Yesterday was a blah day..shoulder ached, back/glute was touchy, even my knee ached. Today was much better. Far less overall pain and weight was 203..down 2 lb from yesterday (clearly I was bloated)
PT 1 at home, including new shoulder stretches.
Swim 1850 yards done as follows:
1000 of: 4 x (100 free, 100 side, 50 front kick (no fins))
300 of 100 kick drills with fins)
400 of 50 swim, 50 pull on the 2:30 (1:50 each)
100 in 1:44 (yeah, sucks..)
50 slow back stroke.
Had the pool to myself: go figure.
The a lot of PT in the playground; embarrassed myself a bit on the balance course.
2 mile walk; too damned slow mile 1.
15:12/15:08. Ok, the first 1.4-1.5 were pain free..some symptoms at 1.6-1.7 but I forced myself to pay attention to posture and that helped a great deal.
I was a bit worried about shoulder ache..but then..and this was almost reassuring, my knees ached a bit too. It was one of those “rougher than average” days where things kind of hurt.
Still caution in the pool was in order: lots of off strokes and some fin work (with swim socks)
600: 4 sets of 50 free, 50 side, 50 breast
200 of 25 free, 25 back
200 of my weird 100 medley: 25 free, 25 back, 25 breast, 25 free (free in place of fly)
200 of fin drills
100 of dolphin kicks
200 of 50 free, 50 pull 50 fins, 50 fins
Side and back to get to 1650 total.
The PT was ok; walk ..I started out not driving my knees but rather slinging my legs forward..not good…started to feel symptoms early and then switched to a more robust walk; first mile took 16:01
I did feel a slight ache in the right shoulder then a “catch” toward the end (after stopping). No, I don’t want to go back, but I will adjust what I am doing. I do feel a forward pull in my shoulders; time to bring back rows in one form or another (make them back friendly?) and chest stretches.
And maybe, gradually reintroduce back stroke.
Workout notes:
Sleepy…a bit high after a night of Chiefs baseball (10-1 loss..4 errors).
Swim: 1800 yards:
5 x 50 free, 50 side
10 x 25 drill, 25 swim (lots of forward kicking)
10 x 50 on the 1:10. Mostly 50-51 though the last one was 49
50 back, 50 breast
100 pull
100 of 25 dolphin kick, 25 breast
LOT of slow paced PT; did everything plus
Walk. 2.02 in 30:10 (14:57 pace). Note: I felt it at 1.65 or so; I have a conditioning problem. My abs tire and I slump forward and I end up losing spinal support.
Baseball last weekend I got to see 2 of Bradley’s games against Indiana State: a 12 inning loss then a nice win. The win had the following happen: in the bottom of the 7’th with ISU up 2-1, 2 out, BU had a runner on second. ISU intentionally walks the BU batter and the next player up hits a home run! Great win to get the series win.
Chiefs: oh boy..this was a 10-1 loss. First 2 runs were NOT the fault of the starter; 2 out, runner on second, sharp ground ball to the short stop who decided to play games with the runner instead of going for the all but certain force at 1’st..bad throw..runners advance to 2’nd and third, then the next batter hits a single to drive in two.
Short stop made THREE errors…but is on the team due to a .378 batting average and a ton of RBIs. The kid can hit. Maybe a future DH?
I honestly feel better. I did catch a Bradley Baseball game last night (11-1 win) and got to talk to a mother of a Western Illinois outfielder at length.
Talk about sparse: there were perhaps 48 people at first pitch; maybe maxed at 70? 50 F, drizzle and this was a make up game.
The Sunday Chiefs game was better attended..and warmer..and it was great that the Chiefs won to stay over .500.
Yes, some @EmptySeatsPics for Peoria (high A) but..this appears to be an improvement over last season..hope for good crowds when the weather is a bit warmer. Getting back to prepandemic levels? pic.twitter.com/OMNV2bSuMn
Oh, about my back: part of the improvement might be my not going up and down the damned steps all day..and part of it, I think, is my adjusting my weight exercises:
Feet up on the bench press
High incline rather than shoulder press
No strain allowed on high incline
Trap bar deadlift; only light weights with low handles; use less weight with 4 and 8 inch handles WITH a belt..getting the lumbar out of it.
And, in walking, doing one session and stopping before it gets too bad.
Workout notes
Swim: watch the shoulder..feeling pings from time to time.
500 of alternating 50 free, 50 side
1000 of alternating 50 drill with fins, 50 free
100 pull
100 breast
Weight: 202.5 best in a while
PT: a LOT of it; even used the bosu ball..did it indoors. Wore my mask, stuck to myself, etc.
Then a 1.28 mile walk; cut it short because I wanted to finish while I still felt good.
I am trying not to be a drama queen, and trying not to live in the wreckage of the future, but it looks as if my sports era will come to an end very soon.
No, I am not going to sell my equipment; I plan on using it as long as it benefits my health and doesn’t harm it. And I will probably have to order a new set of bands as I broke my second one today. And I’ll be looking for new goggles and swim suits as swimming seems to be doing ok.
BUT: so much of my life, I wanted to either run faster, run longer, lift heavier, do more reps, etc. But now I need to focus on what is good for my health, and that means being risk adverse in my training and *always* leaving something in the tank.
I get my MRI tomorrow AND see my primary care doctor for my prostate and hopefully, finally some answers. What lies in store I do not know.
My guess: a benign enlarged prostate (which might contribute to the “swollen” feeling I sometimes get in my left pelvic/glute area) and some sort of bulging disk impinging on a nerve affecting my left side. (L-5?)
But it could be anything from piriformis/gluteus medius strain/tear, to broken pieces of disk, to prostate cancer, spinal tumor, etc.
The physical therapist says it isn’t spinal stenosis as my McKenzie press ups are way too high.
My symptoms: left leg, tingles down the side, full feeling when I do something like banded walks, some discomfort upon standing still for too long and walking: onset of glute pain after 15-20 minutes if I am stretched and warmed up, 5-10 minutes if I am not. Tingles in the left lower leg/foot at night if I don’t stretch first..knees bent is more comfortable.
Ok, there is still a lot I can do, and I can enjoy doing what I can. So what did I do today? I did all of my physical therapy along with:
pull ups: 10, 15, 10, 10, 10, 5 wide, 5 chins (strange I am 206-207..too heavy..but pull ups are going very well??? Improvement on my back?), push ups 30 sissy, 30 feet elevated, 30 sissy, 10 deficit
weights: 10 x 134, 5 x 156, 5 x 156, 10 x 134 (feet elevated)
4 sets of curls with 50
deadlifts: taking care to keep a flat back and use the glutes, hamstrings and quads:
10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 224 (these went well)
high handle (8 inch) 5 x 260, 5 x 280 (heavier belt) Rule: leave a lot in the tank. Can’t strain the lumbar.
The post lift McKenzie press ups had none of the warning left leg pain that I got when I did too much low handle or tried to arch when bench pressing.
Then a 1 mile walk; not my best as I got symptoms at .7-.8 miles but I got a mile.
Other tidbits: cutting back greatly on caffeine and spreading out my Naproxen dose (1 pill upon waking up, 1 after) and I have an oh-so-slight whine in my right shoulder.
I use an orthopedic cushion at games (watched Bradley softball split with Evansville yesterday with no ill effects)
Life of an old goat 