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It was a special treat to have Paul, Cheryl, Chris, Jeff, and Peggy show up to ride this morning. This is one of the largest groups we've had in a long time. Peggy rode well. Bev enjoyed her ride. Chris and I were discussing the triathlon over lunch. Bev says we should train up and do it. I agree. I probably already have the stamina to do it, but with my knees sore, I'll have to work my mileage up slowly until it is doable. I've looked at the dates of modest triathlons for next year and found one in Fairhope that is possible. It fits the bill for length and being on a date I am scheduled off. So I am looking at the options for swim training. There is either the Y at Greystone or the pool at Talladega. Neither look very likely for a training spot. Perhaps I should just get a wet suit and swim in the river.

So yesterday went pretty well in the diet wars. I stayed within guidelines. Today I've done well. No bread. No sweet treats. Nothing in excess. I managed to get in a short bike ride that should help with overall calorie burn. Tonight I'll get in the gym again. I've been doing a few minutes on the treadmill along with some strength training. The main emphasis is the leg machine and treadmill. I have to strengthen those knees to help with pain there. SO I am about 30 minutes away from supper and I am starving. Chris H. posted his interest in doing a triathlon. It is something I'd like to try also. The event up at Oak Mountain is short enough that I could probably do it without destroying my knees. The one feature would be the 400m swim. I'd like to get in enough swim training to look like a swimmer out there. 

Its funny how often the wheels run off the wagon. I am speaking of my resolve when it comes to food control. I've had really great success in getting myself to the threshold of an excellent body weight 3 times now only to let it slip away. So here I am at work again. Hoping to overcome the inertia that is driving my weight upward again and get it going down to my ultimate goal of sub 190 lbs or 85 kg. I have even more good reason to get that lower body weight at this time. I am having joint pain that is affecting my knees. The additional 10 to 12 lbs I gained over the summer is amplified in walking or jogging with painful results. And besides, my clothes aren't fitting. For a short time, wearing a blue wrist band was enough to remind me that I should maintain my daily resolve. Now one of my riding mates is training for a triathlon. It is something I wish I could do. Maybe with gentle progress, I can accomplish something similar.

The reunion was a success. We got almost everyone together for another year. Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

I altered the position of the cleat on my bike shoe and it seems to have helped my knee pain. I've done 2 rides since that change and I don't have the sharp pain when I climb the stairs. All that bending and ladder climbing has made the rest of me hurt. Bending and crawling around painting the baseboard has been harder on my overall stiffness and lack of energy.

Although I've had to do a little bit here and there, I've achieved my goal of having the house presentable in time for the family reunion. I got the walls in all the living area painted and most of the ceiling. I also have spruced up some of the baseboards. Tomorrow I'll get a little more trim painting done and take the rest of the time to rest up a little before the work begins again on Friday and Saturday.

Yesterday I tried a very hard ride. Since there was a threat of rain, Bev bagged the ride and I did it with Paul and Chris. Since I was feeling better, I asked them to push the pace as we came back into Fayetteville. Paul and Chris paced it up to 31 mph before I had to bail out. Now today I am having some discomfort. I didn't get to ride today because it rained all morning. I used the time to paint more of our living room/dining room. There remains much to be done but it looks like I'll get the walls and ceiling done before the Castleberry reunion. It will look pretty good anyway. But all that work has added up to make me really tired. I am looking forward to my bed tonight. Tomorrow, I am hoping for a 2 hour window to get in some more exercise. In addition to getting the painting done, I repaired my wheel for my bike, installed the clip-less pedals on Bev's little bike, and replaced those Campagnolo hoods for her.

Yesterday I finally had a day without joint pain. I took advantage of it with a ripping mountain bike ride and a full day of work including grass cutting and painting. Then I had the Grandchildren over for a spend the night. I am a little tired after but got lots done. Hurray for Ibuprofen.

After having tried Elations for 5 days I was having a lot of pain in my knees. So I started 400mg of Ibuprofen twice a day and have had more relief than with the Elations all week. Just as I suspected. The benefit was stated as modest at best. Even though the GAIT trial showed benefit, the power of the study wasn't defining. A bigger study would be needed to assert Glucosamine as having clinical benefit.

Today was a typical joint pain kind of day. Still taking the elations. The GAIT trial may have given an indication of modest benefit but I don't really see it. I think I'll change back to aspirin and ibuprofen. Tomorrow I will either mountain bike or run. Running really should bring out the pain.

Today I put more stress on my knee than the other days and found the right knee to twinge quite a bit when shifting to the standing position on my road bike. I still don't have the pain in my hands and elbows. I pushed hard on the hills to try to stir up the pain. I wasn't able to keep it up as much as I like. I think I've slowed down over the past few months. The rainy summer may have taken away more riding than I'd hoped. So I'll keep on taking the stuff but I remain skeptical. The results from the GAIT trial seem modest at best. Much better results were obtained from the dose of NSAID. Like I told Mike, it might make sense to do both but Glucosamine is expensive. Better to just take some Celebrex.

I drank another serving of Elations this morning. It gets harder to get down each day. I finally gulped down the last quarter glass to get it over with. To test my joints, I did a tandem ride out in the NF. Right now I am aware of some sensation in them but it isn't as bad as last week. And the pain in my fingers and elbows has gone away. I didn't take a NSAID today. Tomorrow it will be another ride morning unless we have rain. I may do a run soon to really test the effect. I am also back watching what I eat closely. I really need to get my weight down for the sake of those joints. To give myself a nudge, I put on a blue silicone wristlet to remind me daily of my promise to myself. So far, so good.

So I've had my second helping of Elations this morning. To stress my knees, we did a short ride down to Fayetteville Methodist Church. I hit some climbs pretty hard and did a little painting when I came back home. I did take two Ibuprofen this morning as well. I'd say I am having less twingy pain today. I was able to come to standing on the pedals without the sharp pain stopping me. Of course this may not be the glucosamine effect but I'll keep it up for the next few days.

I purchased a six pack of Elations today to test whether or not it would improve my joint pain over the 6 days as they advertise. SO I am drinking one right now as I am typing. The advertised flavor or cranberry/apple doesn't taste very cranberry like. The label mentions apple concentrate but no mention of cranberry. It isn't good but it isn't bad either. Today My knees are hurting. I move to standing with some pain and feel pain at the boundaries of my knees most of the day. When I was riding this morning, I found my right knee sensitive to moving to a standing position. I'll report back here daily for each of the next week on how well it helps. I am skeptical.