Posts Tagged ‘Cycling’

Podge v COPD Week 14

Posted: July 28, 2020 in 2020 Challenge, COPD, COPD - Codgers Old Puffing Disease, Cycling, Diet, general, Hadrian's Wall, My Virtual Mission
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So, just what on earth has His Podgeness been doing since the beginning of June: No Posts, not updates, no progress reports, noffink. The truth is, Podge has been feeling very very sorry for himself having somehow picking up three chest infections in a row 🤧. But, with three courses of antibiotics and steroids, it does look as though those nasty germ things have been beaten into submission.

😏

That should help explain the gap between ‘Podge V COPD Week 6’ and ‘Podge V COPD Week 14’

After a shaky start, I did manage to do two rides last week totalling 38 and a bit miles. It was tough and hard on the lungs but good at the same time. This week, my goal will be to do 100 miles: Time will tell (as will my lungs and legs 😂).

As the charts show, my weight and BMI go up and down as much Roland Rat in ‘Splat the Rat’ but I aint giving in.

  • Not going very well 😢
  • Time to take the diet seriously 🍰

Podge must try harder.

My major goal is to complete 2020 virtual miles in 2020. To date, I’ve completed 508 leaving a mere 1512 to do in the next 158 days: I reckon I can do it so long as I don’t have to take too much more time out. I’ve also walked 43 miles against the Hadrian’s Wall challenge leaving just 47 to go.

As I’m so fond of saying, COPD sucks but I ain’t giving in. I must do better. I will do better.

Until next time, Go Podge Go.😷

Resolutions

Posted: January 3, 2019 in Cycling, Health, OaP, Retirement
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2018

2018 held such promise for me and to be honest most of it was delivered though I did kind of wreck it towards the end: Having started the year weighing 100 kg I finished it weighing 93 kg though I did drop to 83.5 kg. This was all in pursuit of improving my health and appearance and because I needed a new hip and I wasn’t going to get one while I was fat.

To help me lose the weight not only did I stop eating just about everything I liked 😦 but I also experimented with new foods such as vegetables which, I’d always deemed to be poisonous :-). The results were amazing as I lost 16.5 kg. I also found myself doing more walking and cycling and even took up weight training. I felt like new man. Then came the news, I was scheduled to have my hip replacement on the 31st October (the surgeon was so impressed with my results he lost no time in getting me in sooner rather than later).

Following the operation I was forced into many weeks of rest and recuperation and although I did try to get back onto my bikes and try lifting some weights I was forced back into r & r. I consoled myself by eating nice stuff again and with the build up to Christmas, the nice stuff was plentiful and ‘justified’ and aided by the fact that I had finally retired and mutated into an Old Age Pensioner.

The weight, inevitably, went back on but at least I did finish the year lighter than I started it :-). And, the benefits of losing the weight were highlighted by a distinct improvement in my breathing.

Through 2018 I cycled and walked (recorded) 199 and 53 miles respectively.

2018 stats

2019

Resolution #1

Match the miles cycled and walked through 2018 in a single month in 2019. then cycle at least 2019 miles.

Resolution #2

Reach my target weight of 75 kg.

Resolution #3

Get a second medal for completing the Great South Run – last completed ion 2003.

Go Podge, Go.

 

Podge Gets Fat, Thin And Fat Again!

Posted: December 31, 2018 in COPD, OaP, Retirement
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Poor Podge

So, His Podgeness, or Podge to his friends, started 2018 weighing in at 15.5 stone or 100kg, which is quite a lot for somebody who is only 5’9″ or 175cm tall.  Yet, despite his doctor telling him, all through 2017, to lose weight, the weight stayed where it was. However, two events through 2018 garnered Podge into a goal of weight loss. It is also worth noting that Podge has COPD and a manky heart caused by fat and of course COPD. The consequence of these is that exercise was difficult and so weight loss was a challenge. Add to the list a now arthritic hip, it was all a bit of a chore.  Poor Podge indeed.

