Couch sleep 11pm to 645 am. Felt decent enough to walk the front 9 of a very hilly golf course that kicked my ass physically about exactly 2 years ago. I would have needed some breakfast to do 18. 9 is no problem for me empty even in the hills. Played back tees alone. 3400 yards on the card. +12 is ok for 3rd nine in a month imo. 4 birdie tries inside 20 feet. Zero birdies. 2 pars. 4 bogeys.

Shoulders were pretty sore by bedtime 5pm yesterday. The impact of post hole digging was the major contributor. Been up since 3am chugging coffee. 2 rounds of shoulder rehab with a big jug of water with each arm:

10 circles both directions.

Rest and more coffee.

10 lateral swings

15 circles both directions.

Did a few high reach extensions mixed in. Getting warm.

Edit to add:

Did some unweighted shoulder stuff. Then I realized that my neck hadnt bothered me since recent trouble. So I tried some basic range of motion stuff. There was pain on the rear left side vertebrae nearest the top edge of the scapula. Indicates its some combination of some of these issues:

Bulging disc, pull or tear of little muscles between vertebrae, pull or tear of trap and or rhombus at or near the spinal process on the left side, pinched nerve.

Give it time again but considering I gave it a good period of consciously avoiding testing full range of motions, I think I need a Dr.

Had some x rays on sternum and cervical spine yesterday. Nothing abnormal in chest but they acknowledge that using x-ray for sternum details is suboptimal. This is probably due to the ribs being attached by cartilage(as far as I know). It never affected my breathing but now Dr wants stress test. I hate running if its not chasing a baseball or football or basketball or frisbee etc etc. Basically I'm part Labrador.

Neck x-ray was normal except "mild disc degeneration c4 - c5."

Not surprised. Meh. Life goes on. Just getting home from work. Full shift. Smoking a joint. The throbbing feet like light sneakers and weed. Otherwise I'm good as long as I dont twist my head in the painful direction.

Neck and back issues suck. I suppose any body part issues suck but just about every movement impacts those areas. Good luck kicking that pain to the curb.

Its amusing to me now because I felt 90% better yesterday morning after a half shift. I walked 18 starting around 620 am lol. No pain the whole round. However it's been such a long term issue for me that I honored the appointment.

The only thing that really changes for me now is knowing that I'm never going to successfully rehab it. Cest la vie. No more neck stretching like I learned in karate in 4th grade lol.

Right leg was very limpy yesterday. Half shift and slept from 830am to 2pm. Then again from 7pm to midnight.

Right leg pain was high quad and or high groin issue. Much better today. Half shift today at heaviest position.

Shot hoops for 40 mins this morning. Several coast to coast dribbles and a ton of shots. Barely broke a sweat but it was probably 55 degrees.

Its my Friday, so I just laid down for a nap, naturally.

Shot around the next morning for a good 40 mins. Played 9 yesterday afternoon. No real exercise. Been a bit stiff, particularly quads and hamstrings.

Diet has been either high quality(steak and rice and beans for lunch yesterday, bluefish a few days ago) or junky fast food. Weight holding around 190 to 193. Haven't weighed in a few days. Not concerned with the number unless it starts causing loss of performance over the summer. Goal for now is to maintain or increase strength and maintain or improve joint functionality through the fall. I intend to approach this very haphazardly in true zero program fashion.

Sleep has been very mixed up. Sunday was last workday. Played a poker tourney about 10 hrs past my bedtime. Been a mix of 2 hr naps and 10 to 11 hrs sleeping on very irregular schedule.

I'm at the laundromat but hoping to fit in a very stretchy workout after.

Steak spaghetti and garlic bread found its way into my belly yesterday by 330pm bedtime. Got about 7 good hours of sleep.

Half shift at work. Then a workout at dawn. Started in the driveway. Dynamic leg and arm stuff.

10 alternating lunges.

20 second squat hold.

Some stretching hams.

20 second squat hold.

Stretch quads and hamstrings.

10 squat.

10 second hold Stretch with fingers around front of toes. About half inch from ground.

Started raining so I went inside.

Some more arm Warm up.

5 slow pushups

10 pushups moderate speed.

2x20 pushups max speed.

20 pushups started fast but got slower thru set. 20th was hard and slow.

Walked 18 yesterday. Early start. Played ok. 6 pars. 7 bogeys. Rest disasters. Had some fatigue pain in lower back walking off 18th green. It's fine today.

The court at the local park is too close to houses for 550 am shoot around. Went to the high school instead. Solid 40 mins. The usual mix of shots at somewhat elevated pace. Some drills. Some dribbling sprints. Hit a lot of shots. Finished with about 10 half court shots. Made one.

