Still okay

I was a little worried that after my jubilant post the other day, things would go south and I would have to take back all my joyous words. Especially considering that whole "achy back" thing I had going on Tuesday.

But, happily for me, the mojo continues to flow and my last two runs (Wednesday and Thursday) have continued to satisfy. The back is feeling better too. By Wednesday afternoon, most of the lower back pain had receded and I was just left with sore hips. Hips I can handle better than back problems. Stiff hips go hand in hand with running. A bad back is just...bad.

By tonight the hips are better too. The only residual backache is the strain I feel when passing through a certain level of bending or squatting. It's that place where your knees are partially bent as you stand from a seated position...do you know what I mean? Anyhow, it's way better that Tuesday, or even yesterday, when stooping or bending over at all was painful. Every time I dropped something that I had to pick up I swore...and I was dropping things a lot.

But fear not, none of this back and hip pain deterred me from Wednesday speedwork yesterday! I really wasn't sure how it would go. I did feel really stiff when I started running, and the first few miles definitely reflected that. Slow, slow. I did about four miles warm-up before arriving at the track to do half-mile (800) intervals (quarter mile jog in between each).

Originally I had intended to do six, but I ran short on time and knew I had to cut out one or two. I did four at the best pace I could manage, and one more at a slower pace. I had meant lap five to be just under an 8-minute pace, but I guess in the excitement of getting done I couldn't hold myself back enough, so ended up with a faster finish than I intended. Here are my splits for the speedwork only:

1. 3:43.10 (7:25 pace)
2. 3:43:30 (7:27 pace)
3. 3:46.84 (7:35 pace)
4. 3:43.21 (7:28 pace)
5. 3:49.70 (7:40 pace) (remember, this was meant to be slower than the others)

Today I went out for a run again, even though Thursday is usually a non-running day. I did Friday's longer run early, as I am running a 5-mile race on Saturday and I thought it would be good to give my legs a non-running day beforehand.

I did a total of 10.11 miles, with a three-mile tempo interval in miles 6, 7, and 8. I started out slow (as usual) but am pretty happy with my results overall. Check out my splits:

1. 10:32
2. 10:01
3. 9:31
4. 9:19
5. 9:15
6. 8:04
7. 7:55
8. 7:42
9. 9:12
10. 9:13
11. 9:25 pace for .11 miles.

Average pace for the distance: 9:05.

Happy day! And another beautiful late summer day. The sun came out and it was warm and sunny all day long. I love it!

No running tomorrow. Got it? No. Running. Tomorrow. Hopefully it will be another sunny one!