I’d been referring to this injury that had been dogging me for three weeks a hamstring pull, but I knew that wasn’t right. For one, the pain was at the front of my leg, nearly to my groin; wouldn’t I feel hamstring in the back of my leg? And the more I worked it, the less it hurt. Seemed a hamstring would continue hurting, hurt even more, the more I worked out. So when the physician’s assistant returned to the exam room with the results of an X-ray, I was pretty sure I knew the diagnosis: stress fracture.

“We’re seeing some arthritis … ” she began.

And just like that, for the first time in 54 years I realized I was getting … older.

Sure, there’d been signs: the relentless birthdays, the even more relentless overtures from AARP.  “Arthritis,” though, carried with it baggage. Heavy baggage. Baggage so heavy you sometimes had to ask a young person for help carrying it. Once I thought about it, though, I realized I knew very little about this baggage called arthritis beyond the fact that it’s an inflammation of the joints. Time to run this baggage through the Rapiscan Secure 1000. Better still, Google it.

From WebMD I learned:

• There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, including osteoarthritis,  the most common form; rheumatoid arthritis, and gout.
• It’s more common in women than men.
• The chances of developing osteoarthritis in particular increase with age.
• An estimated 70 million Americans — roughly one in three — have osteoarthritis.
• Early diagnosis and treatment can minimize the damage caused by arthritis.
• Exercise is one of the key treatment options.

The latter came as especially good news. Switching over to Arthritis Today, a Web site sponsored by the Arthritis Foundation, I learned:

• Stretching exercises such as tai chi and yoga are especially good, ditto swimming.
• Strength training offers longer-term benefits.
• 150 minutes of exercise a week is recommended, but even 20 minutes three times a week will help.
• Athletes with arthritis include Olympic gold-medal winning cyclist Kristin Armstrong (ostearthritis).
• This is the part I found most interesting: Exercise is especially important when arthritis flares up. Exercise releases pain-reducing chemicals, including endorphins. “Physical activity also appears to reduce cellular inflammation that could otherwise exacerbate inflammatory conditions, including arthritis,” stated the site. That would explain why my discomfort disappeared after just a few minutes on the bike. It even dissipated, somewhat, on longer runs (though it returned with a vengeance within a minute or so of stopping).

Kristin Armstrong actually put a positive spin on her osteoarthritis. “Even skipping a couple of days here and there will cause the deep dull pain to come back around,” Armstrong told Arthritis Today. “That pain is always a friendly reminder to get back on track.”

A “friendly reminder.” What could be wrong with that?

Photo: That’s actually a photo of I.M. Hipp, the great University of Nebraska running back from 30 years ago. His picture is a lot more fun than an X-ray of my arthritic hip.