Final Week and a Back Pain

Tuesday night we did yoga, and that was a huge mistake. I had felt a tweak in my back, but stupidly thought yoga might help. No. Yoga is not flexy relaxing time. It is pull your body into weird ass positions time, contorting muscles into doing things they haven't done in a while. I'm so mad at myself for going.

I now have a bad back pain. It's deep, perhaps connected to my ribs, because it hurts when I breathe. It hurts to arch my back and move my arms in a swimming motion, so right now I'm not sure how I'm going to swim on Sunday. I really can't do much except pop the ibuprofen and rest and wait. I stretch, but actually don't think it's helping. I will get the back into a hurt position and let it sit there, trying to control the spasming and taking my breath away...and actually feel that may be helping. Sitting at my desk is really painful and I feel nauseous.

So...great news, huh.

In better news, I got my bike back from the bike shop with new breaks, new wraps, new break and shifter cables. I am going to try it out today to see how it feels. The guy said it would ride a bit different. I'm excited.

I have today and tomorrow to get this back thing better. I'm hoping the pain meds will help, but I know they don't heal. We shall see what happens I guess. Maybe this is some sort of triathlon god working a forced taper for me.

HMTD9: A Wun? Or a Wog?

Either of those titles just sounds like I have a speech impediment. But I would say today's 41 minutes of exercise is worthy of being called a continued day of training.

Today I got up as planned (well, a half hour later than planned) and went out for a walk. I intended to run and walk alternately, keeping my breathing and jarring on my body controlled, and that's what I did for 3.3 miles. For the most part I walked a quarter mile then ran a quarter mile.

I forgot about sidewalks not being cleared, so I ran in the street on Montgomery. On Columbia, I was at my walk time and had a good time trudging through the snow. As soon as I could, I turned back into a neighborhood. The edges of the streets were slick so I had to be careful. And it wasn't as bright out as I thought it would be, despite the snow and F'Ertle lights.

I continued on through the neighborhood. I cheated some times, running longer than .25 mile. I felt pretty good. For the last half mile in my neighborhood I ran the entire way. I got chased by the dogs of the guy at the end of the street who has all the cars. Wait, that doesn't really narrow things down does it. The guy next to the fire station who collects old cars. Ha.

So far so good. Now it's time for a hot shower. I'll see what my rib tells me throughout the day before I get too excited about this. But it felt very nice.

Update

Today I am sore from walking. Interesting. My lower back muscles hurt and my shins hurt. I suppose it's good and bad. Mostly it makes me worried I have lost more fitness than I hoped. I feel like a big sack of sand.

Tonight I'm skipping the spin cycle class at the Trek store. I'm bummed, but there will hopefully be another class next week and I'm sure it will do me good to rest. My rib definitely hurts more this Monday than it did last Monday. And I do not wish to repeat whatever happened Wednesday. I'm not saying it was because of Monday, but a coworker today thought I did too much too soon. She said I should rest for two weeks, but I know I won't do that. I think it's just that I need to do less. The run/walk thing was fine I think. Maybe later this week I'll get on my bike and ride easy.  I'm very very happy that the pain is back to an Advil management this evening. I woke up pretty uncomfortable and took a Darvocet...I think it's sleeping, there really is no comfortable position in the bed. Tomorrow morning I am going to get up at 6 and walk/run in the neighborhoods. If there is still snow on the ground, there is plenty of light out there. I am still planning to run the Heart Mini. I can do it, right?

Patience was never my middle name.

Today I feel like a caged animal. I'm frustrated and sad. I'm out of control, alone and feel left behind. 
I went on a 2 mile walk with Harley and it certainly felt good to move and I felt a little better. At the circle turn around, we jogged. Then one more time before approaching the house. There was no rib pain while jogging, but I know I should take it easy. Maybe short run segments during walks is what I should start doing for my sanity.

I want my baby back baby back baby back baby back baby back...RIBS

So the whole rib injury took quite a turn Wednesday. After sitting down and talking for a while, suddenly I could barely get up from the table. Huh. So much for a test run.


That night, it was hard to sleep, as I could only be in one position. Any attempts to move made me yell out in pain. Crap! In the wee hours of the morning, I found old Vicodin and took it. It expired in 2004, but I soon was in a blissful happy state, smiling as I laid down in bed to rest some more. I felt like I was wrapped in foam.

I got up a little later and called the Urgent Care I went to, explaining the 600 mg ibuprofen they had prescribed wasn't going to cut it anymore. The woman I talked to said the doctor would call something in. I asked what I'd be getting and tried to request Vicodin. She said she didn't know what I'd be getting. How do you ask for Vicodin without sounding like an addict? I guess maybe you don't.

I waited around for her to call back so I could get the new mystery pain pills, but it was taking too long. So I made my way to the smelly flavor house thinking my expired Vicodin would get me through the day and by the end of the day, the new Rx would be ready. Perhaps that first pill I took was the only one with anything left in it; despite taking pills every 4 hours, I was in a helluvuhlotta pain all day. First, cleaning off my car was awful. Driving hurt. I couldn't turn my wheel in the parking lot. Walking hurt. I couldn't talk very well and the biggest problem was I couldn't take a decent sized breath in without searing pain. Ug. At the end of the day, cleaning off my car again after the snow all day had me in tears. I couldn't reach the scraper in the back seat. I had to sit down (aagh!)...bring my legs in (uggg)...reach over (oh god!!)...and then hoist myself out of the back seat (cue the tears). I really don't know how people live with chronic pain.

I picked up my Tylenol 3 prescription. Looking online, it is a step below Vicodin in pain treatment. Dammit, I wanted to be knocked out! I took it as soon as I got home. Then I painfully fed the dogs, put in No Country for Old Men, and sat up straight on the couch to try to relax and let the medicine work.

More pills around 9 and then bed. PAINFUL. I wish we had a recliner – that is what I needed. It hurt so bad to lay flat.

I keep taking pills every 4 hours and am very very happy to say I think it's getting better! Most importantly, I can breathe!!!! That alone has made this day 200% better than yesterday. What a horrible feeling only being able to take painful shallow breaths. It still hurts driving and parking and walking and moving my arms in general. But I think it's getting better, and the less I move the better I feel.

That being said, damn I'm disappointed I can't move!! I'm already thinking: what about Monday night for biking? I can't, I shouldn't – even if I feel better. I think I should just have a solid week of doing absolutely nothing or I'll make it worse again. This is very very hard. I got on the scale this morning and I've already gained a pound. WTF. I guess I need to cut my calories down to sloth-like amounts. Sloths probably only need 500 calories a day to slllooooowwwly mooovvee arrrouuunnnddd....

So. It's OK. Just a week. Don't worry about it, Steph. It'll be fine in a week...