Richard Gibney's 365 Days of Fitness: Day 274 and 275

Day 274 Yesterday, was my second day of playing in the badminton tournament. When I woke up in the morning I could hardly walk. My left heel was killing me. I wasn't sure what I did but something definitely didn't feel right. Other than my heel nothing else was sore. My body held up from the badminton pretty well. I think being fit really helped, unfortunately the fact that I was doing things poorly was the reason for my heel injury.

I wasn't sure if I'd be able to play my doubles with my brother Emmet later in the afternoon. I didn't want to miss out on playing but I also didn't want to risk injuring myself more seriously. I iced my heel for a good chunk of the morning before our doubles match in the afternoon. It felt a little bit better and after awhile I was able to walk around pretty well but I still wasn't sure if I'd be able to play.

I went to the club to get ready for my match. I was hanging out in the locker room with a couple guys from the tournament when I ran into my friend Anil Bhambhani. I mentioned that my heel was pretty sore and that I wasn't sure how I was going to play. Anil who works as a physiotherapist and yoga instructor at his clinic the Physiyogis, asked me if I wanted him to fix it for me. I said sure, can you do it now? He said sure, lie down. I lay down on a bench, he grabbed my heel and performed some sort of voodoo magic. I stood and about 90% of my pain was gone. I asked him what he did. He said that my sub-talur joint was out of place and that he put it back for me. I was really stoked. I could now go play my match virtually pain free.

Today's Workout:

2 Badminton Doubles Matches

- We won our first in 2 games (Can't remember the scores. It was relatively close) - We got smoked in our second game (The other team was just too good)

Emmet and I had fun. We've only played together twice, including this weekend. The last time we played together was over 10 years ago. We actually play quite well together. However, I think we were both relieved we didn't have to play any more games. I think we were both pretty tired. Emmet had a pretty intense singles match last night, and had narrowly escaped injury, so there was no need to push things any further. In the end we had fun and that was the point.

Day 275

Today I had to quickly stop by the club to pick up my car. Last night at the tournament banquet I had a few drinks, so I decided to leave my car behind and get a ride home with Emmet. When I got to the club I popped up to the gym quickly to get a light workout in. I had to drive back to Calgary today, so I wanted to make sure I got something in before hitting the highway.

Today's Workout

20 minutes of light cardio (Spin Bike Gear 14 (85 - 90 rpm)

When I got to Calgary:

10 minutes of light cardio (Spin Bike Gear 12 (85-90 rpm)

Foam Rolling - Upper Spine - Lats - Glutes - Quads / IT Bands

Strength Band Distraction Stretches - Hip Flexor / Psoas - External Hip Rotators - Adductors

I decided to do a lot of stretching and soft tissue work when I got to Calgary. I was feeling pretty stiff from the drive, and from the tournament. I thought a good amount of restorative work would be a good idea to help me get back into training for the week coming.