Mon 12 Jan 26: No workout today -- had an early doc appt, so had to bork the usual routine. Thankfully the universe has not chosen that arena to pop yet another set of fangs from this dying Year of the Snake, into my third point -- all ok Did get a few useful (to me, anyway) tidbits from the interactions: - the amt of time typical for a perfectly good cardio echo (ultrasound) to degrade into diagnostically-relevant when your diet goes to shite, varies person-to-person due to age, genetic factors, existing disease, etc.... but typically happens well within the span of time between echoes. How much is that? Every 3 - 4 yrs. Why this is important, is due to my dietary / medical history. From 1993 - 2017, had eaten fast food almost exclusively -- and from the worst drive-thru slop-mongers out there (Wendy's being my favourite). Had to change due to panc -- and since then, beans and greens were my staples, all else excluded. My '24 echo showed perfect -- despite 2 - 3 x Trenta Java Chip Fraps, 2 x Wendy's Doubles / 5 x Double Stacks (note: when DSes were $1 and Doubles $4.xx, 15y ago), 2 x largest fries and 2 x Large Frosty. This was one friggin' meal, and I'd eat 2 of these, every day for years. And then came panc, only 2y moved back to after WA. No longer cold enough to burn off that junk... got metabolic disease. As well I should have... So 6y after panc changed my diet forever, big-pipe echoes were squeaky-clean -- even to me who ate right and exercised, that were surprising. This is huge... and proves (at least w/ my cane labourer genes), one can definitively use diet to maintain health of the the worst killer of old cantankerous men who don't eat right nor take their meds as prescribed, but say they do -- metabolic disease Just gotta actually do it -- which I'll venture is more a mental, puncture-the-petulance thing with old men than anything Knee feels... pretty good! Stiff a little bit tho... so hope tmw doesn't sneak another exercise-eraser into my life
Mon 12 Jan 26 (addendum): Worked on a client taken last Sat -- was framed to me as a hard case, but they'd not had much luck w/ Western medical orthodoxy (or "healthcare" )... AS you may've gathered by now... that's not a rare situ at all. Lots of hard cases come to me, often sailing years over my head as I don't advertise (that's how you get the full-bull kooks in the door, worshipping me as a guru or some sh** -- just a technician folks, don't get your expectations where I can't possibly fulfill them). So like most clients of this type, had to set them before I touched a single square inch on their body. Ready for it, they said... nothing else was working. Long, long list of health issues, from twice-done knee surgeries to spinal disc supportive surgery in lumbo-sacral area (big fat red flag), to the 'beetus-melleetus, to osteoarthritis in all phalanges and a particularly-dangerous (and f***ing freaky described to me) brain surgery. And blood thinners atop that. Talk about a friggin' South-Pacific-rainforest-banyan of a diagnostic tree... Risks that actually applied to the work: pressure limits (neuropathy from long-term 'beetus makes feedback from injury delayed or non-existent, increasing risk working at my depths... so conservative hard-stops there. Age made all the big pipes doubly-taboo (just have to recall my massage instructor's story of their mentor's elderly client bleeding out on the table, because they went too aggressively after a neck muscle knot and injured the carotid bifurcation -- very fragile over 70yo. Death in seconds, not minutes or hours)... so no core or deep leg or neck work. Could feel the ties on my hands w/ every detail of the contraindications... But luckily... most of the progress in this broken and exquisitely-tender body... were in the feet. And boy mommy -- did they have some pain in the feet. When you overwork your big toe by doing pickup sports when your muscles are atrophied from 50 hrs doing something not sporty but the complete opposite (sitting in a chair)... the flexor for that toe, used to doing the main work of propelling you in any direction you choose but mostly forward... develops a knot called a trigger point (TrP). This keeps the muscle from both contracting and relaxing properly. Think of a long spring, like one on your door closer. Now tie a knot in it. It can no longer stretch to full length, nor can its intrinsic contraction use anything but the length of spring outside the knot. Very similar situ w/ living muscles harbouring knots -- they become inferior shadows of their healthy selves. This creates compensation by nearby muscles that do something like what the flexor hallucis big toe flexor does... but because they didn't evolve to match the strength of the main mover, they tire easily... which means they too can form TrPs. This continues to happen -- debility, recruitment, exhaustion, recruitment further away... until the lower leg runs out of options in itself. Now it'll send the responsibility headwards -- because that's where more muscles are. And doesn't stop until it reaches literally the head. Recruitment in compensation's bad enough... but also the antagonist, or