As a quick review, I am a physical therapist who happens to be a bike nut/geek/dweeb/nerd. As a PT, my specialty is treating orthopaedic conditions, i.e. back pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain and so forth. Not to toot my own horn too much, but I'm pretty good.
Very recently my low back has been bothering me. Not terribly, but noticeably. It might be directly related to some time on the bike in the last few weeks. I don't know that I can make a direct connection, but the two might just be correlated.
For the sake of understanding, my back has a generalized soreness/stiffness at the lowest part of the lumbar spine, just as the spine meets the sacrum/pelvis. It is equal on the right and left. This is quite different to what I have experienced in the past.
About 11 years ago, I herniated the L5-S1 disc and had what is referred to as radicular pain into the right leg with myotomal weakness in the calf and hamstring along with sensory changes in the little toe of the my right foot (a little bit of numbness and weakness still persists, even now).
The symptoms I am currently experiencing are quite different. What I am feeling is more of a muscle and/or joint strain. Nothing too drastic or alarming. The symptoms are certainly what a PT would call "mechanical" in nature. By mechanical, we mean that forces from within or outside of the body are placing extra strain on neuromusculoskeletal structures and leading to the perception of pain. Those same mechanical forces can be used to alleviate the pain, as well.
By nature, I tend to be quite objective. I seem to have that ability to separate emotions from facts, even when the subject of my thoughts is myself. I immediately start analyzing the situation and looking for solutions. There were times when the herniated disc was causing considerable pain and I could still step back and look at my situation in an inquisitive matter ("Hmmm...well that is interesting, isn't it?).
With that said, I cannot help but to immediately start to analyze what is going on, what might be the cause and how can the problem be solved. Have I overdone things with stretching recently? Have I been spending too much time sitting? I raised the handlebars recently. Is that to blame? What is my symptom generator? Muscle? Ligaments? Facet joint? How should I deal with this? Stretching? If so, what stretch? How long should I stretch for? The list of questions goes on and on. This is all processing very quickly, I should add.
My point, which I realize is a long time in coming, is that I always think like a PT. I see just about everything through "PT glasses". Not a day goes by that I don't think, multiple times BTW, how my current situation relates to physical therapy (Wow, I'm such a dork).
Is this a good thing? I think so. It is safe to say I enjoy what I do. It is also safe to say I was meant to be a PT. If I couldn't be a PT anymore, I have know idea what I would do. No one seems to want to pay me to ride my bike and that is just about the only other thing I am really passionate about.
Yes, yes, I am passionate about my family and passionate about Christ but it is hard to make a steady living at those things. Me a preacher? Not really. Stay at home dad? I could do it, but I wouldn't be pretty. The kids might never fully recover.
I would like to think that I was designed to be a PT. I was given the right kind of mind and temperament to be a PT. What else would I do?
Lest you think of me as a work-a-holic, I never mind leaving early. Forty hours is fine with me. In fact, if I could work 30 hours and get paid for 40, that would be great. I love what I do but I don't want to do it too much. The rest of life is just too much fun.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Friday, January 20, 2012
Weight
There is a website called fatcyclist.com. The author, Fatty, is humorous, good-natured, and often on the money about biking issues. Apparently, he started his blog because he had fought the good fight with his weight and basically wanted to use public shaming as a last chance method to lose weight. As best I can tell, it worked pretty well because he certainly seems like a svelte, in-shape kind of guy. For him, riding a century is no big deal...on a mountain bike...uphill.
To be honest, Fatty gave me the inspiration for my blog (By the way, his name is actually Elden Nelson but he does encourage people to call him Fatty).
To get back on subject, I was attracted to his blog because I am, by all reasonable definitions, a fat cyclist. Never during my life have I been described as petite. Never. Do you remember Husky pants? I was that kid. No lie.
Over the years, I have tried to lose weight and have been successful on several occasions. Typically, the success has been short lived. Looking back, it seems my diets or exercise plans were too extreme; too hard to maintain in the long term. When I think of this, I think of P90X.
