Last night’s knee pain was not as great as the night before, and as I write this, my knees feel great.
Today: 36:10 on the bike (10 fake miles); warmed up for 10 minutes and did 5 sets of 1 minute at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. That took me to 35.
Then: a slow 2 mile cool down walk outside with knee braces. Later: 1 mile commuter walk (at a faster pace than the cool down).
Today: my plan was to do 10 miles on the indoor bike (just under 4o minutes) then walk outside for 3 miles. Well, the outside walk was 2 very slow miles as the bike..well…changing by mile: 1, 2, 3, 4,3,3,3,1,1,5 and the final 3 minutes killed me. It was not quite as hard as racing 5k.
So, the outdoor 2 miler (on mostly plowed paths) was really just a cool down.
Note: I am NOT religious but I think that sometimes religious people have wisdom to offer. Here is such an instance:
I’ve talked about this before. I remembered this again today. I was in my dentist office. I’ve used the same dentist office for over 30 years and the receptionist has worked there the entire time. You might say that we’ve aged together.
Today, I was a bit achier than normal (all my joints) and I asked her if that was sometimes the case with her. She nodded her head “yes.”
And so it goes. If I were as logical as Spock, I would only care whether or not I hurt. But seeing my aches and pains as being normal for 65 (and yes, it gets worse, as my elders remind me) well…that is a bit of a relief. I am not being “robbed.”
Shoulders: rotator cuff issues: Os acromiale has made me vulnerable to rotator cuff impingement. My doctor said that if I wanted to remain active, I’d have to do rotator cuff exercises for the rest of my life.
Lumbar: I’ve been through this, too many times. I have spondylolisthesis which causes stenosis (S1, L5, L4, L3). No surgery is needed, but I do PT for this daily and have modified my exercises to avoid excessive back extension(though I do limited McKenzie press ups)
Knees: severe patellofemoral arthritis in both knees. I’ve had a long history of knee problems (dating from 1978). But I am in a bit of limbo: arthritis limits me a bit, but my knees are not band enough to require replacement. That is weird, given I had operations in 1978, 1979, 1984, 1984 and 2010. But walking (within reason) is still pain free, though I am in “rehab” mode right now. I have yet to take a pain pill for this episode.
Anyway, though everyone’s list of maladies are different…no recent surgery required for any of mine! You might say that I am normal for a 65 year old. I was not dealt a particularly bad hand of cards, or even a bad hand at all.
Workout notes: a bit unhappy with 193 before workout weight. But I went to the Riverplex after my dental appointment and did the following (PT in the morning, as usual)
Bike: 35 minutes (9.3 miles; the important thing was 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 1 (level every 5 minutes)
Walk: 3.2 miles of walking outside. Kind of slow but I had knee wraps and was tired (yes, tired) from the bike. That was a bit embarrassing.
Highlight: Bradley’s Baseball home season opened. I went to the game and stayed for 4:28 of it, before I gave up at the end of 10. Iowa won in the 11’th; the game drug on due to the pitchers throwing a LOT of pitches for each batter, the Iowa manager switching pitchers frequently, and a couple of reviews.
Yes, it was cold. Oh; Iowa ended up winning 9-8.
It was 49 F and there was a wind, so much of the crowd left in the 7’th or so.
Ironically, Bradley probably blew the game in the 2’nd where they scored 5 runs, 4 on this grand slam:
It that sounds strange, the Braves actually loaded the bases AFTER the grand slam, but stranded all 3. Still the 6-3 lead..then 6-4 held for a long time; but then Iowa took the lead in the top of the 9’th. The Braves tied it in the 9’th (great small ball from both teams) and again in the 10’th.
And that was a bit of a shame; the excessive time took away from a game filled with action, steals, bunts, and a home run. The actual action: there was a LOT of it ..very entertaining.
Iowa even scored a run on a squeeze bunt.
Workout notes the butt has been in a bit of a funk; sometimes good, sometimes painful. At the game I did some stand up stretching (at the back of the stands)
Yesterday: the side was ok; I got all of my pull ups: 8 sets of 5, one of 10, then two more sets of 5, including ..total, 4 sets of 5 wide, 1 set of chins.
Full PT; push ups: 35, 30 sissy, 25 feet elevated, then 10 deficit. Down stairs: I added some hip thrusts in addition to two light sets of deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184.
I suppose my glute was ok..sort of.
Today: slept in until 6; did some light bike (5 minutes); PT before work, then over lunch: full PT (lots of it, really) then 30 more bike minutes.
Weird: forward bends and the “stenosis” exercises seem to help, even though I don’t really have it; McKenzie press ups and open books really help too.
I’ve said this before: it seems when I skimp on yoga I feel it. I suppose that is an every day necessity..post workout.
