ya...THIS!!!

Making pain

So...what do you do after the doc has a long talk to you about your back/pelvis issues? Why, you go for a run of course!!!

I just needed to do it. What's so funny, is as my body becomes accustomed to running again and I shed a few pounds, the pain will go away (or at least lessen greatly) and I'll be back at it again. It sounds hellish but I can't wait to get back to a 10 or 15 mile long run on the weekends again. Might sound counterintuitive that you have to deal with pain...in order for pain to go away but that's just how it goes. I've run more in the last week than I've run in months and it feels fantastic.

During anyway, the after...ooph

It ain't gonna get better

So...when you go see your spine guy...and he reminds you that the pain has to/can be managed but will never go away because of the damage you've done to yourself. Seems that breaking my back years ago...and the vertebrae and pelvis mending a couple millimeters off, means that with activity and age I'm just grinding away the disks and subsequently the vertebrae too.

The only way to "fix it", and it's not really a fix, it to fuze the back. But, because of my level of activity and relative young age, the fuzing will just lead to extra strain on the rest of my back and lead to further deterioration.

So, the only real option is to get as light as possible and hyper build my core and surrounding back muscles in order to provide support and lessen the load on the back.

Well, time to dig deeper and push onward, harder. I used to have an old 1SG that used to say "...pain is never a bad thing. Pain reminds you that you're alive". Indeed it does...time to make some pain

I just needed to run

I don't know what happened. I didn't just want to go for a run, I felt like I HAD to go for a run. I hemmed and hawed all day and just knew I couldn't relax until I got it done.

Not only that, but I have this little loop I like to run, that's mostly downhill but I turned at the half way point, to run uphill the way back, on negative splits. Why? Because the pain of effort (effort not injury) just felt so good. Digging in, cold deep in the lungs as I ran faster...just felt good and is a pain I didn't realized I'd missed. Ya, feels really good to not only be back at it but WANT to be back at it. You know?

Runing is life

You know, trail running is a lot like life: look 10 steps ahead, always make sure you're on solid footing, adjust your speed/pace to the obstacles you come across, enjoy getting over the tough parts, use that accomplishment to fuel you for the next challenge. What?! I can be deep!

I've been wanting to get back on the road and while it was cold here in New England, it wasn't the frigid you'd expect this time of year. A nice 3 miles to cap off the day. There's something to be said for running in the cold. Runny nose, burn in the bottom of your lungs, see your breath, cold. Oh crap, I might be a New Englander...and a runner again

A sad day indeed

When you're finally back in the gym, feeling good and lifting heavy and your workout gets cuts short because you literally trip over your own feet and fall on your face.

Thankfully no one was around to see my graceful fall (no, there was no grace involved). Going down I caught my wrist between two dumbbells (myself excluded) and if it weren't for my Polar v800 I probably would've broken my wrist. Unfortunately my v800 didn't fare so well. I broke/separated the crystal from the face of the watch...and broke the back of the case. There goes being waterproof. Damnit! This watch has gotten me through thick and thin, so many races, so much training and then I go and bust it like this. I'm so bummed.

Keep trying

The advantage of having a fitness trail at my work means I not only get some nice views, but have places in case I have to "bail out". And since I need to ease back into running, the 1 1/4 mi loop is just the ticket. An easy 5k trail run. I can't even begin to explain how frustrating it is to start back at square one...again. But there's nothing else to do but keep trying.