“Take What the Defense Gives You” – BionicOldGuy

It’s a saying about working within your limits. For example, in American football, the quarterback wants to throw a long pass but that receiver is covered by defenders, so he throws a shorter pass to someone who is open. I’ve been doing this for years now, but in my case, “the defense” lies in the infirmities of aging. My favorite activity was running, but I had to stop when I got arthritis, and now I’m not allowed to do it anymore because of the artificial hips. So I started hiking and cycling. More recently, hiking hasn’t worked as well due to various lower back and hip issues. But what I loved most about cycling was immersing myself deeper in nature and getting away from the urban environment, and I can achieve that with mountain biking (provided it’s on easy trails because I’m not a very talented mountain biker).

Lately it has seemed to me that even if I stick to cycling, I can still have a setback when I push too hard. The latest one was last Sunday, when I did my group ride lying down. At the time I felt fine, but later in the day walking became painful as something felt off in my lower back. I think I irritated the SI joint on that side. This one was particularly frustrating because I didn’t really know what I had done, I didn’t think I had been that hard on the ride. So I took a few days off, shorter trips at a slower pace. And yesterday I was fine again. I think I’ll have to get used to it. I just have a few orthopedic issues that can flare up from time to time and I have to back off when they arise. But I remembered that what I enjoy most about exercising is being outdoors and relaxing. And, luckily, I can do it even when I need to take it easy during a flare-up.