Annual Birthday Assessment

    This is intended as my birthday post, I'm a wee bit late, as I seem to be time warping this month, and am amazed that February is more than half over already. About a decade ago, I've lost track of exactly when, I made a vow to myself that every year on my birthday I would be healthier than I was the previous year. The more years that pass, the more difficult this becomes. Not because I am losing the desire, or slacking, or throwing in the towel. To the contrary, it is because I am damned healthy, and the fitter I get, the smaller the gains are. I keep tweaking my life and lifestyle, dialing it in, seeking perfection, always aiming high.
    I will start with the physical aspects. This year one of the easiest, most visible gains has been in the swimming pool. I know, it just goes to show what a jock I am. I have been increasing my swim fitness to a level higher than it was at my peak for the 5k swim of my long triathlon. I'm easily swimming 2+ miles every time I am at the pool, which is at least 3 times a week. On my birthday I cut it short, aiming for 1-1/2 miles so I could get to dinner with my boys and their families. I swam that 1-1/2 at a goodly pace, Olympic distance Tri pace, and it felt good. As I climbed out of the pool I realized that 1-1/2 miles = 54 laps, on my 54th birthday. Accidental though it was it seemed appropriate. Today I hit the pool and went for steady rate distance, getting in 100 laps in 1 hour 40 minutes. Not too shabby. One goal this year is to swim the Portland Bridge Swim: 11 miles down the Willamette River. I have a lot of training to do. One benefit is that swimming hard lets me eat damned near as much as I want.
    I am being consistent with my triathlon training, despite not being able to run for a while due to injuries, and what seems to be the onset of rheumatoid arthritis in several joints in my feet (those bastards hurt like hell, by the way). But, I am religiously keeping up with strength training and plyometrics, in conjunction with cycling workouts at least 5 times a week. My current weight is hovering around 162, which has been my happy weight now for almost 2 years. Oddly, I am at the same weight I was in highschool. at 5'10" this gives me a BMI of 23, which is considered "normal." One of the few times I like being called normal.
    I will say, this last year my arthritis has reared its ugly head more and more. Hands, elbows, ankles, and feet being the most noticeable targets. I still avoid pain meds for the most part, just popping the rare Nsaid if something is really hurting. I notice that there is a weird ache that lives in the long bones of my arms, especially along the full length of the ulna. The same weird ache lives along both collar bones and likes to remind me of it when I swim. I do look at other people and wonder what it would be like to live relatively pain-free. But it is a reminder of a life well lived, I think. And as long as I can manage it with nutrition and exercise I plan on doing what I do until I'm 100 or so.
    One key in much of what I have been yammering about has been the continual tweaking of my diet. Honestly, I hate the word "diet" as it always conjures up images of proscribed foods and gimmicky fads. I have been vegetarian now for about 2 years. In the few years before that I was rarely eating meat. I am mostly dairy free, cheese being the only exception. I rarely eat wheat, avoid all processed foods, and consider high fructose corn syrup to be the devil incarnate. My original reasons for giving up wheat and meat was quite simply to attempt to get my joint inflammation under control. It seems to help, and it has rid me of the chronic heartburn I had for 20 years.
   The one thing that has me most pleased this year is that I am free of all prescription meds. I had kicked the anti-depressants to the curb over a year ago, but was still reliant on a sleep aid. Honestly, I think this is the best sign of continued great health that I could have. Yes, being fit, strong, slender, and might I say, sexy, is all good an well, but feeling of sound mind is far better. It is a gift to feel stable, relaxed, and confident. Of course there are days when I let the lunatic out into the sunlight, but now she is more of a Muse, a companion, and half of the balance of light and dark, Yin and Yang.
    This last year I have built some cool shit, had some fun, damn near wrecked myself on a trail run, gimped through the summer, enjoyed my life as it is, made plans to keep increasing the pleasure of my life, added to the value of my home, set goals both small and large. I have built a solid foundation of health and wellness in all aspects of my life, and I aim to keep building, bit by bit. I can only imagine where I will be this time next year.
 