opposing muscle to the flexor (extensor) also feels this knot's pull 24/7... and being the weaker of the pair, it also develops TrPs and locks contracted. Soon the entire foot becomes more a living prosthetic club of an appendage, than a living, sensing limb. This was the state of my senior citizen. Working muscles ahead of the heel, on the blade side of the foot... elicited screams of pain and jump sign -- involuntary contraction of muscles / muscle groups, in response to intense pain. My pressure was less than the weight of a full can of soda, yet this person had to tap out after 3 strokes. He'd insisted that we only work an hour given his plane ride later that afternoon... so I gave the ultimatum, that in order to meet that deadline... they were gonna have to put on their grownup pants. Grudging agreement... but necessary and defo proven possible, esp since they knew what was coming (worked the other leg on Sat). There's always a 'sick leg' and a 'compensating leg'. Wasn't at all surprised, this compensating side had more pain beat into it decades, than the horribly-misdiagnosed-and-botched sick leg had -- think about it. Both were equally challenging, just in different ways. Was only able to proof the lower leg and L hip (recurrent TrP -- near the greater trochanter in the prirformis muscle, if you care -- had to be redone, as the muscle itself, not surprisingly, was atrophied and struggling even w/o a massive knot handicapping it)... and sent them on their way. (cont. next post)
Mon 12 Jan 26 addendum, cont'd: Was a good example of the kind of progression one can exp in this field: as your skills get more well-known... you'll be availed of harder and harder clients. Haven't had one quite this bad in a while, but also can't delude myself into thinking they'll stay the same or get easier (well, the easy ones get easier ). Even had a nice convo w/ Client on the table about what the swimlane of a bodyworker looks like. I ventured bodywork's ground floor's pretty straightforward, easily-taught and easily-retained. You refine simple tqs to the satisfaction of your mentor, they give you a new one once you'd demonstrated proficiency in it. So far, nothing different from any other trade. But about the fifth year I began to sense a lull in the climb rate of my knowledge, and the first cases that stumped me. Little did I know, this is routine, even with gurus. But that feeling of powerlessness is where a mentor who gives a sh*t about your progress, must recognise and step in. That were not my mentor, unfortunately... but did set about combing thru their literature and online forums and research papers for this gig (forums which do exist but tbh, are full of hacks -- forums are not where real mentors can be found; has to be f2f, ime). Betw. 4th & 5th yr of apprenticeship, exp'd my first breakthrough. What this is... is a sense that someone up there, pops a bubble you've been building years w/ exp putting hands on people, and struggling to solve problems. The first ~6 - 7y of practice are mandatory to bring you to this 'head' of struggle... some take a full ten. I was mightily struggling to help a labourer who were up in the air most of the day, clinging to tree trunks and power poles w/ legs, creating massive TrPs... and sitting there, drenched in sweat & hands aching... all at once like a Tinkerbell wand-anointment... came to the realisation of how to solve his problem. And the effort were halved. This were later explained to me, the human mind-body needs a certain amt of effort thrown whole-heart at a problem, before the subconscious mind brings to bear its own exps, which have been recorded from the moment you were born. And once that part of your mind is satisfied it has what it needs (someone 'up there'), you gain the cultivated neuronal connections necessary to approach the problem, from a completely-optimised pathway between parts of your brain -- often skipping extraneous paths into the cortex as much as possible, and keeping wiring pared down in cerebellum and white matter. This is doing without thinking, what martial artists train years to do. Like Yoda said, 'do, or do not'. Respond to conditions using your six senses all unified and working together, without thought increasing overhead. So since, have been refining other tqs into what I call 'hand-learning'... which my ASD / probably-comorbid ADHD feels is perfectly-natural and quite immersive to do. Feeling for nerves, tiny heartbeats in lesser arteries, knowing what effort to use to gently pull nerves off structures they shouldn't stick to... all developed without any of the insecure machinations from novice days. Yes today's client is today's version of 10-y-ago pole-climbing client... but my toolbag's a lot more populated, and its tools come to hand naturally as extensions of my intent. At the monastery on O'ahu... were once raking leaves as part of daily work around the temple... when a Zen Master, Hosokawa Roshi, walked over and said 'doing a good job, I see'. 'Thank you, Roshi'... and turned to continue my work. 'Somehow, feels natural for me to rake this way.' 'I noticed,' he said. 'Kinda feels like a hand, huh?'
