Day 52: Oh, My Aching Back

My back hurts today. It hurt a little yesterday, too, toward the beginning of the 4-mile run, but felt better afterward.

I think the pain from my herniated disc is worse if I don’t run or walk early in the day. Is that weird?

I’ve noticed that I’m mostly pain free on the days I do my workouts in the morning. If I wait till later in the afternoon, though, I have to be careful. I get shocked in the left butt cheek if I move too quickly or if I forget to hold in my stomach muscles. Still, it’s nothing like it was in the spring. That was awful.

I probably should’ve tried to run this morning, but technically, today is supposed to be for stretching and strengthening. So this afternoon, I did 72 crunches on the ball. I used two 15-ounce cans of S&W fruit cocktail for three sets of 12 rowing pulls, bicep curls and overhead pulls while I watched Design Star on TiVo. (But I didn’t see the end yet, so don’t say anything.) I still have to do push ups and stretch before bed.

Here’s where the schedule stands: Tomorrow, I hope to do a 2-mile walk with T Junior before my SCBWI meeting. Wednesday will be three miles. Thursday will be strengthening. Friday will be three miles. Saturday is 30-minutes of cross training (so, a walk — unless I decide to get to the pool). And then on Sunday, Heather and I are going to try to run without the boys.

Hopefully, my back will hold up all week.