It Varies

Since my juice fast, the sharp pains in my groin area have not returned. However, pain in my hip in general, the more generalized pain, has not been kind to me lately. Could be because I am trying out some new prepared foods and some have ingredients that are not helpful.

I have gone on hikes the last two Saturdays. The first Saturday I tried a new one that is on a dirt road and is two miles long. There are a couple of little hills, nothing big. Yet I found it took a lot out of me. I didn't have significant pain but my knees were tense, so I was not particularly enjoying it. I was still hurting the following Sunday all day.

The following Saturday I did one of my favorite short hikes: Stoneridge. This hike is not far from my house and involves climbing a small hill, affording views out over the city. It is a rocky dirt trail. The total distance is not long - I don't actually know how long - but it is steeper than the previous week's hike. I had a good time on this hike and did not feel any aftereffects on Sunday. I'm not sure what I learned here. It may simply be that I need to take my time, as I had to climbing those rocks. Others sail over this trail, run it. I'll never do that but maybe I'll speed up a little over time.

I did it!

Today another milestone. I did my first hike since the first knee surgery last April. In fact, it was probably well before April when I last hiked. I was hurting so much that hikes were far from appealing at the time I first went under the knife.

I chose the Elfin Forest in Los Osos for my first foray. The walk is almost entirely boardwalk, with many benches, and is only 4/5 mile long. It is not flat but the ascent is not steep, as it is very near the bay. Next to it, in fact. The picture above shows how it got its name. It really looks magical inside the tree cover. A separate little boardwalk enters the forest in specific locations so we can look but not touch. You could walk the whole way on the boardwalk and not know the wonders inside. But there is much to enjoy outside of the forest itself, in the views of Morro Rock and several of the "Seven Sisters" - ancient volcanos that line up, marching from Morro Bay to San Luis Obispo and actually into a part of San Luis Obispo.

But I digress. I went without a cane. I remember the last time I visited this little walk. It was well before my knee surgery. I grabbed at almost every chance to sit on one of the benches, to relieve the pain. This time I did not sit down once. I did not feel I had to. I did feel a bit of a strain toward the end but it seemed mostly because my body is not used to walking any more, not because of pain. My left knee did get a bit sensitive but it recovered all right. For a bit I thought I might need to ice my knees when I got home but I was fine by then, and am still fine now.

I could feel the pressure I was putting on my knees. It was a bit uncomfortable but not painful. I feel like I pushed them as far as they want to go right now, but I could go a bit farther next time out. I did not experience any hip pain.

This post does not reflect well how great I felt when I finished. Just yesterday I was making my way around Costco and finding it quite uncomfortable, both inside and out. I did not see how I could do a hike comfortably. Now I know that I can, and it's exhilarating.

No shame to cutting it short

Today I decided to try a hike. The hike I had in mind is at the end of Madonna Road here in San Luis Obispo, a hike in the Irish Hills. It is a bit steep going up, then levels a while, winds around, comes down again. Nice views, particularly if you get up high.

I left my new stick at home, and I forgot to bring my water with me, so I started out at a bit of a disadvantage. Then my back started to hurt a bit and I felt a little off-balance. Not unusual for me, that. I kept climbing up, taking pix and stopping here and there, and then decided I had had enough after just 20 minutes. I went back the way I came, just shy of forty minutes total.

There have been times in the past when I have felt driven to finish a hike or I would be really disappointed in myself. Not finishing seemed like not doing it at all. I didn't feel that way this time. I got out there, did some climbs, turned around. Better than nothing and it gave me a sense of where I am physically.

I am drinking some grapefruit juice now. I don't often buy juices but today grapefruit called to me. SO good.

Long time no write

I don't know why I have been neglecting this blog. I get caught up in other activities but I still need to stay on track here, keep a record.

Several weeks ago I woke with pain in my left arm. The kind of pain that comes when I have overdone something, like gone kayaking and used that paddle too enthusiastically. Yet I had done nothing, and it was just my left arm.

After a few days, when the pain was not going away or diminishing I figured it was probably arthritis. I lived with it for a while but finally, after a few weeks I went to see a doctor. He too figured it was arthritis but said only an x-ray would confirm. I did not want to pay for the x-ray at the time. He also said one help might be an injection of corticosteroid in the arm. I had heard about this from my friend, who has had it done elsewhere, and she said it worked beautifully to take away the pain. We talked of it and I decided to take plan B instead, for now: four acetaminophen tablets a day, spread through the day. See how it goes. I do not take NSAIDs because of the effect on my stomach.

I have been doing the acetaminophen for a couple of weeks now, some days forgetting of course, and in the past few days I have felt less pain. I do not know if this is from the pain relievers or if it happened just naturally, as is the way with arthritis. But it is a hopeful sign.

In other news, I still eat a healthy diet but too much of it and too often I add in fats which are no benefit to me. I have not exercised regularly lately because of recurring pain in my right leg but am trying to get back with a hike now and then.

Real progress

A couple of months ago I started again on the McDougall Plan. This post tells a bit about that start. I have been following it relatively painlessly, although from time to time I lapse and have too much fat or bread.

I have lost 20 pounds. Initially, in the first few days, the overall pain I was having in my joints lessened, and I hoped to find a culprit in the food I eat. I did not, but the pain did not grow again whatever I did, which is good enough. I discovered that coffee was causing me sleep problems and energy problems and stomach problems, all of which I could have guessed but I resisted. So I have cut out drinking coffee except now and then a cup or a half-cup. I have tea sometimes, herb tea.

After several weeks I decided to try hiking again. The pain in my right hip was not coming as often and I thought perhaps I could get through some small hikes. I did start small, and I did have episodes of startling, searing pain, but never anything that crippled me, made it impossibly painful to finish the hike. I have still not done many hikes, about seven or so, but they have gotten a little harder and longer and I am managing better. On my last hike I didn't have any of those bad episodes. I get stiff and I get tired but in a few days I am fine, or not worse anyway. I don't get worse by doing this.

Therefore I do feel hope. More than I've felt in a long time. I continue to do the ageless yoga sometimes, and want to make that more regular.

Right now I feel like I am on a plateau. Not a lot of energy and staying at the same weight. I will move past it.

Small hike

I walked the Jim Green Trail in Atascadero for the second time Thursday. I accidentally took a little shortcut at the top but I still feel I did a decent job of it. I was not in pain.

There is no question in my mind that my surroundings have a dramatic effect on how well I do physically. When I walk on the sidewalks and next to the railroad tracks near where I live I do not find the surroundings particularly stimulating. I focus too much on how I feel and think about how I am going to feel on the way back home. When I do a hike through a beautiful area I almost forget I have legs. Instead I am looking up, over, away, I am hearing birds and feeling breezes, I am stopping to say hi to an occasional dog. I can go a lot longer and feel a lot less pain.