Tue 13 Jan 26: Finally. Got in a workout... and the relative calm in the knee walking into the mall, were ominous, really. Yep. Times were faster on the second-to-last than the last -- instant confirmation of Me Not Working Out As Usual. But this were first time in my life, a mere 2d playing hooky, would see me back on square one (for indoor mall lap times, anyway -- aged half of now, needed weeks to fall off my peak)... Pretty grim: 3:58, 3:53, 3:48, 3:25, 3:38. Easily the worst times for lap-by-lap improvement, I'd seen the several weeks doing only inside mall laps. And have never had last lap be slower than the one before it. Welp, another reality of making sure your muscles are up to the task of both holding the knee together, and ambulating your dead weight on both feet re: knee injury -- because if the joint's strapped down too tightly due to muscles reaching their exertion limit, it'll tend to compress the menisci in full-blast, hail-Mary tension -- which hurts far more than correctly-bulked muscle accustomed to the task and warmed properly. Had to back off the usual jogging last 2 laps, as hurt way too much... I mean, had to show the spinal cord that, in order for it to make a change -- which should take by tmw. Doesn't mean I'll get my Sat lap times back tho... as the workout on this malfing knee, also exerts their own consequences in opposition. We shall see what progress if any, tomorrow
Wed 14 Jan 26: Ulch. Remember yesterday's omen about Tue's weird workout flexing its own consequences today? Here Only did 4 indoor laps today. Why? Because despite starting w/ the same pace roughly for laps 1 & 2... 3 & 4 were shiteshows -- L tibialis anterior, the muslce what lifts your foot up to step after pushing off... locked up early. And for whatever reason, the muscles of the thigh, not the knee joint or attachments of said muscles, were what was hurting -- was totally down to something going on in the quad muscles esp. What on earth...? The leg hurt so much, had to stop a lap early. Strange, new weakness -- and usually can push thru the knee weakness... but this one literally threatened me going down (as in faceplanting) rather than go another lap. Oh great, good to hear it My only explanation... could possibly be the Mg supplementation. It's new -- haven't taken Mg as a supplement since oh, '23... and did exp significant loss of pain using it to RDA... but seems for exertion, my body likes... less? D u n n o -- it's only thing that could possibly account for the symptoms, as Mg helps muscles relax. Will dial it back away from RDA, and see how I do tmw Times: 4:08; 3:57; 3:44; and 3:22. And felt as worn out end of that 4th lap, as yesterday's 5th. Recall only a couple of days before, I'd done 6 laps, no problem. This, is a problem More tmw...
Thu 15 Jan 26: Kicking-it-down-raining. Around 0430, BOOOSSSHHH were the literal sound of the sky falling on my home. Hoped the gutters weren't on the floor (they weren't... but talk about floodplains of gritty shite across my local streets into town) Workout? Well here are the times: 4:25, 4:17, 4:00, 3:50, 3:48, 3:00. 6 laps w/o wanting to cut off my R leg, are apparently back. Didn't like the 5th lap time, so took another -- and lo and behold, a full 48 secs faster (actually got up to a proper jog, if only half a lap). What did I do different? Frustratingly a lot of things... so no idea which was the most influential (some weren't in my control). Slept only 6 hrs last night, the 'worst' sleep I've had in ages, possibly from backing off Mg ~35% of RDA (Mg helps you sleep, esp when it's cooler climate for you in winter). So two possible causes for sure. The next, were starting the laps off unambitious, just going strictly by what the knee felt was comfy -- and pushing a tiny bit past, barely palpable as strain / pain. Took 3 laps to exit 4 mins but as the progression shows, w/o any pain or gritting teeth at all, were averaging 8 - 9 secs lopped off per lap -- and getting close to a minute, when I could jog. Which were strangely non-painful, even at the very end doing a smol sprint the last 15m or so. So am I healing? D u n n o, since surprise, the heavy rains (low baro pressure) could also factor into why. But my take from a history beating on myself to get in shape after long orbits away... is the sleep. 7 - 8 hrs is far too much for my body to tolerate w/o sticking together, but ~6 has been my particular metabolism & genetic legacy's sweet spot. Have known this since mil days, when 4 hrs was legal to keep any soldier at in peacetime indefinitely, but not compulsory in wartime. When did I serve? Yup -- lots of stretches 72 hrs awake during the buildup of Shield and the hundred days of Storm. Quite a physical & endocrine education, in prime of life. Welp -- lessons: keep Mg at ~50 - 75% max of US RDA... and just get to bed earlier don't let CPAP lull into making knee adhere and muscles stiffen, from prolonged (for me) inactivity sleeping 7 - 8 -- 6 is best, w/ perhaps 7 - 8 reserved for stressful times when the body actually needs more sleep start the laps leisurely, and let the speed build organically; this knee at the mo doesn't like being pushed very hard, at least in this latter phase of healing Nothing really intuitive, had to trial / error it all... but probably could've arrived at these conclusions separately, if fate hadn't conspired to squish them all into one morning Still, grateful for the progress and education
