Happy Birthday 40-something, Mom!

*That's actually San Francisco we're overlooking, not NY =)

Chicken fried steak - Texas style!

This is the type of work I do! This is the reason I moved to Texas in the first place! This shot was taken at Goodson's Cafe in Tomball, TX, and I have a review of the restaurant on my Yelp.



Do work, son!

Service Learning Grant - Magnolia West High School

As a part of a Service Learning Grant our program received, we collectively decided to do a presentation at Magnolia West High School and discuss Sports Nutrition related topics to high school athletes. Between the seven of us, the topics ranged from fast food consumption, dietary supplements, energy drinks, and I gave my presentation on water hydration. Each presentation was about ten minutes long, and mainly given lecture-style, with some audience participation, and questions. Overall, I feel the presentation went smooth, and although the delivery could have been better, I do not think anyone had a problem with the outcome.

I was the second presenter, which I personally prefer, because my style of speech-giving allows for a more "loose" feel, and I like to feel as if I am casually speaking to my audience; so I appreciate AJ and Josh for loosening up the crowd for me. Their topic covered nutritional supplements, and for most part, they gave a straightforward fact-based speech about the choices out there, and if you decide, how to properly combine supplements with regular dieting.

Appropriately enough, after they just finished speaking about what not to put in your body, I race up to the front of the room, with a jar full of candy and chocolate in tow. The first line from my mouth was, "I know they told you guys not to eat sugar and candy, but I brought you some anyway," and all I see it excitement across their faces. The fact that I was studying to become a teacher prior to athletic training really helped because the "candy" jar is a little trick I picked up from a course I took on class management and public speaking. Yes, it is a gimmick, but it is a slam-dunk tactic within this age group, and especially if you are unfamiliar with them. There is always a positive reaction to candy.

Knowing I had a limited amount of time, I decided to make it as interactive and visual as possible. I began with an original brief game where everyone in the room stood up, and as I read off facts about hydration; if those statements pertained to you, then you would sit. The last person, or in this case the last few persons, would receive a treat. The type of statements read were phrased such as, remain standing if you ate breakfast this morning. After each statement, the next question would be a follow up of the previous. The second was, remain standing if that breakfast included an 8oz. glass of water, and so forth. Another thing I learned about public speaking is to add humor where possible, which makes it all the more comfortable for the person doing the talking - especially if the audience laughs when they are supposed to. So, I had a few statements that read, remain standing if you had to leave your class today because you were thirsty, and Andi Tate, our host, immediately replied with, "and not to send a text message to your friend," in which everyone laughed, which was my intention.

Each statement I read was to emphasize a specific point, for example leaving class to get a drink because you were thirsty, which I would later mention, at that point where the onset of thirst occurs, you are already dehydrated. The visual element in my presentation included our Women's Soccer Hydration chart from Summer two-a-days, and I gave an example of how quickly an athlete can lose weight from practicing hard, and what the general rules and requirements are for rehydrating to maintain a given weight. With this activity, I took a volunteer's weight (a guy, of course), and drew on the whiteboard an example of what the chart looks like, and gave an imaginary, yet real life, scenario of what he would do in day-to-day hydration management.

As you can imagine, the time flew by and the next thing I know, I was getting the signal to get off stage. I did not get a chance to cover everything I wanted and I did not get a chance to hand out the examples I brought of our Hydration Chart, but I figure they would have lost them anyway, so that gives me comfort in knowing I did all that I could have done. And of course, as I left the stage, the kids wanted more candy and chocolate - and even while I was sitting along the side, they continued to try and get my attention =)

DIY - Front Fender painting

This is a Do-It-Yourself for any one who is thinking of painting their motorcycle's front fender. I didn't do anything elaborate; all simple stuff any one can do with an afternoon to spare. Let me just say this off the top; I did not sand, primer, or in any way seriously prep the fender to be painted. I pretty much thoroughly cleaned it, and applied paint. You be the judge.


Step 1.
This is a shot of the lower screws that are easy to remove, as well as the fork reflectors that have screws behind them that also need to removed. This requires an allen wrench, but the reflectors can be twisted off with just your hand.


Step 2.
Pictured here is the second set of screws that must be removed in order to get the fender off. This shot was taken above the fork, through the upper fairing. It looks like a tight fit, but it's actually quite easy to get in there. You may have to reach underneath the side fairing in order to get to it.

A shot of the fender's bottom side.

Side shot of fender fully removed

Looks like something was living underneath my motorcycle

Shot of the bike with the fender gone. Doesn't look too bad, I'd say

Step 3.
Find a place to keep the screws. Do not lose them. Even though you'd probably be okay if one set were to suddenly become missing, I'd just keep them anyway. Once removed, I cleaned the fender thoroughly with just water and soap, and dried completely, and set it on the ground. Some folks advise to suspend it from the ceiling or some fixture, which is probably a better method than mine, because as you will soon see, I was unable to paint underneath the fender. Having it suspended will allow you to get every corner and crevice.

Step 4.
Paint it! I just used light strokes vertically, about 2-3 coats, initially. The paint I used went right on. After about 5 mins, the paint began to separate so I had to re-coat it, against my convictions, because that decision to add an additional coat, cost me big time; as you will see in the upcoming shots.

Here is where I took the biggest hit. Like I mentioned above, the paint began to sort of disperse along the top, so I had to repaint it, and the paint ended up going on quite thick on the side.

