Mr. Gorbachev, Build Up This Wall!

I visited Berlin on my recent trip to Germany, having last been there mere months before the wall fell, in summer 89. I’ll take post-wall Berlin, thanks.

Next, he’ll be praising Hitler’s “Final Solution” for the immigrant/subhuman problem.

Indeed up is down.

Do you think this guy knows he’s a fascist or is he just that dumb?

@Mistress Cynica: Well, Angela Merkel says that multiculturalism has “utterly failed” in Germany, so the obvious solution is to boot the “multis” out, after keeping them in camps for a while out of respect for German history.

@Dodgerblue: Well run, model camps of course. They’ll even let the Red Cross visit!

You have to pity a guy who equates closing a perimeter of less than 100 miles with a border almost 2,000 miles long. Not only that, he apparently forgot about the USSR’s involvement with closing off West Berlin.

Now a wall along the Canada/Alaska border is something I would be glad to see tried. Preferably a wall with fricking laser beams.

@Tommmcatt Thinks Masturbation Can Also Involve The Mainstream Media: They probably have some pink triangles left over in a warehouse somewhere, plus whatever color they made the Roma wear.

@Dave H: He also forgot about the shooting thing …

It’s ok guys, the Germans have us beat on muliculturalism. We’re all cool.

Oh, Ms. Merkel…

Does anyone here jog? I started doing this a few weeks ago and my ankle has started hurting after every run. Am I doing something wrong or am I just old?

(My shoes are relatively new and were properly fitted.)

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: I used to. The best thing to do when you start out, if you haven’t jogged for awhile, is to jog for 30 secs, walk for 4.5 minutes, jog 30 sec, walk 4.5 minutes for 1/2 hour, 3-4 times the first week. Next week, jog 1 minute, walk 4 minutes, etc.

Your ankle and knee joints need time to adjust. The Runner’s Handbook is fabulous.

ADD: When you say properly fitted, did the shoe people watch you jog? Away from them and toward them?

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: Oh darling, three decades of soccer and running here, so three decades of injuries and physical therapy. I am an amateur orthopedist/PT. First off, do you stretch before you work out? As one gets older, it’s more critical that you do that as your ligaments tighten, and you don’t want to tear a ligament or a muscle. But I need more info. Did you roll it or tweak it, or did it just come out of nowhere? Where is it – is it in your Achilles tendon area, on the sides, or the front of your ankle? Do you feel pain only at certain times (i.e. when stepping down or pushing off) or when you do certain movements (i.e. point your toe and move your foot in a tight circle pivoting from your ankle)? Does it hurt only when you run or more frequently? Does it hurt more in the morning or in the evening? How do you run? Do you go heel-to-toe, or run on the balls of your feet (there is a divide in the running world on best technique)? Don’t just slam your feet down flat – that’s a good way to fuck up your ankle and your arches.

@SanFranLefty:

I’m not sure what I did to it, mostly because I noticed the knee pain first. I took 2 weeks off and now my knees are fine, but the ankle started feeling sore again even before I finished this morning. Soreness/pain is on the front part of the ankle. I feel it when pushing off and whenever my toes are pointed. It hurts after I’ve been jogging for a while and then for hours afterward. I run on the balls of my feet b/c if I do it the other way, my shins hurt like hell.

@JNOV: Yes, both.

@JNOV: Hahahaha … I read this as “jog for 30 secs, walk for 45 minutes”

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: When you jog, are you going for distance or for time? I don’t really run — I’m more of a loper. My knees are jacked from running on concrete and blacktop when I was in the military. When I do lope, I lope on trails — even padded tracks hurt my joints. And I don’t start off measuring how far I jog; I pay more attention to how long I jog and build up speed and endurance incrementally.

I’ll let Lefty diagnose your ankle pain, but I’d like to know what type of surface you’re jogging on. Something’s gotta give, and your body loses if the surface is too hard.