Fri 16 Jan 26: Very interesting... Had an inkling today's laps wouldn't be as good as yesterday's, for 3 reasons: meals weren't as nutritious vs. building up to yesterday (ran out of something I should've restocked, but forgot ) Thu's impressive performance itself, takes a tiny bit of recovery (which w/ this knee, means more d/t than healthy) sleep was somewhat fractured -- which I'll chalk to the wrong amt of Mg supp Prior to yesterday's run, took 2 x horse tablets chelated Mg (as bisglycinate) w/ my multi (which uses mag stearate). Full recommended dosage is 3 x tablets for 75% RDA... so 2 x would be 50% + 18% from the multi = ~60 - 68%, which my body obvi liked. Last night, experimenting to see if taking 25% of that away would improve the knee further... took 1 x tablet chelate + multi, for a total of ~35 - 43% -- which at the bottom end, gets uncomfortably close to halving the dosage... but wanted to see for myself. As expected, the knee ached a bit last night and prior to the laps, walking to the Maul. But, nitty gritty would be this sh*tty little ditty Lap 1: 4:08 -- a lap-improvement-interval slower than first lap Thu, durr -- it's also a few degrees colder today (which this knee oh just loves to pieces )... so not a surprise there. Lap 2: 3:50 -- not as able to option different gait styles to load different parts of the internal knee... which was telling re: the add'l tension the leg wasn't able to shed as easily. But did loosen eventually, nothing to grit teeth thru. Lap 3: 3:40 -- probably the most comfy lap, as the knee were still allowing pushed, just not as gracefully or painlessly. Tried the glide -- a lower-impact-style of walking that lets the sole of the foot glide only maybe a cm over the ground, where possible (also reinforces landing and pushing off w/ the ball of the foot, as evolution designed us to barefoot) -- took it okay enough but not like Thu. Lap 4: 3:21 -- front-half all glide, back-half tried a light jog -- oo, didn't like it right away. Tried another 30m later (50m to S/F line), took it fine. Jogged over the line for... Lap 5: 3:01 -- was able to maintain the jog, but had to reach a little, esp around the final 15m which is a hairpin turn at the sharp end of the circuit, nearest the finish line (whole upper floor path is roughly keyhole-shaped). Last 10m sprinted as best I could, but R leg were on the brink of muscle failure, which felt eerily like over-dosing Mg, which is impossible (similar reactions of motor neural network to both -- one to compensate for not enough Mg, the other sensing too much relaxation and trying to overdrive contraction, w/ too-much Mg). So a bit frustrating but also pleased, silver-lining-gazing: proves bod's pretty fussy abt Mg (at least chelated, which I have't taken in years)... but did better with less than more -- which is valuable sh*tty-nitty-gritty. Just need to return to the 2 x tablets + multi for now, methinks. Have a pill cutter if need to get finer with chelate dosage. Also did the full 3 laps up top to cool down, which seems to be having more effect on post-exertion muscle tone than before. Is the knee prepping for actual, full-grand-reopening sometime soon? F**k if I know. But the only real gritting-teeth discomfort this week seemed to be when 1) not following my routine >2d; 2) first winks right out of the casket to take a dump; 3) pushing it obviously past its limits, esp w/ too much Mg (ooowch ). More Sat
Sat 17 Jan 26: Bit of a twist in today's workout... I'd forgotten to take Mg last night (long story -- not something most of you want to see elaborated here )... so found myself at the start / finish line, seeing how this would play out... Knew were going to be more initial tension in the knee, read 4 - 7 / 10 pain... and wasn't wrong. Here are the laps: Lap 1: 4:05 -- not awful, but a lot more painful vs. yesterday -- w/o the cold, btw (back to warm and humid, if windy). Lap 2: 3:53 -- similar but slightly slower transition on a warming knee. Doing okay but knee's not tracking as well vs. Fri. Lap 3: 3:41 -- nearly identical time vs. Fri. And gliding now, a bit earlier -- was that a good idea? Pain in both legs rising -- which is new. Lap 4: 3:22 -- again, nearly same. Tired -- not something I'd bet on. But seem to be traveling over the ground same rate. Hmm... Lap 5: 2:54 -- new record... but were forced to kick it out like this was 1990. Most exhausting laps I'd done yet -- any less, would've fallen off pace... which was the object lesson. Stepped outside and cooled off with 3 wholly-leisurely laps on top. Because for the first time since walking inside... this was genuinely exhausting. --- Huh. Stopwatch doesn't lie. Getting only Mg stearate from the multi, kept me moving about the same rate as w/ that + 1 x bisglycinate... but at the cost of far more exertion and pain to get there. Could get there tho... but obvi would prefer not to have to reach that deep for essentially the exact same times as Fri (and new record was only due to more exertion -- not the point of doing the laps. Entirely luck). Missing the pill swill... meant not only was I missing Mg for the laps... but all the other nooch (B-vitamins? Vit D? Calcium? Copper & Manganese? What an ultramaroon ). Oh boy -- time for my 2 x bisses + multi. Need to f***ing tattoo it on my arm, apparently
