see Shaza's friend Jo there as well.

No resolutions this year. Just gonna do what I do best. Train hard.