This weekend I have been appointed to three games. Two down, one to go, and things are going really well. I’m determined to keep up the momentum!

The first game was as Assistant Referee on the Combined Counties Football League. This was my first competitive game on this league this season (the others I have posted about recently have been pre-season friendlies). This was one of those occasions where the referee team has just totally gelled: Good bonding, all the decisions correct and great communication. I enjoyed every second. Not bad at all considering it was a local derby! There was the perhaps inevitable mass confrontation to take care of, of course…

It really helps when everyone on the team has the right, positive attitude: To do a professional job and have fun at the same time. Sometimes I have worked on teams where one member has been, well, a little bitter and twisted and it does bring the team down a little.

Today I had a pre-season friendly on another league as the man in the middle. This was also a fantastic game, helped by the fact that both teams genuinely treated it like a friendly! It was a joy to referee and helped by the fact that I really felt on form: Right on top of fouls etc and getting the tight calls right each time. Was very pleased to hear a spectator comment, “That’s the best referee I have seen round here”. That will keep my ego swollen for a few hours at least…

It’s not the only thing which is swollen: My right knee is feeling tender and I had to ice it after the game. It feels sore on the inside so not quite sure what it is. I hurt my Achilles last season from sprint ‘take-off’ and now I’ve hurt my knee from the sudden deceleration from sprinting when running the line! I need to be careful.

One more game to go (Assistant again) to polish off the weekend: Let’s make it a great finish!

I recently rejoined the gym on my work campus as running outside was just not happening any more. The current weather in the UK has put paid to that. I was soaked through just walking back from the gym to the office (30 seconds!) due to the lashing shower that suddenly appeared.

The adage which applies is “Get fit to referee, don’t referee to get fit”. Absolutely true and my ‘judo fitness’ has very much helped me hit the field of play running. I have yet to struggle to keep up with play but of course most of my games are at ‘parks’ level until I climb the ladder a bit more.

However, my body has not adjusted to the style of exercise too well. Lots of changes in speed (walk..jog…SPRINT…walk…stop…SPRINT) and direction have put quite a stress on my hamstrings and achilles. The achilles in particular forced me to rest but is now mostly under control. My hamstrings are tight as anything as it is due to my years of computing so this needs resolving. Some Asics Gel Lethal 11 boots are helping there!

Firstly, I’m working on running in the gym, working towards the Cooper test. I have no need to take this test for a long time but it is a nice benchmark. Starting point is 2500 metres in 12 minutes which I can manage fine on a treadmill but of course that is easier than doing it outside (even with a 1% incline). It’s good to start teaching my body the pace though. I’ll be mixing that up with interval training.

Secondly, lots of stretching. I’ve been neglecting this FAR too much. Obviously this is concentrating on my problem areas as mentioned above but I’m making sure I do EVERYTHING so I don’t just transfer the problem somewhere else. Early days but so important.

There we have a mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise and stretching. I haven’t thought about core strength much yet but it will need to feature to help keep things balanced… hmm…

I’m not sure whether my neck is any better or worse, compared to how it was prior to the injection. It has certainly been better the last few days, but of course it was more sore after being poked, prodded and stabbed.

Tiger Balm has been working really well for me. Sticky warming ointment. Perfect. Plus I guess it forces me to give the neck a good massage, or it is just going to ruin all my shirts! There have been a few occasions when I’ve pressed on a point and the pain has mysteriously totally vanished for a while. So sudden it was to the degree that I was scared to move my neck for a bit in case I had done something serious. Acupressure? No idea. But I remember my consultant tried something similar in my first appointment as a test to see if it relieved the pain. Something to ask about…

As yesterday it was pretty good, I decided to go for a run outside at lunchtime. It was six degrees Centigrade outside. I only had my t-shirt and shorts. But, hey, that temperature seems to fall within safe limits. I did two miles and it was just fine. Although my shoulder did twinge a bit, mostly my fault for pretty much storming out the door at a rapid pace (no proper warm-up) and pounding up the road before settling into a more sensible stride. The whole thing was really invigorating.

It’s the day after the cervical nerve block procedure. How am I doing?

I’m back at work, and currently I would say things are about the same as before. The same sort of radiating nagging ache, resulting in also some muscle tightness around the shoulder. The pain is very much localised like yesterday, which I guess in a way is better: I don’t feel like I need to rub my neck or play with my spine or anything like that.

I mentioned in my previous post that the pain during the procedure reminded me of when I first injured my neck, or rather waking up the next day. Thankfully, this has subsided very quickly so it isn’t completely like stepping back in time. There is none of the major weakness that happened back then, when I couldn’t even perform a single push-up (This was really weird, no pain, it’s just that the shoulder decided not to _do_ anything).

