Toughest…
Posted by Bill on February 10, 2008
Last night was an interesting night.
First off, we headed down to Nashville to watch the “Toughest Cowboy” competition. Goddess, son and I had never been to a rodeo, so we decided to try this one; we’ll try anything once. Plus there was the added bonus of seeing Blue Oyster Cult play afterwards.
Apparently in a regular rodeo each cowboy rides once. During this one, they rode three times. First bareback on a horse, then saddled. The final ride was on a bull. It was an amazing experience, being so close to those large animals and watching them flail about, occasionally sending the rider flying. As the announcer described one bull – “That’s 1800 pounds of meat in a leather purse”.
Before we knew it, the two hour competition was done. We were actually disappointed that it was over, which was surprising since none of us ever really sat down and watched a rodeo before, even on TV.
BOC was an interesting experience. Being a huge fan of theirs as a kid, I was familiar with most of their set material. But apparently there were few of us in the audience (the country crowd filed out as soon as the rodeo was done). At one point after a few songs, a girl nearby yelled “Play something I know”. I had to laugh about that. Goddess wasn’t familiar with much, but she sat back and enjoyed the show anyway. As easily predicted, they finished with “Godzilla” and “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper“, which I suspect the girl might have known.
They even had a great sense of humor, starting off the show asking if anyone had a cowbell.
In developing news on the injury front, I made a discovery while driving along the interstate at 80mph. Not exactly the best place to manipulate a trigger point, let me tell you. But the discovery has led me in a direction that I wouldn’t have explored before. Hopefully I’ll have some good news to report in a day or two.
comm's said
I saw BOC at 15 years ago or more. They were great.
lisasabin said
Bill,
I wrote an article about referred pain and trigger points. I bought a book, intending to go some self massage, but I never got around to it. You might find this interesting. I hope your calf gets better soon.
.http://sweat365.com/library/articles/injury-prevention-and-recovery/trigger-points-and-plantar-fasciitis/
Bill said
Thanks, Lisa.
I remember that article. It was a good read.
I got “turned on” to trigger points and referred pain about a year ago. I had a debilitating pain in my hip that was driving me nuts. It felt great when I was running, but if I stopped for a light, getting started again was always very uncomfortable. I tried the typical RICE, heat pads, NSAIDS, etc., with no luck. Then I started talking with a coworker who was going through the local VoTech’s massage therapist program. I explained the issue and he had me sit down and went straight for the head of my quad, just above the knee. I thought he was nuts. He drove his thumb into the trigger point (about sent me through the roof) and then kept pressure on it. I got up and walked normally for the first time in weeks. A few more sessions and I haven’t had any problems with that since.
My favorite book is “The Trigger Point Therapy Workbook” by Claire Davies. Between that book, a massage stick, and a Body Back Buddy Massage Cane, plus the occasional tennis ball, I’ve been able to control every one of my issues, including an onset of Plantar Fasciatis last fall. I’m just disappointed that it took me so long to find the correct TP for this calf issue, but that shows I still have quite a bit to learn.
Thanks for referring me back to that article,
Bill
triguyjt said
bill…thanks for stopping by.. its ironic you just went to a rodeo. haha good luck solving the pain situation. i see you are scheduled to run a marathon this weekend…
good luck..
i’ll check out your photography when i gee a little more time
j.t.