Four Miles and a Doctor's Visit

I've been off the running circuit for a couple of days. For the past few weeks (ever since my ski weekend) my back has been bothering me. I never had back problems before, so this is a new experience. Unfortunately, my wife is an expert at back problems (she has a couple of compressed discs that she deals with on a daily basis). So, she "convinced" me to see a doctor to make sure there is nothing serious going on.

I wanted to make sure I saw a Sports Medicine doctor. I've read horror stories about folks seeing their doctors and being told that the solution is quite simple - stop running. I someone who sensitive to why folks like us run. I visited a doctors that we've used for two of my kids for various sports injuries in high school. I made my way to his office for a series of xrays and an exam. I was hoping that he would be understanding about my desire to run. Little did I know that he is the Medical Director for the Surf City Marathon!

Well, the bottom line is I have a condition called spondylolisthesis. It's more a condition than an injury. The bottom line is my L5 vertebra is not aligned properly with the S1. The pain I am experiencing is being caused by inflammation of the L5 nerve. For now, my therapy is wet heat (i.e., jacuzzi) 20 minutes a day, ibuprofen (600 mg three times a day), and a new stretch added to my stretching repertoire. I do this for 7 to 10 days and we'll reassess. The best news is that I am cleared to train with two conditions - no hills (up or down) and nothing longer that 10 to 12 miles at a time.

So, armed with the diagnosis, my wife had no choice than to let me go out for my easy 4 miler late in the afternoon. Things went quite well. Kept my heart rate right at 75% MHR. It felt good to get out on the trails again.

The Crane has Arrived

And it's hoisting the train back on the tracks (no wise cracks about needing a crane here!). The goal yesterday was an easy four mile run. I got out a little after 5PM and whipped out 4 miles in less than 40 minutes with average heart rate at 80% MHR. It felt good to get a decent workout in!

It's also nice that the days are getting longer. It wasn't too long ago a run starting at 5PM would have had me in full lights and reflective gear. Last night I wrapped up and got back to my car right as dusk. I made my way over to the gym, got my stretching and part of my core workout in. My big problem now are some lower back spasms. My back actually feels pretty good during and after my runs. Yesterday it was even okay going downhill as long as I didn't try to move laterally. Later in the evening though it started flaring up again. I'm going to take some ibuprofen today to see if that helps.

Finally - I got some new reading material yesterday! Got my copy of "The Competitive Runner's Handbook" by Bob Glover. I've heard lots of great things about this book! I can't wait to dig in!

Ouch!

Yesterday was my normal Saturday workout with Cal Coast. My Higdon plan is half done at this point (8th week is wrapping up), and I'm supposed to be running a 5K this weekend. But, I can't find anything that looks appealing close to home, so I did some juggling of the plan and put in a seven mile LSD run.

I woke up with a very sore back though, and was questioning my ability to finish the workout on my way to CDM. The pain was almost like sciatica - sharp pain in the right side my lower back right above the gluts. The longer I sat (even in my car), the worse the pain got. However, once I got on the trail, things seemed to loosen up and I was able to finish the seven miles without any pain. My goal pace was 10:45, and I think I finished in something like a 10:10. Considering all the hills I was satisfied.

But, things were just starting to get interesting. Once home, I was practically unable to move. My back stiffened right up, and to even stand was a chore. My wife has been pointing out all of these little things that I have been seeing since my cycling accident, and this is one of them. I hope I haven't done anything more serious! This is a strange malady though. There is no other pain, stiffness, or numbness associated with the presenting symptoms. If there was, I would be very concerned about sciatica. On the plane, I was reading about some of the other common running injuries. One that was described was a Piriformis strain. Turns out there is this muscle (the Piriformis) that when strained (running lots of miles on hard surfaces) presents symptoms very much like sciatica. The link here is the change in shoes - perhaps this is the problem. Looks like I'll need to see my doctor soon if the symptoms don't go away.

Long Run Saturday

Saturday was long run day. The run was a six mile run on the Lower Back Bay trail. I slowed my pace down a little (10:30) and had a very comfortable run. Much better than last week! Heck, I was even able to jog up "the hill"!

The only issue started up a few hours after the run when my lower back flared up with stiffness and soreness. Nothing serious (I think), just a lot of soreness and stiffness from running too far too fast on asphalt. The pain got so uncomfortable Saturday evening that I had to resort to some Tylenol. But, I was pleased with the progress I seem to be making after a week of post injury running.