Crawling Before Walking [Rolling Stoney]

[Stonie]

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Strength, flexibility, functionality. Assassins want it all. The only tool needed is you.

 

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It is the year 2217. Cybernetic technology has reached the public domain. Government and terrorists alike are scrabbling to buy up and use any and all technology in the fights against each other and to control and scare the general public into submission. The general public are sick of having their lives thrown around between the higher authorities and have taken matters into their own hands; creating private armies and training to fight for the underdogs and people unable to fight for themselves. 
 

Friends of mine were part of these armies but I had no intent on joining. Not until we were walking down the street one day and attacked out of the shadows. My friend and her superior fighting skills was fine but I was hurt. I woke up 6 days later to find they had upgraded my badly damaged right leg with the very same cybernetic equipment that had started this war in the first place. I would be back stronger then ever they said... Once the technology was fully fused with my human body. It would take weeks before I was ready. Once I was, I would be working for the very same Private Military as my friend. They were the ones who paid the cost of the still-rather-expensive technology now holding my shattered ankle together... And I would be working to pay that debt off. 

 

 

Cyborg Assassin Wannabe

 

Step 1. Hand-to-hand combat training.

While I'm waiting for my new leg to heal I gotta get up to speed with my basic training skills. 

QUEST 1: Bodyweights Erry Day.

After surgery with 8 screws and a plate added into my leg, I am 4 weeks into 6 weeks of no weight bearing, and started doing some basic fitness on the 1st of February. If I can't use my legs I might as well catch up my upper body and core strength up a little bit. All strength will be helpful upon my glorious return to fighting the government roller derby.

 

Do +1 push up, tricep dip, clamshell every day. 

Do +5 seconds of Superman hold and V-Up hold every day.

Spoiler

Starting Reps: (12/2/17)

7 (incline, 1-leg) push ups

7 dips

7 clamshells

35 second Superman Hold

35 seconds V-Up hold.

 

Step 2. Stay Limber

Simple enough. Assassins gotta be ready for anything. Having cold muscles is the best way to get beaten in combat. 

QUEST 2: Warmup before each exercise session.

 

Do a dynamic full-body warmup before doing exercise. I'll be using the one we do at training before skating. It moves the whole body and is great. 

Bonus points for doing it more then once, during the day, between technology sessions. 

 

Step 3. Know Thy Enemy

If I'm going back into battle I have to know what I'm up against. Knowledge is power?

QUEST 3: Be one with the Derby

 

I also don't want to lose touch with my teammates and the sport I love so my next goal is to watch a few games of roller derby on the internet every week, taking notes if I like, to see how the pros play the game and what I can incorporate into my practice when I do finally get back. I will also try to go to training despite being unable to skate, because I can help the others and observe any new stuff they might learn. Bonus points for taking notes while watching games / watching training. 

Watch 2 games of Roller Derby weekly. (Preferably on Monday & Thursday, before training)

Bonus points for taking notes at any time, or watching extra games. 

 

Step 4. Be ready at all times. 

Assassins always have to be ready to jump up and go somewhere, just in case. 

QUEST 4: Be a responsible technology user

Most of my couch-surfing activities will inevitably involve the TV, Xbox or my computer, so if I'm going to be staring at screens for the next 3 weeks I need to do so in a responsible manner. This means no all-day marathons without eating or moving because that's just not healthy. 10 minute breaks every 1 hour of technology. So far it seems to be quite effective. I am forced to get up and do things like eat, or do my body weights exercises; things I could / would put off for "one more quest." Bonus points here for any extra self-care I might do while I'm stuck at home. Might as well spoil myself a bit with this forced holiday of mine. 

 

10 minutes of break for every 1 hour of technology use.

Bonus points for extra self care done. Doing nails, face scrubbing, meditating, etc. 

 

---

 

Strong, functional, and flexible - I was all of those things. At the end of 2016, my body was (becoming) a weapon! 2017 was going to be my year of kicking ass and taking names in Roller Derby and life and 11 days into January I had to go and break my ankle. Phooey. So I've had to take a step back* and figure out how to continue getting stronger and better while I can't actually walk. Or work. Or drive, or skate or even leave the house without help. Being at home is terribly unmotivating for me so I've returned to the rebellion for the goal-setting and motivation that I need to actually do something, instead of just sitting on the couch bingeing on Dr. Who and not moving for 6 weeks. 