Wash Day, Sun 18 Jan 26: No workout, as usual on Sun. Did not sleep well last night, not sure why and annoying at this point... Really weird dreams lately as well (won't elaborate; if anything will talk about them in another thread). Haven't dreamed this much since '24, tbh. Knee? Did pretty good, and about 80% better than last weekend. Being able to jog now, is obvi doing some good strength- / stamina-wise across the joint. Even bending at the waist doing my vertical surfaces, only began to reach 7/10 at the very end (2 hrs easy). Climbing and descending stairs to the restrooms were also far easier, if not yet like the L knee. I'd say another 20% there... On a slight tangent but still Wash-Day-related... think I've reached my fill w/ Griot's Garage's 3-In-1 Ceramic Wax. When sprayed and buffed with a rotary buffer on a damp-microfibre-dust-wiped horizontal paint surface, buffs to a glossy mirror shine. But touch w/ anything, including just the wind blowing dust over it in a little vortex... and smudges appear. Let's recap: can't keep it in the car due to degrading in the heat (it's HI can't escape it, w/o keeping windows open -- which even here, is ludicrous if you want your car to actually be there and seats dry in the morning... or not have feral cats sh*tting and birthing all over your interior), creates this powdery mess if applied on vertical surfaces w/ a buffer... and its gloss smudges, even driving around. This stuff's not meant for rotary buffers, obvi... and even if it were you'd have to store it inside your home under 80F and accept the dusty finish, needing hand-wiping to remove which negates the point of a buffer. Unacceptable, at least for me. Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Spray is what I used on vertical surfaces... and wouldn't you know it... tried hand-applying the stuff, not even trying to be careful or (my usual) boffin-esque with attn-to-detail... and came out better (more mirror-like from a set distance) than 30 mins w/ a buffer and multiple steps. Literally spray on a fine mist (don't overdo it), spread evenly w/ a microfibre (can be wet with the stuff but not water), then buff w/ a clean microfibre. Just like it says on the bottle but in my defense, this same method didn't work when temps were in the 90s -- so have to adapt a little depending on season. Also, Griot's says nothing about being able to apply in direct sunlight -- probably its carnauba wax content, which indeed can't take it in past product. But HS can... and actually improves its gloss once UV and IR heat hit it a few hours. No way for me to know, since I'd been buffing with this rotary only since last summer But the verdict ongoing's Hybrid Solutions, just for less aggravation re: fussiness, dealing with this every weekend. It even smells better (Griot's I got used to eventually... but the pineapple-piña-colada teeth-hurting-foof-drink stench attracts actual flies, atop everything else. And did I mention it's $5 more per bottle? Good riddance
Addendum, Sun 18 Jan 26: For those who're still following along... I've cracked the knee. No really -- the knee just took a massive leap towards normalcy. Weren't expecting that... So, read the post above for my day up until about 12 noon. Returned home and began my Sunday chores of cleaning and laundry... when the urge came over me to align it (walking up the flights to my casa, knee were telegraphing some misery). When you align a knee (think I posted the how-to somewhere in my ramblings), you physically take the tibia, pull it apart from the femur, hoping the muscles across the joint will allow it... and use a tq to allow the menisci to assume a 'default' position between the articular surfaces... and release. Pull apart, bend the knee, use the tq, then straighten and release, to set. Obvi, this hasn't worked four months now, which meant other problems overruled any recovery from simple alignment. Painful and rather exhausting trial / error of exercises to solve existing problems had to happen (before my Sep little accident that were anything but), before the knee would respond. Today's car detail was surprisingly non-eventful, if still resulting in my usual grimacing relent by 2 hrs time. But some part of me felt the knee were ready to need something different than laps and ankle circles (for once, Conscious Me didn't get an inkling, zilch). All I did, was put some space in the lateral knee -- which upon palpation felt physically tighter than the medial knee, where all the pain's been 120d so worked hard. It felt rather stiff, almost scar-tissue-like... which then gave the impression I'd put some temporary space in there for a bit of relief, but that'd fade as usual. The lateral knee however, held the space -- and for the first time since Sep, were able to walk on it, without limping. Weird to get back ability you've lost a while, let me tell you. Simultaneous mind-body immediately assuming 'all clear' and an old healthy sensory / motor 'self' trying to emerge... but also habit energy, roped in and forced to adapt for months, stubbornly remaining in the chair. So kind of a stalemate now, w/ normalcy having slight advantage. In a way, the sensation's as if it's never been injured... but then only have to try a full squat, to cut through that self-gaslighting And the lack of f***ing pain, after months of constant 3 - 9 / 10, even sleeping... has to be felt non-narcotically by everyone on earth once in their lifetime --- Fook me, what a journey that were. It's not 100% there, but atop the improvement mentioned earlier, probably 98 - 99% now. Never been able to stand only on R leg or bounce foot to foot, for months. We'll see how it fares tmw, on the laps -- which I'll continue to do, but now obvi jogging a lot more of them
