Thursday, November 29, 2012

OMG! My Knee!

I'm hors de combat. That's French for "out of the fight". Temporarily, I'm not skating. The doctor's appointment is Monday.

I just woke up one morning before Thanksgiving with excruciating pain in one knee and unable to walk down the stairs. That's a forefoot first movement. Ouch! I'm better now, but skating is out.
Ow! Ow! Ow!
Skating is a forefoot first sport, unlike running or tennis which are heel first sports. I'm not sure if the pain indicates a functional failure (the knee might collapse), or an irritated nerve (no collapse). Whatever is causing the pain, I can't skate on my right inside edge. 

Since after a week + a day of rest and OTC meds I was close to pain free off-ice, I got on the ice for a lesson, and could tell with the first stroke I didn't belong there. It was that 'forefoot first' problem.

Now this is the funny thing.  I showed Coach Cruella I could do a left FO3, but not a right one. Then, I showed her a clockwise mohawk to see if I could do the transfer to the right leg.

My body was screaming, "Don't get on the inside edge! Don't get on the inside edge!" So unconsciously I did a perfect closed outside mohawk. Yes, I did 'the hard one'. Amazing what your body can do when it wants to avoid excruciating pain. I got off the ice immediately

I now have no excuse for not doing any mohawk at all in ice dance.

Anyway, I'll continue to post, just without delving into my lessons.  I've still got some funny stories to tell, and I've been working on something new.

I've been wanting to create some simple repeatable footwork patterns for myself, and I found myself mentally challenged to figure it out ahead of time in my head. Being an engineer, I've developed a system of notation to help me write down and debug these footwork patterns ahead of time*. So more about that later. I'll report back soonest on the knee and hope there's a miracle injection to cure me!

*Yep, all of a sum of zero people interested in notation.

9 comments:

  1. I hope your knee problem turns out to be minor and you have a speedy return to the ice. I fell and whacked my right knee on the ice about a week ago and it still hurts off and on. I haven't had it look at yet but may have to if it doesn't improve. This must be the week for knee problems.

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  2. Hope your knee will be better very soon!
    I am very interested in your footwork notation system! If you don't mind, I'd love to see a few of those patterns you invent too. My mind still draws a blank when I try to do footwork on ice.

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  3. I hope your knee heals quickly and thoroughly! I hope it's not a lingering thing. I also am interested in seeing your patterns and notations. Get well soon!!

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  4. Hope your knee issue's not serious and resolves itself soon. Count me in with you and George A.--I fell right on my left kneecap on a backward three turn, before my knee pads came in the mail.

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  5. You realise that when you WANT to do that outside mohawk again you won't be able to do it? That's how skating works.

    Feel better soon.

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  6. I am so sorry about your knee! Hope you can get back on ice soon. I have a chronic injury and was told I will have to be off the ice for about 5 weeks. At least it's over the holidays when the rink is crazy, but no exercise for 5 weeks? I feel the pounds accumulating and the skills deteriorating already.

    Congrats on that outside mohawk! I've been trying with no success for a long time.

    I'm an engineer, too - so I for one will be very interested in the notation post. Hang in there and hope you feel better soon!

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  7. Thanks to all for the heartfelt sympathy. I googled a bit and think I have runner's knee. We'll see what the doctor recommends Monday. I hope it's lots of mojitos and daily massages.

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  8. I hope you heal quickly!

    I have a knee that gets achy easily, due to a twisting injury (skiing) in the early 90s. I find that using a elastic knee bandage (just a basic one you can get at a pharmacy store) is very helpful in both treatment and prevention. It's a pretty inexpensive thing to experiment with and see if it helps you.

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  9. Outside mohawk...impressive! When you get back to rink, it would be very interesting to look over these notations.

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