A New Pain High (and Low)

-
I gained some notoriety years ago when I ran a full marathon without realizing that the pain radiating from my hip was a fracture. I had a lot of other issues that day, starting with an OD of Motrin that led to mild kidney failure. So the confusion with pain was perhaps understandable, if not quite comprehendable to people who have a low tolerance for physical discomfort.

I mention this because despite saying privately and publicly that I'll never be that foolish as to run while obviously injured, I've gone and done it again.

Friday night an on-again, off-again tightening in my lower back turned into full-fledged muscle spasms that stretching and a hot shower helped reduce but not eliminate. I had a fitful night of sleep and by 3 a.m. was pulling up medical web sites and self-diagnosing a muscle strain. I kept up the icing and ibuprofen and realized it hurt less to move than sit or stand still. So I met my running group as planned at 6:30 a.m. Saturday and enjoyed chatting for miles as we went 'round the lake and following it up with breakfast. Then I did several hours' worth of shopping.

By 5 p.m., back home, I couldn't get comfortable no matter what I did. I barely slept (again) and had a lot of trouble even getting out of bed several hours later. I actually cried.

Fast forward to now, where I'm home and feeling happy again, thanks to Big Pharma. Whoever invented those Lidocaine patches and Robaxin - I love you. I have a bulging disc and sections of muscle inflamed to the size of golfballs. Low-impact exercise only for the time being.

Here's where I would offer words of wisdom from experience, but I think we all know what my words are worth now.

Popular posts from this blog

I Leave You With This

-
Image
There's this social media post some guy put up on Instagram. I almost scrolled past it, but I'm glad I didn't. It asked what question we should ask ourselves when we die. In retrospect, ChatGPT's response was basically pulling from Eastern philosophy, but, still, I couldn't stop thinking about it in the hours and days since I first heard it. Here's a partial transcript I cribbed using -- what else? -- AI. Some guy set up the prompt, which was long and convoluted. The following picks it up from there.  Some guy : I'm assuming most people would ask, 'Where am I going? What's next?' Something like that. Is that a good question?  ChatGPT : No, because they don't matter. Some guy : W hy don't they matter?  ChatGPT : If there's a heaven or hell or some next phase, you're likely already heading there. Asking won't change your destination. It's a wasted question.  Some guy : That's a good point. Um, what about 'Did I do en...
Read more

What's Your Slavery Footprint?

-
I just came across an app that immediately intrigued me because it brings awareness to something way too often overlooked in this country. It's called The Slavery Footprint , and I found out about it this morning courtesy of this post . Living in California, and traveling regularly through the Central Valley where a bulk of everyone's U.S.-bred fruits and nuts are produced, I became keenly aware of how poorly farmhands are treated in this country. I even blogged about it several years ago . Some of us tend to feel morally superior because of the foods and lifestyle choices we make. After taking this "test," perhaps that piety will recede a bit. After you take it, you can share your score if you wish. Personally, I'm embarrassed by mine.
Read more

Do Mom and Dad Make You Run?

-
I know of a lot of middle-aged running friends who are motivated by their parents to run. Their mother or father was in poor health for many years and it ultimately cost them their lives (or at least a higher quality of it), and so one reason they initially put on a pair of running shoes was to avoid the same fate. However, that's not the sort of parental connection outlined in a provacative post about the link between exercise and genetics in this morning's Daily Beast. It reflects a couple of scientific studies that show we may be genetically encoded to favor workouts. That means some of us will never enjoy exercising like others, nor will our children. If this is true, then those of us modeling good behaviors by eating well and exercising in moderation may merely be passing along the endorphin baton to those with our "exercise gene." And that might also explain why some parents who push their kids into sports end up disappointed that their child never "takes...
Read more