Several years ago, Michelle and I decided together that we needed to lose weight. We needed to change our lifestyle and our eating habits. The best part about this is that we were doing it together. This certainly was one of the main factors in our success.
The biggest factor in our weight loss became obvious after a little while. When people would ask me what I did to lose weight, I would answer that I did this really extreme diet call the Eat Less Food Diet. This would usually be followed by several seconds of a curious expression, closely followed by the realization that I was talking about eating less food. Simple as that. Nothing fancy. No weird supplements. No specific food restrictions. Just eat less food.
This method of weight loss has been the most successful method. I went from about 230 lbs to a low of 205 lbs. I must admit, I was pretty happy and feeling quite well. I even managed to get off a low dose cholestorol med. I looked better, felt better, and was more confident.
This all started back in the fall of 2008. The weight stayed off until about the last year or so, when it started creeping back. I knew I was gaining. I could feel I was gaining. I made some very half-hearted (maybe one-quarter-hearted) attempts to curb my diet. Finally, I weighed myself after the holidays and saw a number I had never wanted to see again...220 lbs! This was a breaking point where I decided I needed get back on the wagon.
It has been two weeks. I have lost about 5 lbs in that time. How? EAT LESS FOOD! The evening snack has essentially been eliminated. Little treats that are lying around are left lying around. Otherwise, nothing else has changed. I am trying to exercise as much as I can but it is difficult with a full-time job, a wife and two little kids.
It does take a lot of will power. I really love an evening snack, especially ice cream...ummm, ice cream (wiping drool off my lips). It has to be done. I am becoming a healthier person. Cycling will be easier. I will be around longer for my kids. My quality of life will be better as I get older. Believe me, these are all worthwhile goals and actually better than ice cream (I love you ice cream...don't be angry!).
My goal is to get back to 205 and to hold it there (secretly, I would love to see 199 on the scale, at least once). How long will it take? I don't care. One other thing I learned during The Great Weight Loss of 2008 was that there would be fluctuations. Some weeks the weight wouldn't come off and might even go up. What do you do in this situation? Stick to the plan. This is a long term thing folks.
To be honest, Fatty gave me the inspiration for my blog (By the way, his name is actually Elden Nelson but he does encourage people to call him Fatty).
To get back on subject, I was attracted to his blog because I am, by all reasonable definitions, a fat cyclist. Never during my life have I been described as petite. Never. Do you remember Husky pants? I was that kid. No lie.
Over the years, I have tried to lose weight and have been successful on several occasions. Typically, the success has been short lived. Looking back, it seems my diets or exercise plans were too extreme; too hard to maintain in the long term. When I think of this, I think of P90X.
Several years ago, Michelle and I decided together that we needed to lose weight. We needed to change our lifestyle and our eating habits. The best part about this is that we were doing it together. This certainly was one of the main factors in our success.
The biggest factor in our weight loss became obvious after a little while. When people would ask me what I did to lose weight, I would answer that I did this really extreme diet call the Eat Less Food Diet. This would usually be followed by several seconds of a curious expression, closely followed by the realization that I was talking about eating less food. Simple as that. Nothing fancy. No weird supplements. No specific food restrictions. Just eat less food.
This method of weight loss has been the most successful method. I went from about 230 lbs to a low of 205 lbs. I must admit, I was pretty happy and feeling quite well. I even managed to get off a low dose cholestorol med. I looked better, felt better, and was more confident.
This all started back in the fall of 2008. The weight stayed off until about the last year or so, when it started creeping back. I knew I was gaining. I could feel I was gaining. I made some very half-hearted (maybe one-quarter-hearted) attempts to curb my diet. Finally, I weighed myself after the holidays and saw a number I had never wanted to see again...220 lbs! This was a breaking point where I decided I needed get back on the wagon.
It has been two weeks. I have lost about 5 lbs in that time. How? EAT LESS FOOD! The evening snack has essentially been eliminated. Little treats that are lying around are left lying around. Otherwise, nothing else has changed. I am trying to exercise as much as I can but it is difficult with a full-time job, a wife and two little kids.
