Ouch!

I had considered running around the lake on Sunday. But with 3 weeks to go I was now in my taper, and after running 2 hours on the trail the day before I decided to take it easy instead and just ran along the lake. I was 5 miles into that run when all of a sudden I felt a searing pain in my lower back, it felt as if someone had stabbed me in the back. I've had back pain before, ever since putting out my back while carrying a heavy load about 5 years ago. The last episode had been a few years ago, so I've had a good painfree run since then, but 3 weeks before the big race that wasn't great timing.

I kept on running. I was miles away from home anyway and didn't have much choice. Despite the fact that the pain appeared while out on the road, my experience in the past has been that running does provide some relief and doesn't seem to aggregate it. in fact, I don't think running caused it at all. It's much more likely that the long hours in he car /van and particularly carrying a lot of heavy loads while moving house is the root cause. Unfortunately, the move still isn't complete (we're moving van load by van load, and we've got a lot of stuff) and can't really be delayed, so I'll chance it once more next weekend. In the meantime, I'll try and get on with it.

It was rather manageable but for some reason it got really bad on Wednesday morning. I had not slept particularly well, and whatever sudden movement I might have done while asleep seems to have set the pain level up by a notch or two. I still ran into work (I need to get there, and I'm pretty sure it's better for my back than sitting in the bus for 45 minutes) but felt the need to be really careful, so it was a rather slow run. Oh, and since I had left my HM at work the day before, I didn't even get to see the low HR.

Oh, and in the middle of it all I had a great run on Monday. Not that the pace was anything to write home about - it was just the way I felt that evening, like a million dollars, floating along effortlessly and feeling that I could go on forever.

Anyway, as of now nothing has changed with regards to running. I still believe that running is beneficial rather than aggravating, and with over 2 weeks to go there is every reason to think that it won't affect my goal race.

Mind, the fact that my second annual hayfever attack has started this week does nothing to improve the mood. It might be in for a few more shitty days, I think.

10 Jun

12 miles, 1:39:36, 8:17 pace, HR 136

11 Jun

10.25 miles, 1:18:40, 7:40 pace, HR 144

12 Jun

10.3 miles, 1:25:16, 8:16 pace, HR 139

13 Jun

10.22 miles, 1:28:20, 8:38