Adjustments

Today's Run:
4.12 miles/ 40 min

I'm melting....

I've been having a few back spasms since my run on Tuesday morning. At first I thought something was out of alignment, even though I just went to the chiropractor last week and I'd not been in any kind of collision. Now I think it is muscular so I've been icing, heating, icing, heating, icy hotting, Advil-ing since Tuesday afternoon. I took it easy today and did the minimum today at a reasonable speed. I was uncomfortable for the first mile and then pushed through it. It may actually feel a bit better post-run today.

I wonder if this weird back thing I have going on has anything to do with my form? I'm a neighborhood runner. I've never had anyone look at my stride and tell me what I am doing wrong or what I could do better. There's no reason for that - is there? Lately, each mile I run I try to focus on something different, like relaxing my face or keeping my shoulders down or swinging my arms. Maybe all the adjusting has re-adjusted my adjustment.

It pays to be a slacker

Also needing an adjustment is my fridge. This is the second time since we bought the old icebox 11 years ago that it has crashed and burned. I hope they can shock him back into service. Days like today I should be happy that we never really grocery shopped after our Chicago trip or that we rarely keep anything worthwhile in our freezer, but it's still a pain to basically trash everything in the fridge and start over. I had just purchased a new pint of Ben & Jerry's Strawberry Shortcake Greek Yogurt. That made me really sad. I tried to eat as much of it as possible before it melted a slow painful death. Why is it that when I limit myself to the crappy 1/2 cup portion I feel like I could eat the whole pint. Tonight I couldn't even make a dent it in. Stupid fridge.

To make things more interesting, I leave for a week tomorrow. Yippie! The repairman will just have to come by when I get back. I'm hoping where I'm going it won't feel like 117 degrees at 5p. No, that isn't an exaggeration. That's what the weatherman said it felt like outside with the heat index at 5p today. I suddenly live on the sun.

Crack My Back

Today's Run
4.3 miles/ 9:01/mile

I'd love to have my own roller table!

Getting back on the wagon is tough. After a week of vacation it wasn't fun to get up early and get out the door. I'm not going to lie, I had grand plans of upping my mileage, but after my lack of motivation I decided to just do 40 minutes and be done with it. Maybe getting back on my "normal" early morning schedule for a few days will give me my motivation back.

Today I went to my chiropractor for my regular adjustment. I started going to the chiropractor a year ago in March thanks to lower back pain that would not go away. My mother was a basket of nerves thinking that some quack would paralyze me by cracking parts of my body that shouldn't be cracked. After a month of treatment, I could finally sleep through the night without getting up and assuming child's pose in the floor of my bedroom to stretch out my back. Now I see her every four to six weeks just to keep everything in line.

I've noticed as I've upped my mileage, my back gets a little out of whack a bit easier and my neck gets pretty tight. Obviously it's a form thing and I'm not sure how to fix that since I'm so new to running, so for now I try to think about relaxing my shoulders and visit my chiropractor regularly. I also try to work in a massage from the massage therapist at least every three months. It's not like going to a fancy spa, but she's good at what she does.