A Beautiful Day Off

Just taking a quick break from doing chores, running errands, and such on this Veteran's Day, and what a perfect day it is. I took the dogs walking on the trails around Shawnee Mission Park earlier and I don't think you could create better weather. I started in a sweatshirt but quickly peeled it off and was comfortable in jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt. The air is dry, with a nice little breeze, and the sky is blue. The grass is still green, but the leaves are colorful and all over place. The undergrowth has thinned enough that the dogs only have minimal stickies to comb out. The ground is dry. Absolutely nothing to complain about, and I'm in a great mood from it. And to top it all off, my back doesn't hurt.

I've had strange thing going on with my lower back--about where it becomes the butt--for around the last month. It started with tight muscles that got worse when I ran, leaving me extra stiff and sore. After the Mahaffie Half-Marathon it became pain. I took a few days off, but the first time I tried exercising after (I think it was a bike ride), it got quite severe. Just on one side, but it was bad enough that I went to see the doctor. She told me to heat and stretch it, which I was already doing, and take the muscle relaxants she prescribed. I did, and thought I would be OK if I just swam while taking a break from the biking and running. It kept getting worse, though, becoming a sharp, biting pain when I moved that leg and a dull throb the rest of the time. I was noticably limping for about a week. So I haven't done anything active for the last week and have finally started seeing some improvement. Wednesday I walked slowly with the dogs and took breaks to sit and read. Now today I did 40 minutes of vigorous hiking with no problems. I'm planning on mowing the lawn (a final time for the year to get rid of leaves) after this.

I was thinking while we walked about the cyclical nature of my exercise habits. When I go, I go all out. I can pace myself fine when I'm doing the activities, but I have a tendency to keep piling on the workouts without enough easy days for recovery. Eventually my back starts hurting or I get sick or I wear out or whatever, and I end up taking more time off than I would like. A bit of moderation would help with consistency; but I enjoy it more when I don't hold back. I kind of like the analogy of the fantasy quest I see in so many of the books I read. The Fellowship of the Ring is a good, well-known example. The hobbits desperately flee the Shire, almost die, then recover with Tom Bombadil. They desperately march through the wilderness before and after Weathertop, almost die, then make it to Rivendell and recover. They desperately push through the Mines of Moria, almost die, then recover in Lothlorien. I work out kind of like that, I just get frustrated when the breaks come sooner and more often than I'd like.

Actually I see that pattern in most of the things I do. I go through phases where I read a ton, then I don't feel like reading for a while and take a break. Right now I am obviously writing a bunch on this blog, but it comes after a couple of months of almost nothing at all. I like projects at my job so I can focus on something, do it all out and really well, but then finish it and move on to something else. I wouldn't say I obsess when I'm in the midst of things, but I like to put myself completely into whatever I'm doing and really focus on doing it well. The only problem is eventually I need a break when going that hard. Well, not the only problem, since it applies to things like eating, which I tend to do all-out as well. As much as I exercise I should be much thinner, but I don't seem to burn out on overeating as easily as I burn out on other things. Oh, well, I'm generally healthy and don't enjoy the misery of depriving myself too much. And it's still a beautiful day, so I should wrap up and get back outside with that lawnmower.