Mon 19 Jan 26: Well, well... Here are the lap times: Lap 1: 4:05 - identical to Sat. Not aiming for times but warmup, so par for course. Lap 2: 3:42 - 11 secs faster than Sat, this early in the circuit, which is telling... Lap 3: 3:31 - keeping last lap's >10 sec improvement. Feeling good at this point, caught wondering where it'll go wrong Lap 4: 2:51 - almost 30 secs faster than Sat. Am no longer needing the shuffle-to-jog transition time / distance, am already there. Lap 5: 2:38 - by far the fastest time, two and a half mins plus under 1st lap,& 16 full secs faster than Sat's best. Think the knee's back Found physical endurance in the rest of the body were holding back even faster times, vs. the knee injury. Literally kicking it out 50m from the end, around a hairpin curve -- that were impossible even on Sat. Well, sh*t. This knee's internal drama's not over-over... but essentially like a golf stroke ending 5" from the pin -- you knock it in and persist with life in the insurance junta. Still needs the exercise, natch -- but that'll be a lot easier now. Need to transition to running shoes, as my sandals are making a racket running the 100-Up method: Either I need Chris McDougal's minimal sandals (w/ their ankle straps), or my ASICS (which I ran 13-min-2-mis in) -- one guess which I'll choose Just happy to run anywhere, tbbh --- Oh -- here are some pics of the actual mall level I run on: This is start line, that angle in the light tiles, bottom left nearly lopped off. Stretch here doesn't look quite this long irl, but if you can make it out, I run to the middle of the food court w/ the tiled windows on the far side (where it says 'Pearl's') then make my way around (rough keyhole shape)... From the exact spot the long side were taken, turned to my right and took a pic of the short side. 50m is roughly 165 feet, so am sprinting from the bridge past where the bench & plants are on the right above, then slow to jink around this hairpin -- a big 'J'-shaped last gasp. Commercial door widths are betw. 32 - 36"... so can extrapolate distances from there. Standing next to them, those leaf-shaped railing grilles are about 6 - 8" wider. Mall directory plan view. Don't think it's strictly to scale as they rarely are... but good for visualising where I'm spending mornings before 8am
Tue 20 Jan 26: Ha! Yes the knee attempted to regress a hair yesterday (mostly by getting slightly stiff again... but the coordination gained by the alignment didn't go away, which means it wasn't regressing-regressing, nervous system just unfamiliar), but felt fine for the laps. Since yesterday were record-breaking... decided to tone down the ambition today, as were also switching to shoes, another pot'l wrench to throw into the works... Lap 1: 3:51 - well that should greenlight donning shoes -- almost 15 secs faster than sandals. Again, not pushing with any more effort, as this is warmup-focused. Lap 2: 3:39 - 3 secs faster than sandal'd, within par. Lap 3: 3:34 - 3 secs slower -- well still within margin of error. Janitorial's walking around with me on the tiles and bricks so could just be down to being polite... am not worried. Lap 4: 2:48 - now that's more like it. Began to shuffle but felt limited by it -- so kicked out a bit more and found the sweet spot. That's the lap time such a spot gave, apparently. Lap 5: 2:18 - yup, the knee's back. And with the slight heel rise in the ASICS can use it as a way to know when I'm not on balls of feet, which is a firm 100-Up rule (unfortunately heel rise is unavoidable at my price point... but ASICS is a quite good, Japanese-made ergonomic shoe design otherwise, so worth it as have run to high achievement in them before). Took the 3 rest laps on the rooftop and done. Pretty happy as the circuit was 75% the effort over the same distance in sandals (which the knee needed up to now). Still craved the cooldown but felt much less strain in the rest of body. Need to stock up on foot powder... but otherwise the knee's coming along
Woohoo, f***ing finally this site's back from the dead Catch-up: --- Wed 21 Jan 26: No workout planned today -- all getting the car taken care of, can skip a day. Or so I thought: went to Goodyear and asked about an alignment... but they said my lane keeping sensors need calibrated with any alignment; probably need to visit the dealer. At the dealer, said they didn't have an alignment rack... go to IMM or Automotive, as we contract to them for alignment. Have passed by IMM countless times before: tucked next to my health food store and neighboring car parts store. Not open until 9am, and were 0730 when I nonced by: guess there is time for a workout. Lap 1: 3:49 - guess can expect all shoes-on laps to be sub-4-min, even on warmup. Lap 2: 3:37 - not a huge drop, 12 secs... but my knee did ache a bit with all the extra sitting in the car driving. Lap 3: 2:53 - more like it. Am already jogging... Lap 4: 2:39 - am feeling the lack of conditioning from 2.5y ago, imagine that ️ Legs getting a bit wobbly, merely from not running as routine up to now. Lap 5: 2:20 - looks like I overdid it, since despite sprinting more than 150ft, still crossed the line 2 secs late vs. Tue. But, considering Tue were my fastest ever 5th lap... could also be partial muscle failure from trying to top or even match that, next day. So will chalk this up to being quite a good go. Tmw will be a mellow rest day, 3 warmups and gentle jogs for the last two -- no sprinting. Can't afford scabs on my face from a base slide on that brick walk --- Thu 22 Jan 26: As promised, a slow ease into the workout today. Arrived much earlier than y'dy, which is nice as that avoids much of the workers trying to clean in peace... Lap 1: 4:34 - see, leisurely. Gauged by what felt easy, loose, relaxed... Lap 2: 3:40 - whoa, wasn't expecting that... still feels rather natural, no pushing at all. Knee feels good as well... Lap 3: 2:53 - now hold up... seeing