I’m not exercising. I feel like I’m getting fat(ter).

So I guess it is still too early to tell. Bring on the Neurofen Plus, baby…

I’ve been suffering from neck pain for quite a while now. Perhaps coming up to two years? There is no particularly traumatic event that I can think of which definitely caused it. The best I could come up with was when playing badminton and feeling something give in the back of my right shoulder. No immediate pain, more a sensation of “Hmm, I should stop now”.

The pain did come on over the next few days, particularly radiating from a spot at the front-right of my neck, just above the clavicle. Usual R.I.C.E applied, and it got a lot better (I wasn’t thinking of painkillers first thing in the morning) but settled to be an annoying background ache.

Also, at the time, I had major weakness around my right shoulder. To the degree that I couldn’t do a single push-up! This also settled, and I still feel my right shoulder isn’t quite “there” but, again, it is more of a nagging thing.

The nagging is pretty constant. I have full range of motion. So, Judo was fine and I think I graded from blue to 1st Dan with it. If anything, such exercise seems to get everything warm and moving and settles it. There is no movement that would make me go “Argh”, essentially.

I recently came down with a 24 hour stomach bug, and after that the pain was a lot worse again. I decided enough was enough and, as I’d already tried physio as part of the initial pain, got seen by a neck consultant. X-Rays and MRIs ordered.

The MRIs showed I had some slightly herniated cervical discs. The emphasis on slight; the consultant couldn’t be sure they were responsible for the pain, but it’s a good start. The cause? Who knows? The badminton injury? Sleeping awkwardly? Judo? The many hours I sit at a desk tapping away? All of them?

I was booked in for a Dorsal Root Ganglion block. Put simply, this involves injecting a local anesthetic just where the nerve is irritated. That may help bring down the inflammation, perhaps even completely and cure the problem, but results are variable.

So, yay for private medical insurance! It was a day patient job which from arriving and leaving took about 90 minutes. Once the preliminaries of paperwork and vital signs were taken, I walked into the surgical room and lay back, my head tilted slightly.

A cloth was put over my face which I hope wasn’t to imply I’m bad looking, but more to stop me trying to look at what was happening. I’m fine with needles as I donate blood regularly. However, I wasn’t sure why the nurse was gently resting her hand on my left arm. Hey, nurse, it’s just an injection, I can handle it, did I mention I’m a big, tough, Judoka?

Indeed, the needle going in was fine. At this point, the consultant was moving it around and getting the team to take x-ray shots as he did so, so he could see where he was. Fair enough. A little uncomfortable (similar to the feeling of when donating blood, and the tubing is tugging on the site) but remember us Judokas are TOUGH!

Now, how do you think he knew when he was in the right place? Remember I said herniated discs (plural). Each disc typically has its own symptoms when out of whack, but my pain was always pretty localised: Nothing shooting down my arm. Even so, how could he be _sure_ he was about to put the anaesthetic in the right place?

By stimulating the aggravated nerve.

In an instant, I knew why the nurse was reassuring me. It was really painful. I’m normally pretty relaxed, but my whole body tensed. For Judoka readers, think of how you try and bridge slightly to avoid Juji gatame. That was my body going rigid.

But, in a way, the pain itself was reassuring. There was no doubt it was the right nerve. Remember that “front and right” sore spot I mentioned above? That was it. Certainly much sharper than when I pressed on it myself, but you would expect a needle to be slightly more irritating.

This felt like it went on for a while, then suddenly there was a slight gurgling sound, which I presume was the anaesthetic going in. Then job done. I felt a little scared to actually move my head for a while, but there was no other pain other than the dodgy nerve area (Just like always!).

I am now at home and recovering (usual precautions). No obvious side effects so far.

So, how’s the pain? It’s too early to comment. Naturally the nerve is, to be blunt, very pissed off at being poked around, so that will need to settle before the anaesthetic can start to work its magic. Remember, annoyed nerves equals inflammation which just annoys things even more.

Still, at least I get the impression it was the right area (Owww….) so let’s see what happens.

Incidentally, great care at the hospital. If the nurse looking after me had to go somewhere, she told me what she was doing. None of this magically vanishing nurse syndrome I’ve had before under the NHS, I’m glad to say. Excellent.

The weight training is still going well, and I am succeeding at sticking to my three times a week routine. I’m being mostly sensible and waiting until the form is right before increasing the weight at any point.

One problem I have noticed recently is in the Bench press. I am getting pain in my right wrist, almost feeling as if it is bending the wrong way. This is to the degree where it feels like the wrist is the weakest link.

