Hard to believe but here we are in mid-January already! And winter is decidedly here; we are expecting single-digit temps overnight for several straight nights – good ole’ fashioned New England winter nights. Having said that, we’ve have precious little snow to this point, a dusting here or there but nothing of substance. They are predicting snow in the next couple of days but nothing of significance – maybe 1-4” depending on where you live. But my personal weather history left an impression that January “typically” brings the extreme cold and February “typically” brings the snow. We’ll see.
We took our Christmas 2.0 trip to Maine over the first weekend of January and it was wonderful! The kids left the tree up for our gift exchange and it was wonderful to see the grandkids tear into their presents. The following day I went to a wrestling tournament with my son and oldest grandson where we spent most of the day. He wrestled so well and hard and while he didn’t place, he certainly showed his mettle. I’ve seen videos of him wrestling since he moved up north, but I had not seen him wrestle in person since 8th grade (10th now) and I was blown away at his growth in technique, strength, and mat awareness. He had been quite ill with a respiratory infection for several weeks prior so he had missed a lot of practices and his conditioning was below normal but he still wrestled with great intensity and determination and it was a joy to see.
My hiking has been less than desired for a number of reasons: I had a cold for several weeks (and then caught a second one), Christmas preparations, doctor appointments, and to some extent even the cold weather. But I have managed to get out twice which is at least once a week. I had hoped to get out today but I had errands to run and frankly if I don’t hit the trail by 9AM it’s too late. So hopefully Sunday will my next hike.
I remain in the healing phases of my surgery; they don’t often talk about the long-term, mostly focusing on the immediate healing such as the incision and the like. But truth be told, there are effects that take months to resolve, perhaps years. Some of this is from the surgery and some from the medications – side effects can be as nasty as the effects of they actual surgery. My heart continues to seek some sort of normalcy and I am not sure when (or if) that will happen. I still have an irregular heartbeat and perhaps always will? I may learn more in April at my next cardiologist appointment.
Many of my complaints are sort of not readily apparent; they are noticed primarily through the data presented on my watch which monitors a lot of cardio metrics. For example, my heartrate still drops into the 30’s, usually overnight, to the point where I complained to my doctor and he cut the dose of one of my meds by half. I can’t say that I am ever acutely aware that is getting low, probably the best indicator would be light-headedness or dizziness upon standing. There was a litany of other complaints – side effects of the meds – as well so I am hoping to see some relief over the next couple of weeks. Last night it did not drop below 50 bpm so perhaps some progress.
Beyond that there is heartrate variability, a metric that monitors the amount of time between pulses and looks at the variability – essentially it looks at how well your nervous system is triggering your heart. Mine had been in the averaging 30 milliseconds before everything happened. Then after surgery it got wild rising up to above 100ms average in July-August timeframe. It began to drop as I was able to resume exercise and dropped steadily as my frequency and duration of exercise increased, down into the 50-60ms range. But then for some reason it shot up above 100ms again in December. It has slowly dropped over the last two or three weeks, currently back into the 30’s millisecond average again. Weird.
I find I tolerate cold far worse than I used to. I was never a fan of it, but dealt with it OK. But since surgery I find that I struggle with it now. I’ve mentioned the issues with my hands and, to a lesser degree, my feet in the past, but this is beyond that – just a bone-deep chill from the cold to which I am unaccustomed. And this is not necessarily a figment of my imagination; I’ve read several medical articles on this phenomenon occurring in people post bypass: an increased intolerance to cold. It may or may not be permanent. But easily dealt with regardless!
I shall make my best effort to finish updating this and get it posted before summer (just kidding); I will try to wrap this post up today and get it online. Sometimes no new updates means I have been busy, in this case it is the reciprocal – I’ve not been terribly busy of late: the January doldrums have settled in. It’s been cold – really cold – so while I have gotten out hiking, I have not been out much. Plus we’ve had snow, not a lot to be sure, but enough to interfere with my walking on the roads. I did come to love my (almost) daily hour-long walks, and even the longer ones when I would increase the loop. But that was when the weather was nice. Walking alongside a busy road with traffic running at 40MPH and above, in the cold, sort of loses its luster. And of course the shortened amount of daylight doesn’t help. But the addition of ice and snow in the breakdown lane where I walk is just about a deal-killer for me.