The first event was when Podge was promised a shiny new hip but, only if he lost 2 stone or 12.7kgs. The second event was helping a long-standing friend, Lillybet, in her quest for qualification as a Nutritional Therapist. Both these events helped Podge lose enough weight, 18kgs in the end, to have the op and improve his breathing and heart no end.

Then the Operation

So, come the end of October, Podge goes down for his hip replacement followed by many weeks of rest and recuperation, then retirement then Christmas and Podge puts back on 11 of the 18Kgs that he’s lost. Bad Podge. Now, Podge’s breathing is not too good, and his heart is all over the place. So, Podge once more is returning to the healthy diet that Lillybet had advised, it did after all work. Basically, Podge has to stop eating and drinking everything that Podge likes. Still, at least Podge ends the year 7Kgs down from the start of 2018.

IMG_5217 copy

Expect more pictures of lard 🙂

Through 2018, Podge cycled 208 miles and walked 63 miles, not including normal day-to-day walking, some stats to be improved for 2019. Poor Podge.

So, here’s to 2019 and Podge becoming UnPodge.

Now, it’s new year’s eve so, everybody down to the Pub.

Happy New Year Everybody.

Kevin, Have You Got COPD?

Posted: April 27, 2016 in COPD, COPD - Codgers Old Puffing Disease, Health, Uncategorized
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I was recently sent to the COPD Nurse for what should be an annual review. I duly arrived at the surgery with plenty of time to spare and sat myself in a comfy chair and amused myself, whiling away a few ‘downtime minutes’ playing Candy Crush (I know, I need to get a life). Eventually, my name was called and into [the room] I went.

“Kevin, are you sure you’re OK” asked the nurse, ‘You’re breathing seems bad and your eyes are all red & puffy”. Thinking to myself ‘it’s probably not worthing asking for a date then’ I explained that me breathing has been bad for the last five weeks and that I had been eating steroids and antibiotics over the same period; “Otherwise, I’m fine” I say.

The nurse, having satisfied herself that I was ok to continue, then explained that she wanted to be breath into a tube connected to a breathing rate analyser (I don’t know what its really called). It looks a bit like those devices the Police use when they think you’ve been drinking and driving – I stress that I have no personal experiences of such things. Before ‘the breath test’ the nurse asked about my medication etc, after which she asked “Have you got COPD?”. “Yes” I replied, “That’s why I’m here” I continued, now a little confused. “Oh” she says’ “I don’t know too much about that I’m afraid but we should still do the tests and hopefully the GP will know what the results mean.

So, I breath into it, 3 times long and slow and 3 time as hard as I can as long as I can. As always, black dots appear in my eyes, everything goes fuzzy and I come close to, but not actually passing out. The nurse congratulated me. Apparently I did a lot better than she had expected. She printed off the results for the doctor to look at. I asked how I was looking as at my last test I was told my ‘score’ was 47%. She said she wasn’t sure but thought it was actually 53%. This confused me as I understood that COPD never improved. Hopefully it does!

My next appointment was with my GP. He looked at the results and was also confused. Given that I had spent the last 5-weeks on antibiotics and steroid without any apparent affect he hadn’t expected such results. He checked my heart as this had been bouncing around between 105 and 127 just sitting there: this was clearly inefficient. This was probably what was making my breathing so short though he did stress (pre-empting my next question) that this didn’t mean my COPD had gone away.

As I write this, I’m sitting on a train on my daily journey into London. During this time, according to my shiny new apple watch, my pals has been bouncing up and down between 67 and 129 and it does actually feel that way too.

The decision was to double the strength of my ACE Inhibitor and have another review in three weeks.

So, I am in a state of confusion and even despair. Do I have COPD or do I not have COPD? I think I do. Is my heart like it is because of COPD or is a problem in its own right? I have no idea. Will I ever again see somebody who knows about COPD. Confidence is low on that one.

I do know however that I need to fight my way out of the current situation. One way or another, I’m going to get back out on my bike and even start running: Both very slowly. But at least that will help me lose weight which must surely help my heart.

