Cortisone!

Well I had another appointment with the pain doctor last night after my 2 rounds of medicine did very little to help.

He suggested I try a cortisone shot, he called it a nerve blocker. He said one should last a month, a second should last a couple more months, and after that hopefully I would be all healed. I asked why I would not and he chuckled and said maybe I would be afraid of needles.

He pressed against my upper right leg / groin to find where the pain was centered and then marked the spots with magic marker. He then took the needle & syringe and gave me injections in 5 different spots. He sent me on my way, suggesting that I be careful driving and take it easy that night as my leg might be a little weak.

What an understatement! By the time I drove home, my right leg was completely numb. I went up stairs, sat down for a bit, then started getting dressed for soccer practice. I fell down twice getting dressed, my leg just gave out on me with no warning. I fell 4 more times throughout the night, including twice walking across the field after soccer.

I had to take the day off work today, I didn't sleep at all until after 5 AM and my leg was still mostly numb when I awoke around 7:30. It finally wore off around 1PM, but now my knee and ankle are really sore from the falls.

But the lingering pain from my hernia seems to be gone.

Gold's Gym Long Tube Workout

Taking most of last week off from work got me out of my routine. I was finally able to get my tube workout in again tonight.

Bike Path Again - With Biker

Brooke and I ran again today, a little farther, she ran 27 minutes, and I ran almost 35. Rachel came along to ride her bike. The weather was beautiful.

Bike Path Again

Brooke and I ran the bike path again today. Her pile of rocks were still there at the 49th post. We ran 3 minutes faster this week than last week!

Gold's Gym Long Tube Workout - Abs

The final exercise portion of this workout is abs, and we basically did 3 exercises, each with the legs partially supported by the tubes.

First, single leg lowering. Lying on my back, with one leg down flat, lower (and then raise) the other leg. Alternate and do this on both legs.

Next, leg circles (both legs at the same time, both directions) still lying on my back.

And finally, a pilates exercise called the hundred, lying on my back, feet and head elevated, make 100 downward motions with my arms. I'm not sure the arm motions are for anything other than to keep my mind off the fact that I'm holing my legs and head in the air for 100 count.

Gold's Gym Long Tube Workout - Legs

Since I got off-schedule earlier in the week, I did my 3rd Tube workout today. The next set of exercises I haven't described is legs. First we did squats (pretty easy to understand) standing with both feet on the tubes.

The other leg excercise doesn't really have a name (that I know). Mia on the dvd says that it works on the adductor muscle. These are the muscles that move your leg left and right. We stood with 1 leg on the tube and put the other foot against the stretchy part of the tube and pressed out (away from the other leg). A challenging part of this is standing on 1 leg!

Nick (from the pizza shop) and I last night were discussing fitness and he's planning to start working out also so maybe we can challenge each other.

Bike-Trail Run with Brooke

Brooke and I were able to find time to run this morning before the rains came. Since she didn't like passing animal carcasses last week on the road, we drove to the local end of the Inland Trail, an old train tracks made into a bike path.

We ran 25 minutes and made it almost 2.5 miles. Brooke started a rock collection and left them at the 47th guard-rail post. We will likely go back next week during Spring Break and we will see if the rocks are still there.

Gold's Gym Long Tube Workout - Back

First of all I figured out how to recenter my cord protectors, the canvas sleeves that cover the stretchy tubes. Some were becoming off-center and when I tried to recenter them the sleeves would start to turn inside out on themselves and bunch up and they would not move.

I simply snipped the end of the sleeve to make it wider so that I could keep it open while I pulled and now I can move the sleeves where I need them.

Anyhow I'm back to my morning workout routine today, the next workout I haven't described is the back. We did 2 exercises for the back, bent-over row and shrugs. Shrugs are always pretty easy for me.

Next planned workout is a run with Brooke on Friday and another tube workout on Saturday.

Gold's Gym Long Tube Workout - at night

I missed last Friday and Monday both. I did the workout tonight and will go again on Thursday AM and Saturday and I will be back on schedule for next Monday.

Nathan also did the workout tonight. He is going to Florida for a week to visit his grandparents but hopefully when he returns he will stick with the workout at least a couple nights each week.

In other news I was able to get a copy of the P90X system (dvd's, workout book, and nutrition book) second-hand, very lightly used (if at all). My plan is to continue the Golds Gym Long Tube workout through April and then start the P90X in May!

Gold's Gym Long Tube Workout - Biceps

Just a quick post today as the biceps section of the video only has 1 exercise - biceps curls.

Well actually we did switch from both arms to 1 arm (alternating) about halfway through. I counted and I got about 20 with both arms and 15 each with 1 arm.