Injury & Pilates
Pictured below, the new Short Track-specific rink they put up for next week’s world cup.
The unique pad system keeps the athletes safe. It’s some extremely fast, nice ice. The best I have ever skated for short track.
I should have been skating at this moment. In fact, 20 minutes before this shot, I was having a lovely morning skate, But while crossing hard through a turn, with a lot of pressure on my left foot at the apex, something gave way in my back.
It felt like I had been shot where rotational muscles attach to the top of the left hip.
There is a big difference between “injuries” & “owies” and It’s crucial for athletes to know the difference between the two. This was obviously bad news, I left the ice immediately.
When I have been hurt before, it always happens during a rest week, & during moments when I am feeling fantastic… This injury ran true to that pattern, weird…
Getting in and out of my car was a slo-motion wobbly challenge with a red-hot iron poker stuck into my hip. Sitting in my office chair at work and rotating to my left while reaching for a coffee cup was very painful. Uh oh.
At my doctor’s office the very next morning; the verdict? Good & bad. I did not do anything cosmically bad to myself, no nerve damage or ligament tears, but a good chunk of rehab is in order for a few weeks.
I got a prescription from my extremely knowlegable doctor (who is an elite athlete himself) for painkillers, core-centric physical therapy, and a pilates class!! Whoo!
I want to be back on the ice in 2 or 3 weeks. But with Jess due any day now, a little break is not a bad thing. It’s funny how many skaters were kidding me, about how I can’t get hurt now, I need to be able to carry around a baby, and change diapers!
Gotta be at the top of my game for those upcoming challenges…
Filed under: from home
Sorry to hear of your injury, Andrew! Speedy recovery. In the big scheme of things, perhaps it was a little tap on the shoulder to slow you down a bit. Can’t hurt with the baby due. Just hope you are able to pick up the little darlin’….
Good wishes sent to you and Jessica for a great delivery experience!
Time off will do you some good. Enjoy the moment when your child arrives. Heal well and come back safely.
thanks…
I am trying to think of this in the “large scale karmic light” so I won’t even be tempted to miss skating for a bit.
many of my friends have had much worse injuries this year, so I can’t complain too much.
nothing is much worse than the Achilles’ cut I did in ‘04
Hey Andrew- best of luck in getting back on your skates. When I was injured, it was extrememly frustrating ‘watching’ my season/ off-season fly by. The thing is, I rested smartly, learned to train differently, and everytying ended up ok.
Plus I suspect a big important day is on its way!
Of course, like mine, if it was the last competition of the season when you got injured, there was no “sitting out.” Sorry, that’s not what you wanted to hear, but it made it easier to “tolerate” not being able to skate for 7 months.
[…] Peter Doucet Andrew Love recently suffered a back injury- you can read his thoughts in his entry Injury & Pilates- There is a big difference between “injuries” & “owies” and It’s crucial for athletes […]
So sorry to hear about your injury Andrew. I do hope it heals soon. The time off will do you good though.
Best wishes to you and Jess and the impending birth of your baby.
Dude, my only experience with this is shooting seven Baby Your Baby documentaries. Including three live births and living with a couple after they brought their new little boy home for a week. I was so happy to go home to my bed. The only thing I can say is get some sleep NOW.
The wind is blowing my best wishes surrounding your home from my heart.
Oh, Andrew! Sorry to hear of your back woes… definitely not fun. If the spasms are making sleeping an issue, try (and yes, this sounds stupid, but it really does work), stuffing an old pair of nylons with a towel and tying it around your waist, then sleeping on your side with a pillow between your legs. It helps keeps your back level and minimizes vertebrae sheering (thereby allowing spasm-y muscles to relax). From the sounds of things, you’ll need all the sleep you can get, given the upcoming anticipated arrival!! Am SO excited for you!!! Will touch base soon, in the meantime, hope you’re healing progressively and Jess is doing well.
Oh, sure now they put up the short track only rink…
But sad to hear that your back went out so soon after warm ups, but you’ll get better, it just takes that thing we never want to hear about called time.