Knee solutions

I'm still fiddling around over my left knee problem. The doc was right about one thing. Biking (whether mobile or stationary) is good exercise for me. The knee gets lots of work without bearing my considerable weight, and it doesn't get sore. Walking, and especially stairs, sets off strange consequences (pain behind the knee, and the curling worm sensation of movement on the right side of my kneecap), which are helped a bit if I do some down-dogs or forward bends to stretch out the backs of the knees, alternating that with sitting on the floor on my heels or squats to squish the joint in the other direction.

This week I have added two additional facts to my knee investigation. First, in Foot Solutions for another objective (customized arch supports), we got to talking about MBTs, how I used to wear them and then quit after I retired from teaching. The guy practically confessed that if I were still wearing them I probably wouldn't need the orthotics. So, this week I wore my MBT sandals to school, and by golly, after my total 1.5 mile walk from the parking lot to class and back again, I had no knee symptoms whatsoever!

Second, this week I took the stairs to the second floor for class instead of the elevator, thinking maybe it's time to work on stairs again.  Monday I was in my NuBalance shoes, which are kind of flat. I noticed that I tend to place my foot flat on the stair, so I started to use my foot as it should be used, and the stairs were easy and painless. Wednesday, I wore the MBTs; even better. Their curved soles force me to use my foot properly. This flat-footed tendency started when I was at my heaviest and weakest, some years ago, and I've just kept doing it. It's far more work and clearly not good for my knees. But at that time, my feet and ankles and calves just weren't strong enough.  I'm much stronger now, though almost as heavy, so I need to break this bad stairs habit. Maybe activating those muscles helps align my knee better.

I broke my mileage record for biking today: 25.2 miles. The last ten miles of that were mostly against a 20 mph headwind. I'm feeling pleased with myself. I also found (with another biker's help) the route from the canal to Dreamy Draw Drive and the entrance onto the bike path in Dreamy Draw Park. Soon I'll make it into the park, but that means more hills than I'm used to as well as a longer ride. I'll work up to it. Then I'll have to work out the loop through the park and back to the canal. My biker helper told me all about it but I can't remember all that. Too much information for one day.

I had a rest stop at a duck pond in a park, saw ring-necked ducks among the coots, mallards, and Chinese geese. I watched flying birds and blowing trees, marveling at the simple beauty of it all.