Shooting from the hip

This morning I walked into the physical therapy office feeling no pain in my right hip. This has become unusual. I almost always am in pain there, and took to using my cane while in Las Vegas. I had just returned from my holiday trip there last night.

While in Las Vegas I did not exercise every day. I went to the gym four or five times in about two weeks, and I did some walking on some other days, but mostly I was not being especially active. Perhaps the extra rest was good, after all, for my hip. I can never tell, really, because I avoided exercise altogether on my November trip and was in a whole lot of pain the entire time.

Nevertheless, here I was, feeling good! It is always nice to start a new year feeling good. I don't do resolutions but I do like to take stock a little.

My time on the Nustep crosstrainer went well; no extra hip pain. I like to meet certain goals on some machines. In the case of the Nustep I like to get to .75 mile in the fifteen minutes I'm on. Today I sailed to .80, which is quite a bit more than usual. I really was feeling strong.

I then moved to the hip flexor machine and had little trouble there. Usually that's one of the machines I just like to get done with. I did start feeling the pain again on the leg press; I do four sets of fifteen with both legs, then four sets with just my right leg, and that's when it tends to set in.

The leg press is similar to this photograph (above). Different from most leg presses at gyms because you lie flat or nearly flat. I completed the rest of my workout continuing to feel good, and when I walked out of the place one of the other clients remarked that I seemed to be walking better. I knew that I was. 

I have had so much pain in my right hip that I have wondered if I would ever have another day like today. They are getting father and father apart. This may be the Year of the Hip for me. Fortunately, recovery from that operation is easy for most people. I should be able to fly through it and get on with my life. I need to make an appointment with the orthopedist and see about setting a date. Assuming that there is no other fix that would make sense. Yes, I know about the injections. If he suggests that, I'll go ahead and get one, see how it works for me.

I am still, obviously, working on getting my legs straight. The therapist says we "just have to outlast it". I am glad he has that attitude because most would give up. I don't want to. The tension in my legs prevents me from using them as often and as long as I'd like. Getting them straight should relieve that tension.

And so I enter my 67th year full of hope, feeling good.