We've been doing our masters swimming workouts every morning from 6-8 a.m. The group has devised methods to maintain social distancing and has been very observant about reducing any "on deck" interactions. We've done a good job and, so far, no one in our program has had symptoms of or tested positive for Covid-19. What this meant for me was a return to the pool four weeks ago and a renewed program to get back in shape after months out of the water.
But...we got a message from the club/pool manager last night that a lap swimmer (not in our program) had been at the pool around 1pm one day early last week and had, shortly thereafter, tested positive for the virus. That was the last week on which we also had noon master swim practices (which I did not attend) and it's possible that some of the noon swimmers crossed paths with the infected person (not likely). But, with a need for caution, and a responsibility to the 400 member families of the club, the board of directors opted to close down the facility for a deep cleaning this week and an attempt at contact tracing with the person who tested positive.
If the swim gods smile upon us we'll resume regular, morning swim practices on Tuesday morning, June 23rd. I am currently offering offerings to all the wet and wild deities and demigods in the aquatic pantheon...
Since the pool won't be available in the meantime I'm back on my long, long walks, shorter three mile runs, planking and weight lifting regime. I have added one thing to my total health regimen which is very interesting to me. Let me preface this by saying that what I'm about to discuss should not be taken as a recommendation that you follow the same path! Everyone is different.
At any rate I have to start by admitting that I've grappled with lots of anxiety over the past decade. It was overwhelming for a year or so back in 2007-2008. I tried several medications but didn't like them at all and chose to work through the anxiety by researching and trying all manner of cognitive training approaches. I was able to master and stop the panic attacks that sometimes crept up and surprised me but for the rest of the decade since I've had pervasive and uncomfortable levels of more or less continuous anxiety. It's almost like a low level of electric current running through my body. Swimming both soothes and at the same time exacerbates the anxiety. I love the physicality of it but my anxiety intrudes in the form of performance anxiety. Which is odd for an older swimmer; I should be long past the point where I feel like I have anything to prove; or an audience that wants to see me perform...
My doctor and I talk about this whenever I drop by to see whether some skin abnormality will kill me or if he can burn off the offending blemish with liquid nitrogen. About three months ago he suggested that I might try taking a supplement called 5-HTP for my perennial anxious state. I bought some and it sat unused on a shelf for a couple of months. When we started swimming again I decided to give it a shot. I've been taking it twice a day and, for the first time in a long, long time I'm "electric current-anxious buzz" free. It took several weeks for me to see a real effect but it's there now.
I don't have more or less energy. I am not more or less depressed (and certainly not clinically depressed...). My mood is neither elevated nor de-elevated. It's just that I don't have that tingling, annoying, frightening feeling that catastrophe is just around the corner and that I should be hyper-vigilant and on full alert.
An interesting thing happened after I noticed the cessation of anxiety symptoms. I take my blood pressure every day and I also recently started checking my oxygen uptake and pulse rate. My blood pressure has always been under control (without meds) but it dropped from averaging 120/65 to 110/65 in the last two weeks. The metric that really surprised me though was my resting heart rate which dropped from an average of 62 to a new, sustained low of 53 bpm. The resting O2 measurement remained static at 97-98.
Seems that not having the overlay of anxiety is good for one's cardiovascular system. Since I am not having side effects from the 5-HTP I'm certainly going to continue to take it. Maybe it's reducing all that free flowing cortisol.
I now have a little cocktail of medications and supplements I'm taking during the Covid-19 pandemic. I'm taking 10 mg of Atorvastatin since this particular statin is well know to smooth the inner epithelial tissue in arteries and veins. Since the Covid-19 virus seems to do the most damage to the cardio/pulmonary systems it seems wise to reduce inflammation and roughened inner artery walls as much as possible. I'm taking 1000 mg. of vitamin D since recent studies pointed to vitamin D shortages as being a common condition in Covid-19 patients who have had the highest mortality rates. And I continue to take 800 mcg. of Folic Acid daily to reduce arterial inflammation caused by possible build up of homocysteine.
I'm also dosing myself with good coffee at every opportunity. We eat so many fruits and vegetables you'd think we were product testers for the produce industries, and we eat red meat only glancingly and then in small amounts.