I’ve found a great post and I’ll be following the advice:

http://munfitnessblog.com/how-to-prevent-wrist-pain-from-your-weight-training/

My instincts tell me that the problem I am having is this one:

Not to roll your wrist backward when you do bench press. Once the wrist is rolled backward, the weight will hurt it. The wrist has to be aligned with the forearm.

The good news is that it looks like my AC joint injury was just a Grade 1.

I rested it over the weekend, and went along to a session on Tuesday. I strapped it up but in contrast to Thursday (where it just did not want to go in some directions at all!) it was excellent. In fact, no noticable problems whatsoever. I think there may have been a small amount of weakness but no pain.

The bruising has come through: Several inches away from the injury site!

The joint itself is still a little popped up, but the swelling may not have completely gone down yet. That said, reading around on the subject would indicate that even though the injury may completely heal, the bump may remain.

The session itself was good. Upset at myself for falling back to some “old favourites” in Randori (Hello, Hikikom Gaeshi), but at least I tried a few other things. I just need to try those other things MORE.

Made up for that in Newaza, even though if I did get pinned due to experimental chokes going a bit awry This is the one in question:

I need some advice on the correct spinning (turning?) motion once the hands are in place as that is where I am getting stuck.

Weight training continues, with the numbers going up. Unfortunately, due to stubborness I now have a slight pulled muscle in my back. I dropped a weight when doing deadlifts due to losing my grip, and should really have called it a day then, but retried it. Stupid.

Against perhaps my better judgement (I am rubbish at self-control when it comes to injuries), I went to Judo last night.

My left shoulder, due to the dodgy AC joint, is tender. However, what is frustrating is that it becomes painful with certain movements only. As an example, I can raise my arm to the sides, swing it in circles and so on. But having to push it outwards against resistance hurts.

This effectively makes the arm useless in Judo, and nullifies a lot of core strength. Fear of that pain reduces speed. Sometimes I found myself being attacked where normally I could post with the arm to easily block it, but I just had to let the attack happen and find another route. Really frustrating.

Still it did open up a few opportunities. I got caught in an arm lock during Newaza (I would have easily avoided this with a working arm!) and did not have the strength to pull it out due to the injury. I’m not saying to always use pure grunt to work against things, but I couldn’t use the arm as a lever in an effective way due to the shoulder. I was forced instead to use my other arm to help move around the body, and then blocking the technique with the rest of my body. That worked. Even got a pin!

Another issue is that I would see an opening, but my instincts would say, “Hmm, if I do that, but then they pull against me, it will HURT” – so I don’t go for it.

Standing work was better, but again I was slow due to “the fear”. So I concentrated on gripping strategies and the like instead.

However, I am setting myself up for secondary injuries. By having such a fear of landing on the shoulder again, it would negatively impact my breakfalls… so I could do more damage.

Ronda Rousey has a recent entry on this sort of thing:

What sucks about injuries though is you really have to humble yourself. Instead of trying to twist and turn and funk your way out of attacks, you have to take a lot of falls you wouldn’t normally have to. You see openings for throws or in ne-waza that you have to for yourself not to do because it will strain the injury.

Yup, that’s it

I really need to rest it properly.

A good Judo session tonight. It’s a competition club so the pace is high and it really highlights my fitness. Sorry… unfitness. The local Army guys visit so it puts things a little in perspective!

Crash mats are more trouble than they are worth sometimes. In my first year of Judo, my Iliotibial Band Syndrome was as a result of taking a knee to the leg doing crash mat work. The swelling from the impact moved down the leg until it aggravated the Iliotibial Band, and it took a while to sort itself out!

Tonight I was thrown, but my head and shoulder missed the crash mat. Thus the majority of the impact was absorbed by them (as opposed to it being shared by the rest of my body on a totally flat surface).

Immediate pain in my shoulder (specifically, the Acromioclavicular joint). Thankfully in the, “Hmm, this hurts, I had better take a break and stretch it” sort, as opposed to “OMG THE PAIN GIVE ME MORPHINE” style.

It’s still tender now. I have full range of motion, but it is slightly painful when the arm is working in certain ways. The best example is if I grasp my hands together in front of me, then try and pull them apart.

Definite swelling there. At first I thought a part of bone had been dislodged, but pressing it highlights it is just swelling. And no evil crunching noises!

So, careful monitoring and sweet, sweet Ibuprofen. RICE is a way of life for me nowadays…

In terms of the Judo, some nice advice, but essentially revolving around attacking as soon as I have a grip I want.. no hanging about! This ties in nicely with movement etc… Also, I keep letting myself be crunched down, even by shorter players. It’s a stupid instinctive reaction I have when a hand comes over my shoulder!