“Take what the defense gives you” – BionicOldGui

This is a saying about working within your limitations. For example, in American football, the quarterback wants to make a long pass, but that receiver is covered by defenders, so he makes a shorter pass to someone who is open. I’ve been doing this for years, but in my case the “defense” is the frailties of aging. My favorite activity was running, but I had to stop when I got arthritis, and now I can’t because of artificial hips. So I took up hiking and cycling. Recently, hiking hasn’t been working so well due to various lower back and hip issues. But what I liked most about cycling was being deeper in nature and away from the urban environment, and I can achieve that with mountain biking (as long as it’s on easy trails because I’m not that talented as a mountain biker).

Lately it seems that even if I stick to cycling, I can still have a setback when I push too hard. The last one was last week when I did mine recumbent group ride. It was great at the time, but later in the day it became painful to walk because something was messed up in my lower back. I think I irritated the SI joint on that side. This was especially frustrating because I didn’t really know what I had done, I didn’t think I had gone that hard during the ride. So I took it easy for a few days, shorter rides at a slower pace. And until yesterday I was fine again. I guess I’ll have to get used to this. I just have some orthopedic issues that can pop up from time to time and I have to back off when they do. But I reminded myself that what I enjoy most about exercise is being out in the fresh air and the relaxation that comes with it. And, luckily, I can do this even when I’ve calmed down during an attack.