I do think it's important in these precarious times to do as much as possible to boost your immune system in order to fight off infections, to the extent that it's possible. Diet, anxiety control, exercise and getting enough sleep might go a long way toward lessening the effects of a Covid-19 infection, or just making a seasonal cold less miserable. Any way you slice it there are no real downsides to being is as good a physical shape as you can get.
Ah. An image from back in the good old days when three people could
socialize in the pool while doing kick drills....
Not advised these days...
Well, Texans have outdone themselves. Our governor convinced all the "low information" people in our state that everything was more or less dandy and that we should all just suck it up and get back to work. As the scientists and medical experts predicted confirmed cases and hospitalizations have both just ticked back up dramatically. The city of Austin has extended the "stay at home" advisory and asked, pleaded and begged citizens to please, please, please wear a face mask whenever you go out in public.
I'm only visiting businesses that absolutely mandate that everyone wear a mask to enter their establishment. I don't care what political cult people subscribe to but private property owners can make their own rules up for customer safety and anyone who doesn't want to play by the rules should find some place else to shop. I'm wearing a mask everywhere I go and I'm not stopping till we have a cure and a vaccine. If you have an anti-science response just save it because it will get deleted in the interest of not giving bad information to the public.
I'm giving Austin citizens mixed reviews on their masking skills and social distancing awareness. The Trader Joe's store in our neighborhood is getting high marks for their 100% required compliance toward masking and limiting overall store occupancy. One local coffee shop flunked miserably (not a national chain) when the counter person who poured and handed me a cup of coffee did so with a face mask pulled down under his chin.
It's all a reminder to me to pay attention to the visiting doctor in my studio tomorrow, and to also make sure I wipe down the camera, lens and tripod I'll be using before (and after) his visit.
Waiting for the vaccine fairies to deliver a nice, safe vaccine for all of us.
An image from the past that I hope will once again be routine.
12 people circle swimming in a warm-up lane at UT
before the Masters Nationals.
Hook Em Horns.
14 comments:
I hit the tennis court very early tomorrow morning for the first time in 3 months. I'm going early because it's a public park that gets busy as everyone wakes up. If I start to see too many people I'll be out of there fast. I expect a bunch of shanked shots as hand-eye coordination is the first thing that goes when you stop playing. It will be ugly but I always say that an hour or two on the court every week keeps me out of the office of my local mental health professional. I'm not being a smart-ass about it either. The physical benefits of being on the court are obvious but the mental health benefit, for me, is immeasurable. I've missed it immensely and my mental health has suffered from not being able to play. I don't take any medications (my bp and vitals are normal and healthy) and I try my best to stay away from them, though I am not opposed to taking something that helps me. I've taken up Yoga and I find that helps my back and my knees more than my mental health. I understand that in the larger scope of things some aging white guy who misses tennis is not important, but it is important to me and my life. It's life-changing for me. Each match I play is a journey into myself and I always emerge a better person. My skills are diminished, my body can't do what it used to, my knees and hamstrings ache the next day and my serve doesn't have the same pop...but the journey is still as important as ever, maybe more so now. There are two days in the future that I already dread. The first is the day my driver's license gets taken away (if I live long enough that is). The second is the day I have to put down my tennis racquet. Stay safe Kirk.
crsantin, I couldn't have said any of what you wrote any better. That's exactly how I feel about swimming. And in the grand scheme of things the fact that tennis matters to you and swimming to me is as important as anything else. We only get to do life once. We need to savor all the good stuff instead of becoming stoic and unfeeling. Love it.
I'll miss driving a car at some point (I took my dad's keys away about ten years before he passed away; it was a rough time) but I can work around that. The pool? That's a whole different discussion.
Hope you are staying safe and happy. KT
Recommended reading:
https://local.theonion.com/city-enters-phase-4-of-pretending-coronavirus-over-1844037065
and
Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Robert Sapolsky
Lee
Thanks for posting that Kirk - some gutsy writing. Stay well and I'm glad you have found something for your anxiety though I'm sorry swimming is off the table for the time being as that obviously has a meaning to you way beyond the mechanics of keeping fit. I've had my own brushes with anxiety at various times (early 20s were the worst) and even now in my late 50s I'm what a good acting friend of mine calls "bound" (as opposed, I think, to loose)... Well, anyway, good on you for your honesty, one more reason for us, your readers, to keep on turning up to see what you've got to say.
As for the rona, a cliche but truly, we're all in it together and we're likely all in it for some time to come. We have a habit of overcoming problems one way or another though. Besides, at least you have managed to give yourself a decent haircut!
