Running and back pain

So I ended up running yesterday, instead of biking.  Since my workouts are already a little “off” without the swimming, I figured I may as well swap running and biking days this week.  Allen wanted to go to REI for mountain bike shoes/pedals (yayyy, finally converting him!), and running takes less time.

My back is pretty angry at me for running.  As soon as I started, the lower/side muscles started screaming.  I figured they just needed to loosen up… yeah, I think they loosened up about 50 minutes in to my 60 minute run...and even then, they were not too happy.

On the plus side, my legs and heart were soo happy to be running!  I could feel my legs working, going up a hill, and it felt so amazing to be using them again. 

A nice lady ran past me, smiling, wearing a “Run Happy” shirt.  I glared.  I was definitely NOT running happy.  But I kept reminding myself how happy I am to be alive, and that some back pain meant that I was feeling something which is a lot better than…the alternative.  So that helped.  I was ridiculously slow, really limited by how much impact my back could take (I tried speeding up and it just hurt more, so didn’t push it) but I focused on moving, rather than caring about my speed.  As long as things keep getting better, I’m happy.

18 days until Milwaukee, and counting.  I am stressing myself out thinking about it.  I need to swim!!!