An Injury With A Heartbeat, Wrapped In Flesh

Yep, that pretty much describes me at this moment.

Aside from this chronic hamstring problem, I've now injured my lower back (pretty seriously) for the third time in as many months. That happened five days ago (alas, while lifting weights...even though it was from a movement that had little to do with my back), and I'm still in serious pain. I took a cringeworthy 3-mile walk this afternoon, thinking it might loosen my back a little. Nope. Perhaps the 14 degree temps had something to do with that, but even after a hot bath, it still hurts.

Oh, and the hamstring hurt during the walk as well.

Yes, I'm a whining mess of a human right now.

My "one mile run per day" experiment lasted 16 days. Not only did my hamstring pain not diminish, it started getting worse.

So, skipping any further whining, I'm shutting things down once again.

I even hinted to my wife today that I may retire from running. She laughed and said, "you'll never retire from running!" She may be right. At the very least, I need to reach 10,000 career miles. I'm still 208 shy of that goal.

I'll get there...

Man Down

It looks like this week will be a wash when it comes to exercise.

Last Friday, I helped my dad with some tasks around his house, which included unloading several hundred pounds of tile from his car. That involved me bending and reaching awkwardly into the (huge) trunk, and back seat, of his car to pull very heavy boxes up and out and an odd angle. I have a history of low back trouble, and doing this over and over again was a huge risk. I felt okay the rest of Friday. I went on a 28-mile bike ride on Saturday and, again, felt okay. But I think being bent over on the bike for an hour and 45 minutes on top of all the lifting threw my lower back into a tizzy (a medical term), as I woke up Sunday morning hardly able to move. I've been hitting the ibuprofen and heating pad pretty hard since then, along with my routine of lower back stretches.

So, after an enjoyable week of cycling, I may not be able to ride at all this week. And the weights are obviously off the table, too.

It's no fun feeling like an old codger...

Check Your Bed

I try not to whine about all of my aches and pains here, but I'll mention this one as it relates to my bed. I've had lower back problems off and on for years. I try to stick with a stretching program that seems to help. Don't always remember to do them every day. Something else that has helped alleviate the pain is a Sleep Number bed we bought a couple of years ago. Even though my "number" isn't the most comfortable, my back likes it set to 100, which is the firmest it gets. My wife sets hers at about 60 and wonders how I could sleep on "a rock". Well, the last few nights, my back pain flared up again. I used to check my number every night before bed, but it seemed to hold the 100 setting consistently (when I used lower settings, it seemed to fluctuate more). Last night I checked for the first time in a couple of weeks and my 100 had dropped to 60! That explains the back discomfort. So word to Sleep Number owners - check that number frequently...especially if you have a back as picky as mine!

Later this morning, I'll head out for an easy 20-mile bike ride. Still in "fighting off undetermined illness/taper" mode.
Happy Tuesday!

Bike ride, plus some questions for you folks

Finally got my bike off the trainer and outside for a ride today. Ended up putting in 25 miles around local neighborhoods, including some challenging hills. I'm learning that my hill running is better than my hill cycling. Hopefully I can change that before my race.

Now...I've got a couple of questions for you. Lately, after getting off the bike, my lower back has been very tight and very sore. In fact, the two weeks I didn't ride, I slept better than usual because my back didn't bother me. Well, now the back pain is back. I've never been "professionally" fitted on my bike, but have adjusted the saddle, handlebars, etc, based on what I've found online. Do any of you more experienced cyclists have any words of wisdom regarding why my lower back isn't liking the bike lately?

The other question is more frivolous. When I was a kid riding with my dad in our car, my sister and I used to play "slug bug", where we'd punch each other when we'd see a Volkswagen Beetle. I once commented to my dad that I never realized how many VW Bugs there were on the roads until I played that game. From then on, he'd refer to that phenomenon as "you just have to look for the Volkswagens and you'll see them". I know there's a term for that, but it escapes me. Okay...all that said to get to this point: I've been noticing a LOT more runners on the roads this year than I have in a long time. Yes, I started running again in Jan. of this year, but even the years I haven't run, I was still tuned in to noticing them, being a long-time runner. I think I read or heard recently that running seemed to increase during times of economic downturn. Not sure if that's the case or not. Are any of you noticing more people running lately, or is it just me?
Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy your weekend!