Paying the Price

The last two months have certainly been strenuous and busy with "house stuff."  Sorting, packing, lifting, discarding, and generally shedding the stuff of decades sapped a lot of energy.  Each day I  worked for a fixed amount of time, then focused on routine stuff like laundry and cooking, and then collapsed for a rest.  Before bed I enjoyed an hour or so of downtime - knitting, NetFlix, reading.  I thought it was a pretty balanced approach.

But the "personal stuff" that helped to maintain my physical wellbeing was lacking.

I promised myself that once the lion's share of house stuff was done I would get back to personal stuff like walking daily, strength/stretching, and watching my diet.

Frequent conversations with myself argued that 10 years ago I could have done both - house stuff and personal stuff - at the same time.  But I have accepted the fact that now splitting my focus results in nothing getting done very well.   Probably a subtle age related phenomenon.  *Sigh*.

So the lion's share of the house stuff is done ... but I am now paying the price for ignoring the personal stuff.

Sunday morning I woke up with a back spasm.  No brainer - too much lifting and carrying.   It was my back's way of stating the obvious ... "See, you are not in your 30s - not even close - and if you do stupid stuff, I will be sure you pay the price."  Thank you, Mr. Back.  I got the message!

But carry on is what I chose to do (apparently I got the message but didn't learn the lesson.)

• Monday - I tried to go for a walk but within 25 feet of my front door I turned around and came back.  Advil, muscle relaxants and rest were pretty much the activities of that day.
• Tuesday - Walked down the street very slowly for about 250 feet - had one back spasm that buckled my right knee.  I returned to the house even slower.  Repeat Monday activities.
• Today - Better.  Walked slowly around the block.  No spasms but my back is sore and it reminded me to keep my pace slow.   I stopped frequently to shake out stiffness in my hips and thighs.  Hard to know if that was due to lack of regular exercise or if it was a guarding action of surrounding muscles to the lower back injury.  A little of both I guess.  During those stops I enjoyed the view - and took some pictures.

But I am encourage.  Progress.

It is, however, appalling just how quickly you can lose physical strength and stamina after the age of 60.

Tomorrow??  More of the same - need to get my daily step totals up to 10,000 a day like I did for so many months before.