Since my hiatus from running began back in March, I haven't done monthly recaps. March, April and even May would have mostly said the same thing: "no running (maybe Alter-G), lots of recumbent bike."
As I'd hoped it would be, though, June was the magic month when running came back to me. So without further ado, here are the numbers:
I ran 9 miles on the Alter-G and 15.5 miles (approximately) at full weight for a grand total of 24.5 miles for the month of June. My running mileage total for the first half of 2012 is just under 300 miles. It's nothing like last year and nowhere near what I'd hoped it would be--but I'm content. (I didn't keep track of the miles I "rode" the recumbent bike because I was paying attention to heart rate, RPM and effort level instead of distance. Trust me when I say that I was on that thing a lot--and I'm still on it twice a week, at least for a while.)
Last week brought my first week in ages that included three runs. I did a very short and easy one on the treadmill on Saturday, followed by 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer (even a new machine felt like being let out of a cage). This week will feature four runs, but also a full day of rest tomorrow. I wonder if Darren is giving all of his runners the holiday off, or if it's just because he wants me to get ready for three runs in a row. The first of this week's runs, this morning's 35-minuter, was beautiful. I got up early and went to the park where Cynthia and I ran on gravel paths two weeks ago. A thunderstorm last night had cooled everything off (briefly), and the air smelled clean and sage-y. It was over much too quickly.
How is my back handling this? Not as well as I'd like. I can keep major pain at bay with Pilates moves and stretching. But I can't slack off of those two things at all. They must be done every day. And even with them, the back is stiff and sore most of the time, particularly in the mornings. My next physical therapy appointment is on July 17, two weeks from today. I'm wondering if Cathy is going to pull the plug on this--and order up a steroid shot for me. I suspect she will.
Anybody out there ever had a steroid shot in the back? How long did it take to kick in and make things better? Was there a lot of pain just after the injection? When I had one in my foot for the Morton's neuroma, things were markedly better in two days---but it hurt a lot initially.
