Thrashed Bod

i'm not much of a complainer when it comes to physical ailments and whatnot, but i think i finally gotta cave a bit. i've been working out 3 times a week since mid-2002 and it might have finally caught up with me. more and more lately i'm just racking up too many aches and pains all the time, and it really starts to take its toll on me after a while.

i've had several months of varying levels of mid and lower back pain, but it's gotten worse in the last month. i finally had to bite the bullet and schedule a doctor's appointment even though i don't have anything much more than "uh yeah my mid and lower back hurts all the time, and i'm tiring of taking painkillers daily." i go in tomorrow, so i'll see if i'm just given a few weeks' worth of stronger pain killers or actually get referred to a specialist.

it actually kinda sucks cuz i'm at a point where everything's going well for both cardio and strength training. running has been better than it was last year (in which an attempt at training for a 5K ended with a month of physical therapy sessions for shin splints) although i've started pretty slow. i've seen some recent gains for certain muscle groups, after some pretty long plateaus. upon finally finding a solid opponent again, i've started back up with competitive racquetball once a week as well.

but despite all that, i can't really ignore that i can't seem to go a day anymore without popping an aleve or tylenol and gingerly moving around all day. lately what happens is i'll play an hour and a half of racquetball monday night and for the next 2 full days my right shoulder's completely fucked and my legs are thrashed. then things will get better further in the week, but the usual arm and chest workouts are hampered by the bad back. i've barely even been able do actual back workouts for the last couple months anyway.

it'd be easy to say that since i'm a software engineer having lingering soreness and back pain would be relatively easy to manage, but that's certainly not the case for me. i actually feel a lot better when i'm active or working out than when i'm just sitting. while i'm at work or at home on the computer it's hard not to think about my back being so stiff. god forbid i have to get up and limp to the bathroom gingerly, heh.

i dunno, i don't wanna stop. i wanna keep doing what i've been doing for the last 4+ years, cuz most of the time i actually enjoy it. but, while i may only be 24, i gotta start listening to the body and at least see the doctor about this. we'll start with the back, but off & on i've had issues with both wrists (another lovely bi-product of being a software engineer AND trying to bench press more), right shoulder (really should be iced after all racquetball sessions), still the lingering shin splints at times (should go away over time...) and neck (certainly from too much computer dorkery).

recently, i've found this health-related blog fairly interesting. spend 5 minutes and read about his attempts at losing weight.

--justin