Age and Hyrdration

Today I purchased a knee brace. Last year, while assessing my hip flexor issues the doc did an exray and determined I have a cam impingement on the left side. I'm getting old folks. Ok neither of these is really an age thing. The doc said I was likely born with the cam thingy but age tends to make it more noticeable. Especially in active adults, he said. Since he was getting paid for the visit regardless of that comment it did make me feel better. The knee brace though -- although I know folks younger than me who wear braces of all kinds I didn't until recently and it makes me feel old.

I have to accept the fact that I have to stretch more now before and after activity and even on my off days. Same goes for rolling out my muscles especially the IT band. I'll just have to make all of this part of a daily routine now. Hindsight says I probably should have made it a daily routine regardless of activity level all along and maybe I wouldn't be having these issues. Let that be a lesson to you young'uns reading this.

The good news is I walked about 2.5 miles total this morning doing my shopping errands and my tendon does not feel as bad as it did running 2 miles yesterday. It's still there but not as much. That is encouraging because I am more confident now that if I do stretch and strengh work and wear the brace I will complete the marathon. I've already shifted my goal to 3 and 1 minute intervals instead of 1 mile and 1 minute intervals and if I have to walk more I will. I really hope not but I'll at least allow for the possibility.

On the subject of hydration: I've long been a water drinker and there is usually a bottle nearby. However, I never really measured how much. When not running there was not much regularity to my intake either. I might have a bottle with me but probably only emptied it once or maybe 1.5 times a day and they were small bottles usually only 8 ounces. So I decided at the beginning of this month - just after we returned from the Atlanta trip -  to make an effort to drink 72 ounces a day. Three 24 oz bottles. I've been told that you should drink half your weight in ounces. I don't know my exact weight. I'm not a fan of scales. I don't want to get hung up on the numbers. I know approximatley where it is based on doctor's visits and how I feel so the estimate is likely close enough.

It's been 17 days and I have to say it DOES make a difference. I can feel it several ways. First in my weight. Like I said,  I'm not a big fan of scales (ours is in the basement for that reason) but I can tell by how my clothes feel if I'm gaining or losing a pound or two. In general I just 'feel' better and the water intake is the only major change in the past three weeks. On Friday, I had a very busy day at work. So much so that I was behind in my water intake. I was tired and a little cranky and someone commented that I didn't look well. Scouts honor, I realized the hydration deficit (I had only finished one bottle by lunchtime) and shortly after making it up I DID feel better.

My friend Kristie is rolling her eyes and/or smiling right now to avoid saying "I told you so". She is too nice to say it out loud to me. She's been pushing the hydration thing forever. Sometimes you just have to figure it out for yourself, though. So I share the experience to help someone else figure it out.