Lets Get Physical
I had a comprehensive physical done on Friday after some much appreciated hen-pecking from my Doctor. He's really a fantastic guy and GREAT Doctor, one of those guys who is old enough to have given Moses his first physical but really sharp and great social skills.
Anyway, I really love when doctors seem to marvel a bit at my physical condition. I'm not a thin person so I don't really look like I exercise the amount that I do and at 42 the number of people who stay active is rather small so I guess they aren't use to it. The end result is everything is great so far. In particular it was really cool to have my Doc hand me a copy of my EKG and tell me to put it in my glove compartment. He told me this because my resting heart rate is so low that if I got into a car accident and was unconscious, not knowing somewhere in the mid 50s is my normal resting heart rate, they would immediately send me to the ICU because of it.
To say I'm happy about this is an understatement and all this before I've really begun to train for my next long distance ride. Hopefully this points to the likelihood of this being a good year.
Overall I really feel great but my left leg is still a bit of a problem. My left thigh gets tight and that causes some knee problems if I don't massage it out and ice it down. My left Achilles Tendon can get pretty sore from the scare tissue I got in last years crash and overdoing it. Honestly though, that's just age and you have to learn to play hurt sometimes. It's not really the physical conditioning but the recovery from injuries that sets this age bracket apart from my 20's and 30's. Being in your 40's isn't really that much different if you keep in shape other than recovery and how fast things slide if you slack off. This is why I think getting older just gets so much better if you keep on top of it if the equation is something like Physical -1, Mental/Emotional +10.
Anyway, I'm waiting on one last test result before my doc clears me for the next long-distance ride but I'm working up a training program right now and really looking forward to it.
Anyway, I really love when doctors seem to marvel a bit at my physical condition. I'm not a thin person so I don't really look like I exercise the amount that I do and at 42 the number of people who stay active is rather small so I guess they aren't use to it. The end result is everything is great so far. In particular it was really cool to have my Doc hand me a copy of my EKG and tell me to put it in my glove compartment. He told me this because my resting heart rate is so low that if I got into a car accident and was unconscious, not knowing somewhere in the mid 50s is my normal resting heart rate, they would immediately send me to the ICU because of it.
To say I'm happy about this is an understatement and all this before I've really begun to train for my next long distance ride. Hopefully this points to the likelihood of this being a good year.
Overall I really feel great but my left leg is still a bit of a problem. My left thigh gets tight and that causes some knee problems if I don't massage it out and ice it down. My left Achilles Tendon can get pretty sore from the scare tissue I got in last years crash and overdoing it. Honestly though, that's just age and you have to learn to play hurt sometimes. It's not really the physical conditioning but the recovery from injuries that sets this age bracket apart from my 20's and 30's. Being in your 40's isn't really that much different if you keep in shape other than recovery and how fast things slide if you slack off. This is why I think getting older just gets so much better if you keep on top of it if the equation is something like Physical -1, Mental/Emotional +10.
Anyway, I'm waiting on one last test result before my doc clears me for the next long-distance ride but I'm working up a training program right now and really looking forward to it.
| Originally published at Flagon With The Dragon. |