I continued to keep an eye on this ruined side of the fender, and the paint just continued to dry extra thick. I thought it would eventually even out, or I even considered repainting it, but I figured this was the best it would get. And if I were to repaint, it would only get worse. So I left it alone

Overall, I think the process was quite simple, but I would recommend anyone considering this to seriously follow instructions on coats, dry times, and maybe sanding, and primering. All of which I did not do. I just threw the paint on.

R is for rehab - Journal 3

The following is a tracking of a collegiate female soccer player's syndesmotic ankle sprain, or more commonly known as the high ankle sprain. The date of injury was September 29. Her mechanism of injury invovled forced ankle eversion combined with dorsiflexion, while attempting to block multiple goals during a drill in practice. Her position is goalkeeper. The player presented with all the same signs and symptoms of a lateral ankle sprain, in addition to the location of pain being approximately two inches superior to lateral malleolus. Athlete was unable to support own weight, and was immediately removed from play, and remained on the sideline where ice, compression, and elevation was applied. Player was fitted with crutches, and instructed on use.

The following day, player was set up with ice and stim to aid in removing the moderate swelling that resulted. Ankle girth measurements, and goniometric measurements were taken. By day 3, which was a Thursday, the team generally holds light practices in preparation for Friday games, so player repeated ice/stim treatment to aid in reducing edema, given a compression wrap which consist of Power Flex tape wrapped distal-to-proximal without any figure 8's. Figure 8's can be done to help with angles, but I prefer not to do them when the goal is to aid in flushing edema from ankle. The upcoming Friday game was Away, so player was not scheduled to travel with the team, however unbeknownst to the Training staff, she did decide to drive herself three hours to the opposing school to watch the game. Player came in the next day (Saturday), which is when information of her travels were revealed, and was given ice/stim treatment, repeat of measurements, and a good-humored lecture! Player was given the remainder of Saturday off, as well as Sunday, and told to stay off ankle.

With the team playing on Sundays, Mondays are "off" days except for those requiring treatment, so player arrived with significantly less swelling and bruising, so we continued ice/stim treatment, and began range of motion (ROM) and mobility exercises. Although the swelling had subsided, player reported increased tenderness along anterior tibiofibular syndesmosis. Even though progress was being made, the Head Athletic Trainer scheduled her an appointment to have x-rays of her ankle the upcoming Tuesday; seven days post-injury. Player and I traveled to Dr. D's office where we waited 2 hours to be seen, and another 45 mins. to be evaluated. We recieved some good information, especially from the Physician's Assistant about taping techniques, but player was really upset over the whole "waiting" ordeal, only to be told what we already knew. But, this is when I had to explain to player the need for the x-ray; in order to diagnose/rule out any other serious problem.

The following day (8 days post-injury), we began a semi-aggressive rehab program, which I arranged in stages, that was to be combined with her continuing to practice with the team, scheduled workouts with the team, and rehab exercises with myself. By day 10, she was able to suit up and participate in most team drills, and individual position drills, with relatively little pain during activity. Most of her discomfort came after practice, where she would recieve additional treatment.

Her rehab would consist of a combination of up to 3-5 exercises under each category. Often, I would allow her to choose. The exercises with the asterisks are original ideas of mine, or alterations of existing ones.

Warm Up - 10 mins.

• Bike
• Warm whirlpool
• Light field jog
• Elevated sports massage

Manual Therapy - 10 mins.

• Lateral glides +inversion
• Medial glides +eversion
• Posterior glides +dorsiflexion
• Anterior glides +plantarflexion
• Traction
• MMT
• Achilles tendon stretch

Balance Activities - 15 mins.

• 1/2 foot balance x 30sec-1min
• Star drill
• Med-ball toss, w/o rebounder
• Body Blade
• Heel raise w/ lateral force *
• Crossover lunge

Strength & Mobility - 15 mins.

• Penny heel raises *
• Tubing
• Lateral shuffles
• Single leg heel touches
• Total gym
• Marbles

Balance/Reaction - 10mins.

• Wall ball
• Cones (plyo's)
• Hurdles (rope tied to UBE) *
• Circle Hops *
• Four square

Proprioception - 10 mins.

• X Factor *
• BAPS w/o ball
• Reach & 'round *
• Single leg body blade

Treatment - 15 mins.

• E-stim
• Sports massage

These are just a sample of the exercises we performed. There were other variations to these exercises that I would come up with, and adjustments I would make midway through the execution. Each day, we did something different, but remained within the different stages of difficulty. By the fourth week, she was at an advanced level and many of the activities were aimed at soccer-style movements.

Working with her, I learned a lot about the pysche of an injured athlete, motivation, how the body responds to different activities, the importance of clear instructions, being creative, and overall, caring and showing interest. In the beginning, I would sort of instruct her on what to do because I knew what the exercises were in my head, but I think she appreciated it when I began to write out what the planned course was for that particular day. Also, after every session, I would reassess her functionality and I think she appreciated that as well, because she would tell me what was different from yesterday, and how things have either progressed or regressed.

I really like the approach I took in regard to her rehab design. With the help from ideas we've learned in lectures, I chose to begin sessions with specific goals and give her an idea of where my expectations were aimed, and also, it gave her a chance to respond and share her goals.

Being the backup goalkeeper, there was no true measurement of her recovery; only what she reported. For instance, her returning to game form wasn't measured by her performance because she did not play. I believe she continues to have lingering discomfort, but she understands that this particular type of sprain, takes longer than usual.

They just don't make 'em like they used to

Came across this gem at a garage sale today. An Emerson Cassette/TV boombox, detachable speakers, AM/FM radio, equalizer, and recording capabilities. I had to see if this baby still had some juice left, so I plugged it up, and impressively, it still works. Now, you can breakdance while watching Three's Company!