SWARTHOS

Visited El Dorado Park in Long Beach this morning with my dog making it two days in a row for us to do so. We purchased an annual pass last year and have been somewhat sporadic with our visits due to inclement weather and the condition I suffer from in my legs.

What has mostly contributed to our being able to visit on two consecutive days has been the change to Daylight Saving Time. My dog wakes up at the crack of dawn and crawls on top of my chest and barks until I climb out of bed. He doesn’t realize the park doesn’t open until 7:00 AM so on many occasions I would have driven us there but we end up having to do something else instead due to it being so early in the morning.

Oh, my leg condition. Strange thing. I was diagnosed a little over a year ago with Veinous Insufficiency. This condition was likely caused by years of cycling combined with improper cool downs. You see, I’ve never smoked or drank and always maintained a good vegetarian diet. However I would put in long, hard rides on the bike and then just sit down for a couple hours afterward (Still do, seven days a week).

Well, the Doc tells me I need to do more walking so now I take my dog to the park and while we are supposed to walk, we actually end up running all over the place but my legs don’t do so well any more, some mornings I can’t even feel my toes and today I nearly fell head first into the mushy grass.

Since I can’t feel my toes very well I tend to get some blisters and that causes me to have to skip some trips to the park. Which reminds me I need to go soak my feet in this heated foot bath thing I have, works wonders at improving circulation.

I have a full day ahead of me. I’ll be riding my bike this afternoon (strictly stationary these days) and a little strength training as well. I do dips, pullups etc. I just turned 60 last month and I don’t want to deteriorate like I see so many others my age doing. I’m already learning that wear and tear takes a toll no matter how conscientious you’ve been during your life, I sure was blindsided by the problem with my legs. Well, this post was supposed to be about the Park! It was a wonderful visit as usual, my dog really enjoys the car trip there and back as do I.