Worked a few hrs yesterday morning. Was home just before dawn. Went to the high school court 6am. Shot around and mixed it up with some fairly intense drills that really got me going. Only a couple really cold shooting periods over an hr. Took 2 mins to rest around 630. Felt good after.

Then I stayed awake for a long time. Was 26 or 27 hours awake from midnight thru this morning. Last time I looked at the clock it was 306am.

Up at 10am and was a little groggy. Feel fine now. Its my weekend. Just grilled 2 burgers. I top them with just cheese and franks red hot.

Slept about 7pm to 3am after that. Right shoulder was pissed off. Mixed in some shoulder mobility rehab stuff with my coffee. It seems the random joint soreness issues are coming back, and the issue is exactly aligned with new lower dose of thyroid med started recently(the dose I was taking when soreness issues peaked in February). I decided to take the old higher med dose yesterday morning. I felt better and was shooting hoops at the local park at 7am to 8am. Informed my Dr. They disagree and said keep taking other dose and get checked by physicians. It seems a bit dumb to me that the solution that worked in February was so quickly denied by Dr especially considering the timing involved, but I'm playing ball.

Shoulder began hurting yesterday around bedtime and I didnt sleep well because of it. Been up a little while and its painful enough that I might not do the side work I agreed to do today. 4 shifts in a row at real job starts tonight and real job is far more important than 100 bucks cash.

The shootout was nice though. Fairly intense. Broke a sweat. Hit some shots. Etc.

I haven't done any real workouts. I still do leg swings and a few squat holds before work, but I'm letting shoulders and neck just do their thing. On days that I feel decent enough, ive been shooting hoops. I added some cbd balm treatment of sore spots at waking and bedtime. My right shoulder has responded very well to the treatment. It still complains periodically in an average day, but its not perpetual pain anymore.

My neck has been stiff yesterday and today. It's pretty tight high on right trap just behind my ear. Put cbd oil on it yesterday and just now. Pretty sure its a fatigue reaction from work and beach on Sunday. I was up a total of 25.5 hours when I crashed around 130 am July 4.

Ive been getting much rest and recovery time and I've been taking days off very easy. However sometimes I develop pain in seemingly random joints. Some days its a knuckle. A wrist. A neck. A knee. Etc. This being after periods of not injuring myself nor having any recollection of why the joint hurts. Then 2 days later its fine and something else hurts. Lol. Cest la vie.

No golf in at least a month I believe. I'll play if y'all wanna spring for a cart. But I'm not carrying during shoulder and neck issues.

Beach was nice on Sunday. An old friend who lives on private beach said she was having some people over and I should come. I wasnt sure what kind of event to expect. My guest and I arrived to find a very personal event. We made the new total just 12 people, 6 of which were the host family including a new 1 year old son and 2 step kids of my friend that I had yet to meet. Big gatherings are fun in a way, but being included in such a small event after not seeing a friend since 2019 brought a very nice feeling.

I had finally got to a point where I had the physical ability to put in decent hours at work. I had been avoiding fun physical stuff in favor of improving physical ability at work. I was becoming increasingly productive. Just a few days ago I received praise for having best numbers at the position I was given that day. I had been given free range duties for a shift recently where I just did what I thought would help the system work fastest. Last week was the most hours I had accumulated in one week in a long time, perhaps all of 2022.

Then Sunday morning I gave myself whiplash dodging an object that was falling towards my face at work. I dodged it but my neck literally snapped. It hurt and I took a 30 second breather. Then I sucked it up and went back to work. I sat down to relax after work. I quickly started feeling stiffness and pain throughout my neck and the upper left quadrant of my torso and my left arm. It became progressively worse throughout the day until I went to the emergency room Sunday evening. Dr said no herniated disc, but noted c4-c5 disc degeneration.

Feels somewhat better now with some pain meds but I can't use left arm and I can barely move my head.

Cest la vie.

I hadnt improved so I ended up in urgent care yesterday afternoon. She prescribed steroids. I have felt steady relief from pain and stiffness since then and ive already regained a lot of strength. Seeing spinal specialist Monday. Theres still a moderate amount of pain just at rest, and left side exertion causes pain to spike. If I feel more improvement tomorrow I'm going to take a good walk. Then Saturday I plan to do some basic exercise like squat lunges and light farmers walks.

Was cleared for work yesterday. The appointment was far away, and happened to be 2/3 of the way to a friend's house. Been out in the country since yesterday. Milked a goat last night. Broke a sweat a few times, which I hadn't done in over a week.

Feel pretty good.

Put in 9 hrs first day back. Apparently there was a double secret performance contest that I won, which I was informed of individually. Got what looks like some high quality workout pants to show for it.

Averaged 6 hrs work the last 4 days including this morning. Feel good chilling in the driveway now. I'm going to shoot a bit at the park soon but Sunday morning I wait till 8am. I got in a few shots 2 days ago but it was very hot. I only lasted 10 mins.

