Jun 7, 2007

missing the bliss

my longest run in a month was today. 7 miles. on grass. i was a sloth.
the grass may as well have been 3 inches of mud. my back hurt.
the whole thing sort of sucked.
i long to be over this back issue.
i miss the bliss of running.
a runner friend who knew how much biking i've been doing lately asked if i got the same feeling on the bike as i do running.
no. not even close.
the bike is this thing i need to conquer ... the bike is the thing that is allowing me to keep my fitness up so i can get back to running. i love it - but there is no joy. maybe if i stopped being scared shitless for a minute some joy could eek in ...
but as of right now - its' not anywhere near the sheer, blissful joy i can get on a run ...
i feel like i am in detox (not that i've ever been there & not that there's anything wrong with that. it's just a metaphor.) & jonesing for a really good fix. i really really need a blissful run.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

Good to hear you're back running! You know it's going to get better.

And thank you for not mentioning what your time was for the 7 miles, 'cuz I have a sneaky suspicion you're STILL faster in your "sloth" mode than I am in my speedy mode!!!

Em said...

I haven't read all the way back to when the injury started, but you haven't mentioned any of the posibilities that have been given to you about what might be causing you run hurt.

The reason that I'm pondering this is because I had an injury once that started very low on my back/top of my butt. Turned out my SI joint was stuck. Stuck. It wasn't moving at all and as a result, I was having pain in my legs as well because other things had to compensate for the lack of movement there. Granted, the SI joint doesn't move much (relative to other, more mobile, joints), however, the movement it does have is very important when one is running.

Fixing it involved a week or two of a trainer (I was in college and had access to a trainer on a daily basis -- wish that was still true) doing some special stretches on me every day to un-stuck the damn thing and then easing back into my routine while the soreness of the rest of my body healed.

Might be something to check out if you're still having pain. Of course, even if the SI joint does get stuck, sometimes it can just go back to normal on its own.

Gotta Run..... said...

Between your stomach and my back we are two messed up girls!!

Thanks for the advice on my stomach issues!! I already stay away from dairy so that could not be the cause. One thing I have been reading is that I might have been too low for my needed sodium intake. My long runs will not start up again until the first week of July so I will have 15 weeks before my next Ultra to figure it out.

I would love to get through an event and see what my “real time” could be without all of the stomach problems.

As for you back, it is hard to pin point that one. Your abdominal core could be triggering some of this or even something in you hamstring. My core if one of the first things I check when my back starts talking to me.

Try and hang in there. I linked to your blog so I will follow your updates.

zanne said...

Hi Em ... the SI joint thing sounds pretty plausible ... i'd like to think though, that it would have been mentioned to me after weeks of PT - i did get an xray & it showed that my last disk (tailbone) is smaller & thinner than others ... while its not inflamed & nothing is pinched - that is likley the cause of the pain. But then my thought is this - is that disk my SI joint? Don't know - will ask. Things are looking up ...my pain is lessening daily - i'd like to think its' due to my intense core strengthening workouts & back exercises that i've added to my routine! Thanks for your tip ... will ask on my next visit to PT!