Please don't be a kidney stone...

Saturday, July 30, 2011

I rolled out of bed around 7 a.m. to head for the park and a meeting with my nutritionist, Bob, for a Survival Workout. He’s in great shape and I knew I’d be pushing harder than usual both to assure him of a good workout…and to do more than him. I was changing when I began to feel a dull ache in the right side of my lower back…about the place where the kidney resides. I’ve gone through kidney stones on two separate occasions and know the pain pretty well and this was feeling a lot like that. As I drove to the park, the pain became more acute, but I continued on hoping it was something else. Bob called to say he was running late…he always is…so I started doing some of the workout hoping it would alleviate the pain. Amazingly, it seemed to. By the time Bob arrived, I’d done a set of push-ups, dips and rows with my log. I showed him what to do and he jumped in. I spotted the perfect pull-up limb across from our cars…it’s been there since I started coming here and I don’t know how I’ve missed it…so we both did a set. I managed a new pr with 8 and he could only do 6…excellent. He was a little disappointed in the performance but I reminded him he’d already done over 60 push-ups, 40 triceps dips and rowing with a 100-pound log. “Besides that Bob…I’m close to 60 and you’re not that far behind,” I reminded him.

We headed down the trail where, after demonstrating the high hop I perform as a power move for the gluts, discovered he had a two-inch vertical. “Seriously…that’s all the higher you can jump? Watch me again and do this,” I scolded. He watched and tried some more…but despite a body fat of about 7 percent and having excellent conditioning, he couldn’t go up.

We lifted rocks and logs (he brushed dirt from his hands like a little girl) as we proceeded down the trail. When we reached the point for abdominal work, I noticed him scanning the ground for the least dirty place to plant himself. “Bob…its all dirt and that’s part of the workout. Just drop and go,” I said, covered in sweat and mud and not caring a hoot. Reluctantly he found a spot and went to work. I had him doing some more jump ups while I watched…still avoiding explosive moves that could inflame the meniscus…and egging him on to do more, faster. I wanted to puke him out and I know I can…he’s in that good of shape. We made our way back to the car and Bob passed on the last sets of lifts claiming that his neck hurt a little from the overhead rock press. I cut him some slack, but continued to do all my sets…more to show off than anything. Once back to the cars, he complimented me on the workout and commented on my conditioning. “You can really see that you’ve lost a lot of fat from the workouts and the Paleo Diet. I can see the cut again,” he said. I beamed inside from the compliment. Bob has known me since my triathloning days…so he knows what I’m aiming for.

As I drove home, the back pain returned. I had to get to the Beaver Marsh for my volunteer work as a Wildlife Watcher for Cuyahoga Valley National Park, but I was beginning to wonder if that would happen. I drove there in some pain, but it never seemed to get any worse so I went with it. If it is a kidney stone, it could be the result of all of the sweating and not getting proper rehydration. I continued to sweat for the next two hours in the sun though I had remembered to bring water and went through 32 ounces.

That night Holly and I joined a couple at Blossom for the Cleveland Orchestra where I managed to eat poorly. Holly had made some amazing dessert that included two kinds of pudding, peanut butter, butter, chocolate fudge and a graham cracker and something crust. It was heavenly and I couldn’t resist…well didn’t anyway. I knew I’d be riding long tomorrow with John and just decided what the hell…I’d burn it off then. Sometimes…I do these things, but now the focus is there and it will be okay.

Survival Workout duration: 60 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 100 to 150 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 600