Training Log Archive: bl

End of Arnold, start around 6pm. Bird song and peepers audible from far end of Arnold. Dry, mostly sunny. On to April!

Ride to Henniker and then west on Western Ave and back the same way.
Contoocook River was impressive with water flow and rapids. East of Contoocook town it's slow and peaceful, kayak safe.

Stoneybrook to end of Arnold. Gray & raw which became pleasant enough with time. Had rain, some thunder and lightening and some hail last night.

West Point was cancelled. Just a question of time in my mind. We were recalling a period when the meet was held in September. It will resurrect as surely as the Billy Goat will continue to climb mountains this spring or later.

At Kimball Pond. Became grey and chilly as the day progressed. Read some and walked on the dirt road leading away, about a half mile total. We got some yard work done, mostly raking. Used the walker as a balance point for my small patches - nonetheless certainly not something PT would approve of. Can't say I blame them.

Strava didn’t record the walk for some reason. It did after 12 or so hours.
Track is 1/2 distance. Restarted because I was sure I'd gone more than 0.1 mi when I checked - probably almost 0.2. Surface hardtop and packed dirt. Had to get home for a Zoom birthday gathering. A first use of this interesting application.

Stoneybrook around 5:45. Not quite to end of Arnold. Mellow early spring. Was windy earlier. Surprise encounter with Michelle and friend. No ride today. Spent a bunch of time with Beth looking at yard work with the idea of hiring someone.

Stoneybrook with Mark's walker which is much more lively but also not a stable situation when stopped on any surface, even level, worse on a hill. With one hand squeezing the brake, only one remains for whatever. Heard peepers, a robin, some RWBs and a singing Bow Bog brook nearby in the woods.

Went to Newfoundland Lake around 1:30. Had never seen it. Fairly large, very attractive, what's developed looks ok to very good. Mostly still ice for surface.

Wellington SP and village of Hebron were highlights.

The night of the tick! around bedtime, felt something on left lower abdomen, a small tick, an early start.

C • birds, frogs, lakes 5

PT exercises - visit from VNA PT.

Ride in PM - first we took a look at BHS track which was completely free from snow. Ride to Northwood, Deerfied, back by Podunk entrance to Bear Brook SP. Grey, mild day.

Very nice afternoon ride with Beth & W. To Hopkinton area for a few untravelled roads, more house & shack gazing, woods, fields, walls, streams, ponds. Very few people, some joggers and more shopping in Contoocook center. It became a very mellow day. At one point with late afternoon rays of sun slanting thru the trees, there were many warm photogenic moments - as if in apology for the wintry beginning to the day. We did get very close to a hawk but passed by the landscape possibilities.

Better with tending to the PT/OT exercises today. Didn’t see the BHS track but no reason to think it’s not under 3” snow. Were school in session and the track coach needed his/her track, a morning plow would have it cleared before end of school day. This time of year takes me back to Harrison in the early 60s, when spring track season was just starting but snow was still on the ground. We’d run inside the school building thru its long empty corridors or around it on sidewalks and school roads. So long ago but still some burned-in images.

The 'country' walker was made by work friend. It works wonders on rough/bumpy surfaces.

Town and country walkers

2 laps, gray, east wind, spitting snow earlier. Went around 1pm. Half the track was fine and dandy, the other half brrr. Forecast for 4-5" so this may be last visit for a few days.

Ride around 4:30 to Penacook. Snowing steadily. Brief return to winter wx.

C • Walker...on Running Track! 2

At the track 2 hours earlier today than other days. Light but chilly east wind. Cloudless blue. Moving more slowly. One fellow on the infield. Back pretty sore a few hours later but 1 gram of Tylenol seems to have worked, maybe even wonders. Met Mark in NHH parking just before and now have a homemade walker for uneven surfaces.


After, we drove up 93, ended up in attractive Old Loudon Center, saw Hoit Road Marsh and Hothole Pond, both places that were either in the paper or I'd heard about personally. Returned on 106, the unappealing aspect of Loudon aka raceway.

BHS track around 4p again. A bright, clear chilly NW day. 2 laps was ok again. Mirror image of yesterday: Beth dropped me off at track, took Willow to Turee shore for a walk and returned just as I was finishing. A young woman might have been striding 200s in 35. Didn't get to chat.

After BHS, we repeated yesterday's drive but clockwise, West Hopkinton to Contoocook. Had coffee at the DD on 202 just before we entered the rural roads of Hopkinton. Maybe afternoon drives are the result of a corona pattern or new time to kill (not going to work in recupertion) or both. Regardless, I've always liked rides and field trips.

2 laps at BHS around 4pm. About 60F, sun breaking thru. Probably cut it a bit short on the track as Beth was driving with Willow. After the school, we went to DD and then to Contoocook for a ride. We found enough dirt roads that, by the end, hard top was welcome.

First day of spring started with a heavy but non-accumulating snow. Later rain, always gray. PT came by, introducing balance exercises. Did maybe 30' worth PT/OT stuff. Went to DD later and stopped at Turee at end of day to appreciate the gray.

Mother's birthday today, 101 years ago.

Turee

C • 101 4

Sunny, fine early spring day. Was overdressed from the morning. Could have continued but would have needed some changes which weren't easy to come by. More than 10 people there by time I left. Turee was bright blue, one fisherman.

Later, walk with Beth and Willow opposite Cilley's. I don't miss snow. Spring officially begins tomorrow.

