Back Injury Update

So I think my back is finally recovered at least for running purposes.  Doing daily chores my back still gets tired quickly.  Today was my first run in 9 days since I hurt my back.  I was using the memory of the original injury as my guide.  If I got anywhere near that pain level I would stop and get a ride home.  The first few blocks were tough and my back hurt a lot but not as much as yesterday when I did the dishes.  After the first mile I said to myself if this gets any worse I am going to call it a day.  But I got better as the run went on and I the rest of the day I felt better than I had since the injury.

 While we’re on the subject of injury… 

 My worst injury:  One day at the end of practice in college I was running my sprints just like every other day.  I heard a loud pop from my knee and I thought let’s just call it a day.  I realized in the next few steps walking back to the school that something wasn’t right.  My knee popped loudly with every single step.  The next day I went for a run popping with every step but the overcompensation cased my other knee to hurt really bad and I never ran at the college level again.  The Dr. thought I tore my meniscus but I wasn’t in all that much pain so I think it was my IT band snapping.  I didn’t run for 3 months (mainly because I was sick of it from the 70+ miles a week) anyways it was fine after some time off.   My knee continued to pop while walking around campus for the next 2 weeks.

Injury

Saturday I ran 7 miles without any problem.  Sunday I went out for a 14 mile run and was feeling fine in the early miles.  I ran the first 8 in about 1:06 when suddenly my lower back started to feel funny.  I thought to myself better slow down (mi 9 – 9:30) but my lower back kept getting worse.  I thought to myself better start taking walk breaks (mi 10 – 15:00).  I stopped my watch at 10 miles and then walked very slowly 4 miles back to my house.  I spent the rest of Sunday lying down but it didn’t help and I wasn’t able to sleep very well over night because I woke up every time I turned over.  This morning I hurt so bad that I went to go see the Dr. He said that I have some strained muscles and sent me on my way with Vicodin that hasn’t seemed to help.

On the upside the Dr. said that I should be able to run (short distances) in a couple of days.  He said “Your back will let you know what you can do” which I thought was cool because most of the time the Dr. says no more running for X weeks regardless of how you feel.