The Fit Nation

https://ift.tt/Hmc2Gez This is a saying about working within your limitations. For example, in American Football, the quarterback wants to make a long pass but that receiver is covered by the defenders, so he makes a shorter pass to someone that is open. I’ve been doing this for years now, but in my case “the defense” is the infirmities of aging. My favorite activity was running, but I had to stop when I got arthritis, and now I’m not allowed to do it because of artificial hips. So I got into hiking and biking. More recently, hiking has not worked out so well because of various lower back and hip issues. But what I liked most about biking was getting deeper into nature and away from an urban setting, and I can accomplish that with mountain biking instead (as long as it’s on easy trails because I’m not that talented of a mountain biker). Lately it has seemed that even if I stick to biking I can still have a setback when I push too hard. The latest was last Sunday when I did my recumben...

https://ift.tt/XOlr4bT Today I rode with my recumbent group on the Coyote Creek trail. I met them up in South San Jose and rode back with them. I was a bit late getting out the door so I rode up Monterey highway to the start. This is not as scenic but more direct, and I had a tailwind, so I flew up there at 21 mph. We came back more leisurely on the trail, with beautiful scenery and weather. We ate lunch in Morgan Hill near the southern end of the trail. They proceeded back to the start in South San Jose where they’d parked, but I just went home from the lunch place. I refer to it as the recumbent circus because all the trikes have colorful flags to make them more visible, and when we ride by it looks like the circus has come to town. This is a nice group, all older folks like me, and with various ailments (one was rehabbing a recent knee replacement) but that didn’t stop any of them as they all trikes and electric assist. I bet we were the weirdest thing that dog saw all day My r...

https://ift.tt/WsjOLR7 I, along with a lot of friends my age, can have trouble sleeping at night, especially when waking up in the middle of the night. This can be made worse by “nocturia” or having to get up to pee one or more times per night, which is common among older folks. This can lead to problems getting back to sleep, especially if you have a “busy brain” that you don’t know how to turn off. I got advice on how to fix this from a dear friend years ago that has worked well for me, and I try to pass it on to friends who have this problem. It helps if you know how to meditate. You don’t have to be very good at it, you can be a beginner (I gave beginner advice on meditation here ). Most people with “busy brains” find their mind does not want to cooperate meditating, it wants to be flitting around from thought to thought (or worry to worry). Another problem when meditating is falling asleep. Here’s where the advice from my friend, who was also a meditator, comes in. In the middle ...

https://ift.tt/1gC5fUL Rainy Season is back! We had lots of rain overnight, but there was a break from last night’s rain this morning so I was able to sneak in a nice dry ride this morning. The sky sure looks nice between storms We’ll be getting a lot of rain the next few days so I’ll have to do some rides in the rain unless I stay indoors.

https://ift.tt/JefctnO My training is finally back on track after recent setbacks such as sciatica. I will try to post more often now, I think I had petered out somewhat, maybe due to being a bit discouraged. I’m doing a lot of PT, stretching and strengthening, for muscles around the lower back and hip area so hopefully there will be no more backslides. I’m back to around two hours of exercise a day on average, including biking, my upper body strength work, and PT. So far so good! Friday I rode my upright over to the Coyote Creek trail but rode my upright on the dirt trails in the vicinity instead of the paved path. These are very lightly used, I think they’re more intended for horseback riding, but they are great for bikes too as long as you have wide enough tires. I’m able to stand for longer periods again on the upright which I find to be a fun alternative to seated riding. Santa Cruz Mountains in distance, from a dirt trail near Coyote Creek Yesterday it was back to the recu...