Exactly a year ago, I was watching the movie “Motorcycle Diaries” on a long weekend. This is a movie about Che Guvera before he becomes a revolutionary.
Che and his friend embark on a 8000km motorcycle journey across South American continent.
Why?
The movie shows them biking through all kinds of terrains in diverse weather conditions including heavy snow.
I was watching this with envy, wondering when I would get the courage to do something so huge.
and just like that
I decided to go on a trip.
– I switched off the movie ( unfinished).
– Packed a small bag.
– Told my goodbyes to Mom and Dad.
– Got on the bike for a 250 km journey to Vijayawada from Hyderabad.
Insanity!
This journey happened in last June, middle of the summer. The return journey started after noon and the temperature soared above 45 degrees C(113 F).
I was on the road for the next 6 hours before I reached Hyderabad at 6PM.
Just Human
Doing something huge requires giving up something big. I was neglecting a major factor in these adventures – my physical body.
I was not in great physical shape, there was no planning and proper breaks were not taken. And it was plain STUPID!
Something had to give – My NECK!
The new journey
A new journey started the very next day after my return, a journey with ups and downs, a journey which is still going on, a journey of PAIN.
The first few weeks were quite painful for my neck. Things came to a breaking point when I tried to ignore the pain and played football/soccer.
Of course, the pain had subsided and disappeared. But it has always returned like a long-lost friend.
Solutions
I tried a few solutions with the help of doctors with only small success
1. Pain killers
2. Light exercise
3. Physiotherapy
4. Myotherapy (Trigger points)
The actual problem is with my work life. Working in front of a computer for 10-14 hours a day is aggravating this problem.
I have done this for more than 7 years and my neck has finally decided that it has had enough! 🙂
This month
Last month, the pain almost vanished and I started swimming and after three weeks, there was a shooting pain in my triceps. A sign that something was going wrong.
The neck started complaining and adding to this was a botched up back flip at the pool. My swimming program effectively came to an end.
Pain started moving down my shoulders into my wrists, computer usage was now a painful experience. This was becoming a clear case of RSI – Repetitive Stress Syndrome.
Now
After the trigger point therapy and regular stretches, my neck pain is now reduced to a dull ache and my wrists and hands are more or less better. So now I started blogging to a small extent.
So biking has started this. Will you now give it up?
Ever since this whole problem started a year ago, I never completely gave up on my extreme adventures.
- I did my longest solo ride of a 500km round trip where I spent more than 30 hours alone on the highway.
- I did a 120 km bike ride with a colleague.
- I ran/jogged 10km twice.
Right now, it is just watch and wait. I will get better and get back to these adventures. But I will remember to plan them in a better way.
What I learnt (still learning)!
- Neck pain sucks!
- Being healthy and fit is really critical to our happiness.
- You never realize this until you actually lose it.
- None of us can’t escape it continuing in our present situation – sitting at a desk the whole day, zero exercise, poor sleep.
- Most Important: None of you will get any of this until you really have a problem and after that it is hard to recover. Those who take this post as a wakeup call and start acting are the lucky ones and in my opinion, a very small minority.
and so this concludes a detailed excuse for not following up on my writing.(Time to stretch my wrists)
Chronicles of Narlia 