The effect of not street-walking as much (lol) has been clearly demonstrated (at least to me) in many ways including a slight increase in my cholesterol levels which had been great. The levels are still really good, but above my goal and I am convinced that is because my weekly walking totals are down. My doctor agrees that walking is the single-most important component of my cardio health giving me all the more reason to get my feet moving!
I am creeping into my birthday month and this one will be my last in my 60’s. Yes I know that age is a state of mind – I’ve written on this thought several times. And while it is essentially true (meaning that there is a nugget of truth in the saying) the reality is that aging brings undeniable, irrepressible, and unrelenting decline. You can scream into the night and rail against the inexorable erosion of self but in the end it doesn’t matter and aging always wins. That fact displays itself daily, sometimes subtly and other times it just reaches out and slaps you upside your head!
Got in another hike today – 12.5 miles. What sets it apart are that there was a couple inches of snow on the ground and that it was single-digit temps when I started. It was quite chilly! My toes were not happy for the first mile or two, but eventually adapted quite nicely to the conditions; I even dunked my foot ankle-deep when some ice broke and soaked my foot but with wool socks it never became an issue. My fingers, on the other hand (pun intended), gave me a hard time even with the heated gloves. Taking them off even to just take a pic or check the route on my phone caused a rapid decline in comfort and it took longer and longer for them to recover. (Reminder that they are heated gloves!) I could not run them on high as the batteries would never last so I ran on medium and that worked – sort of. But by mile ten or so the batteries died and they went from heated gloves to just gloves. I still did OK but the fingers were really failing fast at the end, in fact it took me three tries to turn the key to start the engine in the truck – they get that bad!
I read an article on that to help reduce stress and evoke positive emotions, older people should experience “awe” as often as possible – preferably on an “awe walk” where they obtain exercise and experience something that awes them. It does not have to be as awesome as the Grand Canyon though, something as simple as a beautiful landscape or cloud formation is adequate. What’s important is that you feel awe at whatever it is you’re seeing. And while I am not old yet, I do this. Honestly I have always found awe in every hike – always. Often it is multiple times as in most of the hike! A sacred pine grove, a ridge or ledge overlooking most anything, a stream running down a hill….and a million other moments. Today I stopped several times in literal awe of the snow, the trees, the blue sky, and that low January sun casting that winter light. Just breathtaking. So just one more reason to hike!!
Well as per my usual, I left this unfinished for far too long! Since beginning it I’ve been out for a couple more hikes bringing my January total to six hikes for 62 miles. I also undertook my first run in decades. I’ve “run” here and there over the years of course, but as in running in the yard with the grandkids and once in a while breaking into a jog. But this was an drive to a wooded trail with the full intention of running to the best of my fitness. I ran more than walked and the running was a jumble of jogging and running. But I did it. I went three miles and did it in 39 minutes with the final mile at a 12:55 split-time. So I am pleased! I need to do this more often!! I found that each time I started running after walking that the running became easier and easier. At first my lungs – breathing – was the uncomfortable part but by the end it was my legs that were getting uncomfortable.
I will close this out and post it today, while it is still January for a few hours more. Tomorrow dawns a new month and always a month I enjoy. February often brings a crazy mix of weather ranging from quite cold to surprisingly warm temps; I’ve seen 50’s and even low 60’s at times in February. It is also much more typically our snow month, more so than any other winter month, at least in my memories. It is also Daytona 500 month, Super Bowl month, and let’s not forget about Valentine’s Day – all things I really look forward to. And also my birthday though I don’t really look forward to that (aside from going out to my favorite Chinese restaurant).
I thought I had medical “things” to deal with in February as well but in checking my calendar it seems March and April are the medical months and I have nothing on radar for February. Should afford lots of opportunity to get out and hike!! Enjoy your January-February transition and try to get outdoors for some sun and a touch of Mother Nature! Stay well dear reader!!