health – Dickens of a Blog

I’ve been struck by a bit of a two-fer this week. The first-fer is I have done something janky to my right ankle. Now, I am no stranger to doing janky things to my bones…

…but it’s often annoying. Back in the day I would have to triple wrap it and then limp the couple miles into work. Here, in my temporary semi-retirement I have more option to just homebody but there are things that need to be done around said home I body.

I am of an age and a bodily disposition that there is never really a precise HOW when it comes to the question, “How did you hurt yourself this week?” Frankly the age barely touches upon it. I one time stubbed my toe on a vacuum cleaner while getting ready for bed. I one time, at the age of eleven or so, stepped slightly incorrectly off the back of a truck. It’s a gift.

At this point, I think it was something that happened while I was running around making Bolden’s-giving (hinted at in my post about Miyoko’s butter). It can take several hours to put together a larger meal like that and there are a lot of opportunities to do something. Like just…I don’t know…walk strangely in a way that insults the ankle gods. I had gotten my COVID and Flu shots just a couple of days prior so it is mayhaps involved. Not that COVID shots give you swollen ankles to go with your free 6G tracking but more like the bit of tiredness and such made it easy to stumble at some time.

The other-fer is I have a mild cold brought about the joyous intersection of public transportation and a child in school. Which means we all have it. It is not bad as far as colds go. This is the third one from the school year which feels like it is on schedule. Perhaps a little up but we are in a strange land with strange people. A very strange land.

The problem, besides being mildly sick, is the kind of painkiller used to treat headache and sore throat go a little too well with the sort of anti-inflammatory to treat the rest. It washes me out pretty badly. Or I suffer one or the other.

At least the sunsets and sunrises have been nice. The above photo is the sunset from my dark and dank computer corner. Currently we have the opposite: sunlight pouring in from the other window across the way.

That being said, I’d put good money on it raining some time today. Because, you know, Belgium.

Ever since my accident, my primary source of aerobic exercise has been a recumbent stationary bike. In terms of my lower body, and especially my left leg, the ability to sustain an increased heart rate in any other way is pretty slim. I can lift weights and such, especially those using just the abs and arms, but good cardio is a trick.

Working Out Just to Stay Alive

I fell in May 2022. Through the rest of the summer, I was mostly on bed rest with only short excursions. By September, I was able to be more active and was returning to work several days a week. I was starting to figure out stairs. Through October and November 2022, I was getting better at navigating slopes and ramps as long as I had assistance (be it mobility aids or someone assisting me).

As we got into 2023, there became an increased need for me to get more mobile in general. In January of that year, Kaz and I ordered a recumbent bike. It took a moment to get it and get it set-up but early on the idea was just to get on it and move. At this point, I could move using just a cane, later using a pair of Nordic walking sticks, though had to be very careful with any kind of obstacles or changes in height.

Early workouts on the bike were usually just me getting to something like 10-11ish mph (16-18km/h) and keeping that going for 10-15 minutes with nearly no resistance. Even that was wiping me out.

Getting into Trackable Patterns

I have been steadily improving while trying to not stress my legs so much that it leaves me too tired to move. In the last couple of years I have worked out two general loops: sprints and uphill jogs.

Sprints will be roughly 20 minutes, give or take, and will be pushing for speed with lower degrees of resistance. 20-22mph (32-40 km/h). Hitting somewhere around the 100w and up (I’ve seen 180w). The idea is to hit the 10km mark as soon as possible and then go past it.

This involves a lot of sweating. A lot of sweating.

I probably look like I have been crying in the rain after I get done.

The “uphill jog” will have moderate to high resistance but a slower overall speed, centered around the 16-17mph (25ish km/h) for half an hour with the focus on strength building.

Trying to Up Endurance

Today I worked in the first cycle of a distance-as-in-time. Pedal as fast as I want, or as slow as I want. Just keep going for the whole time. Keeping the resistance in the upper-low-to-lower-moderate range (for now). Began with just 40 minutes, but it went well enough that I’ll up the time to an hour next time.

Not too bad. Not great. Somewhere in between.

Ends up being an average of ~26km/h over ~17km. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes as I increase it to a full hour.

By the way, yes that image of my final results (and the image I took for the header) are a bit dark. Keep in mind that this is roughly what it looks like outside as I start my workout:

It’s dark. I could turn on a light but there’s something about being out of breath and sweating bullets in the pre-dawn light that is kind of meditative.