 

*haha! It's funny because that's how I broke my ankle.

Near the end of this challenge (on the 27th) will be my 6-week post-op appointment with the surgeon that operated on my ankle. He will hopefully say I can start weight-bearing with the moonboot on and doing some basic ankle exercises. I completely underestimated just how much I enjoyed being as active as I was, so this challenge is all about keeping up some sliver of exercise without stressing my ankle. I need it to recover so I can get back to skating and working and going to the gym!!

 

[Myrik]

Wow that is rough, welcome back.  Glad to see you are not giving up on Roller Derby.  Hopefully you can get the clear to walk/loadbear sooner than planned. 

[Manarelle]

Ouch. I fractured my ankle two years ago and was chafing at the inactivity, and that was "only" 7 weeks before I could ditch the crutches. Cool that you get to still go and be part of the team, though, and props to you for not taking it sitting down (or whatever). Following for the awesomeness.

[Stonie]

14 hours ago, Myrik said:

Wow that is rough, welcome back.  Glad to see you are not giving up on Roller Derby.  Hopefully you can get the clear to walk/loadbear sooner than planned. 

 

I know Steve banged on for ages about how you need some sort of motivation to be fit and healthy, and I didn't have it for a long time until I found Roller Derby. If I couldn't go back I would have given up on looking after myself already xD At the very least, there are many non-skating things I can do if I can't get back on the team for whatever reason. But that's only a very very very very last resort. 

 

2 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Ouch. I fractured my ankle two years ago and was chafing at the inactivity, and that was "only" 7 weeks before I could ditch the crutches. Cool that you get to still go and be part of the team, though, and props to you for not taking it sitting down (or whatever). Following for the awesomeness.

 

I have a great bunch of teammates that are willing to pick me up and take me to training so I can still be part of the team  Admittedly I did mope a little bit to begin with - I had to stop all the things that I considered integral parts of my personality (working, derbying, going to the gym, being independent) and re-adjust. Already the little bit of exercise, and remembering to get off the computer every hour has helped a lot. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Welcome back, I wish it was something other than osteopathic trauma that got you here.

I hope you heal fast. I'll be following along.

[DarK_RaideR]

Not the best of ways to start the year, but glad to see you around again. Good luck with rehab and your challenge, you know I'm watching anything Roller Derby related

[Stonie]

10 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Welcome back, I wish it was something other than osteopathic trauma that got you here.

I hope you heal fast. I'll be following along.

 

I'm glad I have here to return to, let's be honest. xD I was feeling a bit desolate about the whole predicament. Glad to have you following along  

 

4 hours ago, DarK_RaideR said:

Not the best of ways to start the year, but glad to see you around again. Good luck with rehab and your challenge, you know I'm watching anything Roller Derby related

 

Certainly not the start I had planned. xD But that's okay. I can get back to it all again, it's just gonna take a bit longer then anticipated!

[Jonesy]

I can't imagine how frustrating it has been but welcome back and yay for finding your fitness passion!

[Stonie]

Thought you guys might like this. It's been one month since I broke my ankle so I thought I'd commemorate the day by showing everyone what I was dreaming when the dosed me up with ketamine and put a cast on my broken ankle.

Spoiler

 

Imagine this ^^ but endlessly spinning. And a constant low buzzing sound. And the sudden realisation that maybe the world you thought you knew was a lie and you are in fact just a massless but sentient consciousness floating through the void. And then calmly accepting the fact that this is for life forever now. Trippy AF. 

[Pherales]

Found you!  Following along for awesomeness

[Stonie]

Day One of the challenge. Jazzed up my first post to be more Assassin-y. With this new hardware in my leg I can at least pretend like I'm a super awesome cyborg ninja assassin, even if it is only 8 screws and a plate.

 

Did my workout this morning with a warmup. Getting up to stop staring at the computer and TV is hard to remember when my S.O is home because I like spending time with him and it passes so much quicker. No derby-related stuff to do today. 

 

 

[Pherales]

Woo jazziness!  Love the story

[Stonie]

So day one was a good start. Did my warmup and workout. 

Spoiler

7 incline push ups

7 dips

7 clamshells each side

35seconds superman hold

35seconds v-up hold

 

Spent 5 hours on and off on the internet and re-watching Chuck. 1.2 hours of break time in between that. Breaks included making food, and coffee, and doing exercise, and showering, and staring out the window. xD

 

Uneventful but good day, all up.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Good job making a workout happen around your injury.

[Manarelle]

16 hours ago, Rolling Stoney said:

Day One of the challenge. Jazzed up my first post to be more Assassin-y. With this new hardware in my leg I can at least pretend like I'm a super awesome cyborg ninja assassin, even if it is only 8 screws and a plate.

 

Heck yeah! Love the story and the impetus to work out and pay off your new implants.

[Stonie]

16 hours ago, Manarelle said:

 

Heck yeah! Love the story and the impetus to work out and pay off your new implants.

 

(even if I don't actually owe anything) I should make a monetary bet with myself if I don't pull off this challenge. 

 

The first few days of the challenge have been good. I've done my workouts both days including warmups. I think though that I'm going to swap out my core exercises. Supermans are going to become good old planks (even if I have to do them on one leg) and V-up holds are going to become bicycle crunches, after we did them at derby training and they were hard. I haven't been feeling much with the holds. 

 

I am even remembering to get up off the computer to do other things too. things like, eat food, and shower, and do exercises, and hang out washing. 

 

Tried to watch some derby today but the internet crapped out on me with the miserable weather interfering so I'll watch the rest tomorrow. It was lining up to be a good game too. 

 

Tomorrow I'm going to set up a mini valentines day / our anniversary (same day, buahah) date-night, and cook my S.O and I something delicious for dinner. 

[Stonie]

The last few days have been hit-and-miss. Mostly on the fitness front; I've been distracted with other things and it's been pushed back twice.

 

Tuesday was valentines day so I spent the day cleaning and cooking and skipped my bodyweight in favour of eating pie and cake. Whoops. 

 

Wednesday I did my body weights but they were super hard work. I think it might be because I wasn't warming up enough so I've decided to do this chair cardio routine a fellow derby gimp posted to our FB support group a while back, before I do the body weights part of the exercise. 

 

Thursday I was out with my mum all day shopping and eating and getting a few things done I couldn't otherwise do myself (I can't drive myself anywhere because I had to go and break my right ankle didn't I) and I was exhausted by the time I got home from town, so I had a nap between that and going back out to derby training for 2 hours. I didn't really have time to stop and watch a derby game or do any exercise except for a few leg raises and back crunches at the end of training. 

 

I haven't missed two days in a row of exercise which I count as a good thing. I would like to be doing more but I need to remember that I am not at 100% despite how I might feel on the inside and I need to let myself rest and heal so I can get back to waking and skating and all that without complication. Bah. xD

 

Going to training and watching games and trying to focus on doing all my derby-committee work has kept my spirits up in regards to eventually returning to the team; I know that if I stop going to training and helping out and watching games I'm going to start feeling left behind which will make my comeback a lot harder mentally. My physical return is going to be hard enough as it is. 

 

10 days until my post-op appointment. My goals may or may not change then depending on what the surgeon tells me to do next; whether it's physio or partial-weight-bearing or nothing. 

[Stonie]

Week 1 Wrap Up

 

Derby: 2/2

Didn't watch both games all at once but I watched 2 games over the week. I read something today about humans having something called "Mirror Neurons" which means if we watch lots of something we start doing the thing how we've seen it. Which I really hope is true, especially for my roller derby skills. xD I still feel motivated to be looking after myself and be a part of my league despite not skating so I hope I can keep this up and make a triumphant return to skating eventually. Derby has been my motivation to look after myself for so long I can't afford to lose it really

 

Bonuses: +2

Took notes while watching a derby game online.

Took notes at training.

 

Body Weights: 5/7

4 days of body weights, 1 day of yoga.

Two days where I struggled to fit exercise in with what I had planned. I was also sore and didn't want to push it too much, but with a bit of tweaking I should be able to do some sort of physical movement every day, even if it's not body weights every day. One more week of this and I may be changing it up depending on what my surgeon says when I see him in a week. 

 

Bonuses +1

Did a chair cardio session before one body weights session, I think it helped warm me up and get ready to do push ups and other stuff. 