this -- which if you'll kindly refer above, is exactly the same laptime. And nothing like the exertion then... mind you, not even jogging yet? HTF is that possible...? Lap 4: 2:39 - can feel it now, but still comfy. All systems go, that wobbliness from y'dy, gone... Lap 5: 2:13 - well I'll be damned -- a new record. Did sprint the last 150 ft as before... but only because I'd felt almost like my 10y-younger self doing this, or at peak of 2-mi-run fitness 3y ago. Not true... but the amt of pain (or lack of it)'s spot-on the same. Confused So... exactly the same nooch and diet and sleep, but a 43-sec drop Lap 2 to 3...? HITMFF is that even possible? And checked -- no way I'd made any timing errors -- hit my watch's split button for laps, start-stop for beginning and end of workout, not hard. Did I f***ing time-travel or some shite? Well, a large stretch, could be my pain's hobbling me more than expected -- and not only the > 5/10 palpable 'hot bright' pain, but the body's fear of pain -- which on the table in multiple situs plays a large part in success or failure of recovery from soft tissue problems. Maybe the endorphins from facing the pain when it's bad, over-tricks my mind into thinking I'm covering more ground than actually am -- the effort level y'dy required a good reach, tho not as bad as day before (that were crazy, sprinting 110% further, and still ending up 2 secs slower than record time). Today felt like I were slightly cheating -- and defo were holding back on that sprint, supposedly resting the knee and all Today's exertion in contrast, were moved into with very little pushback from either knee joint itself, or the spinal cord's 'kneejerk' (get it, hurr) reaction to feeling the same inputs, which return splinting as routine. That splinting I reckon, is the true enemy of moving across the ground at speed: because until the spinal cord stops receiving a signal to do this from whatever's causing it, it'll react by using your energy from food, to keep muscles crossing the knee tighter than optimal for doing normal exertion. Obviously
Fri 23 Jan 26: The skies really opened up today... and formed an eerie-looking set of layers, both horizontally and vertically -- rain line extended from its normal spot up in Makawao splitting Haleakala Hwy, all the way across the isthmus into the WMM -- forming this stationary line that shot down literal almond-sized drops to 60-ft visibility on one side... bupkis w/ side of mist, on the other. A fog layer -- in HI -- sat like a thick wet towel over the base of the mountain, from ground to ~100 ft... In-town, either blasting down or slightly-blasting-down Hadn't seen this much rain since 2019, the year I bought my Civic and encountered this same volume daily, for 5 months. Had flashbacks of moto-commuting in Seattle... which quickly re-jigs perspective, as that were probably the roughest I'd weathered, um weather, in life. But seriously, been relatively non-sheet-dumping since 2020 or so... guess the Pineapple Express, not satisfied dousing the entire West Coast in walls of toxic floodsoup...decided to extend its arse back towards us, for something new to do Point being... the mall's not fit for noncing around, let alone running (google it -- the roof is canvas umbrellas -- not great for dry shopping in any kind of inclement weather. Shows how complacent its designers were about climate change, 0 a thing in late '80s). The 'head' of the keyhole shape of the running path's covered in easy-to-mop ceramic tiles -- oh they're textured, but still melted glass... and puddles the size of cars were on it, since that part of the mall were supposed to be the 'flair' of its design, and isn't as utilitarian as the 'body' of the keyhole. Apparently not great for a food court but even worse for trying to run and not break my other leg... So settled for the brick part today (not flooded and more grippy) but this takes out somewhere under 50% of the 5 lap distance. So decided on 8 laps of the brick 'body' of the keyhole -- close enough. Not even going to post the times, as won't be meaningful with low baro swelling my knee up (painful today past the 5th shortened lap), plus the truncation itself can't be compared with full laps. But did complete 8 and did sprint the last 150 ft, whatever it was worth. Try again tmw. Hopefully just a squall passing through... 30y ago we were famous for that kind of passing weather. Thanks brodozers
Addendum, Fri 23 Jan 26: Tried a new diet twist from a YT source suggested in my feed, where you cool carbs (bread, rice, potatoes) down to refrigerator temp (24 hrs in 39F or below) then reheat to eat -- cooling down freshly cooked carbs down that cool then reheated, crystallises the starch to a resistant form, apparently. Had noticed the tuna musubi I'd been eating for breakfast prior to the knee injury, didn't cause the same feel in my gut, if it'd been cooled in the fridge 6 hrs then zapped for 2 mins in the nuker to be palatable (and soften the rice). This did not occur when I'd eat the purchased rice ball straight from the store ambient (not cooled for hours). Never tried it w/ simple carbs (don't plan to eat mashed potatoes or baguettes or McDs anytime soon)... but intriguing there was any correlation with unprompted personal exp, if it were BS. Next was another video linked to the first... that struck a bit closer to home, as a cripple: if you take a 10-min walk before eating a meal, then another 10 min walk afterwards, in a few months your energy will rise to a younger person's (or fitter person's, if you're already young). continued next post