@karen marie wants to know — Fucking integrity, how does it work?: Yeah. That’s how I should do it now that I’m old and crusty. ;-)

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ:

Do you wear heels a lot of the time? Sounds like the anterior ligaments are jacked. Unfortunately if you’ve sprained your ankle in the past, it’s a cumulative thing. And you don’t have to be playing sports to roll an ankle. Every time you sprain your ankle (ligament = sprain; muscles = strain), scar tissue builds up and weakens the ligaments, making it weaker and more prone for subsequent injuries.

JNOV is right, definitely running on hard surfaces like concrete or asphalt compound the problem and can cause permanent damage. I’d recommend only running on dirt trails or padded tracks. I can’t run more than about 10 feet on concrete because of ankle and knee problems. And if you wear heels, I’d suggest not doing that for a few weeks and also don’t wear flip flops or other shoes with minimal support.

And, this is probably related to your knee issues. Anytime you hurt a leg joint (whether it be hip, knee, or ankle), your entire movement is knocked out of alignment. Your body subconsciously adjusts and compensates and that whacks you out of alignment. I had a sprained ankle, and then I was running screwy and tore my hip muscle. And then two years later the hip injury flared up and suddenly my Achilles was giving me grief. It happens all the time according to my PT. I just got done doing a couple months of PT on my ankle.

What you’ll have to do long term is build up the strength in your foot and ankle so that there’s not so much strain in your ligaments. One way to test your strength is to stand on one foot with your other leg just bent (no need to do crazy yoga pose) and see how long you can do it before your foot and ankle start wobbling. Do that a couple times a day and try to increase the time before it wobbles. When you brush your teeth, stand on one foot. If you belong to a gym, make sure to do the toe raises and calf raising machines.

There are some ankle strengthening exercises here. You should do all of these exercises equally on both ankles. I’m not a doctor nor do I play one on TV but I’ve had a gazillion ankle sprains so this is all based on past experience.

@JNOV: Time. I’m trying to increase my endurance. It’s always been a problem when I row so I figured I’d work on it on land while the local man-made lake is dry. And it’s cheaper than driving out to the burbs to hit the nearest lap pool.

@SanFranLefty: I rarely wear heels anymore, now that I’m out of work. I guess it’s time to move the morning jog to the canal trail. Thanks for the help.

@TJ/ Jamie Sommers /TJ: What I do for endurance is walk on my treadmill at home or local trails up to 10,000 ft with a weighted backpack (20 – 25 lbs), which is my usual load of crap like 3 liters of water, tp, first aid and fire kits, snax, etc., plus weights. I can’t run anymore after three or four surgeries incl an ACL replacement, but the weighted pack thing + weights and the elliptical and stair stepper at the gym give me the power to backpack at altitude for days at a time, although I’ve lost only 8 lbs this year (damn martinis). I can ski and hike without a brace with the ACL reconstruction.

I also like cutting firewood this time of year, which involves cutting logs and hauling them to the truck up in the mountains, then unloading it at home. The biggest detriments to endurance for me are lack of sleep, too much work/lack of exercise or two or more drinks the night before doing something (and here I am writing a memo and posting after midnight while fighting the first stage of a crud). Despite all of the foregoing, I did get hit with heat exhaustion on our pilgrimage this year and barfed a bunch the first day on the trail, even the Gatorade came up. I bundled up at camp, slept and was able to do an 18 hr hike over the next 24 hours, at least half of that in the dark with a headlamp but with a much smaller pack. Tweaked the hell out of the rebuilt knee when I rolled on a rock, but the repair held, although I seem to get more sharp pain in that knee lately.

Really should go to bed. Watched “Casino Jack and the United States of Money” on dvd tonight while holed up under a blanket in my living room chair. Had dinner with Jack Abramoff one night several years ago, and I think he had Michael Scanlon with him.

Sorry to hear you’re still out of work. What the hell’s up with that?

@karen marie wants to know — Fucking integrity, how does it work?: “jog for 30 secs, walk for 45 minutes”

Right on. This is the type of jogging I could handle.

@redmanlaw: The only people that are being hired these days are (cheap) new attorneys and members of the good ole boys club.