Good post; I won't comment on it further than that. I will comment on your "Hook Em Horns" slogan (motto?) at the bottom of the post.
I lived in Pasadena, Ca, for a few years, about two blocks from the Rose Bowl -- close enough that our streets got closed off so residents wouldn't get parked-in during the annual Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The University of Texas was there one year while I lived there, to play in the bowl game, and I was out walking around and encountered a hippy-looking follow selling t-shirts. The shirts said, "Horn Em Hookers" and were selling like hotcakes, presumably to Texans. I have no idea what the local hookers thought. 8-)
The Horns may hook 'um but, apparently, the Eyes Of Texas won't be upon them while they do it.
And that's okay.
Hey, great post. We all need to talk about more things more often. Sorry about the uptick closing things down. I'm in Oregon, we're waiting to see more data. I usually play racquetball (doubles, old slow guys) 3x per week, Ping pong (vicious group!) x2, and pool exercise classes x2. Missing all that of course, and I can feel the lack. I have a weight bench, been using that, but it's not enough, I'm losing strength, endurance, etc. At 78 it's hard to get it back! So... you have my sympathie.
Ray H.
Take a look at "The Healthy Brain" by Aileen Burford-Mason who is scientist (biochemist, immunologist and cell biologist). Her book discusses anxiety, PTSD and burnout with respect to dietary interventions. 5-HTP is one supplement she recommends. Her book also pointed me towards L-Tyrosine. Both are amino acids and easily processed by the body with no side-effects. Both have an effect on the brain's response to stress. Her book goes into great detail on how they work in the body as well as other supplements and their use and effect. Well worth the $20 investment.
Blessings upon you on two counts. One, the disclaimer pointing out that personal experience may not apply to all when it comes to food supplements. Second, for maintaining discipline based on evidence and shunning the childish crowd which appears to be taking over far too much of the public space. Both you and your swim club deserve merits for sane behavior.
Kirk, you always manage to surprise. The honest, frank discussion about anxiety is welcome. I wish that we had a society more open to the discussion about our mental well being in conjunction with our physical well being. You have always done an outstanding job discussing your physical health and what you do to stay healthy, that the discussion about your anxiety just seems like a natural topic to discuss. And that, my friend, is exactly what it should be. So sincere kudos due there. I'm going to share this post with a number of friends who need to read it.
Regarding COVID-19 and our societal response, it is sad to see how broadly we choose to ignore the scientific and medical evidence in front of us. People would rather listen to baseless encouragement to risk their lives for broadly reopening commerce than to continue to take the simplest of measures to protect our collective health. Even in the face of skyrocketing case numbers, many still choose to go maskless and congregate for meaningless reasons. That we've allowed frivolous businesses such as the ridiculous health club market open just astounds me. Or big box churches. Save me, indeed.
Kirk, thank you very much for sharing. I also have on/off ongoing anxiety for several years. For me it takes place as tinnitus in my left ear. It reminds me what you said about having a constant buzz. The level may rise or fall in a day or three-day cycle. I tried dealing with it using antidepressants that suppose to help also anxiety. About half a year ago I stopped taking drugs because I saw no improvement. I am going to do my research about HTP-5 and may try it out. Thanks again for speaking up. It helps.
Regards, Yoram
Sport is so important to my mental health too. I run a badminton club. Three months of the leisure centres being closed and I'm really feeling it. It's been my longest break from the game for three decades. Been going out walking, staying supple and doing lots of DIY, which seems to have caused some tennis elbow. Typical.
Hopefully we'll be back on court before autumn... Watching the graphs drop slowly down, here in the UK, I wonder if it'll be 2021 before we're back. Trying not to think about that so much.
Keep well and stay safe. Glad you've found something which works for you.
Take care
Mark
Living here is SoCal and being "One Kirk Tuck" of age, I wear a mask consistently when outside the house. I have also noted variability in mask usage. I had a job in San Francisco last week and on the drive up our Central Valley the majority of people in stores did not wear masks.
This morning I had a shoot with a physicians group and not one of them was masked the entire time I was there. Of course the masks would be off for the photo, but in setup, testing and afterwards, they never used masks. Hubris I suppose.
I expect the mask convention will endure to some degree considering we have a number of older residents in our area.
It also makes going to the bank that much more fun.
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