Lordy, Lordy, I feel . . .

Lordy, Lordy, I feel 40. If you are younger than let's say 35, then one of the blessed things that you get to look forward to in the years to come is that almost every day somewhere something on/in your body hurts. Not necessarily a debilitating hurt, but as you roll out of the bed in the morning and your feet hit the floor for the first time, something will let you know that you are alive. Maybe it will be your foot, as the plantar fascia stretches when you place full weight by standing. Maybe it will be your ankle that hurt 20 years ago, but every now and then it will just mysterious have flashback pains. Maybe it will be your shoulder, where you had just a little too much fun playing Wii bowling the day before. But more than likely, one of the areas that will hurt at some point as you age a little is your back. Sometimes you can tell it's going to be one of those days before you even roll out of bed, and in fact the process of simply rolling out of bed causes enough bite to make you want to just stay in bed.

I will confess to having been blessed with a relatively good back. I have friends who started having back problems in their 20s, and I must say that I have been quite fortunate. A few months ago as I prepared to go for a run, I "snorted" to clear out my nostrils, and a pain gripped me around my torso like a bear hug. I still went and ran, but not long after I finished the run I was on the phone scheduling my first ever chiropractor appointment. 3 treatments later, I was good as new (they said one of my disks has become misaligned, and when I snorted one of my ribs was knocked out of place. Mularkey? No idea, but I know I have not hurt there again, nor have I had any pain in turning my neck, as I had been for a while before). So I was a little taken aback (pun intended) last night when I began to notice a little pain in my lower back (completely different area). I sat with a heating pad for a bit before bed, but when I got up this morning it still was hurting, and I felt stiff. Pretty sure it's just a muscle strain, but it is something I'll be paying attention to over the next few days.

All that said, today I completed day 19 of the Seate Streak. 5.18 miles with a 9:09 per mile pace. That per mile pace really took a hit when I decided that I needed to walk a little bit. I am having difficulty slowing my pace down. Some of you may read my pace and think that already is pretty slow, but for me it is faster than what I need to be running. A 9:00 mile is very comfortable to me, but I feel that to be building for the longer distances, I need to find a comfort a bit slower, and if I still feel good I can speed up. I may start trying to do a little run/walk to manage my pace better, because too many times I look at my watch and see an 8:30 or 8:45 pace, and I know I need to slow down. This week I did sign up for the Neuse River Bridge Run Half Marathon in October, and the Myrtle Beach Marathon in February. As my mother-in-law is moving close to Orlando, I am still considering doing the Disney Marathon (and maybe even the Goofy Challenge if the registration isn't full by the time I decide - if you aren't aware, the Goofy Challenge is the Half Marathon on Saturday, and full Marathon on Sunday. 39.3 miles over 2 days. Many people run/walk the half so that it doesn't take too much out of them before the Marathon.)

Seate Streak days: 19
Seate Streak miles: 60.4 (avg. 3.18)