9 weeks to go before my first steps and we start crossing the Mississippi into Wisconsin so I will do weekly updates like this until then.. Although my profile provides the basics on the, who/what/how & whys for doing OLDGUYWALK. This is my attempt to fill in all the spaces.
DISCLAIMER- I am not a writer- (as you will soon find out) but want to share my thoughts via this forum and hopefully not put everyone to sleep. Apologies in advance for taking such a serious tone to this post but I think it is required for the subject at hand
How do you overcome DJD?
I guess first off let me describe what DJD is and where I am in that regard. Osteoarthritis (OA) also known as degenerative arthritis or degenerative joint disease affects my right knee. I was diagnosed with DJD in the first week of October. Here are the gory details (sorry for being graphic)- Basically I was told that my cartilage cushioning was gone on the inside part of my right knee joint and I have a bone on bone rubbing issue which has caused a flat spot on top of me upper leg femur. To say I was in a state of shock would be an understatement. When told my initial reaction was of denial. How the heck (my language was more colorful at the time) could I have this darn thing- I openly asked myself. Worse yet after meeting with 2 doctors I found out the only corrective option is a total knee replacement -More YIKES!!!
After a few days of moping around the house, reality set in and with my wife's support I decided to continue with the OGW event despite some of the risks involved. The only way to do OGW was to lessen the load on my knee. One Doctor suggested I do more non impact training and even consider a brace. The next decision was to alter my walk into a combined Walking & Biking trip across our fine State. I nixed the idea of a brace because I saw some real issues with as much as I perspire during my work-outs(Any who spins with me can attest to that!- I am a 2 towel type of guy)
Step One- Redefining OGW-
These were definitely my darkest hours since losing my mom. OGW had become to me one of my strongest driving goals to help me deal with that loss. On top of that it made me reflect on the fact that my mom had a knee replacement just a couple years prior to her being told she had cancer. I felt like I was being flushed down life's proverbial drain!
So I went to the YMCA one Saturday morning to get my daughter to her volleyball session and decide to join a s[im class, that's when I met some instructors who have shaped my training since then. I won't mention names but will say that one of these gals has been most instrumental in keeping me going each week. Her generous nature not only inspires me to keep going but it also helped me believe again, instead of continuing with a down in the dumps whoa is me attitude.
Admittedly, I need to say that I thought spin was not my thing and also would not be much of a challenge, especially since I had walked so much before finding out about my knee, and had done a triathlon just the year before. I thought I was in ok shape(HA!!) Let me tell you, that first 45 minutes of trying to stay up with the spin class proved to be a very humbling experience. It also broke down my barriers ridding me of thoughts of failure and my brain started telling me, "I can do this thing".
Then another wonderful thing happened, my wife who was not about to let me get away with using DJD as an excuse to quit, motivated me to join a water aerobics class with her. She talked me into keeping my chin up and to keep moving forward. This class, which we still are doing together, was a great fit for my joint problem and also I find it soothes all the other aches that go along with other parts of my training.
What I got from these 2 activities helped me feel whole again and I jumped into a new mindset.
I started with 3 spin classes and 2 water aerobics classes per week beginning in October and then I would still walk 2 to 3 times a week (about 3-4 miles per walk) This has now evolved into 7-8 spin classes, still doing the water aerobics mixed in twice and upped my walking to about 4-6 miles all in about 5 to 6 days a week.
Future Training-
Being blessed with the most improbable warm winter I can ever recall having (not to mention a very warm spring as well) has really helped me continue to train through-out. I have already pulled out my bike and will start out (April into May) by putting on at least 3- 20 mile bike rides a week while continuing with spin. I also plan on opening our pool early on in Mid -April and changing from my YMCA water class to a H2O aerobics workout at home (3 -4 times a week).
Currnetly I am averaging about 2-3 hours of workout time daily 5-6 times a week which I will need to increase to about 4-5 hours a day by end of May. To accomplish this I wake up 3-4 mornings each week before sunrise (around 5am) to start my day with a 4-5 mile walk. Of course I will still work in a weekly rest day or day's as needed(probably most Sunday's).
My last hard training week I should be able to bike on average between 30-40 miles and walk at least another 8-10 miles a day. When I reach this by the 3rd week of May I will start reducing the workload for a couple of weeks before the OGW begins. I probably will also have another steroid shot to the knee by Mid May and check with my orthopedist one last time before beginning the OGW event.
OGW philosophy on training style-
I can visualize the grimaces on the faces of those Spin instructors, Doctors and my Wife as I write this but it's my philosophy and I am sticking to it. Although I know this may be dumb of me one of the things I have pushed my body, especially my bad leg, to do is experience every possible ache and pain I can withstand. I'm convinced that if I can just deal with the agonies of pushing beyond my limits and increase my threshold tolerance of pain I should be able to handle most of the upcoming unknowns I am about to partake in this June.
Don't worry, I will continue to practice good stretching, warm-up techniques along with eating nutritionally sound foods. I also will prepare for issues such as muscle strains and blistered toes. I will add new and better cushioned footwear to my equipment inventory along with building a daily strategy of how long to walk and how long to bike between planned resting periods. Also because my dad, who is also my road crew, is going to be close by during the entire journey I plan on doing a dry run with him before the end of April.
Then all that should be left to prepare, is pack, gas up the van, put my bike on the back and head west to begin OGW! To everyone following please keep me in your prayers!
OldGuy- next weeks article- anybody's guess??
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