Injuries and Getting Older

INJURIES. They suck. Really.

I was competing at CrossFit Saint John's Maritime Spring Fling Competition when I had a disappointing lift. For weeks, I had been looking forward to this competition because I was excited for WOD#2 which was a 1RM Snatch and 1RM Clean. My partner and I had decided that I would perform the snatch and he would perform the clean. Snatches are my favourite.

Just 7 days previous to the Maritime Spring Fling, I had tested my 1RM in preparation for my next weightlifting competition. In weightlifting, you have 3 lifts to reach a 1RM. I began with an opening lift of 125 lbs. I then hit my 2nd lift at 135 lbs. My current PR is 140 lbs, so I attempted 145 lbs for my 3rd and final lift. I managed to get under the 145, but lost my balance and dropped the weight. Disappointing yes, but it was only a training session and I was confident that I would achieve that 145 lb lift at the CrossFit competition in Saint John.

However, I did not achieve my new PR lift at the Maritime Spring Fling. I hit my opening lift at 125 lbs easily. I set up for my next lift at 135 lb and .... a miss. WTF?! I set up for 135 again and missed again. Frustrated, I set up one more time. I pulled off the floor, hipped in and moved the bar towards the overhead position. Only instead of catching the bar solidly, one shoulder rotated forward and my body began to twist to the left. As I struggled to try and stabilize my core and save the lift, I felt pulling and popping in my right elbow. My first thought was "FUCK!" (of course) as I dropped the bar and told my partner that I was done. My second thought was "Oh no, now I'm going to end up with a blown ligament like Adrian!"

I'm still not clear on why I failed my lift. I'm not certain if I put too much pressure on myself to hit a new PR or if I was too self conscious about performing well in front of my CrossFit PEI family. Either way, I didn't preform as expected and ended up with what could have been a debilitating injury.

As soon as I walked off the platform, there was a big bag of ice ready for me thanks to my roommate and our team manager.  And thankfully, one of our CrossFit PEI team members is a physiotherapist. So after some ice and an assessment from the boss-lady, I went to buy some compression sleeves from one of the vendor booths. For the rest of the weekend, I stressed about the possible severity of this injury and kept the compression sleeve on (even slept with the damn thing!). I even emailed my athletic therapist from the tournament to schedule an appointment for Monday afternoon after I returned to Guelph.

During my discussion with my athletic therapist, I described how I had treated the injury with ice, rest, compression and elevation. During this conversation, I was reminded of my earlier days as a competitive wrestler. In my late teens and early 20's I suffered a number of injuries on the mat. I sprained a ligament in knee, I hyperextended my elbow, dislocated my thumb, maybe e a concussion or two ... (that explains a lot, right?). At that time, I never would have treated an injury. "Walk it off" was my motto. I remember shoving a dislocated digit back into joint during a break in a match and going back out to finish wrestling. Ice? Pffffft - didn't need it. Rest? hahaha - for the weak!

Now here I am some 10+ years later and I'm terrified of injuries. My 20 year old self would call me a huge baby. I just watched a friend suffer a knee injury and struggle through 4 or 5 months of reduced activity while waiting for an MRI. Another friend blew the ligament in his elbow attempting a 215 lb snatch. He had to wait for an MRI, surgery and is still undergoing rehab to get back to lifting. After watching these incidents and others, I now treat my injuries with respect. I pay more attention to how my body feels and I take rest when I feel like I need it.  Because I'm fearful of sustaining some kind of injury that will prevent me from training.

Thankfully, my injury was not as severe as I originally suspected. I was concerned that I may have torn or strained a ligament but in fact, I only tore some muscle fibers. A few sessions with my athletic therapist (Basic Motion, baby!!) and I am back to normal. I even hit a 135 lb snatch in training this week to prove to myself that my elbow can handle the weight.

With a solid elbow after treatment and 2 more weeks of training ahead of me, I look forward to competing at the Toronto weightlifting championships! And this time, the snatch PR is definitely happening!