 

Warmup: 5/7

I missed this on days I didn't do my body weights sessions. I should do this at some point during the day even if I take a total rest day.

 

Bonuses +1

I did do this one extra time during one day where I spent most of it playing Doom. 

 

Technology: 7/7

This is going well. I averaged 5 hours of technology and 1 hour of break time. Which is slightly better then I was aiming for. Remembering to get up and away from the computer or Xbox made it more likely that I would do my body weights and/or other fitness stuff, as well as general housework and eating food. I also started wanting to use my technology time more efficiently because I was actually tracking how long I was on there and didn't want to spend my whole hour scrolling mindlessly through Facebook. Which happened a few times, but I was mindful of it for a change. I'm interested to see how this continues in the next few weeks. 

 

Bonuses +3

Self-care: did a face mask.

Self-care: painted my nails.

Self-care: had a nap after an awful night's sleep. 

 

That was really a rather successful week. All of my quests are working together in a way I didn't intend but was pleasantly surprised about. 

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Good job on week 1, keep up the good work into week 2.

[Manarelle]

On 2/18/2017 at 10:36 AM, Rolling Stoney said:

That was really a rather successful week. All of my quests are working together in a way I didn't intend but was pleasantly surprised about. 

 

Definite bonus there! Always nice when you're smarter than you think.  Grats on a solid week 1!

[Stonie]

Mid-Week:

 

Derby 1/2 (+1) 

Watched two games at the start of the week, as per the coach's request after I mentioned how good watching games is for your derby-strategy-brain at training on Monday. I'm under no obligation to go to training tomorrow Monday as people are doing their minimum skills tests but I'll watch a game anyway. Habits and all.

 

Body Weights 3/7 (+1)

Did nothing on Sunday (no excuse) but did extra yoga on Monday evening at training and did an extra chair cardio session on today before my BWs session.

 

Warmups 3/7 (+1)

Missed Sunday's warmup but did an extra warmup / joint loosen at training on monday. 

 

Tech 4/7

Keeping up with breaks. Feeling more aware that I should be using my technology time more efficiently as I'm actually timing myself.

 

[Unix]

Back in time i had to recover from a  multiple arm fracture so i understand how difficult is to maintain good habits while injured. Good luck with the second week!

[Stonie]

Week 2 Wrap Up.

From Thursday to Sunday I went AWOL a little... Okay, a lot. The long wait to be weight bearing again dragged me down a little bit, along with the feeling of not accomplishing anything while I'm stuck at home waiting, so I sank most of my time into filling my Alolan pokedex on Pokemon Moon. I had a mini-breakdown and cry to my S.O. and he hugged me and made me tea. Being so close to my 6-week-post-op appointment was making the weekend go soo much slower then it usually does.

 

Derby 2/2

Both games were watched at the start of the week, but I watched two and that's the goal here. Both games were the same teams playing so I saw a lot of the same stuff, but I noticed patterns that the two different teams used to mess up their opponents and it was good.

 

BWs 3/7 (+1)

After wednesday I did nothing. Was down in the dumps about the length of time I'm down and out, which I should have cured with exercise but didn't. But I've been consistently exercising since the last week of the last challenge so I'm not too upset to give myself a bit of a longer break this week. I'll be changing this goal up for the next few weeks of the challenge after my post-op appointment. 

 

Warmups 3/7 (+1)

When I don't do exercise I don't warmup before hand. This is also a thing I should do to make myself feel better when down in the dumps; if I can get the warmup done I'll probably feel like doing the rest of the exercise afterwards. 

 

Tech 5/7

Stopped using a timer to accurately judge my internet & pokemon sessions and that was not a good thing. I can't trust myself and I should know that by now. xD I will start timing myself and my breaks again on Monday.

 

So Week 2 was not as good as Week 1. Weeks 3 and 4 will change up a little bit as I have my post-op appointment on Monday and hopefully will be given the all-clear to start walking. 

[Manarelle]

Being injured does take a mental toll. Sorry to hear it caught up with you last week. Hope the post-op appointment went/is going well and you get your marching orders!

[WolfDreamer]

On 2/27/2017 at 7:33 AM, Rolling Stoney said:

Weeks 3 and 4 will change up a little bit

 

I think weeks 3 and 4 are going to kick ass. You got this.