I read this as "I've now gone off Lycra" and was thinking, "how would that cause withdraw problems?" I, for one have been off Lycra for 6 months (the villergers signed a petition), but I hope you start feeling better.

I will NEVER give up Lycra.

PT today ended early because I was so worn out from walking around yesterday. Fortunately I'm doing very well overall so that's not a big deal.

Here's a photo that I'd like to have redone. Not that I look any worse than usual, but I'm curious if I'm almost as tall as Sayre now:



BTW, I've increasingly reading reports of people jogging and running on knee replacements. The current technology of replacements may be that good. That said, old school medical professionals will advise against anything with impact. However, I don't see why I can't eventually 'walk/jog' a 5k as I did before. My new knees are good enough. Mr. Kulp, care to Shiver at the River again?

Now I get it~! Call me slow...

Sick again. Cancelled PT for the rest of the week. I think I'm reacting badly to something in my diet. My digestive tract isn't functioning right this week. At first I thought it was the Coumadin, but I've been on the drug for seven weeks and not had problems until now. Also, I've been consistently been on the lowest INR levels for the drug. I might need to eliminate dairy and wheat and see if I improve with either gone.

I was up at 8:15, left the house an hour later, helped my mother move, spent time with my nieces and nephews, stopped by my bike shop, and hiked the 3/4 mile Black Rock Sanctuary Interpretive Trail. Picked up dinner, and was in bed by 7:15. Spent nearly 11 hours out and about.... my first time spending an entire day out of the house and not needing a nap. I am tired and very sore.

I took Tylenol at 9 AM and 7 PM. I should have taken one mid-day. Perhaps I overdid it?

View from the trail I hiked:

If you can still stand up and walk tomorrow, you didn't overdo it. Keep doing that sort of thing and the challenges of the past couple of months will quickly become but a memory.

My physiotherapist, doctor, and wife always warn me against overdoing things when I am feeling better as they know I will probably do more than my body allows and that this can cause immediate problems or pain that can and has crippled me for days afterwards.

I try and avoid painkillers as much as possible as some of them are too good and will allow you to cause further injury to oneself.

If you are only taking Tylenol that is a good sign although this can be a dangerous drug and is responsible for more overdoses than anything because people will take it in such large quantities thinking it is safe.

Tylenol does nothing for me... the painkillers I have will turn you into a honey badger.



I am slowly getting closer to where I was before my tilt down the stairs and don't want to derail this recovery as I have things to overdo and have my first real group ride of the year scheduled for tomorrow.

Neil... you are really putting the H,T, and F into HTFU here.

Big surprise was that I didn't get any sleep. So while I can walk today, I spent most of the day sleeping the sleep I didn't get last night. Turns out exercise to the point of tiredness brings on slumber, but exercise to the point of exhaustion doesn't.

Aside from the general fatigue and the soreness in the soft tissues around the knees, I'm having the problem I feared and Rowan warned about - back pain from adjusting to a new gait. In my case, it's both in the back and the diaphragm - probably because I tense muscles when walking. I expect once my body learns the new gait, I'll be ok.

The maximum dose for Tylenol is 4k mg in a 24 hour period. I'm nowhere near that, having 2 500 mg tablets in 24 hours. I don't want anything narcotic or honey-badgerish, since I want to be alert. And not only because I drive myself anywhere I need to go. Its a philosophy of life; I don't drink or use recreational drugs because they interfere with thinking and provide no benefit. And I'll not take massive amounts of pain pills because, well, I knew going in that I'd have pain from time to time.

I'll Shiver by the River again. Up until yesterday, the Shiver was my second best time!

By the way - today I ran a race that I think you'd really enjoy. At Alvernia College they held the "Beat Beethoven" 5 & 10k races. The Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra played Beethoven selections for spectators throughout the duration of the race. If you finished the 5k before the symphony took its first break (approximately 30 minutes) or the 10k by the second break (approx. 1 hour) you received a little button saying "I Beat Beethoven." It seemed to be very successful for a first year event with more than 500 runners in attendance. The classical music and rustic course made me think it would be right up your alley.

Amusing idea, but I'm a long way from running anything at the moment.

You spent more time out and about than I did. Congrats!

Thank you.

PT today went better than I feared. Problem area was the left hamstring, as usual too tight. Its stretching more and more, and the PT folks think I'll get to near zero in the next couple of weeks. Right one gets to zero without a problem.

Walking is getting better. The problem I have is that if you tell me to work on something, I wind up emphasizing it. So while heel strike and bending the leg when I walk are important, I've been taking it too far. The goal is to keep the good traits I've learned and smooth them out so I don't lurch from side to side like Frankenstein's monster. That, and the muscle adjustments I wrote about, are what's causing the back pain on long walks.

I told the trainer I want to ride Crush the Commonwealth next year. When I explained what that was, he was at a loss for words. After he got over the surprise, he told me "your training has to start now."

And speaking of training, I'll be going back to the gym for upper body and core workouts. I was advised start at a tenth of what I normally would do and add back a tenth each session. The idea is that after 3 weeks I should be lifting what I did before surgery. The cautious pace is to allow me to ease back into it without hurting myself.

I just thought it was something you might enjoy. Hopefully it'll be back again next year. I have every reason to believe it will.

Always keep that in the back of your mind until you are 100%. Keep up the great work and progress!!!!!!!!

We'll see how well I "run" then. I personally expect not to be improved from last time. Except I won't hurt myself.

It will be easy to achieve. I've not done any lifting since last year. I'll be exhausted even thinking about it.

Hey Neil, I hope you are getting on well after the medical treatments.

No doubt it's going to take some time to get adjusted.

I went through a process lasting more than 3 years trying to once again walk on my own after an injury, so don't let up.

Best wishes.

PS

Save your painkiller meds, for a time in the future when you feel much better.

Cinco de Mayo!

It looks all good, Neil, and the increased height seems to have made you look slimmer. Well done.

Yep - looking good!