Its my Friday night. Got a job in the city for the next two nights. Was invited to the beach and the job allows time for that. Should be a nice getaway.

Warm up before my shift felt better than it ever has. I'm still adapting to the work as 2022 has not been easy for me health wise. All I'm really hoping for at this point is to steadily increase my hours to a max average hrs per week that I can sustain long term. Its Probably 30 to 35 hrs. Id be happy if I got there and sustained.

I feel like I owe the few left that read this **** a little ramble. I'm single now. Have been since mid April. I didnt plan it and I dont think she did either. Unfortunately we came to an impasse. I cant resolve it mentally in a way that leads to us getting back together. Ive Never been married but this relationship, as rocky as it was, may stand as the longest lasting romantic relationship of my life. Nine and a half years. We're at peace now but it wont be romantic again.

I took a walk out to a secret spot a few weeks ago.

https://youtu.be/S9WCrzhGgfQ

After I stopped video I heard a helicopter in the distance. It sounded like it was over my car. Then I had a secret life of Walter mitty moment. I thought imagine if they flew over me and dropped a line. Do u grab it? I mean nothing says intrigue and adventure than such a moment. Cant say what I would do.

Been to the basketball court at dawn 3 times this week. Been increasing intensity each time. Only thing bugging me is some residual stiffness in left trap. Probably needs massage. Lifting stuff over my head gets uncomfortable quickly.

Tried swinging a golf club a few times last week and it felt ok. Went out for 730 am 9 holes walking on Friday. My stamina was lacking near the end, but no pain.

Haven't tried any real workouts since neck injury. I still do my typical dynamic warm up before work with leg and hip activation as priority. Shoulders chest and arms are currently only getting some minimal mobility warm up. The reach back / hug yourself stretch causes tension in left trap, which feels like its going to turn into a cramp if I continue. So basically mixed leg swings and some squat holds with a little bouncing at bottom to stretch my hams and activate my hips, plus arm mobility.

Was a good week at work. Had easy position Thursday, heavy position Friday. Max hustle position Saturday(kicked ass imo. Inquired with management about my numbers for that position Saturday and I'm near max productivity. Please keep in mind that I'm 42 years old and the average age of my competition is probably 15 years younger than me. I made some strategy changes for that position recently which definitely increased my productivity while minimizing my energy expenditure. Now I only have small potential strategy adaptations in mind, and I know that maintaining an average at that position is basically all about the hustle.

Edit to add that ive almost entirely reprogrammed my first step turning left. For a long time I have struggled by stepping across my left foot with my right leg, effectively putting all my weight onto my left hip, exactly as I'm turning my entire body around that joint. Usually hurts when I do it.

So over the past few months, when I turn left(work home everywhere) ive been consciously deciding to lead with my left leg and I'm making strong painless strides now.

Played 9 holes walking on Monday around noon. I'm hitting better than I expected to so far after no golf for 2 months. No birdies nor pars but tee to green isnt all that terrible. Played the whole 9 with one ball. I remembered to bring a bandana to wipe my head periodically. Despite the 85 to 90 degree temps, I didnt get all that sweaty. I wiped my head face and neck a few times and that kept me from overheating.

Got my grill working on Monday after a period of not having propane. Started with a double cheeseburger after golf. Then I spiced a steak with salt pepper garlic and cumin, which has become my preferred spice combo this summer. I'll also use onion powder, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce during the cooking process, but cumin and garlic are the staples that seem to hold the Mexican flavor together. Thats my long winded way of saying I pigged out Monday evening and then slept from 10pm to 10am yesterday morning.

I shot around at the park last night from just after sunset until I couldn't see enough to enjoy shooting. Made a surprisingly high number of long range shots at a fairly high level of intensity. Several fast breaks. Much sweat. Was fun.

I was asleep in about 1.5 hrs after that. I have to work tonight so I stayed up after waking at 430 am.

I hit the court at dawn yesterday. Was a pretty intense 40 minute shoot. Probably 4 or 5 round trip fast breaks. Mostly focused on long range shots. 23+ foot shots Made up about 75% of my attempts. Made a lot of those particularly closer to the 3 point line. I increased the intensity by grabbing rebounds and clearing it fast, followed by shooting fast mimicking game speed. Sweat a lot and was pretty exhausted after.

Temperature broke records here yesterday so I walked 9 holes from 10 to noon, naturally. Was fine. No issues with heat despite 100 f temperature at noon.

Took this morning off. Late to bed(630pm hehe) up at 330 am. I'm fully caffeinated now about to find something to do. Probably golf but maybe just hoops. Need a shave first. Crawly beard length in August no bueno.

