PUSHING YOUR BOUNDARIES? NOT TOO FAR

Do you know your boundaries, and how far to push?

I reviewed some yesterday. Maybe one.

As a fitness fan who also likes taking it easy, I sometimes go too far.

To far one way with a slack day, or two; too far another day with too much.

Here’s how it worked out yesterday:

As a former athlete, a former high school wrestler, I’ve spent a lifetime looking at the scale.

My digital scale recently shattered into pieces when I wasn’t on it.

It didn’t self destruct worrying I might step onboard either. (And I didn’t break the camera.)

One morning it was in pieces and ended up in a plastic bag to avoid dropping anything on the way to the trash.

How’s my weight now? Never better if I don’t check.

After a mostly sedentary day, or two, I decided to take a more active approach: Get a lift in and take the dog for a walk.

Nothing unusual about that.

So I lifted, layered up, and headed out.

Layered up?

That means a thin shirt under a heavy hoodie, quilted vest, and impermeable rain parka.

It was raining. Did I mention it’s Oregon?

In this case impermeable means water proof with no ventilation for a good sweat.

Nothing new here. I call it the ‘Walking Sauna.’

In the middle of my normal walk I thought, ‘Why not a little further?’

I was having a day, feeling frisky in the fresh air, radiating heat into the afternoon chill. (It was around fifty degrees.)

Why Not A Little Further

I decided to take a trail down the hillside through the forest, then around the hill and back up.

So far so good.

Since I’m a friendly guy walking a dog, I say hello to others.

Just and man and his dog. And what a dog. Best dog ever.

Once I made it down the hill, feeling peppy, feeling no pain, I walked the flat.

I walked past the first road up, the second road up, and finally took the one called Ascension.

It’s steep, maybe the steepest of all roads going up. Go figure with that name.

Halfway up I started feeling the heat. That’s what I wanted in the rain.

A little further along I started feeling overheated.

Not what I wanted, but I kept pounding it out in low gear.

Before too much further my head felt weird, my legs felt wobbly, and my pulse and blood pressure had to be running overtime.

I stopped for a rest. I never stop.

Two driveways later I stopped and took a seat on someone’s rock wall.

Another first. And still plenty of hill left.

Like a finely tuned instrument, like a NASCAR racer, like an accomplished athlete, I’d reached my limit.

I was done. Walked out. I hit the wall. Pooped. (No not that poop, luckily.)

I’ve hit the wall before and tried to remember what it felt like.

Football game wall. Wrestling match wall. Marathon wall. Relationship wall.

I’ve hit them all and then some, which isn’t unusual for a boomer. The unusual part is the baby boomer blogger part, the ‘why do it’ part.

I unzipped my sweat soaked from the inside layers, my rain drenched from the outside gear, and found another place to take a seat and call for a pick up.

It was a call for help to my wife who is critical when I don’t ask for help.

Hep me, honey.

It was a call home, a call for rescue before it became a call for an emergency.

What If It Had Been An Emergency

While I called and waited, I noticed I wasn’t cooling down and my heart was revved up.

So I took off my gear and sat in the rain wearing a t-shirt when it was a bundle up day. (50)

Ah, that’s better.

I tried to remember the symptoms of heat stroke.

From the Mayo Clinic:

High body temperature. A core body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) or higher is the main sign of heatstroke.
Change in mental state or behavior. Confusion, agitation, slurred speech, irritability, delirium, seizures and coma can all result from heatstroke.
Change in sweating pattern. In heatstroke brought on by hot weather, skin feels hot and dry to the touch. However, in heatstroke brought on by strenuous exercise, sweating may be profuse.
Nausea and vomiting. Someone with heatstroke may feel sick to their stomach or vomit.
Flushed skin. Skin may turn red as body temperature increases.
Rapid breathing. Breathing may become rapid and shallow.
Racing heart rate. Pulse may significantly increase because heat stress places an extreme burden on the heart to help cool the body.
Headache. Heatstroke may cause the head to throb.

I tried to remember the symptoms of Heat Exhaustion:

Sticking with Mayo today:

Cool, moist skin with goose bumps when in the heat.
Heavy sweating.
Faintness.
Dizziness.
Fatigue.
Weak, rapid pulse.
Low blood pressure upon standing.
Muscle cramps.
Nausea.
Headache.

Instead, I remembered the old Boy Scout saying:

IF THE FACE IS RED, LIFT THE HEAD

IF THE FACE IS PALE, LIFT THE TAIL

Then What

I wasn’t lifting anything but my butt off the wall when rescue seemed unlikely.

No answer meant what? I should knock on a stranger’s door?

Ask a passer-by to come back in a car and pick me up?

Or call someone else?

My list of someone’s would take longer to get there than it would for me to limp on home, so . . . ?

I played hurt, like all of the great one’s.

There I was with a load of laundry hanging over one arm and a dog pulling me sideways every other step no matter how many times I said, “Heel. HEEL.”

I ordinarily walk with a pace. Not a march, but a quick, consistent step.

That’s what I like to think I look like, someone who once ran an under six-minute mile who still steps out with a graceful, powerful, stride.

(And so you also know, it’s not hard to find a stretch of road with a decline a mile long.)

That’s the image I held walking back from Ascension, not a wobbling old man carrying overcoats with a wild dog yanking him sideways while he looks for a soft yard to fall in.