Doing these were a bad idea; left me very sore for a few days:
Still, today’s PT went well; the therapist knows how to order things in level of difficulty. I’ll have to use some of those lessons.
Back flexibility was ok though:
The pre-PT workout: walk (went so-so..ready to quit when I did) and 30 minutes on the bike.
The irony: this was my fastest time this year on this course and..my slowest pace because my Garmin got it shorter than the Map My Walk.
Go figure.
Mapquest got this as 1.166 which is what Map My Walk got it, which gives a 13:48 pace, which is what it actually felt like.
No, I don’t regret watching Illinois lose to Houston; I wanted to give them a look. Better team won, period.
But in my comeback I think that I’ve tried too much “one leg chair” on my bad leg, too soon. So one leg tree and some lunges for now..keep the ego in check.
Still, not much pain for my stretch free walk (1.1 miles) 30 minute on the bike, lots of pt, head stand, 3 minute plank; really..I would have been happy with this workout 2 weeks ago.
We’ll see how Tuesday goes.
And yes, I’ve progressed a great deal on my “bad leg” tree.
Ok, today’s workout took about 2.5 hours; I don’t think I have time for that on most days (at least not in one chunk).
But:
stretch, some glue activation (dead bug, spinal balance, one leg bridges),
1.5 mile walk (14:22 pace); almost pain free; pain free for the first mile (downright enjoyable, almost tingle free for the next 0.3-0.4 then a few tingles.
It appears that my abs got tired and I started to slump just a bit.
Then stretching and a leisurely series of PT exercises including: one leg stands from sitting, knee raises, one leg chairs, banded walks, shoulder PT too
Then inside for more dead bug, spinal balance, side leg lifts, fire hydrants, prone knee lifts
Then 30 minutes on the bike to finish it off.
No, I am NOT 100 percent healthy; not really close to that, but it has been a very long time since I’ve had a pain free walk of this duration.
I don’t know if I’ll backslide or not, but the difference, at least so far, is the open book type stretches for the lower lumbar. (0r here)
I continue to improve; PT today after a walk (best in months) and 30 minutes on the bike.
The walk: almost no pain; I felt good enough to add a small loop. I feel it a bit this evening, but I had some split squats and lunges; time to add these?
I looked at Facebook “Memories”: it was 2 years ago that we had an extended break to prepare for online teaching..and a year ago I was singing my “end of the line blues” about being unable to get a vaccine.
Do things ever change. Yes, BA2 is a real possibility and it is my feeling that the attitude will be “let ‘er rip”..so I’ll protect myself with masks and social distancing, and cut back on activities if cases get too high for my comfort level.
Now as far as my immediate future: progress continues slowly on the piriformis/back, but it does appear to be different this time around. There is less day to day pain, night tingles are way down and I am walking easier, it appears.
Today:
stretch, 2 miles bike (fake…just over 6 minutes), some PT (one leg bridge, side leg lifts, spinal balance)
Walk. *almost* pain free; it seems as if symptoms come on about .2 miles later.
Then a lot of PT: one leg stands from sits, knee raises with cords, banded walks, one leg chair, 3 minute plank and yes, the full shoulder session. I need to do the shoulder stuff 4-5 times a a week; not just 3.
Inside: dead bug, fire hydrants, prone knee raises, head stand
30 minutes (10 fake miles) on the bike. Then yoga flows.
Whole thing took 2:30; I did a LOT of PT and felt it, at times.
I am thinking about adding a lunch time 17-18 minute walk on M, W, F (AFTER a good stretch, of course)
I do not that I feel a LOT stronger in the squat position than I used to. A LOT stronger.
Got up; did warm up (including 2 miles on the bike), stretched and headed out for a walk.
It went ok; almost no pain until 0.9 miles or so.
Then the full PT and more stretching; I was feeling great. I even did headstand and plank for 3 minutes…really felt good.
Walked to the office, but the usual 4 flights of stairs (felt it at the top), went back down, did my class, back up again. Then..I didn’t stretch much but I thought: “I am feeling good..why not take the long way home for lunch to get another mile?”
Now this walk really sucked; had to stop several times; got the old “knife in the butt” feeling. Ok, the first 0.5 was fine but then..OMG..awful.
Get home, stretch, eat..remembered that I had to pick up an exam at a building .2 miles away from my office…so off again..MORE walking. About .5 to the building, another .2 to the office, up 4 flights of stairs…(yep, one stretch) and found….. I. Had. Left. My. Keys. At. Home.
So..after sitting and sulking…walked back with a 3’rd unintended mile, because I was an idiot. Strangely enough, the walk back wasn’t so bad and I am feeling pretty good right now, so… perhaps I didn’t do much damage.
Life of an old goat 