Championship

Our first round match against Arva was played last Saturday evening in Belturbet. The pitch could have been better but we're probably spoiled with the great facilities that we have in Páirc Gaeil na Sionainne. We've been hit by alot of injuries this year and we had a kind of makeshift team out. I was picked at midfield with Enda McHugh. The warm up went well and we were all up for the match.
There was a minutes silence for John Mc's uncle who died earlier and then the game was off. We got the first point and then I went to tackle my marker and something went wrong. One more kick out to test it and then off with my glove. Yup. My finger was definitely not looking right. The physio refused to put it back in an I wasn't able to either so off to the hospital with me.
I was there for about an hour and a half in all and got some xrays and then they numbed my finger and spent 5 minutes trying to put it back into place.
Off home after that to be told we drew the match and had Gerry sent off. We have to beat Maghera now in two weeks to get into the next round.
I'm writing this in the hospital in Drogheda where I was sent to the fracture clinic. A 9:30 appointment and I didn't get seen until 11:30. Strapped up again and told not to play football for 6 weeks! Ha, as if!

Here's a link to my xray
http://twitpic.com/bt5rv 

Long time, lots happened

The last time I updated this I was struggling with blisters and finding it hard to walk. So what did I do? I went and completed a 22 mile hike on the Saturday afterwards! It was the Togher Padraig which is a pilgrimmage from Ballintubber Abbey to Croagh Patrick. It was a great day, the weather held off for most of it and we made it all the way to the top. My feet were in good condition after it but I was quite tired.

The week after we played the Quarter Final of the Championship against Mountnugent. We were beaten by 5 points in the end, but we were never really in the match. It was a huge disappointment as we thought we had put in enough work to get through that stage. It had been six weeks since our first match in the championship but that's no excuse really. I was playing wing back and thought I did alright. My man didn't score as far as I can remember and I set up a few scoring moves during the match.

Since then, I've been at the physio getting acupuncture on my shins. After 5 sessions the swelling has finally gone down enough that i am looking at sets of insoles to try out. I've been doing loads of stretching to try and get my calves and feet loosened out. That seems to be the problem, my legs are too tight. I have to remember to stretch at every opportunity and eventually they will start to loosen out. That will be hard to do, I have tended in the past to stretch, start to see some improvement and then stop, thinking I had done enough. Now is the time to go farther than that and keep the stretching going.

I've also been doing some running, light training runs with Louise, Junior, Waggers and Grainne. I am going to go out and do a long run on Saturday in Achill. Louise is doing the run part of a triathlon over there. I'm going to take some photos and then head off for a nice long slow run.

Looking forward to heading to Amsterdam next month, my aim is probably quite ambitious with a 3 hour marathon. But if you don't make goals, you can't beat them :)

Insoles are great for most things

I got me some insoles last week to try out over the weekend to see if they would alleviate some of the pain I've been having in my legs recently. (Don't you just love it when people self diagnose themselves on the interwebs) The ones I got were supposed to help with flat feet. Now I don't think I suffer from flat feet, but the internet never lies!

I had two matches over the weekend and managed to get through both of them with next to no shin pain. The only problem was that the arch support was a little too high. So now I have blisters under the arches on my feet. Nice open ones now after the second match. I'm some idiot!

Ah well, not much I can do about it now. I have some exercises that I am trying out that everyone seems to recommend for shin splints. Walking on my heels and then standing with my toes on a step and lifting myself up.

So in conclusion, insoles good, blisters on the arch of your foot, bad. If anyone knows of any way to heal blisters quickly, or stop them from happening again, please do leave me a comment.

Oh, and one final thing. The championship quarter final is in two weekends time.

Championship 2008

Shannon Gaels got off to a winning start in the championship last Saturday with a 2-14 to 07 win over Maghera. I was playing in midfield for most of the match before I was taken off "to rest me". At least I hope that's why I was taken off!

I felt really good throughout, did a good bit of covering off, but maybe wasn't totally at the races when my man had the ball.

A challenge match on Thursday evening is the next thing on the way.