Getting Older

As I'm writing this blog entry, it has been almost 6 years since my last post and a lot has happened in my life (amazing and heartbreaking). However, I'm going to talk about how difficult getting older has been for me, especially the past year or so. The most heartbreaking moment of my entire life happened in October of 2017 when my mother passed away. Well, it WAS the most heartbreaking moment until our son passed away in November of 2018. That moment there was and has been the toughest moment of my entire life...hands down. I think about him all of the time. Each morning I wake up and I kiss my bracelet containing his ashes and I follow that up by kissing my ring containing my mother's ashes. That one year stretch has been the most difficult. I know that it could be much worse, but I've managed to have an amazing partner during the ordeal, my wonderful wife. She has been my strongest supporter and has shown me over and over why she is my wife. Aside from all of the emotional happenings, one of the toughest battles I've had to take on recently has been my health. For those of you that know me, I work out almost daily. In 2016 I ran a 5k about 3-5 times a week, I ate healthy, I got a decent amount of sleep each night (5-7 hours) and was doing great at my job. I also ran my first half-marathon (Eugene Half-Marathon in 2018). I only realize this now (because of how much I've aged in the past 2 years), but that was probably the best I have ever been physically. I was down to 195 lbs (down from 240 back in 2011) and I was running with my shirt off (something I never thought I would do and/or be comfortable with). Today, I've been diagnosed with "prepatellar bursitis" which is an inflammation of the bursa sac behind my kneecap. The inflammation is almost ongoing and caused my knee to swell up to the point where bending it is struggle. The toughest things to do when this flares up is getting into my car, using the restroom (sitting down), walking, and simply getting out of bed each morning. I received a cortisone injection a few months ago and things were really good for about 2 months until it eventually wore off. After the injection, I was able to do squats, crawl on my knees to play with my daughter, and run without any issues. However, it has recently returned and I fear that I may have to start coming up with my own solutions to accept this issue that I will probably have to deal with for the rest of my life. The hardest part is that it makes moving around and simply walking extremely painful. I have been very active since 2011 and I always felt great after I worked out. Now, I feel that I may have to make some adjustments in my life to maintain a physical and healthy lifestyle. I recently ran 3.5 miles on our treadmill the other day (first time since our son passed away) and I was worried that it would flare up again. So, to hopefully avoid this, I elevated my left leg and iced my knee for two 20-minute sessions. It has been two days and I think that it may have worked or, at least, lessened the inflammation that I have become accustomed to. Here are some of the positive changes that I've made in my life in the last couple of years: - completely cut out energy drinks and soda (less than 5 sodas a year; mainly at sporting events, concerts, and at In-N-Out Burger) - eating very little red meat (mainly on holidays, on vacation, etc.) - substituting vodka for beer for calories (I drink about once a week) - meal-prepping each week (one starch/vegetable and one meat) - walking more and running less - increasing my hiking and trail-running Here are some of the other painful issues that I have been dealing with recently: - prepatellar bursitis - abdominal strain (very painful and limits what I can do; sneezing and coughing are EXTREMELY painful; comes on after I run; I believe the main cause may be my running form; adjustments have been made to prevent this from happening again) - gout flareups (I've had these about 5-7 times in my past and it has always been in my right great toe); however, recently, it was in the top of my right foot primarily in the ankle joint; I had to walk with my foot in extreme supination; this caused left leg pain and bilateral hip issues) Here are some of the changes that I have been making to lessen the physical abuse that I have been putting myself through since 2011: - reduce the amount of running I do on hard surfaces (concrete, sidewalks, roads, etc.) - began looking into purchasing an elliptical and a row machine - began trail running (it's a lot more dangerous, but the soft dirt is easier on my knees and running down trails is much better for the knees than hiking because your legs are semi-bent instead of landing directly on each leg) - began working on my upper body by doing, at least, 500 pushups each day - began walking twice a day (1.07 miles each time) by walking around the Muckleshoot pow-wow grounds and back to my office The most difficult thing to deal with is that I have relied on my ability to be physically active as a means to feel good and be happy. When I work out and expel massive amounts of energy, I feel great. I wake up motivated, I sleep better, and I make less poor choices (food-wise) because I'm not feeling down because I cannot work out. When I'm physically unable to workout, I make poor dietary choices, I struggle to fall asleep, I stay up later because I'm not as tired, I'm less focused at work, and I just feel as though I'm in a major funk. Now that I'm on the verge of turning 38, I need to find healthy alternatives in order to prevent further destruction to my body. I will need to stick to a healthier diet (large amounts of vegetables, little to no red meat, lots of chicken/ground turkey, and white meat fish), drinking more water, creating, establishing, and maintaining a low-impact workout plan, meal-prepping each week with my wife, and taking all necessary precautions to reduce side-effects from working out. We cannot avoid aging and getting older; however, there are many things we can do to slow down the aging process and feel healthier in our middle-to-later years. Rehabilitating and taking care of myself after a workout has been my most recent adjustment. From this day forward, I will do what I can to take care of the body that I have and try to keep it healthy for years to come, so that I can be active and healthy with my children and wife. I owe them that much.