Oh My Aching....

Bradley Rose, Peloton

I take a lot of Peloton classes from a young Brit named Bradley Rose. He's funny, cute (I may need glasses but I'm not blind), and does a lot of Pop Punk rides, which I love.  And occasionally he'll drop some life affirming wisdom that I need to hear.  But his brand is a light, self-effacing humor, and he's got that 30-something "I'm getting so old" attitude that I remember having myself but laugh at now. In one of the classes I took recently he said he's to the point he doesn't know if he has an injury or this is the way he's going to be, and then went on to complain about all his aches and pains when he gets up in the morning. I had to smile and shake my head and think to myself, "Oh, honey, you have no idea. Just wait."

But it was interesting timing because after a busy, busy Sunday I had wrapped myself in my fancy heating pad that I got for Christmas last year and wondered if I overdid it and that's why my back was screaming profanity at me or if I was coming down with something because my temperature was just slightly elevated. Or was my temperature elevated because I was wearing a heating pad? Or maybe it was a bit of both.  And how sad is it that someone gets you a heating pad for a gift...and you're actually excited about it?!

I admittedly did a lot of activities that day that would challenge anyone who isn't a professional athlete's back but it hurt for days. It's not a shock or particularly unusual that I abuse my body the way I did on the weekend because, like a lot of us, when else do you have a chance to get stuff done, so you just have to suck it up and push yourself to your limits and accept you'll suffer some soreness because of it, The newish part is that it takes forever to stop hurting. That's the difference between me now and the me who was once Bradley Rose's age.  Yeah, I woke up stiff a lot in my 30's, but walked or steam showered it out. Now once I tweak something, it stays tweaked.

And suddenly things happen that I have NO clue how they happened.  For example, I've been nursing a sore left ankle all summer.  It got bad enough at one point I wrapped it in order to click into the bike.  I think maybe, but I'm not sure, that I actually hurt it clipping out of the bike, which takes a little effort. If you look at Bradley's shoes in the photo, that red part on the bottom actually locks into the pedal so you don't slip and hurt yourself.  But you do have to turn your ankle a bit to release the shoe, so it was all I could think of that could have happened.  Ironic?  Yeah.  Well, it gets worse. So a couple of months after the ankle started, my left hand started to give me a lot of trouble.  It ached at its best.  It made me wince at its worst. But not the wrist, the hand and the fleshy part of the hand is the part that hurts.  I panicked that it might be arthritis starting, but it wasn't the joint.  Then I thought carpal tunnel.  But the symptoms aren't quite right for that either.  I work a lot on the keyboard and notice I rest that part of my hand on the wrist pad, so maybe that's the cause...but more likely it's how I hold my hands on the handlebars of the bike.  And when it's flaring, riding the bike can be extra spicy. I have to consider that's the cause.  Again, irony raises its head...the very thing I rely on to keep myself limber and active is potentially injuring me, and I haven't even talked about my knees!

I'm wondering when and how my body decided to hang on to every small insult I impose on it and torture me with it, but I know I'm not alone because my husband mentioned yesterday that a bump he had incurred when he tripped over something a couple of weeks ago is still there and bothering him.  So, here we are: oddly sore 60-somethings where this is waiting for us this coming weekend:

My back hurts just thinking about it.  

How about you?  Noticing any odd aches and pains that linger as you age?  Have you found a great way to alleviate the issues?  Do please share!!