Addendum Fri 23 Jan 26, cont'd: Yep -- my reaction too. How many other claims have promised, then gotcha'd, results like this? But listening a bit... the reason, it explained deep abdominal fat growing out of control in some developed countries and not others, is the respective society's relationship to exercise before and after meals. I'd mentioned here earlier... makes sense to exercise prior to meals, as if you consume calories (to the body, amino and fatty acids, minerals and glucose) the bloodstream now filling with glucose from the meal will fuel your muscles, rather than liberate fuel from fat. And that's defo working in practice for me, as am 9 lbs lighter since starting daily exercise again (and feet esp ache far less, of course counting out the knee injury). So I never eat breakfast, without doing the laps first. But something this video brought up intriguing to me... is post-prandial (after-meal) exercise must also be done, to improve resistance to metabolic disease. Think of your muscles as both consumers and storage for energy. They do not store it as fat; rather as glucose (glycogen). All muscle cells have GLUT4 transporters on their surfaces, that pull glucose from circulation, but not during intense exertion -- rather, gentle walking contractions for 10 mins or more, will activate this pathway, lowering serum glucose. If this isn't done, serum glucose stays high, forcing pancreatic cells to secrete insulin, which is a fat-storage hormone -- over time exhausting them... and setting you up for the Beetus Maladus Each time blood glucose peaks high, inflammatory damage to epithelial cells (lining blood vessels) occurs... and this leads to atherosclerosis together with other risk factors. In ancient times we humans were so active just trying to stay alive as hunter-gatherers, hundreds if not thousands of millennia... we had no trouble adhering to routine, extended, mostly gentle exertion -- we had no choice. So evolution optimised our bodies to use this fact of life, to maintain homeostasis. But now with mountains of simple-carb and all forms of highly-processed caloric intake available with near-zero effort for some (DoorDash)... packing the blood tight with glucose is deadly at worst and inconvenient at least, within 30 yrs. I know my fellow IT droids from Army days are well-represented. All that's needed to keep peak glucose levels low post-meal, is 10 mins of walking within 10 mins of a meal. So 30 mins of walking a day, can transform a pre-diabetic blood draw to nearly-normal glucose levels in months. Does take time, as exercise does... but doesn't cost more than 30 mins a day of consistency and lack of the itty-bitty-sh*tty-committee kicking you off the wagon -- which many people trying to kick a deadly habit are already experts at talking away people trying to keep them alive. The tired old addict's victim act (myself being a food addict who nearly died of his drive-thru obsession). What happens when working out before eating a meal: body is in fasted state, 10 - 12 hrs w/o a meal. = low insulin, elevated cortisol (a stress hormone), no glycogen in muscles or liver. Exercise begins... pancreas secretes glucagon (a hormone that raises blood glucose) and liver secretes hormone-sensitive lipase, to break down stored fat to fatty acids, to burn as muscle fuel vs. glucose body can run on both fatty acids and glucose routinely, switching when fasted and non-* must begin exercise in fasted state, in order to liberate fat from deep abdominal storage (most dangerous type) exercise in this fasted state, will increase the body's ability to be flexible and responsive to need over time, muscles cells' mitochondria physically adapt to better burn fatty acids -- which make your muscles 24/7 fat control devices, lowering tendency for growing deep abdominal fat and post-workout when eating your meal... muscles have GLUT4 transporters ready for hours, to take serum glucose created by the meal and store it as glycogen. Less insulin's needed to manage blood glucose... which improves insulin sensitivity. the use of cortisol in this, is why gentle exercise like walking's better for diabetics and those not wanting to grow muscle with the workout: too much cortisol creates its own problems. What happens when working out after eating a meal: you eat your meal, digestive system breaks it down to glucose in minutes pancreatic cells detect this rise, and secrete insulin to get cells to uptake glucose w/o muscle contraction (exercise), muscle cells cannot uptake glucose for fuel, and insulin levels remain high (post-prandial hyperglycemia). Oxidative damage occurs, which creates inflammation - esp at diabetic levels with muscle contraction within 10 mins of your meal... those GLUT4 transporters surface on muscle cells, and uptake glucose directly from circulation. Again, intense exercise doesn't do this, but gentle walking for 10 mins, does. this stops working 30 mins after eating, as peak blood glucose has already done its damage. Even a 30 min walk half an hour after eating, doesn't reduce blood glucose as effectively as a 10 min walk, 10 mins after. I've been trying this with my own meals... and have to say, the results are subtle but defo there: my sleep's become better -- which is strange after so much improvement on CPAP... but the energy curve right after eyes slam open, is better. probably need to keep this up a couple of months, and see if the improvements actually work long-term --- * body can also run on ketones (ketosis) in ketogenic diets... but I'll keep focus on what's helping me -- which doesn't include diets I don't ever plan to use
