Back Again

While my back recovered enough to allow me to run the 10K way back in late September, I didn't show respect for the recovery by racing. The day after the run, I went out for a fast-paced 30 mile bike ride that included a modicum of hill climbing. That was the last September Sunday. After the ride, I felt invigorated in the way a good workout stirs the pot and makes you feel better. Monday was another story.

Monday started just fine. About ten minutes before I was to leave the house to drive my little guy to school, I felt a pinch in my back. It just started to tighten. A little at first and then it got worse and worse. By midday, I couldn't sit at my desk at work. Standing up intensified the spasm and the pain that came with it. In short, with my quads continuing to burn from my reckless hill attacking 10K that brought me neither hardware nor a PR time, my back was rendering an unmistakable verdict on my -- too much, too soon.

No one has ever questioned my willingness to train hard. Although, on second thought, that statement may be false as several people over the years told me that peak weeks of 60 miles were not enough to get me over the marathon finish line in under three hours. The results confirm the criticism, but that was then and this is, well, this is the comeback of my comeback's comeback, if you will.

Back (pun unavoidable) to physical therapy. The early sessions (there have been several) were about exorcising the spasm from my contorted trunk, minimizing the pain (as I again opted out of any chemical relief from the agony) and helping me rebuild my core.

I often joke about wanting to shop at the Core Store to get the things I need to give me a strong back, and front. No such store seems to exist. But, if it did, I have stumbled now onto some very odd items that would be kept in inventory there. Or, perhaps, not. They might be special order items.

My therapist gave me the most subtle, internal, movements to master as a way of strengthening my "deep" abdominal muscles. So obscure are these movements, that her description of how to know I was hitting the correct muscle was nearly pornographic. It took some work to find, but I was rewarded with praise when I did.

Finally, yesterday, we progressed to exercises with larger, less secretive movements. I wouldn't say I have mastered those just yet, but I do appreciate her approach of trying to wipe out my back pain for a lifetime. I am guessing 45 year old me has a fair shot of pushing back pain down the road a ways, but 50 or 60 year old me won't be able to avoid it.

As last night's session neared its terminus, I looked to my PT with a certitude that belied how I was really feeling and begged for the opportunity to run, and soon. She resisted, but I pushed back on the premise that I needed to run as a data collection project to know how things were progressing. I promised a short, easy run along the shortest route I run. With that, she relented.

Early this morning, with my headlamp on (geek with a new toy, stand back), I ventured out into the morning darkness and ran a little over 4 miles at a little faster than a 7:30 pace. Nice and easy as promised. I was pleased. I will try again tomorrow.