I do a lot to take care of myself and for the most part, I feel good about my progress. But today I feel old.
I usually take in the attitude that age is just a number. I’m as young as I believe that I am. Today my age wins.
Saturday on my 5km walk with my wife, she decided to jog for some of it. I enjoy jogging at my wife’s pace and thought nothing of it. I will run on my treadmill faster than this, and for longer than the two sections we jogged for. Sunday after my archery I did an 8 minute leg workout that I usually do, and added about 4 reps of an assisted pistol squat, because I’m very slowly trying to get myself to the point that I can do these.
But by Sunday night my knee was hurting. I don’t know why, but think it might be running on uneven terrain rather than on the treadmill, or trying the pistol squat after my 8 minute workout, when my legs are fatigued. Then I got a hip cramp that night.
After this my shoulders and back tightened up and for the first time in several months I felt shoulder pain. I only did one exercise with my arms that was slightly different than my usual routine, and I intentionally did it with light weights since it was new. Besides, it was a bicep exercise, not a shoulder one.
This ache caused me to tense up my upper back and the tension between my shoulder blades was so tight, I had to push my back into doorway jams to work the kinks out several times during the day… basically using the corners of the doorway to massage the knots out of my upper back.
Old. That’s the feeling this morning. I feel like the rust has formed on my joints, and the whole machine is seizing up. This morning I’ll ride my stationary bike for 20 leisurely minutes, do some stretching, and that will be my workout. Tomorrow I have a massage booked and it will be a painful one. A lot of deep tissue work on my upper back, and hamstring work because my tight hamstrings tend to be the root of my leg and hip issues.
Maybe after that I can remember why I work so hard to take care of myself, remember to spend more time stretching, and start to feel young again. Maybe I need reminders like this to refocus me. When I don’t exercise, my back pain becomes chronic. But I have to say that it’s not fun to ache in several places at once, and while exercise usually keeps the rust away, right now this machine feels old and rusty.
This morning my age is getting the best of me… but I’m not done feeling young. I’ll work my way back to healthy, and oil these joints back to fully operational again. The alternative to this is being lazy and letting myself fall back into a life of daily pain, and feeling even older than I do today. No, I’d rather keep active and find my way back to feeling young again.
I can relate, though fortunately (fortunately for me, anyway) not to the same severity as you’re experiencing. I’m in week 16 now of thrice weekly interval training, worked my way up to my target of just consistently running 10 with a 1 minute recovery. Mostly, I go slower than I’d like, but with 10 and 1, feel like I can go forever. And yet, a couple of times, I’ve just not been able to keep going on my planned run – crapping out part way through the fourth or fifth interval, for no apparent reason other than my body just doesn’t feel like it can do it that day. Maybe that’s 53 talking. My massage therapist reminds me I am a man of a certain age – listen to your body when it’s feeling sickly during the run and just bring it back down. Stubbornly, I don’t always listen.
Fortunately, it seems to pass and a couple of days later I’m back at it, feeling fine. Strange. But hope these occasions are few and far between. Because I’m enjoying running at 53 I think more than I have at nearly any other time in my life.
Hang in there!
Impressive David,
That listening to your body is a skill I have yet to master… but I’m trying. Well, I tell myself I’m trying but then I still push too hard.
I have been listening a bit more with my new aches. Today I did a light 10 min. row and called that a workout. Saw my massage therapist and it didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought. So, maybe this 53 year old is finally learning.
I too have these issues. These past two weeks have been difficult because I haven’t been able to really do much. When that happens the aches and pains slowly creep in and pretty soon I’m feeling old. Thankfully I’ve been able to get back into the routine after my “Humpty Dumpty” fall. I hope you are able to work things out. I know how hard you have worked. Keep at it. Keep piling those joints. You are enough!
Thanks Kelly, seeing you ‘back at it’ is encouraging. Like you, being lazy let’s the old man aches creep in. At least we are still at the age that when we fall we can still be put back together again… like your comment on LinkedIn suggested, an oil soak to get the rust out is a better metaphor than Humpty.