I have been stepping up my exercise bike training. Not that it is in any way impressive, but still.  After the whole asthma test affair on the 10th, I have decided to try to gradually expand my exercise.  But the thing is, my muscles are no more used to it than are my lungs, which were the ones I was planning to exercise. So after yesterday, I felt slightly stiff, but just a little bit.  After work today, I spent a while on the bike again – not as much as yesterday, but more than before.  I walked around outside a bit, and then sat down and played Civilization 4.

When I got up next, it was fairly late, and my left calf was stiffer than it has been for many years, not counting the days after a leg cramp.  It is not so bad that it actually bothers me, since I am not planning to run marathon tonight, and light pain makes very little impression on me.  (Intense pain, on the other hand, is QUITE distracting, but so far has been rare indeed. Long may that last.)

The problem is that chances are excellent that I am going to have a leg cramp tonight.  I had one some months ago after exercising late in the evening, and I was not nearly as stiff as this. I have applied painkiller gel and also taken a quarter of a Dispril (similar to Aspirin, for you foreign readers, but soluble in water). Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs work against stiffness, but should preferably be taken earlier for best effect.  I take them just after a leg cramp, but I am not sure they can actually prevent one.

I am not sure I can even get to work if I get a leg cramp.  So far I haven’t heard of anyone dying from them on dry land though.  But in any case, I guess my training program will have to rewind a little.  I seem to have reached the age where even my warm-ups require warm-ups.  Still, better than NOT reaching that age at all!  “Despite the high cost of living, the option remains popular” to quote something severely out of context.

I won the Civ 4 game, by the way. Space race victory. ^_^