I Really Wish Fitness Was Easy

Jesus did my back seize up. I spent too much time in the car this week, and it’s killing my lower back. I ran southwest today instead of northeast, and the route is much more hilly. There’s a pretty big dip at about a quarter mile into my run, and running up the steep incline did not please my lower back. I was feeling great. I wasn’t expecting it. I thought that resting yesterday would give it a chance to recover. I forgot that I spent an hour in the car yesterday going to the beach. I had a lot of fun at the beach, but I guess my back didn’t. I pretended it didn’t hurt and kept pushing myself to the next stop sign. Just make it to the next stop sign and you can quit. Okay, just make it to the next stop sign and you can quit. Then I got to the bottom of the second big dip on my southwest course, and my back quit. I had to stop running or I was going to fall down. It really frustrated me because I was bouncing along at a nice clip. I was excited because my cardio fitness is better than it has been in a long time. For the third and fourth miles of the run I’d walk a minute then run a minute or as long as my back would let me. I finished my last lap around Boone’s Park as my Garmin hit 4 miles. I had a mile and a quarter, and both dips home. I said screw it, found a position that put as little stress on my lower back as possible and toughed it out. I think it may have gotten warmed up or the kink may have worked itself out because I finished the last mile and a quarter in less than nine and a half minutes. Like I said, my cardio is great. I’m going to do some extra stretching and deadlifts are getting put on the shelf until after the River Run.