Prosthetically Hip

A Real Pain in my Ass

March 2, 2011 10:41am

So, back in November of 2007, I busted my tailbone while refereeing a rollerderby bout. Ouch.

Lately though, in increasing frequency, I’ve been feeling this twinge of pain in my right hip. The trigger is inconsistent, and sometimes it seems to also shoot down my leg, but it’s there. It’s also put a serious damper on my new running initiative.

Well, since reading about it is one thing and actually talking to a professional is entirely another, I saw a doctor yesterday. It would appear that I have sciatica. It’s not severe or a result of a slipped disc, but it’s there. It tends to kick in when I’ve been sitting down for a while (especially if I’ve been slouching), and on the couch we watch tv on, but it could always be worse.

I’ve already started trying to stretch out my hamstrings (they’ve always been super-tight), and I’m also making better notes of my posture. While it wasn’t bad to begin with, it could be better. I’ve started to do that stretch where you lay on your back, and twist your lower body while keeping your back on the ground.

Soon: crunches and lower-back strengthening will be added to the daily routine. The shitty part is that if I stretch or bend a certain way, I’m aware of my tailbone. It’s not that it hurts, but it almost just feels sore.

Stupid compressed nerves. But, if it’s a reason to improve, then I’ll choose to see the bright side of it.

I think this sums up my take on it (and Global Warming / Environmentalism overall) quite nicely:

And yes, I get the irony that this blog is named Prosthetically Hip, and I now have an “hip issue”.

Running Progress

January 26, 2011 9:27am

Well, my new shoes feel awesome. It’s been quite cold here lately, so I’ve had to institute my weather rule more often than I’d like.

The rule goes like this: If it’s colder than 40°, I’m not running. It’s pretty simple. When I was a kid, I had a pretty rough case of bronchitis, and it seems to flare up when I exercise in the cold – hence my rule.

I did finally bring Bosceaux today with me, and he was great. Managed to find my fastest, most comfortable pace: 9:00/mile. I know I can go a bit faster – the first mile of me at my own pace the other week was 8:30 – but 9:00 is really my comfort zone, which is good to know. And today, I managed not to drop pace until about 2.25mi into the run.

Runkeeper has been helpful – every 5 minutes or so, it’ll pause my music ( currently Ricky B’s Shake it fo yo Hood and The Sword’s Age of Winters ) and a voice will tell me my average pace, total distance, total time, and then resume the music. It’s not a race, it’s just relevant, helpful data.

And this may just be to normal fluctuations, but I weighed in at 163.5 when I got home this morning – 4 pounds less than the last post. So, progress, it would seem.

Tomorrow brings a video-game/nerd themed hash and Friday is another run. Three days in a row, then a weekend of comic-con.

Maximum Capacity

January 5, 2011 1:22pm

Disclaimer: the number in this post isn’t what bothers me. I don’t want to hear bitching about numbers (mine especially or yours), unless you’re unhappy about yours and want to do something about it.

I hopped on the scale recently (something I’ve never owned before, and still rarely step on), the other day, and saw a number that was new to me: 167.5.

This is the most I’ve ever weighed, topping my post-Katrina expansion. And I don’t really care about that, because it’s all relative. I don’t care that I weigh that, I care that my BMI is high. I also care that I wasn’t able to button a pair of pants.

The problem is I have become sedentary. I’m traditionally used to a much more active lifestyle, and that just isn’t happening these days. Between the day job, the design/development LLC that Bea and I formed, the housework, and the less-than-happy knees, I just haven’t been exercising. And I /need/ to. I want to.

I just have to make the time. And I am. My friends Chum Dumpster and Everything Butt Sex have been meeting up at NOMA M-W-F at 6am-ish to run 5k. Chum and EBS are hashers who have been concentrating on the drinking part of hashing over the running part. While they run a slower pace than I do, they’re doing the hard part: getting up and doing it. This is what I need. So, Mondays I plan on bringing one dog, and Friday the other, leaving Wednesdays to myself. The pups need exercise too, especially chubby little Indy.

And as for the knees/etc, I’ve already taken the first step, so to speak: I went to the Louisiana Running Co to get fitted for a new pair of shoes: K-Swiss K-Ona C. They’re meshy on top and drain out of the bottom! THE BOTTOM! I really liked that place, too. Just a two-person startup, and I didn’t feel like I was being “sold to” – he just wanted to help me run how I wanted to (no races / half-marathons / full marathons). I definitely recommend them.

Now, obviously running won’t fix the problem alone. I have plans to mountain bike (at least a few laps at the spillway) every few weeks, and do Wii Fit on an almost daily basis.

There are of course dietary concerns, and all I’m going to say is that I’m already making a concerted effort to eat better, and especially cut out as much high fructose corn syrup / crap foods overall. I also understand that it’s just not practical to go whole-hog on that effort, so it’ll be within reason. The last thing I want to is stress out about what I’m eating. If you are (or if you aren’t) familiar with the next handful of months in NOLA, then you should read Pistolette’s excellent rationalization on eating and goals in NOLA.

And as usual, she has inspired Bea and I with our life this year. We have a list of goals, broken down into months, for the year. We’re gonna get a lot of shit done that we’ve been putting off. We’re tired of a project being 85% done.

 

Water water everywhere, but not a drop to drink

July 15, 2010 10:06pm

I’ve had a lingering tiredness lately, and I think I can pin it down to more or less two reasons:

1) I’ve been exceedingly busy. This too will pass.

2) I’m not exercising enough. I used to bike commute daily, and run every Thursday night. Hell, I used to bike everywhere. But now, I almost entirely work from home, and when I tend to go to the office, I drive. I also haven’t been to the hash, so that scraps my Thursday run. And unless there’s beer and a social and puzzle aspect to running, I don’t like it.

3) High fructose corn syrup. What can I say? A brother likes his Coke. I also happen to love the taste of that Full Throttle energy drink. They may help a bit, but the “crash” is really not worth it. I just need to scrap the syrup and revert to water again. And it being summer, drinking more than, if not at least, the proper amount of water is nothing but a good thing.

This of course reminds me of two germane videos, each worth watching (in my opinion):

 
So, if you see me with a Coke or other non-alcoholic, non-boozy drink in my hands, tell me to get a water. Seriously.