“Accept what the defense gives you” – BionicOldGuy

This quote is about working within your limitations. For example, in American football, the quarterback wants to pass a long ball, but the receiver is blocked by a defensive player, so he throws a short pass to the open man. I’ve been doing this for years, but for me the “defense” is the weakness that comes with aging. My favorite activity was running but when I got arthritis I had to stop running and now I can no longer run due to an artificial hip. So I started hiking and biking. I haven’t been hiking that well lately due to various lower back and hip issues. But what I love most about biking is getting out into nature and away from urban environments, and I can achieve that by mountain biking (as long as it’s on easy trails, since I’m not that talented a mountain biker).

Lately, even if I keep cycling, I still experience frustration when I push too hard. The most recent was last Sunday when I was doing my Horizontal group riding. It felt great at the time, but later in the day walking became painful because something felt messy in my lower back. I think I pissed off the SI joint over there. This time was particularly frustrating because I really had no idea what I was doing and I didn’t expect that I would have such a hard time on the ride. So I took it easy for a few days and did shorter rides at a slower pace. As of yesterday I was fine again. I guess I have to get used to this. I just have some orthopedic issues that pop up sometimes and I need to back off when they do. But I remind myself that what I love most about exercise is the fresh air and the relaxation that brings. Thankfully, I can do this even if I stay relaxed during a breakout.