برچسب: Back

  • Bouncing Back Again – BionicOldGuy


    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”:

    https://youtu.be/4Qb8W5Ko9mw?si=UVptd7dnIFxTkGD0

    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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  • Don’t look back in anger

    Don’t look back in anger


    2024 is drawing to a close, so I wanted to hit you with one final newsletter before the chaos of 2025 kicks off.

    It’s that time of year where our brains will almost automatically look back on the past year.

    What went right, what went wrong.

    What we accomplished, what we failed to follow through on.

    If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to overindex on the “what went wrong” part, and feel all sorts of negative emotions around those things.

    We might look back with guilt at something we did or didn’t do. As I mentioned in an earlier newsletter, I’m somebody who has the most amount of “Catholic guilt” even though I’m not religious.

    I stumbled across a story a few months back that I’m still thinking about. Allegedly, there’s no word in the Tibetan language that directly translates to “guilt.” The closest possible translation is something closer to “intelligent regret.”

    I don’t speak Tibetan and I haven’t been able to track down a Tibetan speaker to confirm this, but I think it’s a beautiful sentiment that can help us as we move into 2025.

    Guilt can be corrosive and unproductive. But as Dan Pink points out in his book The Power of Regret, looking backward with the right kind of regret about things that happened or didn’t happen can actually be powerful and transformative for our future selves.

    So, rather than trying to live a life of “no ragrets” (the opposite of intelligence)…

    We can apply regret intelligently to how 2024 went.

    So, in honor of the band Oasis reuniting for the coming year, don’t look back in anger (still an all-time jam, by the way).

    Instead…let’s look back with curiosity.

    Look back with curiosity, not judgment.

    Take some time today, and look back on your year with curiosity, not judgment.

    Did you accomplish the things they wanted to accomplish? Great! I bet you learned something.

    Did your life go off the rails and you spent most of the year just trying to stay afloat! Great! I bet you learned something! Did you start and stop and bail on a goal repeatedly? Great! I bet you learned something!

    Write these things down. Notice the emotions you feel as you look back. Write down what you learned, and how that can inform future decisions or choices you make.

    Maybe you learned that you hate running, or that going Keto was an absolute failure, or that becoming a first-time parent really messed with your life entirely, or that we can’t stick to a morning routine.

    These are all things that happened. Now, we must decide what sort of emotion to apply to those things.

    Remember, the past isn’t set in stone, and some of these setbacks or failures might be the very lesson you needed to learn for Future You. They might be the catalyst for your next step forward.

    Remember, it’s NOT “I screwed up/failed, therefore I’m a lost cause…”

    It’s, “I screwed up/failed, and learned this lesson I can apply towards 2025.”

    How will 2025 be different?

    Next week, we’ll be kicking off our free 5-day challenge with coach Matt from Team NF.

    If 2024 didn’t turn out the way you wanted or hoped, I’m sorry.

    Life is weird and change is hard.

    Let’s make 2025 different! After all, if you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always got.

    If you want things to be different, let’s make that happen.

    The Nerd Fitness Rebellion will be with you all the way.

    Have a great holiday, and I’ll talk to you next week.

    -Steve

    PS: Here’s that sign-up one more time for our free 5-day challenge. Cheers!



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  • Back To Longer Rides – BionicOldGuy

    Back To Longer Rides – BionicOldGuy


    I am back to being able to do longer rides as long as long as I don’t overdo the intensity. I think what went wrong that led to my recent sciatica flare-up was that I had combined long rides with hard riding, including sprints and intervals on the same day. Now I’m keeping the pace “brisk but comfortable” for the longer rides, and only doing more intense riding on shorter rides. So far so good!

    I went for over three hours relatively easy paced last Saturday and yesterday and it felt great. Yesterday was my group ride, we went around Chesbro and Uvas reservoirs West of Morgan Hill. This involved some steep climbs, but I was able to control the effort with electric assist on my recumbent. Recently I’ve been keeping to shorter rides on my upright but I think my back is recovered enough to go further on that bike also.

    It was cloudy and a bit cold the first part of yesterday’s ride but the sun came out to stay when we were taking a break at Uvas reservoir.





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  • Fighting My Way Back – BionicOldGuy

    Fighting My Way Back – BionicOldGuy


    The inflammation that has flared up my sciatica seems to be clearing up. The discomfort is no longer interfering with sleep at night, and I am carefully ramping my training back up, so far with no ill-effects. On Wednesday I was able to ride for an hour and even threw in some shorter intervals and some on-bike strength training. I was prepared to back off if there had been any pain referring down my left leg from the sciatica, but fortunately didn’t have to. On Thursday I was able to resume my upper-body strength training which was also well tolerated. Yesterday I went on an enjoyable brisk 90 minute ride. Now I just have to continue improving but watch out for the temptation to go too hard which could lead to a backslide.

    Beautiful Green hills East of Morgan Hill on Wednesday
    Looking Northwest from Watsonville road Thursday
    View Towards El Toro from Coyote Creek Trail yesterday





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