Sciatica and beards strike again.

Running is a major part of my life. Has been now for five years and will hopefully be for the remainder of my existence on this beautiful planet of ours. But as such dedicated runners, we always have SOMETHING that threatens our lifestyle and takes us out of the game now and then, from Achilles tendon issues to plantar fasciitis et al. My nemesis this time...the return of sciatica along with arthritis. The arthritis crops up now and then, perhaps every few weeks to a month. It is painful but goes away and I move on. The sciatica on the other hand,(well foot,leg and hip to be exact), is excruciatingly painful and makes walking much less running something of a challenge. I was diagnosed with both of these conditions many years ago( and recently had all of the battery of tests,from X-Rays to MRI,CT scans and such) but,due to my age then, they were never really prevalent. Now that I'm close to fifty years old, their appearance is quite often unfortunately.
                                                           

                                                       

                                    The bone spurs in my lower back and hip contribute to this as well. When it is at it's worst, the pain shoots through my right hip,leg down to my feet, making running totally impossible. How I sit can also play a role too with the nerve being pinched different ways. So, I let nature take it's course and exercise, trying to lessen the pressure and keep the pain at bay. I try to take no medications if possible, only using them when it is so bad I'm crying. The meds simply damage other organs and make me feel worse in other ways so why compound it unless I'm paralyzed by pain. As the seasons change I notice more arthritis pain too so at least I can plan a wee bit better.
                                       Good news though....the exercises over the last few weeks have helped and I made it out for a run yesterday, albeit a shorter one at 4.5 miles. No pain and little pressure. Hope to make it out again soon and get back into the habit of at least 25 miles a  week. This makes me wonder if I will ever be back to the previous stage of running at sub 7:00/mile or even ever winning another medal in my age group. If not, oh well. I will continue to do what I can, when I can and be happy I                                                                   can do even that!!!


                                       On a different note, I came across an online and in person challenge to raise funds for prostate cancer. It is called Septembeard, using the named month to raise awareness and funds for research. This is NOT a charity but rather a listing of five sources for donations to be given that are very well established centers in America, such as the Mayo clinic,UCLA Prostate cancer center,etc. So I signed up to grow my beard in September and raise that awareness, knowing that I won't be running near as much and also that I would shave it on Oct 1st. Well who knows...perhaps I shall keep it if I like it enough. Here are the photos of the progress so far, from Day 1 to Day 10.
                
                Day one                                                                                   Day 4

                                                                   Day five

                                                                  Day Eight

                                                               Day Ten

                                                Yes, the beard is quite the white-grey and brown mixture but does match the hair decently. If it were any other way, I would not consider keeping it. And I might not as running with this mug is HOT. I mean it really adds to the sweat factor and that is a bit uncomfortable. But I admit I like the look a little and even though it ages my appearance by ten years, I'm not exactly a young pup so why try to look like I'm 35 when I'm certainly far from it!!
 Hell, there might even be some who think I look GOOD or even,dare I say, HANDSOME with such whiskers! Doubtful, but I'll give this a try till October 1st and post again when it looks a bit more full and filled in. Who knows, It might fill in good enough to look like the World's Most Interesting Man, from Dos Equis fame! Looks like I need to have more white though. :-P

                        On that totally hairy and uninteresting thread, I shall say sayonara till next post!