A start. Chilly, grey, spitting rain with forecast for rain which never happened.
This was pretty easy. Had in mind just one lap, Beth was waiting etc. I might have guessed about 23-4'/mi. Anyway, it was straightforward. Important to walk - having stopped Lovenox anti-coagulant sooner than suggested. The remedy is leg motion. Walked around the car a few times too when Beth was walking Willow by the power line.

Rusty, surprised I didn't struggle with Strava.

Saw what looked like a woolly bear in the drive. First I thought it was inanimate but then saw slow motion. Still early and generally cold at night so I was initially puzzled. Maybe nothing is supposed to be surprising in nature nowadays.

C • I know that drug! 2

VNA PT came by today to look the house situation over. I have two walkers, one on each floor. Negotiating the stairs cautiously is ok. I can walk inside w/o the walker but, for most part, need to have a hand on a wall or flat surface. No guarantees so constant need to be wary.

We went to Nottingcook early afternoon for a walk with walker which turned out to have too much going on - some frozen snow, some mud, too much irregularity in places. It was good practice though and put mundane in perspective. Later we drove to town and, among other things, bought a cane at Prescription Center. The previous one was lost at MGH between the ED and Lunder 8. BHS track would be a good place for measured walk with walker.

C • track 2

We drove home from NE Rehab around noon. It was a sunny, bright, blustery quintessential March day. A good day to be out of hock. Beth asked if there was any thing I wanted to do before our arriving at our driveway. We were coming on to Rosewood La. so I suggested we turn on it. My medical ARNP at the rehab lives on it. It’s on the Nottingcook O map. We’re neighbors in the sense that one could travel from house to house by forest or road. She uses the forest a lot but knew nothing about orienteering. Rosewood was a lot longer than I recalled. I don’t think I’d been there since mapping in ’07.

Next were Peasley Estates which had not been developed in ’07 - now there are nearly 30 houses where lovely O terrain once was. I believe a BG ’09 point was close to the end of the then non-existent Summer Road, now in the shadow of houses.

Finally Hope La. which, at the end, has a trail into Nottingcook (connecting to Peasley) named Lyford Tr. Adjacent to Peasley, the Lyfords live(d?) in a deck house much like ours in Carlisle c. 1992-4. I knocked on their door one winter day in ’06, seeking permission to map their property. That was granted but I learned they’d just negotiated a P&S on the land that was to become Peasley Estates . Had they been conservation-minded people, the woods would have remained inviolate. All the difference.

At home, it was about developing confidence with and without the walker on all different surfaces versus easy flat, linoleum-surfaced corridors.

To end my first day out of hock, I drove over to Kimball Pond, that in itself a learning experience . Walker in trunk (not to mention negotiating buying gas for an empty tank), mobilize car, and using car body as a sole balance point etc. It was around 6pm by the time I got there. It was windy and too cold. I had in mind 200 m walking but didn’t manage nearly that. Just too biting.

I will be discharged home from Northeast Rehab in Manchester tomorrow. This will end 47 inpatient nights between 11/22 and 3/13 at Concord Hospital, Mass General and NE Rehab. 32 were at MGH, the second admission being 3 weeks long to the day - Valentine’s Day to March 6th. I had a 10 hour surgery on 2/19 for spinal stenosis/compression at multiple levels due to sequellae of vertebral osteomyelitis/disciitis. I now have two fusions, from T2 to T8 and from T12 to L5.

Definitely life-altering, time will tell how much . At the rehab, I was basically gaining proficiency with a walker and starting with a cane. I went to MGH on 2/14, afraid I’d be unable to get to the car. By 2/15, I was not able to stand, in part because I’d entered the sit-lie world of acute care but more so because my legs couldn’t do it…a combination of weakness and lack of coordination.

2019 was about increasing back pain always thought to be mechanical. There were no recurring signs of infection. Finally, on 11/22, I had an MRI of the lumbar spine which showed infection and was hospitalized to initiate IV antibiotic therapy. This eventually caused some nephritis and acute kidney injury which cleared when the antibiotics were stopped and then changed. However, it was not evident what organism was causing the infection until, during surgery, a culture of sufficient live organism sampling revealed what species of organism and which antibiotics might work. The chosen antibiotics didn't work, the infection got worse, surgery was required. Post-op, I am on 4 different antibiotics.

The big question, only answered this past Wednesday, is where did it come from, what caused it? Infectious disease at MGH told me that Chimaera, a non-tuberculous mycobacterium (MAC complex) species, grew from the culture. ID said it was a first at MGH, ie, I was the first patient to grow this organism in a culture. It was pointed out that Chimaera has been found in heart-lung bypass equipment. Vertebral osteomyelitis is not at all common in healthy individuals with no significant medical illnesses and on no “powerful” medications, eg, immunosuppressants.

The admitting Friday was Valentine's Day and the final night hospitalized and fourth Friday, Friday the 13th. Time may be more forthcoming with specific thoughts on the nature of acquiring this infection. Regardless though, it’s move ahead, literally one step at a time. I hope to be connected with orienteering in one fashion or another before long. But first things first, like fresh air!

C • recovery 3

C • Welcome back! 15

Yes, she was competent, quiet and omnipresent when it came to orienteering. She was 'there in the beginning' with NEOC and nascent US orienteering. Now she's quietly gone. I think this poem would suit Ruth.

Here

Back to a story for yesteryear.

Elegant home in the woods, before the road dropped down to uncomfortable levels of roughness. Ancillary buildings across the narrow road.