Winter, Arthritis, Supplements, and Always Training

    I have been remiss in my writing lately. Not that I have been slacking on my training, far from it. I still haven't been able to get my running back on track (no pun intended)). It was a long recovery from the knee overuse injury last summer. Then I rolled my ankle, for the millionth time, but it was months before the pain and swelling stopped cropping up randomly. Lately it has been my feet. It is as if the pain and problems are working their way down my legs. Hey, maybe that means they will move on from my feet and out into the earth (I know, I am a bit delusional, but it is my crazy time of year).
    I am worried that I am developing rheumatoid arthritis. My hands have hurt for years, but that rarely effects my training and I can work around it. For a long time I have had problems with the joint between my big toe and the foot bone of my left foot. The last few months I now have a joint on the outside of my right foot that swells and is amazingly painful. So, what to do? What else, keep training, adjust supplements, hope for the best. My biggest concern is that other joints may become effected. But I won't let myself worry about what I cannot control.
    The new regiment includes additional stretching of my feet and toes, running sets in the pool a few times a week, continued leg work with an increase in heavy lifting. I have been working my way through all of my shoes in search of a few pair that don't put pressure on the effected joints, trying to minimize aggravating the issue.
    I have added a few more supplements. I recently started taking MSM. I know it is an effective anti-inflammatory. When I worked for a veterinarian about 20 years ago, he prescribed MSM to geriatric dogs with achy joints. It was only a horse med at the time, most small animal vets hadn't even heard of it. But I have to tell you, it made an amazing difference for the dogs. Just a few days on it and they regained a considerable amount of mobility. And dogs don't lie, they are not susceptible to a placebo effect, so I know it works for some conditions. Our clients thought it was a miracle drug. As for me? I don't know if the inflammation is any less, but I am sticking with it.
    Also on the list is Turmeric. I have used it off and on over the last few years, but not as consistently as I should. A few months ago I started making a concoction of turmeric, a bit of black pepper (which when heated with turmeric makes the active ingredient curcumin much more effective), and cinnamon for flavor, heated in olive oil or water to make a paste. I put a nice teaspoonful in my morning smoothie every day. I should be taking it at night too, but tend to forget. I started being interested in turmeric as a cancer fighting addition to my diet, since I always have the malignant melanoma threat hanging over my head. Better safe than sorry.
    I am revisiting running shoes, again. I didn't have knee issues when I ran in minimal, zero rise shoes. I accidently changed this when I started training for longer distance, when I bought my first pair of Sauconys. I wanted more cushioning for pavement pounding runs, I thought they were zero rise, but they had a 4mm drop. Not much, but That seems to be when knee problems began.It could be a coincidence, but since I will be basically starting all over, I am going to go back to minimal shoe trail running for a while and see if I can get my mojo back.
     So, other than whining about my feet, there isn't much new to report. I am kicking ass in the pool, kicking my own ass anyway. My regular swim is now two miles, and with warmups I am swimming nonstop for 90 minutes at least 3 times a week. Twice a week I follow my swim with an hour of strength training. I've been really enjoying the Broken Endurance set, I've found I love sprint (even if I am not that fast, it is fun).
    Cycling has been my constant, even if the weather prevents me getting outside. I am on my bike at least 4 times a week, usually more. I couple of times a week I do back-to-back spins; one in the morning, one in the evening, for about 90 minutes each. I do know that if I want to increase my speed I think I need a smaller bike frame. Which makes me sad, since I love Joshua. I don't know though, they say, "It's not the bike, it's the rider," so I will just soldier on. Especially since there is no way I can afford another bike.
    Speaking of cycling, I need to get in my Sunday morning spin. And since it is grey, wet, cold, and blustery outside Joshua and I will stream some Netflix and get busy. No rest for the wicked.