This is more about my attempt to recover from neurogenic claudication (stabbing glute pain due to a nerve root impingement at L5)
I’ve been able to increase my walking from a rather sorry 0.5 miles at a time to, now, about 25 miles a week. It is mostly a diet of 1 mile commuter walks (M, W, F), 2 mile training walks (M, W, F) and 3-5 mile walks (Tu, Th, Sat, Sun) Pace varies from 11:30 mpm on my fastest training walks to 16:30 on my commuter walks; most is in the 12:30-14:30 range.
Today: 2200 yard swim via
600 of 50 side, 50 back, 50 breast
400 of kick drills/swim with fins
1000 in 19:11 (4:52, 9:42, 14:32) or 4:52, 4:50, 4:50, 4:39. I had the pool almost to myself so no one to push, and I didn’t feel that perky.
200 pull
Weight: 201.0 before, 199.5 after.
Then I did a 3.18 mile walk; I had to dodge some construction and I was a bit heavy legged at first.
This was one of my slower training walks, but I was fatigued. AND..I had some tingles/discomfort (nothing like the bad old days) in the 3’rd mile. First 2 miles were fine.
But …I felt this a bit during my YMCA walks..where there was a hill that I blamed.
I am wondering if the swimming is part of the reason; walks are always harder after swimming. I think that my back has a “done at one time” budget and swimming deducts from said budget.
We got back to Peoria at about 10 am and I wanted to watch the Bears vs Texans on TV …so I split my workout.
First, full PT plus a slow 5K walk (14:36 pace, mostly on broken/cracked sidewalk; part of the reason is my legs were heavy from 3.5 miles of tour walking and 5 miles of workout walking the previous day, plus COVID/flu shots on Friday.
After the game (Bears and Colts both won!) I did my deadlifts:
10 x 134, 10 x 184 low
10 x 250 4 inch 10 x 280 8 inch
It was all good..no pain at all. Time to step up the weight by 5 lb.
The skinny: no in person game, but my wife treated me to a walking “ghost of Lincoln” tour, which was about 2.5 miles (to and from the hotel…plus close a mile getting our dinner), so it was a lot of standing and walking.
And the back/glute held up! Yeah, I know..no big deal normally, but in late spring, I could have NOT done this, at least without a lot of pain.
I did feel tightness and stiffness at times, but not much real pain, and it was not debilitating or even limp producing.
The tour: here are the sights. I learned a few things, including the race riot of 1908. We have so much ugly history swept under the rug.
I took some photos, including the Lincoln Home, Illinois State Capitol, and yes, a raccoon.
Watching the Maryland vs Michigan slugfest on TV…great game with Michigan getting some lucky breaks.
Today: interesting workout (not rushed)
PT plus push ups: pushups: 10 sets of 10, one set of 20 plus most of my PT
5.17 mile walk at just under 12:50 mpm; I started out gently and got more confident as the walk went on.
Then pull ups; experimented. In short: 8 sets of 5 (or 5 singles), 5 negatives, 2 more. The idea was to NOT inflame my nerve root. PT for the shoulder and wobble board work.
Downstairs for weights: bench press:
10 x 134, 8 x 145, 5 x 150, 4 x 155, 3 x 160, 1 x 171 did NOT inflame the L5 nerve root.
curls 3 sets of 10
high incline (Swiss bar) 3 sets of 10 x 94 It didn’t seem like I did much but I was grateful to do it.
I was up too late watching Illinois beat FCS Chattanooga 31-0 in a game that was even more lopsided than the score might indicate. It was 24-0 at the half, and the Illini worked on clock and played a lot of guys in the 4’th quarter.
So, I went with PT and a 3 mile (3.3) walk and then a commuter walk over lunch.
Back to the Illini: I am watching Virginia go toe to toe with Syracuse; this is a team that Illinois dominated. Evidently the Illini are not a joke any longer.
I did some academic stuff today; worked out some details that were bugging me.
And I am eagerly awaiting the Illinois football game; were I 10 years younger I would have gone. But I cannot drive late at night when I am tired.
Morning: a LOT of PT: 5:20 to 6:15; (one b-room break); did a LOT of it and it felt good. But no lifeguard at the pool, so I walked 5K+ instead.
I still think I got shorted just a bit but never mind that. It was a workout.
Then at 11, returned to the pool and decided to get a baseline:
500 of 50 side, 50 back (felt the back here)
500 of 50 drill swim, 50 swim (first 4 no fins)
1000 in 18:41: 4:38, 9:18, 14:00, or 4:38, 4:40, 4:42, 4:41 No one to chase. This was typical for me when I did the 250 swim, 250 pull. Average: 56 per 50. Back in April, when I started, I could barely do 50’s in that. Then again, even 1 mile of walking wasn’t quite pain free then.
200 pull to cool down.
After swim weight: 197.1 That IS getting better.
Goals: 34 minute 5K power walk, sub 18 1000 swim, under 190 body weight, painless pull ups (no back pain), painless bench press (still have to work on that)
And the swim: I did feel the back in the first 1000.
Life of an old goat 