It does take a lot of will power. I really love an evening snack, especially ice cream...ummm, ice cream (wiping drool off my lips). It has to be done. I am becoming a healthier person. Cycling will be easier. I will be around longer for my kids. My quality of life will be better as I get older. Believe me, these are all worthwhile goals and actually better than ice cream (I love you ice cream...don't be angry!).
My goal is to get back to 205 and to hold it there (secretly, I would love to see 199 on the scale, at least once). How long will it take? I don't care. One other thing I learned during The Great Weight Loss of 2008 was that there would be fluctuations. Some weeks the weight wouldn't come off and might even go up. What do you do in this situation? Stick to the plan. This is a long term thing folks.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Normal
At this stage of life, a guy like me is supposed to "be in charge of things". I should be a VP, a partner in the firm, the owner, the part owner, the manager, the supervisor, the senior clinician or whatever other title you can think of.
I'm 36 years old, married and have 2 little kids. For some reason, there is a societal pressure for guys in my stage of life to move forward/move upward/advance themselves. Why?
I know why. That is what we're supposed to do. It is normal. Why is it normal? Because everybody else does. Your Dad did. Your Grandpa did. Your Great-Grandpa did. Your friends are doing it. It's just the way it's done. Ambition and advancement is normal.
Do I want to be normal? The "normal" American is thousands of dollars in debt. The "normal" American is overweight. The "normal" American is a nominal Christian, at best. The "normal" American has little to no retirement savings. The "normal" American isn't all that happy with their job.
Sometimes normal sucks.
On the flip side, do I want to stay exactly as I am, exactly where I am, doing exactly what I am doing? Well, not really. Change is fun...and interesting...and exciting. Change can also be difficult and painful (everything worth having or doing is going to be difficult and painful at some level).
What I don't want is to follow a pre-estabilshed path because it is "what I am supposed to do". As the old saying goes, "Would you jump off the Empire State Building if all your friends did it?".
I have a coffee mug by the Life Is Good people. It says, "Do what you like. Like what you do". That has always seemed like pretty good advice. I don't want to end up with a life where I wake up each morning and say to myself, "Why do I do this every day? Get up and go to my crappy job. Ughh."
Where am I going with this? I am trying to avoid making a decision because it is what I am supposed to do. Whichever path I choose, I will decide based on what I want to do.
I'm 36 years old, married and have 2 little kids. For some reason, there is a societal pressure for guys in my stage of life to move forward/move upward/advance themselves. Why?
I know why. That is what we're supposed to do. It is normal. Why is it normal? Because everybody else does. Your Dad did. Your Grandpa did. Your Great-Grandpa did. Your friends are doing it. It's just the way it's done. Ambition and advancement is normal.
Do I want to be normal? The "normal" American is thousands of dollars in debt. The "normal" American is overweight. The "normal" American is a nominal Christian, at best. The "normal" American has little to no retirement savings. The "normal" American isn't all that happy with their job.
Sometimes normal sucks.
On the flip side, do I want to stay exactly as I am, exactly where I am, doing exactly what I am doing? Well, not really. Change is fun...and interesting...and exciting. Change can also be difficult and painful (everything worth having or doing is going to be difficult and painful at some level).
What I don't want is to follow a pre-estabilshed path because it is "what I am supposed to do". As the old saying goes, "Would you jump off the Empire State Building if all your friends did it?".
I have a coffee mug by the Life Is Good people. It says, "Do what you like. Like what you do". That has always seemed like pretty good advice. I don't want to end up with a life where I wake up each morning and say to myself, "Why do I do this every day? Get up and go to my crappy job. Ughh."
Where am I going with this? I am trying to avoid making a decision because it is what I am supposed to do. Whichever path I choose, I will decide based on what I want to do.
2012 Bike Goals
In years past, I have not actually put my cycling goals into writing. I have had goals, but it was always a mental list. This year I decided to put it into writing so I could reflect back more easily.
