Seraph

I'm in.

Mario, I have a six pack saved in a cool dry place for the Loveland barbecue.

No one likes bad news, but seriously go to an orthopedist, he will probably have your get an MRI. At least you can then make an informed decision. If its a tear, or other knee related injury that requires surgery, the recovery times on those surgeries today are really quick. They may have you doing rehab in less than 48 hours. With a few months back to full strength. If you have a problem and you ignore it and don't correct it, well, speaking from personal experience, you pay now, or you pay with interest later. And in the mean time you will worry about it, it may not be as strong, and you might create bad habits by compensating. My own experience with knees is that I had a recurring tendonitis in my left knee from a sports related injury. I had it looked at by trainers and doctors who suggested rest, and also an MRI. As an amateur athlete making enough to get by and train full time, I decided to forgo the MRI, and my coach and I came up with a recovery plan. It took a few months for me to recover, I entered a few meets (long track speedskating btw) and finished out the season, but limping. Rehab over the summer, everything feels good, next season starts, knee falls apart again. I decide to retire because I dont have the money for an MRI or surgery. Several years later, knee not great but not bad, I'm working out, and I hear what sounds like a gunshot and the next thing I know I am down on the floor. My tendon had become so weakened over time, it finally gave out, with a full ruptured quadricep tendon. All those years I compensated and wasted not being at full strength, and I eventually had to get it fixed anyway. The surgery sucked, the rehab sucked, had to take leave from work, had to stop playing in all the sports I liked. Moral of the story is if I had it checked out earlier, maybe I could have fixed it at the first opportunity rather than let myself slowly degrade into a state where it was ripe for major surgery rather than a minor fix. Good luck with it and I hope its not as bad as expected.

none, and I ruptured/repaired my left quadricep tendon in 2001.

Finding a rehab therapist that has worked with achilles tendon repairs is key. I also started at around 16 weeks working weekly with a massage therapist. I don't know if you have had surgery yet, but there is new school of thought on surgery with a special sewing technique that you might be a candidate for. The recovery period starts in the 2nd week instead of the usual 8 - 12 weeks before starting rehab. They have had great results with full recoveries in less than 16 weeks. Here's a link: http://www.eorthopod.com/public/patient_education/7866/new_surgery_for_achilles_tendon_rupture.html From other stuff I've read, they have found that the agressive re-education and use of the tendon speeded the repair time.

I ruptured my achilles last year while soft boot snowboarding. I wish you luck with your surgery and recovery. The recovery part takes a long time but if you stick with it, you'll be good to go. I started hardbooting this year and after taking a couple of runs back on my softies, it is so obvious just how little support and protection their is for the achilles with soft boots. Looks like I will be a hardbooter for life. Feel better and heal quick.

Mario, What is our list for Loveland? I think we might be close or slightly better.

just my .02 cents, sounds like you would probably benefit from a pilates program and some yoga mixed in with your current aerobic, and then add weight training. If you could find an hour a day in your schedule alternate between an aerobic session (3x week) and 1 yoga, 1 pilates, 1 weight training session. Rest one day per week. The pilates would definitely help with the posture, yoga would strengthen and add flexibility, and the weight training would then build on that. As you progress, you can determine which areas need more or less emphasis. Its difficult to offer advice beyond that as I don't know more about your level of fitness/health. Aerobics and nutritional program should resolve your fat issues. Increased muscle mass from weight training will help with your metabolism too. If your looking for a detailed program or online training you might want to check out Carmichael Training Systems at www.trainright.com. I had a lot of success with their program and they will tailor a program for you based on what your looking for. Costs some cha-ching though.

Its official, the terrorists have won.

Hopefully I'll be up on Sunday. If one of you guys are available for a run to provide a little tormentoring, it would be appreciated. See ya then.

You'll love this one, 5'7" with 24.5 boot size.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_11299346 In case anyway hasn't seen the article. Be safe out there and Happy Holiday.

I was just reading about this area. Is it as great as the hype I've read about it? Looks like it could be alot of fun. http://www.silvertonmountain.com

I'm hoping to be there on Sunday.

Flying Dog or Fat Tire. Local stuff.

CHINESE DOWNHILL!! wtf is a chinese downhill?

Sunday is my fun day.

Just for the record I have no problems with nipples. Maybe we can have a voting thread on who likes nipples and who doesn't and what country they are from.

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/28/racy-snowboards-spur-complaints-ski-resorts/ So, any suggestive material on your Board?

Mario, Thanks for the advice today. Managed to skid a few towards the bottom. Loveland is quite lovely to walk down and do falling leafs, but in the future I'll prefer carving down it. At least I got my boots nicely broken in now, and they were quite comfy. Lets see how round two goes. Soon as I got home I got the edges sharpened and the board waxed for next time. Should have thought to have done that with a new board. As for the snow coverage, it looked and felt awesome. They've done a pretty impressive job for an early season start. Anyone who can get out there should, you wont be sorry.

I'm planning on being there Saturday at 8:30am. This will be my first time on a hard boot setup and also my first day back. If any of you guys are going to be there, I'll be riding the blue donek axxess with the furrowed brow or ear to ear grin, I don't know which yet.

In almost every sport that requires balance, the natural fear reaction is to get as far away as you can from the thing that can hurt you most, the ground. As a result most people will drive their weight up and forward as part of our fight or flight reaction. Most people in an uncomfortable or panic situation also tend to hold their breath and tighten up their muscles too. The opposite reaction, i.e., lowering your weight and your center of gravity (2 inches below your belly) and instead of standing up and putting weight on your toes, taking a deep breath, and relax will allow you to maintain your balanced position. Now how do you practice teaching your body to relax instead of tense up? One way is to exaggerate your reaction in a controlled environment, i.e. on terrain that you can control your snowboarding on. As you riding, practice tensing up all the muscles and then relaxing them, erraticly standing up straight and weight forward. Now do the opposite, exaggerate lowering your center of gravity, relaxing all the muscles in your body, and maintaining your center of balance over your snowboard.

Any idea on what he prefers?

Ok, so I got my first set of hardboots, Head Stratus Pro, and now I'm trying to figure out where to go for bootfitting in the Denver area. I have received two suggestions and was wondering if anyone has used them and can provide input, or might recommend someone else. The first recommendation was Larry's Bootfitting in Boulder http://larrybootfitting.com/ Boulder is a bit of a trip for me, but he was highly recommended. The second was Lee Kinney at Customfoot in Englewood which is much closer to me. http://www.thecustomfoot.com/index.htm So any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Law Enforcement - yup Lone Ranger - lol, nope Possess superior moral, legal and general superiority or another authoritarian figure who's ego has gotten out of hand - nope, but your entitled to your opinion Oversensitive - yeah, sometimes maybe because of the next item Personal experience with lost and/or injured friends, family, and fellow law enforcement due to the subject matter - yup I don't know where you interpreted from my post that I think all cops should be revered as saints, I don't. In fact, I have a post here regarding a very bored traffic officer ticketing me on a bicycle for speeding. Bob, I think I'm clear on what your position is, and your entitled to it, but if you feel I'm being unfair in my response or unclear as to your comments feel free to message me, as I think it would be unfair to the other members to hijack this thread.