Not Quite Right

My last post was after the Monster Dash 1/2 Marathon. I was feeling very beat up. My legs, hip flexors, back, hamstrings and mostly my desire was beat down to a pulp. I took two weeks off of all activity and planned for a return to slow, easy running along with some new strength work to get myself back into the running routine. That didn't happen because I caught a virus that settled in my sinus and gave me an infection that would call for a 10 day run of antibiotics. So, in total, I took three weeks off of all running. Along the way I had one or two massages and several chiropractic adjustments. My back was slowly getting to where I thought I would see some vast improvements in regards to my running. Not so fast...

Starting on Saturday the 20th I ran 30-40 minutes a day and hurt every step of the way. On the 23rd I was beginning to feel better and then I had some disturbing news at the chiro's office. The x-rays they took showed I have a L5-S1 spondylolisthesis. What does that mean? My last lumbar spine is slipping forward (away from) over my sacrum. Not a good thing. I thought I had heard that term before and I went to work and signed a release to have my xray records sent to me and sure enough, back in 1999 I had the same diagnosis. Now what?

Here is what I take from all of this. Back in '99 I had gone through a really rough patch and I did a lot of rehab work to strengthen the abdominals and such and sure enough, along with regular chiropractic adjustments I managed to get myself back to running pain-free. I believe back in July, when I had my surprise appendectomy, I returned to running too soon and was trying to get back at regular mileage and my abdominal muscles were not ready and I fatigued the rest of my stabilizers and now I am paying the price. So, to get my self back on track I think I may need another month of easy activity and mostly core, strength training to get things ready to ramp up the mileage once again. I sure hope I am right.

For now I will be running very minimally, just enough to keep my foot in the door, and really try to get strong and do other activities as my back and hamstrings allow. I hope to see you on the road!

On the flip side, all this pain and agony gave me a little something to celebrate. For those who follow I have a stronghold on the 2010 USATF Runner of the Year for 40-44 age group.

The results of the races can be found HERE.

Years Total Miles: 2132.6 miles