20 miles come and go

It is very interesting how I was able to complete 20 miles today. Yesterday I was a broken Pigeon with no hopes of being able to run. Yesterday was a busy day for me. I spent my entire shift pushing out 10 pallets of dry grocery work load. That means bending, lifting and pretty much being in pain for the entire shift. After work I had to hustle home and change my clothes and fly to Dr. Chu office over at Elite Spinal and Sports Care.

Once there he was quit surprised that I actually took his advise and got an x-ray of my chest/ribs. The results even surprised him more. My doctor e-mailed me and told me the results were negative for a fracture of dislocation. I wish I had a camera to get his expression when I told him that. Of course though I am going to get my x-rays to him so that he can take a look since he knows where my pain is. He asked me if I was planning on running this weekend? My obvious response was YES! I have a 20 miler scheduled, I could have opted to do 31 but this is me being good.He laughed and told me to use my best judgement on this run.

After my appointment I had to rush across town to see Lily who was going to give me a massage. I think the combination of Dr. Chu and Lily will bring me back to normal. By the time I got home I was completely exhausted. I was mentally drained from being on the go since 3 a.m.

I awoke at 4am Saturday morning, but wasn't planning on meeting Trailmomma until 6:30. So I had a few hours to kill. In the end we didn't meet up until 7:00 a.m. The wind was howling, it was dark, and it was cold. It is August right? I contemplated wearing sleeves but decided against it.

I was in a great mood. My spirits were high, I was feeling good in minimal pain and I was focused and ready to rock this 20 mile run. Trailmomma though was feeling the exact opposite and was not looking forward to running 20 miles in the cold, on minimal sleep, and on a achy tummy. I knew she wasn't feeling well because she wasn't talking much, it was a good thing I had a few stories to share.

The miles for me ticked by we saw a ton of running groups, bikes, and walkers. Everyone was out braving the elements. Soon enough though we had reached mile 6 woohoo!!! I was excited because it seemed like those 6 miles flew by, but for trailmomma they were really slow and she was hoping to be at mile 9 already. We stopped a few times (3) once at 3, and then again will I can't remember where I lost count. She was having some serious stomach issues. But I was OK with stopping it offered me a chance to stretch and tie my shoes.

Time for me to stretch

Porta Potties are Trailmomma approved

I can not believe how great I was feeling. I was still having shallow breathing and it hurt but other then that my legs felt strong, they weren't sluggish, my hamstrings had finally loosened up and my back was feeling loose also. All good signs of good things to come I hope.

As we reached our turn around I was feeling pretty good and Trailmomma was actually feeling better. On the way back we only had to stop one more time for me to umm stretch lets just say. After the last stop things really started to turn for me.

We have to stay local to see Deer!

Umm sorry trailmomma, I didn't know they were there

 I started struggling a little bit, but Trailmomma was feeling great. She was chatting away. With only 5 miles to go I was feeling this run. Every step I felt it in my chest and I found relief by applying pressure. At one point I had a stabbing pain go ripping through my back and I had to stop. It almost caused me to drop to my knees. We were so close that I didn't want to walk. I walked when I felt like I needed to, we were battling some fierce head winds. 20 miles came so quickly it was hard to tell that we had just run them.

I am really relieved that I was able to get this run, I needed it mentally. My body held up for the most part and only time will tell how I feel tomorrow. In a few short weeks (4) I am doing the Sierra Nevada Double. I have thought about changing to the marathon, but I am bullheaded. I am feeling good right now. I don't have as much pain as I normally do after a long run so I am thinking that the treatments with Dr. Chu are helping and the massages from Lily are helping also. Looking forward to rest of this weekend in hopes of it being less painful then past weekends.

Lil Man helping his daddy mow the yard last weekend!

I got home and he was so happy he put on my pack and ran around the house

One day I am sure we will run together!