Tue 16 Dec (cont.): On to the park. Just the cooldown 5th lap (which were done really leisurely, as was 1) kinda tuckered out genuinely , and 2) trying to figure out how to access stored laps on my Casio watch... which can store 60 laps but no idea what key combos scroll thru recorded ones )... was divine, as proved in a gentle way, I were literally pushing the knee to its sane & constructive boundary. Haven't done much exerting since my running days ended due to this same knee issue (in both knees at the time) in 2023... so not surprised rocking up to the park trail, was gonna be more sightseeing than exercise... Huh -- so since most of the SE entrance trail is 100m of downhill... felt the knee protest from the usual cooling down in the car... but that faded after the level lap of the football field... and felt just as good if not better, climbing the steep 1st big hill, and down the long drop other side, to the stream bed and lowest elevation of the lot. That downhill portion's been near-constant airteeth for weeks, readers -- had never felt the knee sturdy / solid enough, to handle this part of the trail gracefully, not for months anyway. Sure at the end transitioning back to climbing was a bit gimpy... but once climbing, went back to feeling good. Again, huh Even the final climb up the 20% hill... felt more strain than the climb out the streambed... but nothing like trotting atop the structure. This was very, very good... So wow -- guess I need to get 6 hrs sleep and eat just what I'd been eating last night... to get this knee into the fast swimlane
Wed 17 Dec: Change of plan: had to see the PCP for a 6 mo checkup, and since this is December on Maui, the next window to get one would be March Right in the middle of my usual workout (walk-out...?) so kiboshed the structure and the park lap, jings I like my doc; has done more for me a la getting tests, appts, imaging, and general GP stuff, than all of the so-called PCPs I've had in 3 states over the past 20y. Mind you, liked my previous PCP... but whilst a geek about medicine and kind to people (the only acceptable kind of PCP)... he wasn't all that proactive... so liked him as best of a cadre of bad, I guess. This current one's on the ball, funny in the correct way, and gleefully proactive. Now the bottleneck in my healthcare exp (other than her scant availability... which isn't surprising given how she 'medicines') is insurance -- which for the first time since coming back to HI mid-'90s (initial return)... has actually been utilised like a normal human being in a non-Red state... well, one that's not CA Fair to middling review of my serum draws... staying mostly stable, but a jump in a reading I'm vulnerable on, and one that's explained by a flu shot day-of (wanted to 2-birds-1-stone; ended up mucking up the draw results if I didn't know what caused it). Also been eating a lot more chicken breast, which explained other out-of-pale readings. So not great, not horrible. Watch your Vit D... (cont. next post)
Wed 17 Dec (cont.): Ended up getting an xray of my knee -- finally. This is prelim for the actual consult with the ortho doc next yr... but since this morning was shot already, why not get it done (3 blocks up the hill, why not). So met with a cheery Local girl radiologist who answered some questions about the reasons for this first before the expensive pics... and also some side ones about how much actual rads she's expected to be exposed to with this old equipment, and what element provides the xrays (~30 - 35mSv, well below the 50 allowed; and a tungsten-rhenium alloy). Had no idea an alloy was used for creating xray imaging -- and just learned about rhenium in a YT video last night -- pretty rare element. Also, didn't know that lead, when exposed to high-energy electrons (beta radiation) such as in a particle accelerator... will actually emit xrays (high-energy photons). So lead isn't a de facto shield for all ionising radiation -- or in the case the video I watched had, needs two separate layers of lead, to fully protect your DNA from cancer risk. (cont. next post)
Wed 17 Dec (cont.): Oh - forgot to mention... had made a mistake setting the appt time, so showed up as noted on my calendar... 1.5 hrs early (normally set my notification for an hour prior... but must've really fat-fingered this one. Auto-setting-calendar-date text app? You're fired). So with this lead time, figured why not take a lap around the neighborhood around the clinic, just to get my knee some steps... As mentioned in other bodywork posts before... you must make your injured joint reasonably do the thing you want it to do, by doing them... often past your comfort zone. But also as hammered home several times in this novel of a thread... you can't gung-ho do this, or the recovery from impatience can be longer than holding back a bit. Had that in mind, walking this neighborhood, which is in Wailuku. Wailuku, is on a pretty steep hill. Its name in Hawaiian means 'crazy water' or 'crazy stream', and this is probably because the Iao Stream, which emits from the massive and picturesque Iao Valley... often floods -- catastrophically (a team of National Geographic surveyors once hiked into the Valley, and were never seen alive again after a massive storm trapped them). More grade = more speed = more mayhem. Not unreasonable, given that we live on volcanic shield volcanoes -- you gonna get used to land that isn't plumb.* Wailuku is a milder version of some pretty kooky hills here on Maui, and around the State... That said... the knee was not happy being off the comparatively-controlled environment of the park trail, where there are lots of places to rest. I'm in here in a 1940 - 1950s era housing development that cannot be expanded for the sake of sidewalks or pedestrian accommodation of any sort... because in 1940, you had to really be someone, to own a car -- so all streets were basically sized for Local walking traffic. But now that you need cars to get anything done on Maui, and cars are crossovers 1K lbs and a foot longer and wider than cars even 30y ago... walking in this neighborhood around rush hour, means you cover your own unprotected arse. And the knee didn't like that. After ducking back to the clinic after a lap to get a drink in the car, headed out again (45 mins left)... and got a call from the clinic. We can see you now I'm literally at the furthest point of the lap before heading back Because of course... (cont. next post)
Wed 17 Dec (cont.): So hobbling uphill now, back to the clinic... got in and were seen for the usual numbers... then dovetail into the above doc visit Afterward... my rule is no workout, no eat. So drove back across town to my healthfood store for brekkies, and drove back to the park. Figured more than equalled the structure laps with those two laps of upper Wailuku... so just did the park. Hmm. Yeah that ~30 mins walking on hard ground, the knee needed it... but wasn't going to say 'thank you sir may I have another' at the park That said... despite the pounding it took atop the structure yesterday... the knee felt at the bottom of the big drop to the stream, quite unbothered, if feeling a bit stiffer (which may be muscular vs. ligament or meniscus-related -- walked some pretty good grades in Wailuku). Walking up and out was harder, but not because the joint were crying out, but from muscular strain... so far so good. Was looking forward to exposing the knee to more varied walking... and today proved I underestimated how entrained it would get, to just a few weeks doing clinically-similar exercises (mostly, to make progress meaningful by zeroing out the very variables it needs to develop). So think I'm out of the testing phase now, and just need to keep eye on ball whilst doing the plethora of 'normal' stuff with this knee... whilst remaining consistent with exercise every day... thru pain, if necessary
