A Day in the Life OR A Life in a Day... Part 1... If it's broke fix it.

How'd my day go?

Pretty damn good - thanks for asking.

Played all weekend.... When I should've got some work done.

But went to bed early last night - like 8 o'clock...

Hell, it was still light outside.

But made up for it by getting up at 3 and working till 10.

Naturally, the tunes were rambling on...

Stepped outside for a walk around the block and caught a view of the moon in the early morning sky...

Nice way to start the day....

Fixed a light breakfast of fruit and a boiled egg...

If you haven't tried something like this for breakfast, you just can't understand how much better it makes you feel after you eat it compared to something heavy like a breakfast burrito, pancakes or a muffin.

Had an 11:00 appointment with a physical therapist at Brazosport Rehabilitation and Wellness.

Physical Therapy? For what?

Long story.... So take a seat...

I had ACL Reconstruction on my left knee in 1993 and have developed some pretty bad degenerative arthritis in that knee in the last 20 years. My orthopedic surgeon says I have no cartilage left in that knee and am basically bone to bone. Needless to say, it hurts all the time, sometimes really bad. It has gotten worse over the last couple of years and is continuously swollen resulting in restricted range of motion. For example, I can't pull my left leg behind me and touch heel to butt. I'm explaining all this for a purpose.

Several of the posts I've written recently deal with adjusting to the adversities of life and coming up with a plan to deal with the problem. To overcome, improve, revive and thrive.

2-1/2 years ago I restructured my life and priorities to focus on my mental, emotional and physical well being.

I lost weight and went on a 56 day 2350 mile bicycle expedition from Seattle WA to San Diego CA in Summer 2012.

I came back to LJT and began regularly attending Body Pump, Body Combat, Boot Camp, Zumba and Yoga classes at Family Fitness.

I learned more about how food, supplements, sleep and stress affect my health and well being.

This was all part of a long term plan.... It didn't happen by chance.

It was iterative and gradual but progressive.

3 years ago I was at a lifetime high weight of 216 lbs.

My long term goal was to get below 180 and stay there.

My hope was that losing the weight would take added load and stress off my arthritic knee and restore the range of motion and relieve the pain.

Over the last 2 months I have been intensely focused on my diet resulting in my weight currently being around 175.

My plan was that, if I got below 180 and my knee still hurt, I was going to a physical therapist and see if they could help me.

 So last week, I had my first appointment and today was my second.

Allison Bennett, my PT, a hardcore athlete, did my initial exam and quickly concluded that there was muscle weakness in different areas - left glute, hip and muscles around the left knee. With that diagnosis, she put me to work...

Or should I say workout.

To start - 15 minutes on a bicycle with the arm rowing option on it - at a pretty aggressive resistance setting.

Then 2 sets of 20 one legged squats very slow like 5 secs up and 5 secs down on each leg so 80 reps total.

Then the same for TRX lunges - back leg held up in TRX sling. Lunge on front leg. 80 reps total.

Needless to say, by the time I got done, I had worked up a pretty good sweat.

Did ultrasonic heat before the workout and then ice massage after.

Can tell you my knee is already feeling better.

I'll be doing this PT twice a week for the foreseeable future.

And tomorrow, I'm going to a local knee doctor to get a cortisone shot in that left knee to try to get the swelling down.

All part of the plan.

Because you see -

I'm not happy with OK or "Well you're older so you probably shouldn't be doing that anyway" or anything or anyone that keeps me from being as good as I can be.

I want it all....

At 6 weeks from being 52, I wanna be Strong, Lean, Fast and Flexible. I wanna be able to Outgun or Outrun what I can't Outgun.

I want no limits, no boundaries, no back handed complements and no pity for my age or my injuries.

I wanna be able to walk in to any Boot Camp or Body Pump or MuscleWorks class at any gym or any CrossFit Box anywhere and hold my own or put my name at or near the top of the WOD results.

I wanna be able to ride my bicycle from horizon to horizon all day every day. I wanna backpack the Continental Divide Trail.

Fantasy or Folly?

I don't know....

You seen me lately?

All I can say is that I haven't hit the red line yet Baby!

The point is I've come a long way through a combination of intense and varied workouts and a strict Paleo diet and repriotitization of schedule and time to support a healthy and intensely active lifestyle.

And the only thing keeping me from going to the next level is my left knee....

So that's what I'm working on improving.

And this is my next mechanism for improvement...

Moving on to Part 2....