I finished up my round of antibiotics and have been asymptomatic for a few days now, so the last couple for days I’ve been able to workout for longer and with higher intensity and it felt great. Yesterday I went on a brisk long cruise of just under three hours. The only problem was it was hotter than I realized so I got a little dehydrated, which didn’t feel well later but I recovered OK. It’s always important to hydrate enough so I’ll watch that in the future. It’s also probably time to go into “summer mode” and take ice water in my hydration bags. Aside from that little glitch training has been good lately. I just have to avoid getting too enthused and overdoing which could flair my sciatica back up.
The Northern Part of Coyote Valley. Still pretty, but unfortunately going from green to brown since we haven’t had a lot of late spring rain
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I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in the mechanical CAE field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road.
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I’m on antibiotics for a bacterial infection since yesterday noon, and from previous experience this should make me feel better quickly. I’m referring to the symptoms I reported in my last post. It turned out that I was not feeling better by last Monday, but by then was pretty sure what it was so I messaged my doctor. He sent me for a test the same day and we got the results on Wednesday. This is brisk for the medical system nowadays, it can take weeks to get into see a specialist, but fortunately I did not need to see him in person, and he’s very quick responding to messages.
/* TMI ALERT
The next paragraph may be TMI about medical issues for some, so feel free to skip it.
This turned out to be a recurrence of urinary tract infection I had back in 2021. I’ve had no problems with that area of my anatomy since then because of a procedure I underwent in 2022. After this round of infection is kicked out in a few days, I’ll follow up with my doctor (Urologist) to find out what went wrong. It’s possible one or more the clips installed in the Urolift procedure came undone, which can be fixed in a follow-up minimally invasive procedure. Alternatively I could undergo a slightly more involved procedure like Turp could be done which would be more permanent. We’ll see what my urologist thinks. Que Sera, Sera.
/* END TMI ALERT
It’s been a week of not feeling 100% now. During that time I was able to do easy 30 minute rides most days, with one short session each of strength training for the lower and upper bodies, which is fine for maintaining strength through a short period like this. I’ll soon be feeling well enough to start ramping up the time. But going through things like this always makes me rethink things. I’ve been making too much of my training hard. I’ve talked about polarized training in the past, but my favorite interpretation of it is Clarence Bass’s rule of thumb “I walk and I sprint, I don’t do anything in between”. For him this translates to brisk walks most days, short but intense strength training 1 day, and short but intense cardio another. In my case that should be I ride easy for a bit longer most days, supplemented with infrequent short intense training days (with strength training and intervals and sprints on the bike). That’s what I always start out with. But over time I stray from it, by being tempted to push the pace on easy days or lengthen what should be the short intense days. Time for a reset.
I especially have to keep in mind that the main purpose of the longer easier rides is relaxation. This is illustrated in a fun way in this Youtube video I found on the channel “A Bike To Escape”:
The discussion about easy cycling for relaxation is fun, and the scenery in the Netherlands is beautiful, and the Dutch cycling infrastructure amazing. But “bloom where your planted”, I can find similar relaxation on bike paths or quieter roads near me.
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I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in the mechanical CAE field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road.
View all posts by BionicOldGuy
I was feeling great last week doing some long brisk rides. But after a particularly hard ride last Wednesday, my sciatica flared up again badly, this time on the left side. For a couple of days it kept me awake act night because I could not find a sleeping position without severe pain radiating down the left leg. Fortunately after a couple of days of resting and no riding, it calmed down enough so since last Saturday onward I could sleep. On Saturday I did some easy arm cycling, and from then till now I’ve been able to do easy riding for 30 minutes, without any pain referring down the leg. So I think the inflammation is going down and the sciatic nerve is not being compressed much. I am also doing all the PT I know to open up the area. Over the next few days I’ll continue to slowly and easily ramp up my riding as tolerated. I know the drill from past experience, it can take up to two weeks of taking it easy for this to clear up. This episode was well timed because it’s been pretty rainy here lately so I didn’t miss as much by curtailing my riding.
Fortunately It had been several months since my last bout of this. I intend to keep my average daily training down to 90 minutes or less to avoid another recurrence. It had drifted up over two hours a day last week when the relapse hit. I will also try to do a better job doing PT to strengthen the muscles that stabilize the hip and lower back area.
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Published by BionicOldGuy
I am a Mechanical Engineer born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in the mechanical CAE field for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in outdoor activities and fitness. I have had both hips replaced and a heart valve replacement due to a genetic condition. This blog chronicles my adventures in staying active despite these bumps in the road.
View all posts by BionicOldGuy
