The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/dVDwRuU It’s been a bit over a week since I posted about my setback when I got overconfident and started exercising too much. This time I’ve been more careful coming back. I’m now about back to where I was before the setback. This time I will be much more careful not to overdo. I can ride for at least 30 minutes at a time pain-free which is enjoyable and relaxing. I can get to some pretty nice scenery around here on a 30 minute ride, Morgan Hill From the Top of Dianna Ave on Saturday I’m also able to do well on my physical therapy. I can’t say that is exactly pain-free, but I’ve learned the important concept of “centralization” in my reading about this: when you have sciatica, the pain originates somewhere and then refers down the leg. In my case this central point of origination is the center of my hip, probably the piriformis muscle. It’s ok if you feel pain in the central area while doing PT, but it should not make the referral down the leg worse, because that wo...

https://ift.tt/myaWTAl www.Amazon.com/books This is an entertaining book by Helen Summer about some of the most difficult ultramarathons in the world. It is a combination of jaw-dropping descriptions of the courses and first-person accounts by people who have run them. Most of the events are ultra-running, but there are some other adventures like kayaking and triathlons thrown in. They cover the range from the highest race in the world, “La Ultra” (“The High”) in the Himalayas in India, to some of the coldest, like the Yukon Arctic Ultra in Canada. My favorite line was the description of the runners from China who read an account of the Sahara race in Jordan, and were inspired to run it themselves. As the author pointed out “reading can be a dangerous sport”. My wife would agree, which is usually why she tries to take books like this away from me. But I enjoy them because they make my own adventures seem sane in comparison. It’s also safe because I can’t run anymore after two hip ...

https://ift.tt/rsblP6c By last Tuesday my sciatica symptoms were feeling a lot better so I got a bit too confident. I went for a 90 minute ride, and for about 50 minutes I rode my upright instead of recumbent, including a good amount of standing pedalling. It all felt great. Then when I got home my sciatica had flared up considerably, pretty much back to day one. My doc squeezed me in for a virtual appointment, and prescribed anti-inflammatories, rest (abstinence from pretty much all exercise except stretching, for a week), and ice. I’ve also scheduled lumbar x-rays to rule out sciatica from the spine, and a follow-up with the new orthopedic doc my general practitioner found for me. Here’s a quote from when the first flare-up occurred two weeks ago: “ I think the lesson from this is that I should have taken it much easier and made sure I was fully recovered after my September 18 injury. Instead, as soon as I started to feel better I got cocky and dived back into long hard workouts, fo...

https://ift.tt/eWFf68y After my recent flareup of sciatica, I took a week off from riding or other exercise. It was painful to walk for a few days, then I tried using a walker that I had laying around from a previous injury and that helps a lot. Conventional walkers don’t work as well outside, even though I replaced the tips on the rear legs with teflon “ski tips” that slide better. So I treated myself to a “rollator” style walker that has four wheels so it rolls better and brakes for safety. These are surprisingly inexpensive nowadays. I also like that it has a fold-down seat. So I do much better in situations like shopping because I can take a sit-break whenever I like. After a week I eased slowly back into cycling, but on my recumbent only, I’m not sure the sore side is ready for a saddle yet. I started out with 30 minutes and have now worked my way up to over an hour. Easy, high-cadence low-resistance only. It turns out that my upper body workout does not bother the sciatica side...

https://ift.tt/rld2qwA On Sunday I started having pretty severe sciatica on the left side. I think this might be a delayed reaction to my back injury from September 18 . This is the opposite side of where I’ve had piriformis syndrome and an injured SI joint in the past. I was having trouble walking much more than a few feet without pain, but could still ride. A day off would have been well advised, but a buddy of mine was driving down from Palo Alto so we could ride together and I felt bad about canceling. We ended up going on about a two and a half hour ride in the hills West of Morgan Hill. I took it easy pedalling by using more electric assist on my upright, and felt fine during the ride. But the sciatica was much worse later in the day. My doc was able to squeeze in a virtual visit with me Monday afternoon, and from the description of the symptoms she thinks its piriformis syndrome, which is certainly what it feels like to me. The pain is worse deep in my left butt which is where ...