Blame it on Meadows

Yesterday was back spasm day.  And I freaked out my son and husband by taking 6 or 7 ibuprofen.  I didn’t take them all at once.  Waited about an hour an a half between two doses.  My oldest son has the fear that I can die if I take that much ibuprofen.  (I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare him) I know that’s a lot of ibuprofen.  But back spasms, they can throw me to the ground, they are that painful.   I’m not in the mood to check to see how long it’s been since I’ve had a back spasm but let’s just say, I really thought that I was finished with them. 

So after the medication, I went to the gym for two hours – back spasms be damned.  I actually felt spasm twitches, but not the pain.  So, I had to wrack my brain, what did I do, what did I do?  It could be the sciatic nerve, however my piriformis muscles are doing about 95% better thanks to fellow blogger Stuart and his suggested youtube link.  The question I always ask with pain or injuries is, what did I do different the day before?  I didn’t think it was the speed work because that was a couple days before.  The next run, well there was nothing new about that one.  And then I remembered.  During class the night before back spasm day, like a fool, I showed a student how to do a plank.  He was just going on and on about his ab strength and the fact that he’s got stomach fat (the lad is 17, a bean pole with seemingly not an once of fat on his body!)  Anyway, I told him to start doing planks, and he didn’t have a clue what they were so I got down on the floor (I was wearing jeans by the way) and showed him.  His male peers gathered around him afterward to time his plank, and the boy collapsed after twenty seconds of his first plank. (I remember that, collapsing after 20 seconds on my first try, that is).  ANYWAY, I haven’t been doing planks since my recent problems (especially the pec and deltoid injuries which are now healed!).  So I am very suspicious that for some reason, my back can’t hack planks right now.  I’m not sure why, but I won’t be going back to planks any time very soon. 

My, it sounds like I’m in a world of trouble.  But I’m really not.  Really.  I’m actually doing pretty good.  I slept through the night without waking until 5:30 AM!  I’d call that a pain-free night.

Therefore, I am. (lol)  And so I took a run in my usual park, this time, timing myself.  I took all of Wood Canyon at a pretty good pace.  Basically every time I looked at the garmin, I told myself improve pace and I ran a little faster.  It was Meadows Trail, that last mile of it that pretty much killed me.  Though I would have hiked most of it during a race, I ran it all.  By the time I reached the top, I was dead-dog-tired.  On the beauty side, flocks of quail fluttered from the brush several times on my way up (they make such a lovely gentle flapping noise) and the view of Saddleback Mountains was awe inspiring. 

Nearing Top of Meadows Trail (looking toward Saddleback)

I hoped to run this 9 1/2 mile loop in 2 hours, which would mean that I could probably do Calico’s 30k in 4 hours (my goal).  Today’s run however, took 2 hours and 20 minutes. 

I blame Meadows for the time delay.  I clicked a picture when I reached the top (shown on right), and I also made two pit stops (before Meadows)  to simulate a race as much as possible (they don’t stop the clock when you make pit stops in races).  I’m still over a month out, so I’m not disappointed that didn’t make this loop in two hours.  It’s a difficult loop.  And I shall improve, careful, careful to avoid injuries.   

Elevation Profile:  +1,400 feet (route Via Canyon Vistas Park:  Wood Canyon to Meadows, up Meadows, across Top of the World, West Ridge, Cholla Trail, Wood Canyon and back up Canyon Vistas Park)

9.57 Miles logged today