Blog

Hiccup

When I went out for my run this evening I was thinking about my blog entry for this evening. I knew what I would be writing about generally, but still needed a title. Then, I spent the first 40 minutes of the run hiccuping every few steps and had my title. See, “hiccup” has another meaning in this post: after nearly a year of pretty hard-core training, first for the Ironman and now for the JFK50, I have trained virtually injury free. I got sick in January, had a little problem with my hip after my fall on the ice in February and some even-more-minor issues here and there throughout the year, but I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t missed any serious time all year – and not a single training session that I can remember since early spring. Recently, though, I’ve had a little “hiccup”.

Before I write anything more, I want to make clear that it’s nothing serious and it’s nothing that’s going to stop me from showing up in Boonsboro, Maryland almost exactly five days and 12 hours from now. I also need to stress up front that, even though I’m going to use the phrase “lower back” below, this has NOTHING AT ALL to do with my 2003 surgery.

It started a couple weeks ago with a very localized pain smack dab in the middle of my lower back, a couple inches below my waist. I ran my scheduled runs without any pain while running and found that it was most bothersome in the evening after sitting on my rear end all day at work. I only have pain in my back; it doesn’t radiate down my legs or bother my glutes or hamstrings at all, which seems like a good thing to me. I did some extra stretching (especially my hamstrings) and icing, both of which seem to help and took some Advil. It didn’t get any better or worse for the first week or so (even after last Saturday’s 35 mile effort), but as this week went on, it did start flaring up a little earlier in the day. I’ve gotten out of my chair at work to walk around a bit and do some extra stretching. This past week, I had an extra day off built into the schedule as part of my taper and I skipped yesterday’s run as well. I considered skipping today’s run, but it was feeling a little better and I decided to give it a go. That gave me about three-and-a-half days since my last run on Thursday morning. Thankfully it didn’t bother me during the run. I stretched and iced and am feeling OK.

I’ve done my research on-line and looked through some books at the store today, but I still don’t know what it is. The fact that ice and stretching help lead to me believe that it’s a muscle or tendon.

In the end, the timing was actually pretty good (coming on right at my taper and after I’d done all of my serious long runs) and I really didn’t miss much training. That’s why it’s just a “hiccup” – similar to the hiccup I had during my run this evening, it’s annoying, but didn’t stop me or affect my training or final race preparation. On the other hand, it doesn’t seem like it’s going to go away just by holding my breath or drinking a little sugar water. But, that’s what the rest of November is for – I’ll have plenty of time to rest my back beginning November 18.

Run – November 5
Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 140
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Sunny, cool (high 40s)

Strength/Core – November 5

Swim – November 6
Distance: 2,550
Time: 52 minutes

Run – November 7
Distance: 3.2 miles
Time: 26 minutes
Average heart rate: 137
Course: East Village
Conditions: Sunny, cool (high 40s)

Run – November 8
Distance: 3.0 miles
Time: 25 minutes
Average heart rate: 142
Course: West Village
Conditions: Sunny, chilly (high 30s)

Bike – November 8
Time: 50 minutes
Average heart rate: 111
Indoor ride

Run – November 11
Distance: 7.5 miles
Time: 1:03
Average heart rate: 143
Course: West Side Highway
Conditions: Evening run, cool (high 40s)