Much to my dismay, I began the week with a painful strained neck. I could not sleep or get comfortable, my head was throbbing, my ear was on fire and my movement was so limited I could not lift my arms past my shoulders and I had to turn my entire body just to see sideways. I was pretty cranky and frustrated and afraid I was in for a long recuperation.
My first instinct was to admit defeat and have a junkfoodpalooza accompanied by a bevy of violent movies. My second instinct was the same but with more profanity. My third was to carry on with Operation Suck Less 2014™ and not give in to the pain and see what I actually could do.
After a heated debate between all the conflicting voices in my head, I decided to carry on with the caveat that if it sucked the junkfoodpalooza was happening. Happily, I guess, it did not suck too badly and the junkfoodpalooza was tabled although I did have a Jamba Juice as a treat.
My recovery consisted of lots of movement in the pool, walking, longer cool down sessions, stretching and plenty of ice; I ditched anything weighted. I had to cut my effort in half in the pool and when I felt any twinge I stopped. On my first day walking, I had to hold my arm close to me at times so my neck would not move too much but I slowly loosened up and was able to walk in my normal slow manner. In both the pool and while walking, I slowly worked on my range of motion and stretching and made sure I was not holding any stress in my neck. Today’s swim was at 80% of my usual laps with lots of stretching.
There is the phrase “motion is lotion” which totally grosses me out for some reason, but it happily proved to be true in this case.
I am not fully recovered but I can lift my arms above my head again and can turn from side to side at about 85% of normal. I will not add anything weighted until next week and see how that feels but for now, I am happily back on track. I’m still cranky though so I probably need to devise another recovery plan for my mood.
sugar TANTRUM 