One thing about goals...I don't care whether I acheive them but I do care whether I acheive them. That is my way of saying I will be ecstatic if I meet all my goals but I won't be flustered if I don't.
Certain goals will be easier than others. I should be able to meet number two. That is mostly about letting Michelle know ahead of time that I want to participate in these events. She's pretty cool about this.
Number four is also pretty likely. With Michelle's parents and sister in Midland, there will be many opportunities to ride to there. It is a journey I have yet to do by bike, so I can certainly look forward to it. That ride will likely help me to reach number five. I have already traversed 75 miles on Sam so 100-107 shouldn't be too hard. Prioritizing a new saddle for Sam will have to become a priority. I would like to shoot for a used Brooks B-17. I'm thinkin' Ebay.
Which goal is the hardest? Probably number three, 2600 miles for the year. Time, time, time. This is the major determining factor. I gotta be a good dad and husband first.
A 200 km ride will likely take place during either the 100 Grand or the Colorburst. Both events have 100 km courses. My current plan is to ride the course in one direction and then reverse it for the second 100. That way, I can take advantage of the rest stops. Also, I know the roads quite well so there won't be any surprises.
2012 Bike Goals
1) Do a 200 km ride
2) Ride in the 100 Grand, Colorburst, and le Tour de Donut.
3) Log 2600 miles
4) Ride to McBain and/or Midland
5) Do a singlespeed century
6) Do 3 total century rides (or longer)
I guess we'll see how it goes.
One thing about goals...I don't care whether I acheive them but I do care whether I acheive them. That is my way of saying I will be ecstatic if I meet all my goals but I won't be flustered if I don't.
Certain goals will be easier than others. I should be able to meet number two. That is mostly about letting Michelle know ahead of time that I want to participate in these events. She's pretty cool about this.
Number four is also pretty likely. With Michelle's parents and sister in Midland, there will be many opportunities to ride to there. It is a journey I have yet to do by bike, so I can certainly look forward to it. That ride will likely help me to reach number five. I have already traversed 75 miles on Sam so 100-107 shouldn't be too hard. Prioritizing a new saddle for Sam will have to become a priority. I would like to shoot for a used Brooks B-17. I'm thinkin' Ebay.
Which goal is the hardest? Probably number three, 2600 miles for the year. Time, time, time. This is the major determining factor. I gotta be a good dad and husband first.
A 200 km ride will likely take place during either the 100 Grand or the Colorburst. Both events have 100 km courses. My current plan is to ride the course in one direction and then reverse it for the second 100. That way, I can take advantage of the rest stops. Also, I know the roads quite well so there won't be any surprises.
2012 Bike Goals
1) Do a 200 km ride
2) Ride in the 100 Grand, Colorburst, and le Tour de Donut.
3) Log 2600 miles
4) Ride to McBain and/or Midland
5) Do a singlespeed century
6) Do 3 total century rides (or longer)
I guess we'll see how it goes.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Boy does life get busy
I haven't really posted anything since the fall. Got out of the habit I guess. I could go into the details but basically I had to prioritize things in my life and writing an occasional post was not on the priority list. As a quick review:
- I did get to 2400 miles for the year (just barely). I did this via one last cold and painful outdoor ride for the year.
- Michelle's parents moved to Midland. This involved many weekends on that side of the state to help out.
- We moved David to a big boy bed. No progress on potty training. Shucks.
- Hannah has gotten herself a fish tank. She is now trying to save money to get some actual fish.
- We moved a piano from my in-laws to our house and we are hoping to start Hannah on piano lessons soon. This is pretty exciting. As a side note, I don't think I would have imagined myself ever being excited by the thought of "piano lessons". How things change.
- I have a new rear wheel ordered and will hopefully pick it up in the near future. I is a deep V Velocity rim with 32 spokes, all black.
- As of last Friday, my weight was up to 220 lbs. I haven't been in this realm for several years. The holidays were pretty hard. There will be weight loss on the near future. I have already cut back on snacks and sweets and those other extra calories. As of today, my weight was 218.8 lbs.
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