Born Again Gym Rat: Running As Fast As I Can Just To Stay in Place

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Running As Fast As I Can Just To Stay in Place

muscles and nerves

I spent the entire weekend limping around with my left hip sporadically twinging when I least expected it. Then I realized that I hadn't been taking my fish oil or Vitamin D lately. Ugh. My husband suggested that I look into getting the dog some leg braces so I've been researching my options. I called my vet but of course she has no experience with this sort of injury and had to consult the more senior doc. He's the one who initially diagnosed our dog with the first CCL rupture and suggested surgery.

Funny how he never mentioned braces as an option. But he didn't push it either since it's outrageously expensive, and our dog is so high-strung that he'd never put up with wearing a cone for 6-8 weeks, or go to rehab 3X weekly. He doesn't like car rides, has chewed through chain link fencing, busted down crate doors, and is generally just a big furry baby who wants to sit on my lap through it all. Okay.

Because the dog is not a surgical candidate, I think braces are the only option to give him a reasonable life. He's alert and happy most of the time, even at 13 so I can't even imagine euthanizing him just because his knees are broken. His right leg works reasonably well, but since it's also damaged, it just isn't strong enough to support his full weight for more than a few minutes at a time. So he can stand, and walk a few steps, but then it's just too painful and strenuous for him. I've been using the hip harness, and even after we get stifle braces for his legs, we'll probably continue to use the hip harness to give him support. Those braces aren't cheap either!

So it is with some trepidation that I get myself to the gym this morning. I take it slow and easy, trying to find the right position for my foot on the Cross-trainer so that I don't feel my anterior hip. After 30 minutes, I actually forget all about the twinge. It never arises during my entire workout. Not during push ups, pull ups, crunches, Smith inclined benching, Smith SLDLs, Smith one-leg squats, or even the last 30 minutes of cardio on the Precor.

It's only once I get home and have to step over the dog that something twists amiss, and I get a twinge. Ugh. I spent yesterday on the phone with the generator repair guy, going over their bill and estimate. They're two towns over and about 20 minutes away. Well, oops, they punched in the wrong location code and billed me $225 too much for travel time. WTF? For the estimate, the fellow tells me that he can piggyback the voltage regulator express shipping charge of $250 onto another item they're ordering for a major cable company. And then he tries to cut the installation estimate time so that's another $50. But, he warns me, if the tech they send out runs into issues, they'll have to charge for additional time. Okay.

So that's over $500 I've managed to get dropped off the cost of repairing my generator. With Hurricane Season off to an early start this year, I think it prudent to have all my emergency equipment in good working order. My electrician suggests replacing my 20 yr old 5 kw unit with a brand new 7 kw one. Bare bones cost and installation runs around $4K. I tell him about my dog, and he tells me that his wife doesn't even tell him what their dog's medical bills are anymore, and we table that discussion. As long as we do our maintenance work, we should be able to keep our unit running for a few more years. Whew!

I have an eye doc appt tomorrow for my annual Visual Field test. It'll tell me how much more vision I've lost to glaucoma. It's not suppose to be noticeable, but now that I know what the vision loss looks like (courtesy of a very informative chart in my glaucoma specialist's office), I'm aware of the weird small, fuzzy grey "dead spot" in the center of my vision that only appears on a bright field of black text on white pages. Thank goodness it's sporadic and infrequent. I had my pressure checked a few weeks ago, and I was disappointed that they were 14 and 15. Too high for someone like me. Ugh.

After the eye doc, I'm going to head to the gym and whack the machine a bit. I like to change up my routines so this week I figure I'd do full body today, kickboxing tomorrow, Chest and Shoulders on Thursday, and Back and Legs on Friday. It's a plan at least. Trying hard not to get too decrepit too fast. I've still got so much more stuff to do before the summer starts... Ugh.

Tuesday Workout
(6.4 miles total cardio; 22,779 lbs moved)