March 2, 2009

No More Marathon - At Least For Now

Every since I ran 10 miles back on February 1st I have been dealing with a lot of lower back pain. I bought new shoes and I have been focused on strengthening my back but the pain is still there - even on normal day to day activities. Two weeks ago I did do some fast short training runs (4 or 5 miles) and in general I felt great while running but the back would flare up later that day. Then last Thursday I started out for a long run but I had to stop after 2 miles because my back started hurting again.

So for now I have stopped running and training for my marathon. I am going to take the next 4 weeks off from running all together and then starting on April 1 I will start doing slow, short, easy runs for the next two weeks. If that goes good with no back pain I plan on training again in mid April.

Don't worry, I have just decided to stop running. For the next 6 weeks I plan on lifting weights at the local gym, walking, biking and swimming. This morning I week to the gym for a weight workout and I also plan on walking for at least 60 minutes tonight after the girls are in bed.

I do have some races I want to compete in - the 1/3 Marathon from Gothic to Crested Butte on July 4th. Then I will have to decide between one of these. The Imogene Pass Run sounds like a fun, but really hard trail run on September 12th - 17.1 mile race that starts in Ouray, Colorado at 7810 feet to Imogene Pass at 13,210 in 10 miles and then down to Telluride, Colorado at 8820 feet. The other one is the MountainAir Marathon on September 13th. This is a point to point race starting in Crested Butte and running down to Gunnison. The really nice thing about this race is that it is local and I won't have to travel anywhere but the bad thing is that it is all highway running.

3 comments:

bernthis said...

I was a runner and I'm sure you already know this but really work on your core (lots of sit ups and planks) I had a bad lower back, hamstring, you name it and the core work really changed everything. Good luck.

Laura Marchant said...

Oh that stinks! At least you are still doing other stuff.

Fit Mommy said...

Good job for listening to your body! Those other races sound awesome! Been to Ouray and Telluride and they are beautiful!!