“Take what defense gives you” – BionicOldGuy

This is a saying about working within your limits. For example, in American football, a quarterback wants to make a long pass but that receiver is protected by defenders, so he makes a shorter pass to an open person. I’ve been doing this for years, but in my case the “defense” is the helplessness of aging. My favorite activity was running, but I had to stop it when I developed arthritis, and now I’m not allowed to do it because of my artificial hips. So I started hiking and biking. Recently, hiking has not been very successful due to various lower back and hip problems. But what I liked most about cycling was getting deeper into nature and getting away from urban areas, and I could achieve that by mountain biking instead (as long as it was on easy trails as I’m not a talented mountain biker).

Lately, it seems that even if I commit to cycling, I can still suffer a setback when I push too hard. The last one was last Sunday when I did this Recumbent group ride. It felt great at the time, but later in the day walking became painful, because I felt something wrong in my lower back. I think I disturbed the SI joint on that side. This was especially frustrating because I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I didn’t think I had put in much effort during the trip. So I took it seriously for a few days, doing shorter trips at a slower pace. By yesterday I was fine again. I guess I’ll have to get used to this. I just have some orthopedic issues that can get worse from time to time and I need to step back when that happens. But I reminded myself that what I enjoy most about exercise is being outdoors and the relaxation it brings. Fortunately, I can do this even when I take things easy during attacks.