Yay! Back On Track

What a relief.  I felt really good this morning and had a nice workout. I love the pump from a good workout. Still felt good tonight for the men's golf league and played reasonable well.  Disheartening, though, to see my young opponents both smoking.   I'll never figure that out.

 Looking forward to a really nice run in the morning.  That'll be the real test.  I'm going to try and get my lazy butt out of bed early and catch a little lighter traffic.

Harvard Medical School: Exercise for Pain Relief & Why Weight Matters

The secret to joint pain relief — exercise

Joint pain: it throbs, aches, and hurts. Quite likely, it makes you think twice about everyday tasks and pleasures like going for a brisk walk, lifting your grandchild or some grocery bags, chasing a tennis ball across the court, or driving a golf ball down the fairway. Sharp reminders of your limitations arrive thick and fast, practically every time you move.

What causes joint pain?

Very often, the culprits behind joint pain are

• osteoarthritis
• old injuries
• repetitive or overly forceful movements during sports or work
• posture problems
• aging
• inactivity.

How exercise can help

Ignoring the pain won’t make it go away. Nor will avoiding all motions that spark discomfort. In fact, limiting your movements can weaken muscles, compounding joint trouble, and affect your posture, setting off a cascade of further problems. And while pain relievers and cold or hot packs may offer quick relief, fixes like these are merely temporary.

By contrast, the right set of exercises can be a long-lasting way to tame ankle, knee, hip, or shoulder pain. Practiced regularly, joint pain relief workouts might permit you to postpone—or even avoid—surgery on a problem joint that has been worsening for years by strengthening key supportive muscles and restoring flexibility. Over time, you may find limitations you’ve learned to work around will begin to ease. Tasks and opportunities for fun that have been weeded out of your repertoire by necessity may come back into reach, too.

Beyond the benefits to your joints, becoming more active can help you stay independent long into your later years. Regular activity is good for your heart and sharpens the mind. It nudges blood pressure down and morale up, eases stress, and shaves off unwanted pounds. Perhaps most importantly, it lessens your risk of dying prematurely. All of this can be achieved at a comfortable pace and very low cost in money or time.

Why weight matters Being overweight raises your risk for developing osteoarthritis in a weight-bearing joint like the knee — and even in the hand, according to some research, since inflammatory factors related to weight might exacerbate this condition. Simply walking across level ground puts up to one-and-a-half times your body weight on your knees. That means a 200-pound man will deliver 300 pounds of pressure to his knee with each step. Off level ground, the news is worse: each knee bears two to three times your body weight when you go up and down stairs, and four to five times your body weight when you squat to tie a shoelace or pick up an item you dropped. Fortunately, strengthening your quadriceps (the muscles on the fronts of the thighs) changes the equation, and so does losing weight. Each pound you lose reduces knee pressure in every step you take. One study found that the risk of developing osteoarthritis dropped 50% with each 11-pound weight loss among younger obese women. If older men lost enough weight to shift from an obese classification to just overweight — that is, from a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher down to one that fell between 25 and 29.9 — the researchers estimated knee osteoarthritis would decrease by a fifth. For older women, that shift would cut knee osteoarthritis by a third.

Marathon Training Scheduling Issues & A Good Read from WebMD

My usual Monday golf group got changed to Tuesday morning so I had to run shorter today.  Probably did me some good.  I recently got some good advice to be careful about overtraining.  Considering that, it probably did me good to run shorter today.  I still have plenty of time to run some more long runs and at my age some additional rest will help especially after not feeling well just a few days ago.   My weight is fine and I'm back on a more regular schedule and a more normal eating routine so I anticipate everything normalizing soon.

Here's an interesting article from WebMD by two women doctors. https://www.webmdhealth.com/nl/nlv.aspx?id=gbfZprIjiTo=&s=20473 If anyone's is looking for just a little more reason to take some steps toward better health this could provide some additional incentive.  I'm still pumped up by my dental hygienist recent success!  Get moving by starting small and easy and grow slowly from there.  It's easier to stick to it.