We shall see.

COPD – Creator Of Podge’s Despair

Poor Podge

Living With COPD

Posted: April 20, 2016 in COPD, Cycling, Health, Uncategorized
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For a change, this isn’t about cruising 🙂 This is about me wanting to reflect on my health and hopefully push me towards a better, healthier lifestyle.

Ever since I was a child I have suffered from Asthma and over the years I was unfortunate enough to suffer a number of extremely bad asthma attacks requiring hospitalisation. So, why, oh why did this twerp start smoking at the tender age of 14. Inevitably, more attacks ensued but many of these were quickly fixed by not smoking for a while but still I smoked. eventually however, towards the end of the last millennium I stopped.

How did I stop? I saw a news paper article about the Paris to Hayling Cycle Challenge (organised by the Association of Charitable Endeavours) along with a photo of two rather fetching young ladies. That clinched it for me. I’ll stop smoking, buy a bike and train for the challenge and cycle with those two young ladies. I signed up the very next day. Being back on a bike again gave me such freedom, which I find hard to describe. I do know however that whatever sort of day I’d had, I would go out on my bike, think through all the issues of the day, put things right in my mind while all the way setting small instant challenges such as sprint between two markers or climb a particular hill in the highest gear possible. I loved it. I loved my bike, I loved it so much I bought more: See here for the list of bikes I’ve had over the years. I never gain saw those two young ladies, boo.

Eventually, I became a committee member of the Association of Charitable Endeavours (ACE), then secretary and route planner as part of a splinter group (The Reccecrew) and would go out to plan training rides and seek alternate routes in France (see here for an idea of a recce in France). I had such great times. But then, one New Years Eve, I weakened and had a cigar. Then another and so I was back smoking again and did so for another three years and then gave up once more and returned to cycling.

I entered once again the Paris to Hayling Cycle Challenge but this time, I took a group of a dozen riders, we called ourselves Team-SIM and we sailed to Bilbao and cycled from there to Paris to meet up with the main ride. This was to be when everything changed for me.

On my first climb of the first day. my heart rate, according to my Garmin, hit 256. I had to stop. I rested for 10 minutes then started off again. This happened twice more before I gave in and finished that day in the support van. This happened two more time in France. I felt as though there was nothing in any of my joints. Clearly, something was wrong.

Returning home, I inevitably went to see the Doctor who obviously sent me to the Cardio department for a check out. The consultant after running a number of tests and getting me to wear heart monitor for a day told me he could find nothing wrong and that I should go home and ‘Die of Something Else’ (his words, not mine).

My next visit was to the Asthma Clinic for a periodic review (never had one of those before) and after various tests I was told that I had Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD): Personally I prefer my own naming of Codgers Old Puffing Disease (COPD) :-).This was not good news. It was irreversible and degenerative. It would over time get worse. The timescales would depend on my lifestyle. Cycling has to be my lifestyle.

At my last review with the COPD Nurse I was told that my obstructive lung effectiveness was sitting at just 47%.  In my book, that less than one lungs worth of air for each breath. I’m sure the maths isn’t quite that simple: There is for instance the factor of restrictive breathing exacerbated by weight causing pressure on the diaphragm. But whatever, when breathing it feels like one lung so I’m sticking with that.

Now, one of the consequences of COPD is that the heart has to work so much harder to move what little oxygenated blood it can around the body. But because of the limited supply, the heart becomes in itself erratic and causing to to go into Arrhythmia which can and does feel extremely uncomfortable and makes exercise difficult. The consequence of this is that my cycling lifestyle became challenged which meant I put on weight which aggravated the restrictive breathing even more. I’m sure you get the picture.

So, my last review, 47% put me at stage 2 possibly moving to stage 3. My last proper review was three years ago. How do I feel today?  I thought I felt bad, I felt as though I was entering, what I call, the valley of despair. But then I read about somebody with COPD completing the London Marathon.

I’ll tell more in my next COPD update.

Poor Podge

 

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