For some time my back has been bothering. Last summer I had a bunch of tests done and xrays. The blood work showed that I was overall very healthy and the xray's showed muscle spasms in my lower back. So I started going to the chiropractor for bi-weekly visits/massages and after 6 months of this and very little improvement he ordered an MRI. Back pain I can handle the MRI on the other hand COMPLETELY freaked me out! 20 minutes in tube was about enough to push me over. I'm surprised I wasn't sweatier that when I'm done at the gym. Absolutely hated all 20 minutes of that! Anyway about a week later I headed to the chiropractor for the results. Degenerative Disk Disease! What does this mean? My chiropractor explained that my lower back looked like that of a 50 year old! Seriously, what does this mean? Deep down I know I put off finding out the problem because I didn't want to hear that I couldn't workout/run like I had been. He suggested that I take a "break" from running, start taking fish oil, and glucosamine and continue strength training. No running for a while then I could gradually add it back. NOT what I wanted to hear. I explained that I was running a 5K in the morning then I'd stop! It's only 3.2 miles. I can handle that.
So early in the morning I grabbed my coffee and was on the road to pick up Taylor to join her in her first 5K. I talked her into it a couple weeks prior and she was ready! I was so proud that she was ready to run a race with me. It's such a sense of accomplishment that I knew she would love it. She expressed prior to the race that she was hoping for a 12 minute/mile average and I knew she could do better than that. She didn't want me to stay with her, but after running my first one alone I didn't want her to do it alone. It's so much easier with someone else. I paced us right around 10 minute/mile and was watching her breathing and would give her updates along the way for encouragement! She did awesome and even had energy at the end to kick it up a notch for the finish. We finished in just under 32 minutes. It's such a mental sport! What's a 30 minutes workout!?! After breakfast we headed to a dive for a quick "celebration" drink! Taylor had invited a couple of her friends to run, one who it was also his first race. I swear he was so excited I thought he was going to wear his number all day! It was cute.
Post run pain was not fun! My back muscles spasms so bad to protect my disk that is deteriorating. I decided I would listen and take a break. I met with my trainer a few days later at the gym and was almost in tears by the fact that I had to modify my workouts and running. He is so awesome that he did some research on my condition and we actually had to alter very few and he added a few to focus on strengthening my back. I did LOTS of reading and research and found that lots of runners live and run with the same condition. After three weeks off of running I was given clearance from the chiropractor to try running and if the pain returned I would need to back off again.
The Merced Running club hosted a Fog Fun run at the end of January and I woke up that Saturday morning feeling good and asked Dave if he's mind me going for a quick run. With 1 hours until the run I quickly changed, grabbed some coffee, and headed for the run. It was a 5 miles fun run so there was no need to register or anything just show up and run. 48 minutes later and it was over! I was nervous of the aftermath of the run, but I was pleasantly surprised, no pain! I guess the break and vitamins worked in my favor!!! Once a week a long run would be added back in place of a gym workout! Leaving me feeling fulfilled and excited!
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