I wasn’t all the way out on my feet until I got home, changed, dried the dog off, and stretched out under a blanket from nurse-wife.

Going with the Mayo Clinic one more time for heart attack symptoms:

Chest pain that may feel like pressure, tightness, pain, squeezing or aching
Pain or discomfort that spreads to the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, teeth or sometimes the upper belly
Cold sweat
Fatigue
Heartburn or indigestion
Lightheadedness or sudden dizziness
Nausea
Shortness of breath

PUSHING YOUR BOUNDARIES? NOT TOO FAR

Do you know your boundaries, and how far to push?

I reviewed some yesterday. Maybe one.

As a fitness fan who also likes taking it easy, I sometimes go too far.

To far one way with a slack day, or two; too far another day with too much.

Here’s how it worked out yesterday:

As a former athlete, a former high school wrestler, I’ve spent a lifetime looking at the scale.

My digital scale recently shattered into pieces when I wasn’t on it.

It didn’t self destruct worrying I might step onboard either. (And I didn’t break the camera.)

One morning it was in pieces and ended up in a plastic bag to avoid dropping anything on the way to the trash.

How’s my weight now? Never better if I don’t check.

After a mostly sedentary day, or two, I decided to take a more active approach: Get a lift in and take the dog for a walk.

Nothing unusual about that.

So I lifted, layered up, and headed out.

Layered up?

That means a thin shirt under a heavy hoodie, quilted vest, and impermeable rain parka.

It was raining. Did I mention it’s Oregon?

In this case impermeable means water proof with no ventilation for a good sweat.

Nothing new here. I call it the ‘Walking Sauna.’

In the middle of my normal walk I thought, ‘Why not a little further?’

I was having a day, feeling frisky in the fresh air, radiating heat into the afternoon chill. (It was around fifty degrees.)

Why Not A Little Further

I decided to take a trail down the hillside through the forest, then around the hill and back up.

So far so good.

Since I’m a friendly guy walking a dog, I say hello to others.

Just and man and his dog. And what a dog. Best dog ever.

Once I made it down the hill, feeling peppy, feeling no pain, I walked the flat.

I walked past the first road up, the second road up, and finally took the one called Ascension.

It’s steep, maybe the steepest of all roads going up. Go figure with that name.

Halfway up I started feeling the heat. That’s what I wanted in the rain.

A little further along I started feeling overheated.

Not what I wanted, but I kept pounding it out in low gear.

Before too much further my head felt weird, my legs felt wobbly, and my pulse and blood pressure had to be running overtime.

I stopped for a rest. I never stop.

Two driveways later I stopped and took a seat on someone’s rock wall.

Another first. And still plenty of hill left.

Like a finely tuned instrument, like a NASCAR racer, like an accomplished athlete, I’d reached my limit.

I was done. Walked out. I hit the wall. Pooped. (No not that poop, luckily.)

I’ve hit the wall before and tried to remember what it felt like.

Football game wall. Wrestling match wall. Marathon wall. Relationship wall.

I’ve hit them all and then some, which isn’t unusual for a boomer. The unusual part is the baby boomer blogger part, the ‘why do it’ part.

I unzipped my sweat soaked from the inside layers, my rain drenched from the outside gear, and found another place to take a seat and call for a pick up.

It was a call for help to my wife who is critical when I don’t ask for help.

Hep me, honey.

It was a call home, a call for rescue before it became a call for an emergency.

What If It Had Been An Emergency

While I called and waited, I noticed I wasn’t cooling down and my heart was revved up.

So I took off my gear and sat in the rain wearing a t-shirt when it was a bundle up day. (50)

Ah, that’s better.

I tried to remember the symptoms of heat stroke.

From the Mayo Clinic:

High body temperature. A core body temperature of 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 degrees Celsius) or higher is the main sign of heatstroke.

Change in mental state or behavior. Confusion, agitation, slurred speech, irritability, delirium, seizures and coma can all result from heatstroke.

Change in sweating pattern. In heatstroke brought on by hot weather, skin feels hot and dry to the touch. However, in heatstroke brought on by strenuous exercise, sweating may be profuse.

Nausea and vomiting. Someone with heatstroke may feel sick to their stomach or vomit.

Flushed skin. Skin may turn red as body temperature increases.

Rapid breathing. Breathing may become rapid and shallow.

Racing heart rate. Pulse may significantly increase because heat stress places an extreme burden on the heart to help cool the body.

Headache. Heatstroke may cause the head to throb.

I tried to remember the symptoms of Heat Exhaustion:

Sticking with Mayo today:

Cool, moist skin with goose bumps when in the heat.

Heavy sweating.

Faintness.

Dizziness.

Fatigue.

Weak, rapid pulse.

Low blood pressure upon standing.

Muscle cramps.

Nausea.

Headache.

Instead, I remembered the old Boy Scout saying:

IF THE FACE IS RED, LIFT THE HEAD

IF THE FACE IS PALE, LIFT THE TAIL

Then What

I wasn’t lifting anything but my butt off the wall when rescue seemed unlikely.

No answer meant what? I should knock on a stranger’s door?

Ask a passer-by to come back in a car and pick me up?

Or call someone else?

My list of someone’s would take longer to get there than it would for me to limp on home, so . . . ?