Saturday 25 September 2010

Still running

I started this blog to help me stay motivated to run. I always thought that not blogging would probably mean I wasn't running. Instead, running has become a habit and my blogging has fallen by the wayside.

Today, though, I'm inspired to blog. I'm not sure if it's because of my new iPad or because I'm "injured". I guess time will tell.

The new iPad is likely to make it easier for me to keep up to date with all my favorite blogs, but I'm not that keen on typing lots on it. (advantage: succinct blog entries!)

The "injury" is a very sore lower back, from tight hammies and glutes. Never having suffered from backpain like this before, I hadn't appreciated just how debilitating it is. I have developed a world of sympathy for sufferers over the past few weeks.

I'm on the mend. The physio has given me stretches to do, I'm booked in for another session and there's light at the end of the tunnel, thank goodness.

What I hadn't expected was how worried I would be about not running. At the moment I'm running 7 km three times a week. The other week I did a 10 km fun run and made my goal time easily. I ran my usual Tuesday and Friday runs, feeling a little more sore than usual, applied anti-inflammatory cream, had a hot bath or two, skipped my Sunday run because my back hurt, and then wasn't able to do my shoelaces up on Monday morning. What a horrible realization that was!

Fortunately, I was able to book into a physio that morning. A new experience for me, which had me feeling quite apprehensive. Fortunately, Gina gave me confidence that I would be able to manage the pain of the treatment. Even better, the treatment has helped, as have the anti-inflammatory tablets that one of my friends recommended. I'd like to heal faster, but I guess that I'm also being given a chance to work on my patience. (Who knew that back pain caused crankiness?)

I'm also discovering that improvements can end up feeling like backward steps. I suffer through the physio stretches after warming up, manage to do better, feel really pleased by my progress, then can't sit down at work because it hurts too much. I'm definitely going to be much more sympathetic to people who are recovering from injury in future! Oh, and more disciplined when it comes to stretching! Really I will.