Walked 9 shortly after sunrise yesterday. Was a bit foggy at dawn, and the air was very damp through the entire walk, despite the lack of cloud cover. I was pretty soaked when I got home. Didnt play well, but I did hit a drive slightly over 270. Probably should have eaten before.

That reminds me. I was down slightly under 188 lb during injury recovery. Yesterday empty stomach weigh in 193.2 lb.

Just got back from a slightly foggy and pretty intense shoot around. The shot is becoming increasingly consistent and my tricks are even improving. Spin it. Roll it in circle around my arms, pause high on back of hand, let it roll down one arm and up to the other hand, roll it across back of my shoulders. I practice this when a 3 point miss goes far off the court and I have a long walk back.

I crashed a few hours after that last post. I'm pretty sure I missed my thyroid med that day. The thyroid dysfunction combined with erratic sleep schedule and erratic nutrition to create a vulnerable type of homeostasis. Thus my bed started calling me around 11 am. . I laid down and was asleep within a half hour. Slept about 13 hours. Took thyroid med when I got up and started feeling better after coffee. I was lucky to wake up to work offering the night off mid afternoon, which I accepted(accepted Friday through Sunday off last weekend)

It was Sunday when the sun came up. I went to the high school at dawn for a shoot around. It got pretty intense with fast break 3 pointers and various catch and shoot drills. In all my hoops practice in my life, a very small portion of the practice has been from the corners. This is because a miss will often skip off the rim and continue off the other side of the court. This is a pain in the ass when shooting alone. However, Sunday morning I was feeling good and I made a hustle drill out of corner shots. Basically shoot and rush the hoop. If it goes in and I catch it out of the net, I continue rushing to the opposite corner. Turn, shoot, repeat until its hard. Then repeat more until its really hard, repeat until I lose all interest. Then foul shots to cool off. I did that 3 times. Havent actually pushed myself to run like that in a long time.

The rest of Sunday was pretty quiet. 20 minute slow shoot around at sunset just as a thunderstorm approached.

Went to the country in central mass Monday. Did some farm Work. Played 9(+14, 2 pars, 2 lost balls, no birdies, drove greenside bunker from 280), milked a couple goats Monday night. More work yesterday. Built a goat step for the milking platform because the elder female couldnt get onto it anymore. Other miscellaneous tasks they wouldn't get to without a little help. Returned yesterday afternoon.

Might go for a shootout after this coffee.

Played some golf and shot hoops a lot since last post. Had a stay at the friends farm by myself for a few nights while they went camping. Maintaining the real job amongst the other stuff. Grilling skills continue to improve. There has been zero actual workouts, but the squat rack friend that moved sent me a picture of some brand new Rogue boxes. Looks like hes setting up a home gym and I hope to join in on occasion.

Been getting in a lot of basketball hours and been playing golf every 2 weeks or so.

Weight before a shower a few days ago was 196 lb.

Workout friend is all set up. I said id be there but I forgot. He sent follow up a half hour in, so I showed up late.

Chin up 1/1/1/3/2/2

Managed to rack the bar a few times and did some front squat up to 2 sets of 103 lb squat x 5.

Probably not going back. A few weeks ago we were discussing strongman training. I regurgitated something I heard gorilla4sale say a long time ago. The way I remembered it was to the effect of "can sustain in offseason with training that consists of picking up heavy ****, and pressing heavy **** over your head." It was taken to mean that "strongman training is simplistic and strongman competitors are not intelligent." A lovely straw man followed.

After front squat I tried to verbalize the fact that I never found a good mix of clean volume and squat volume in my driveway. My wording may have sucked, but he made the assumption that I was saying "it cant be done without a rack." His grand refutation culminated with telling me he knows a guy that can clean 100kg that doesn't use a squat rack. Then he did a set muttering under his breath and looking at me out of the corner of his eye. I left a minute later.

But yeah I got a workout in.

Well I made it a few months without any injuries really bugging me. Made it a point to try to do enjoyable physical stuff since recovering from the July neck injury. Basically this was lots of time shooting hoops with a little golf mixed in.

Did some work for a friend last week, which went well. When I was taking off my boots, my right shoulder complained and has been pissed off since. Been using a heat pad and it has improved. Thankfully its nowhere near as bad as July. This time it feels like the right rhombus was stretched too far and the right trap has cramped at c4 c5 vertebrae in response.

So no golf no hoops. I went for a hike yesterday. Got a little lost off trail. Then remembered there was a somewhat local bear sighting recently. It was somewhat thorny brush mixed with trees. So I made my way back to the trail, but not without a bit of terror sweat lol. I'm down with hiking whatever basically, but I'm careful to avoid vulnerable spots like being stuck in thorns if bears and other things that can **** me up are around.