Disorder & A Happy Discovery

Here's hoping things (and I) are finally getting back to normal.  Among family crises, including multiple emergency room trips and hospital stays for an ill relative and travel to & from Boston and late nights (I'm an early riser) up with my cherished grandchildren, my routines have suffered.  I've managed to get in nearly all of my workouts and runs in but it all took its toll.  Friday was given up to hospital visits and doctor's office visits.  Saturday I got up to do Friday's workout and I just felt terrible.  Usually, when I'm a little under the weather, exercise perks me up.  Not this time.  Saturday I quit about 15 minutes into it and went back to bed and slept until noon.  Sunday I ran 12 miles instead of a planned 20 and it was hard.   So I just chilled the rest of the day.  I took in a movie with my wife and then watched some golf.  Best of all, I got to bed at 10 and slept until 6.  I felt much better this morning.  I think I'm back on track now.

I had a real morale booster this morning.  My semiannual dental checkup and cleaning was today and I was thrilled to see my hygienist had lost about 60 lbs.  She said she did it with proper diet and walking.  I'm so happy for her and proud of her.  She looks great.   Like she said,  it isn't complicated.  You just have to make up your mind to do it.   What a great story.  I'm eager to see her in February.

Marathon Training - Building Confidence

I had a decent resistance workout yesterday, albeit short due to a scheduled golf match.  This morning I ran 12 miles in the heat and high humidity.  12 miles seems so short after the long run 2 days ago.  I feel like that’s a really good thing because endurance is a big part of the marathon race. 

Good news from my training partner & brother who said he ran 10 miles on Sunday.  I’m really hoping he can get well enough to race.  I know he wants to very much.  We both have to deal with aging bodies.  I’ve been fortunate so far.  I don’t have increase my mileage and I’m doing well with this plan.   Most runners eventually have some issues to deal with.  I’ve had my share but I’m holding up well now.  Listening to my body and making adjustments should keep me on track.   

Marathon Training - Progress

I had a very mediocre workout on Friday.  Not my usual energy build up as the session progress.  So, basically, I went through the motions and cut it a bit short.  I still got a workout in but since I didn't feel very guilty, I'm thinking I did the right think and took an easy day.   Yesterday, I had some personal business to take care of so I took a 20 mile bike ride and called it a day planning on a long run for this morning.  Today's result makes me  glad I did.

I'm starting to seriously worry about my training partner being able run the marathon we've planned so I had some doubts about continuing the intense training needed to do this.   My wife thinks I should stick with my plan so I got up this morning determined to run long.   The 2 easy days paid off.  I ran 19.7 miles and found it easier than expected.  The plan was for 19 miles but I felt pretty good toward the end decided to add a bit more.  I though it might be a mile but was overly optimistic.  Still 19.7 is satisfactory.  I felt like I could have made the marathon distance so I've overcome that mental barrier.  I feel really well tonight so my confidence is growing.  Eight weeks to go.

Back On The Road

Whew, what a week.  Last Thursday I drove to Boston & back to pick up a visiting daughter.  Friday I managed to get in a 12 mile run.  Saturday I drove a car full of family to New Jersey for a wedding.  Sunday I drove to Boston from NJ.  Monday I drove back home.  Tuesday I drove to Northfield VT & back for golf.  Wednesday it was back to my usual routine and a resistance & stretching workout.  Today I was back on the road with 12 miler.  I was happy to be back on my normal schedule but it was already 74 degrees when I headed out the door.  

It was lots of fun.  The rest probably did me some good but I’m glad to be back to normal.   I paid pretty close attention to what I ate so I didn’t gain any weight. That’s usually my biggest concern because it seems so easy to put it on and so hard to get it off.   I’ll be alright now that I’m back home and on my normal schedule.