Aaron's Status

12:45 pm

Sometimes progress isn’t linear, which I’ve been reassuring myself of as my back pain has come and gone and come back again. The trend is positive, when I roll it up in my mind to week-level granularity, but it’s still frustrating to feel like I’m turning the corner and have it fall back.

But at the risk of jinxing myself, the last three days have been very good. I feel a lot more limber, have felt a lot less pain associated with movements, and I think I could be just a handful of days away from declaring victory.

I decided that I needed a real standard, so I set the threshold at “three consecutive totally pain-free days.” Unfortunately today isn’t quite there, but I sense that it’s getting closer.

I installed back cargo racks on our bikes over the weekend. I went with “Topeak MTX Explorer 2.0,” which boasts a clever “quick-mount” system for MTX and RX bags made by Topeak. That just means that the bag will slide on and off quickly and doesn’t require fiddling with any straps or anything.

I also decided to buy a “new member” five-pack of yoga classes at a local place and try adding yoga to my routine (again). It’s been many years since I’ve done yoga regularly, and I don’t think it ever lasted more than a couple of months, but my renewed interest in flexibility and maintaining my lower back health makes this feel like a great idea.

If nothing else, a drop-in class at this place costs the same as my physical therapy office visit copay. I imagine a world where my PT visits decrease in frequency (currently I go twice a week) and I fill that void, at least partly, with yoga. I think once a week, at least, seems like a smart idea.

Have a great week!