Today's walk report: 121313

Ouch.

While I always could thin about and find pain somewhere on my body during a walk today it was focusing on me. It was a distraction. Foot pain, for example, is omni-present. It's something I have to get transcend during a walk and for the most part I'm good about this. My body is also generally real cooperative in letting endorphins kick in and taking me outside of a lot of pain. Today there was simply too much to deal with. The most pronounced was tensor fasciae latae (TFL) pain. This is something relatively new in my life. It gets tight, on both sides, especially walking uphill and it can really be painful. It might be exasperated by my long strides but I don't really feel like changing my stride and slowing myself down to find out. I just want to get to the top of the hill.

Here's where the TSL is...

I can rub it with my knuckles or the palm of my hand and get some relief but the best thing to do is stop for a moment and try to stretch that area. Tightness in the TFL can also cause pain in the lower back and in the lateral portion of the knee. That's what I was getting today.

I was also experiencing pain on my left side trapezius muscle which I think coincidently is where my camera strap lies. I use a BlackRapid RS-7 camera strap which goes over one shoulder while the camera lies on the opposing hip. I think the pain though was from stress.

My feet were really bitching too. Eight days ago I mentioned it may be time to switch to a new pair of shoes and I haven't done that. It appears that I've been wearing my current pair of Nikes for just over 15 weeks. I've had the same model shoe last over 20 weeks but time isn't the only factor. If for some odd reason you want to know what shoe that is it's the, Nike Free 3.0 Men's Running Shoe. On clearance I can usually get away with a pair for about $65 including shipping. Retail is $100. This is the shoe that works best for me. This is not a commercial. If you have problems with your feet and you're looking for advice on a shoe I totally understand and sympathize.

So, despite all this struggling, would you believe I had a nice walk? I compensate and try and adjust for pain. It's hard sometimes and it was really hard today but the walk still managed to take me somewhere beyond that struggle. At least it did for the last 3 km or so of a 7.69 km walk.

On the photo front there wasn't much going on except I got a Christmas "gift" today. It was my gift to myself because I think I deserve it. I won't go into the details why I deserve but I'll say this... I thought about it really hard. I thought about everything that went into the year 2013 and decided it was warranted. I picked up a Canon 40mm pancake STM lens for the holidays. That choice based on the low price, the size and the STM (quiet stepper motor for focus) so I could try and shoot some nice video again and enhance/refresh some post production skills while I'm at it. About 3 years ago I thought I was going into a DSLR camera for video. I've hardly shot any video. Certainly nothing very serious. I rediscovered my love of photography though and that was a good, healthy thing for me to do. Hopefully come spring I'll have some of what I've offered here on the photo level on video... We'll see.

Today's walk report: 080613

Another 4 inning walk?

I think I wrote once before that my 8.26 km, Mon-Thurs, walk went on for 4 innings of a Dodgers' game but if I don't get my act together on the keyword thing here I'm going to be hopelessly lost in trying to backtrack stuff. That's one of the reasons I bother doing this by the way. This blog has a certain journal aspect to it, uninspired as it may be. Anyway, during the walk I also predicted I was going to miss 4 innings. There's no clock in baseball.

What I was going to write about was foot problems, sort of clinically and try to be helpful to someone else perhaps who suffers foot pain. I always walk with some level of foot pain. I can't even imagine what it would be like for there not to be pain. I've got issues with my feet up to and including my ankles. However, I don't have the energy to discuss this now. Another time. I need to relax. I have to get up early. Dodgers lost btw, broke a historic winning streak from happening on the road.

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. Things did not go as planned today I was literally stopped in my tracks early this morning over the news that musician George Duke passed away. I once had the privilege to sit with Mr. Duke at a So. Cal. club in the mid-70s and have a delightful chat. I was at a concert of his with friends of mine. George came over to our table and sat with us during his break. A sweetheart of a man and a fantastic musician. He will be missed.

Today's walk report: 042513

Shoes...

Running shoes are about the only shoes I ever wear these days. My son thinks I get these wild looking shoes as some sort of eccentricity or something. OK, truth is I did that once but since then all of my shoes are chosen as follows....

I go online to Nike Clearance, sort running shoes for men by my size (12) and have them priced lowest to highest. Then I pick whatever shoe looks like it's going to give me the most comfort and the best bang for the buck. I can't help it if they often look like they were designed by some black light poster artist from 1968.

Shoes are also sort of the bane of my existence. Or my feet are. Anyway, for anyone following this senselessness the last few days, today I went back to the new New Balance shoes I bought this round from Amazon because they looked like a go and they were $50 delivered. That's $20-$30 less than I've been paying. These NB's provided two days of foot pain the day of and day after their debut. Yesterday no pain... so today, I shortened 7.18 km walk to continue breaking them in. Or because I have masochistic tendencies. I'm not sure where I was finding the logic but it turned out to be a smart move. I certainly want the $50 investment to work out.

Now, I digress, let me point something out for anyone stumbling into the Walk Report who hasn't heard me mention what I have mentioned a few times under it's old Facebook format (the transition story is here)... I will never give the pretense that there is, or that there will ever be, anything interesting in the walk report. Thank you for reading though.