For Whom the Dogs Bark

I have been to two different chiros now and they are both saying the same thing, that it isn't a herniated disc but sciatic nerve passing through the psoas, which has probably been aggravated from a recent uptick in weights.  I guess that's right, it's all I have to go on right now.  Ran a mile this morning and it hurt a lot, although I am getting around OK today.  Needless to say, Grandma's Marathon is a scratch.  It seems that an aggressive stretching regimen is going to get me past this the quickest.  I am spinning for an hour every morning and started back on weights yesterday.  There is some discomfort with that but it is on a different order than running or even walking.  Those are the only two activities that give me trouble.

I am feeling a lot better, probably because I don't run anymore.  My plan is to do spin bike every morning for an hour, weights three times a week, and tons of stretching.  So far this week I have spun four times and weights twice.  Got 18.5 miles this morning, spinning for an hour on settings 10 and 15, my best so far (believe me, I would have preferred about 7 or 8 1K repeats).  I actually got my heart rate up to high 160s.  When I finished there was a large puddle of sweat under my bike.  I was impressed, but I don't think that opinion was shared by the bikers around me.  Just trying not to lose too much fitness, folks.

So the gym I go to is called Planet Fitness.  It stresses low prices and a judgment-free environment.  As a result it is friendly and low-key.  My son used to go there every day for about a year, and got some pretty large muscles.  But for his birthday last week he upgraded to LA Fitness.  (I don't know how widespread these gyms are, they are both pretty prevalent in the Houston area.)  So I have been going there with him to do weights, but I think I prefer the cheap place.  LA Fitness has more machines, but it seems to be full of posers, really large guys covered with tattoos and a bunch of high school wannabes whose daddies bought their memberships.  (Looking at it honestly, I admit that my son fits in well there.) 

I am trying to ice twice a day but it usually ends up being only once.  For the first time in decades I can touch the floor in front of my toes with knees locked.  It is ironic that I am gaining hamstring flexibility because of what I thought was a back injury.  I think the injury is in the piroformis.  When I sit with my ankle over the opposite knee, I can do fine with my left leg but my right leg doesn't bend much.

My chiro consults with one of the national track organizations and I like him a lot.  I think he may even be somebody who can help me long term. 

Back to the gym for the 6th spin bike session of the week.  Got 21.95 miles in one hour, previous high was 18.45, so I am starting to get some decent heart rates out of this.  MaxHR this morning was 183.  Depth of sweat puddle under the machine was 1.39 mm, also a PR.  Got my second warning -- they will probably refund my money and kick me out in a week, but I'll be running by then so it won't matter.  Traveling all next week.