Sorry I've been absent. Not absent from the gym, though I haven't been able to be as consistent as I'd like. I had to be much more involved in the HVAC installation than I expected. I may be repeating myself here, can't remember if I mentioned this before or not: my wife and I are neck deep in a major construction project which I am doing most of myself and mostly by myself. I have had a lot of help from a few friends, but mostly it's just me. I decided to hire out the downstairs HVAC. I did the upstairs myself and it took me forever. I couldn't afford to take the time to do the downstairs system myself.
Anyway, I'm still in the gym and still playing hockey.
My wife remarked that I was starting to get fat a week and a half or so ago. I'd been looking at myself in the mirror and thinking I was getting a little bit of fat accumulating around my waist; her saying so confirmed it. I was up to 194-195 but obviously it was fat not muscle gain. I cut my carbs (and calories) back to around 3600 per day and have lost the fat but now I'm right back where I started, 193.
The sleep issue is improved but not resolved to my satisfaction. I'm keeping notes to discuss with my doc when I go back to see her on 6/18. I'm at 1mg per night of Ropinirole and have been for about a week.
I played better at hockey this week than I have because I was less tired (as a result of improved sleep) but also identified several things I need to improve. I also got a couple of minor injuries during Wednesday's game. I got tripped and fell, landed somewhat awkwardly and hurt my left shoulder. This shoulder is the one that's already problematic. I'm quite sure I did some damage to the rotater cuff, though it is feeling better than it was. I now struggle to lift a gallon of orange juice (so roughly 8 lbs) to the top shelf of the fridge, so that's a setback. It's definitely not fully torn, but obviously hurt.
And I blocked a shot which resulted in a pretty spectacular bruise. See pics. First one was when I got home Wednesday night. Looks like I have a tennis ball in my shin.
These next two are the following evening. The guy whose shot I blocked is a former teammate; he texted me to ask how my leg was, so I took these pics to show him:
Today, it's even more purple and the blood has run down to my heel. It looks worse than it is. It's a little bit sore when I tie my work boot; in fact, I had to tie it looser than normal. But besides that, it doesn't hurt. I had a coaching session yesterday (the day after the game) and the bruise didn't hinder my skating; plus my wife and I went for a 2.5 mile hike after dinner. I'm not worried about my leg at all. It will get better (I might have a lump that lasts a long time - I have one from a shot I blocked almost a year ago). I am worried about my shoulder, however. That I'm going to have to rehab diligently and carefully.
My Thursday coaching session was with the captain of the team I'm going to try out for and his brother, who also plays for that same team. The session is only 30 minutes, but it's a private session and it is INTENSE. I was gasping for air halfway through. I've been training since February with a different coach and with another player, plus games since March, so I thought I was in half decent shape. I am NOT in half decent shape. I need toadd wind sprints to my workout routine.
To that end, I rearranged my gym a little bit and brought the treadmill in from storage. The incline function doesn't work, which it did when it went into storage (4 years ago). So that'll have to get fixed. But I can still run on it, and I can run in the yard, too. I don't like running, really, but I'm too far away from the rink to skate multiple times per week, so I'll have to run.
I'll get back to logging workouts hopefully tomorrow morning.
A while back, someone asked for a picture of me playing. This is not a very good picture, but someone in the stands took some pics a couple of weeks ago. I'm not sure when I'll get better pictures. Quite a few friends have expressed interest in coming to see me play. I'm going to ask them to come to the tryouts when that happens in the early fall. Hopefully someone can get some good action shots there. For now, this is what I have:
