Hello All,
Well time is flying. Can you believe we are officially one month away from Christmas! I bet you are all very excited.
I am coming up on my final week of resting and preparing to start the 2009-2010 training season! I have finished up my appointments with the amazing staff at the ISM (Institute of Sport Medicine) and the results are great - my hamstring is 100% healthy and strong, and after intense work with a bio-mechanics physio and the use of EMG, my glutes and hamstrings are sequencing properly when moving and I'm ready to apply this to my running/jumping/throwing and get back to doing what I do best!
In between all the appointments to take care of my hamstring and body, I have been lost in conversation and thought about where to train from here to 2012. I have had good chats with my current coach Bart and the coaching staff at UofT and feel like I am blessed with two solid training options. I just have to weigh out the pros and cons and figure out which suits me best for training and chasing my goals. And I don't know yet. I 50/50 and don't know in my gut yet where to go ... so I will promise to keep you posted; when I know, you'll know!
Your Athlete,
Susan
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The Best of Us Challenge
Hello All,
Here is a great link I cam across today - The Best of Us Challenge.
This is your chance to compete against Olympic athletes from around the world. Each athlete has created a Challenge video where they show off some of their unique talents. Check them out, and maybe even give it a try for yourself :>
Maybe you guys can come up with your favourite of the challenges or create a challenge of your own, and we can have our own version of this challenge.
Enjoy!
Your Athlete,
Susan
Here is a great link I cam across today - The Best of Us Challenge.
This is your chance to compete against Olympic athletes from around the world. Each athlete has created a Challenge video where they show off some of their unique talents. Check them out, and maybe even give it a try for yourself :>
Maybe you guys can come up with your favourite of the challenges or create a challenge of your own, and we can have our own version of this challenge.
Enjoy!
Your Athlete,
Susan
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Photos from JDLF
Once through security, this was the entrance to the Athlete Village
Opening/Closing Ceremonies Canada Outfit
Team Canada (some 250 athletes from 7 sports) walking in the opening ceremonies
Entering the stadium from the highway
Stadium Entrance
Competition Stadium
Warm Up Track
Little dip and play time in the Mediterr-
anean Sea
Views from the bus, en route to the track
The Wooded Hills of Mount Lebanon, en route to the
Jeita Grotto
Rock Bay
Healthy Hamstring!
Hello,
Good news, this past Friday, my follow up ultrasound revealed a healthy hamstring. The tear has completely closed and there is no sign of scar tissue! On the other hand, the muscle is still quite weak and I have to complete daily physiotherapy exercises to re-strengthen the hamstring to be ready to handle the amount of stress from a regular training session.
I am continually amazed at the attention to detail of the medical staff at the ISM (institute of sport medicine). Minimizing the amount of time an athlete sits out of training due to injury is always a priority. However, it was not enough just to repair a torn hamstring in 3 weeks, compared to a recovery time of up to 6 weeks minus the injections; they needed to know why the tear happened in the first place to prevent future problems.
To do this, I was hooked up to an EMG for my hamstring and glutes to observe the firing pattern. The results we not great and clearly pointed to a cause of my tear. What the test showed was that my hamstring fires 0.3sec too quickly and before my glutes, which is an incorrect order. As a result, I have added to my list of physio/recovery exercises and have to retrain this pattern of fire between my glutes/hamstring to prevent future injuries.
And now, the goal is to work daily at the exercises and retest in 2-3 weeks to ensure I am doing the exercises correctly and then add to the degree of difficulty and get closer to adapting the drills to what I require in my sport. Therefore, it now looks like my season will be slightly delayed and begin this year at the start of December. This seems like a late start date, however, my current season has just ended at the start of October, I needed to fully recover emotionally and physically after one season before a new one can properly begin, and next season will go until the end of October with the goal of the Common Wealth Games.
Overall, I feel like things are going well and I am looking forward to what comes next. As for an update on the coaching front … still no decision … but getting there!
Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween!
Your Athlete,
Susan
Good news, this past Friday, my follow up ultrasound revealed a healthy hamstring. The tear has completely closed and there is no sign of scar tissue! On the other hand, the muscle is still quite weak and I have to complete daily physiotherapy exercises to re-strengthen the hamstring to be ready to handle the amount of stress from a regular training session.
I am continually amazed at the attention to detail of the medical staff at the ISM (institute of sport medicine). Minimizing the amount of time an athlete sits out of training due to injury is always a priority. However, it was not enough just to repair a torn hamstring in 3 weeks, compared to a recovery time of up to 6 weeks minus the injections; they needed to know why the tear happened in the first place to prevent future problems.
To do this, I was hooked up to an EMG for my hamstring and glutes to observe the firing pattern. The results we not great and clearly pointed to a cause of my tear. What the test showed was that my hamstring fires 0.3sec too quickly and before my glutes, which is an incorrect order. As a result, I have added to my list of physio/recovery exercises and have to retrain this pattern of fire between my glutes/hamstring to prevent future injuries.
And now, the goal is to work daily at the exercises and retest in 2-3 weeks to ensure I am doing the exercises correctly and then add to the degree of difficulty and get closer to adapting the drills to what I require in my sport. Therefore, it now looks like my season will be slightly delayed and begin this year at the start of December. This seems like a late start date, however, my current season has just ended at the start of October, I needed to fully recover emotionally and physically after one season before a new one can properly begin, and next season will go until the end of October with the goal of the Common Wealth Games.
Overall, I feel like things are going well and I am looking forward to what comes next. As for an update on the coaching front … still no decision … but getting there!
Hope you all had a safe and happy Halloween!
Your Athlete,
Susan
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