i want to throw my shoes out the window
So, I’m just going to come out and say it. I’m frustrated. Really, really frustrated. I had high hopes of writing this post with visions of rainbows and butterflies (because those are positive things, although I think ice cream and baseball games is more appropriate). I’ve been slowly increasing my run/walk time, and so far so good. Add a minute here, a minute there. Run for two minutes instead of just one.
Sounds good, right?
Until today, when I was going for the magic TWENTY MINUTE MARK (not sure why it’s magic, it just sounds good). I hit about 18:30 and felt sharp pains in my back. Not the gahhh I can’t move! pain that I had before, but enough to know that I should stop.
Basically, I still want to throw all my running shoes either out my window or into the East River. (The only place I can run now since Central Park is a mile away and that’s toooooo far!) However, someone already beat me to throwing shoes out the window, so I kept mine inside.
These shoes have actually been outside my (fifth floor…) apartment ever since I moved here. I think it’s kind of funny.
But what’s not funny is that I had high hopes for my back. Unfortunately, having high hopes doesn’t really get you anywhere. I (finally…) have a follow up appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Friday, so maybe I’ll have a better idea?? People keep telling me to get an MRI, but to be honest…I don’t know if that will be the best idea. This is certainly not my area of expertise (I’m not sure anything is, outside of coffee drinking), but the research I’ve done shows that MRIs of the back are generally not helpful. A perfectly pain-free back can show signs that things are wrong, and many problems might not even show up. I’m convinced that my problem is muscular, and only really severe tears will show up on an MRI. (If anyone knows better than me, please feel free to correct me. Again, not a doctor!)
But as I just said, I’m not a doctor. So I’ll listen to them and see if they have anything to add to the fun. Although no one really seems to have anything to say other than, “Hm, that’s a really weird spot to have pain…” and “You’re too young to have pain like this.”
Tell me about it.
So with all that being said, I have enjoyed trying to get back into running. Or, at least, enjoyed it as much as someone who feels like they’re incredibly out of shape can enjoy something. Or someone who constantly thinks, “Is that back pain? Should I stop? No, keep going…wait! Stop!” It’s not a fun way to run and I certainly miss my careful ten milers.
I did, however, rock my San Francisco Marathon Sweaty Band on my run, and that was nice. I thought it might have magical healing powers, but alas, it did not.
I’m still hoping that I’ll be able to squeeze out at least a half marathon in SF, but at this point a 5k would be a miracle.
Someone tell me stories of how they overcome injury and could run again because sometimes I feel like I’m resigned to run/walking for sixteen minutes at a time for the rest of my life. Dramatic, much?
Susan, first of all, I’m super sorry that your back is still hurting! HOWEVER, didn’t you just run 10 minutes for the first time like 5 days ago??? I’m not a running expert but I think going up to 20 min walk/run is a little aggressive??? Am I wrong? I know that 20 minutes feels like it should be easy because you are use to running marathons….but I think you need to slow down a little!! Just a tiny bit. HOWEVER I AM NOT A DOCTOR, so my advice means absolutely NOTHING. I just want you to get better.
Did you get that training plan from Meggie???
I am not a doctor, but I am probably smarter than some…though given that Anonymous thinks I’m an idiot, I guess my intelligence is debatable. I think Jocelyn has a point. You might consider breaking it up like run a half-mile, walk a minute and repeat up to 20+ minutes…or did you already try that?
Girl I’m so sorry your back is still bothering you! Injury is a long road to hoe,and although I somehow miraculously have made it through my running career thus far injury free (minus a few dance related injuries in college) I don’t know what you’re going through.
Again, this is why I dont do the 3 B’s. (brains babies and BONES) and why I work in a Cardiac ICU.
Don’t be discouraged. Keep doing what you’re doing, but maybe instead of sporadic run / walk intervals try doing 3 minutes running/ a minute walking. You might find you feel better / can go longer.
I think also, that at this rate if I ever come to NYC we can maybe go for a run together because i’m slow as molasses
I’m so sorry
There is nothing worse than getting your hopes up only to have them shot down. Have you tried taking a day or two off in between your runs? That may help your back ease into a bit more with some time to recover.
Aww. That really stinks. I’m so sorry that this has been such a slow going process. I think that everyone who commented before me is right though. You’ve been injured a long time — it’s going to take a while to get back into the swing of things. I’m hardly an expert, but I think taking it slow to ramp up your time/distance can only help.
I know that you’re frustrated. However, when I was coming back from IT band business, it took me a while to get to 20 min. And I had many, many setbacks and pain several times. I’d take a few days off and then try run/walk up to 15-18 min again, maybe Sun or Mon. Much of my comeback from injury was one step forward, two steps back. I had many days where I thought it would never get better. Definitely stick with the run-walk and adding minutes. Just an fyi: I still had pain every now and then up until the end of MARCH.
Hang in there and stick with it. Don’t let the emotions of one day get to you too much. Try to take the emotions out of it and think “look, I have made progress to 18 min, today is just a small step back, not the end of everything, I will try again soon and see how it goes that day.”
Easier said than done, I know.
Don’t get discouraged! In every injury I’ve had (which is a lot), there have been setbacks in which I thought all was lost. But it wasn’t! I just had to slow down the recovery a little bit and keep chugging along. I know it’s frustrating, but you ARE making progress. Hang in there, friend
I am struggling with chronic back pain too. I’m in the middle of a flare up right now that has lasted months, including me actually losing control of my right leg during some of my runs. I have two bulging discs, but the doctors say that’s not what’s causing it. I didn’t know there were so many different kinds of tests! I’m with you. I just want answers. At this point, I don’t even care what’s wrong with me, I’d just like to know so I can do something about it!
I’m really sorry your back is still hurting! I agree with everyone above though, I think building up slower might help. I’ve been trying to come back from an injury for about a month now and I’m still only running for 5 minutes a day (walking before and after), and never on consecutive days. But I think just whatever your body can handle, everyone is different. It’s good that you noticed it hurting and stopped! Injuries are really frustrating but just have faith that it will get better
Ugh….Susan, I’m so sorry. I wish I had some great words of advice for you, but I don’t. All I can say is that I feel where you’re coming from. I have been very discouraged about my knee lately. I feel like all the things I’m doing that are supposed to HELP it (strengthening exercises, cross training, etc) are actually making it worse (probably crazy, I know). And I also feel like I’ve rested for long enough now that I SHOULD be able to run. But I’m starting to accept that for now, I need to just take what I can get out of running. I scaled back on what I was trying to do, and yesterday I was able to run 3 minutes/walk 2 without pain. It was so tedious, and I really just want to be able to RUN for miles on end. But I have to keep reminding myself that running for 3 minutes is better than not running at all. …and then try not to let myself slip into despair thinking about how out of shape I am…
If nothing else, this entire experience is teaching me to be more patient (not easy). Hang in there. I know how frustrating this is. Maybe scale back what you’re doing a little bit and see how that feels. You WILL build back up. Just take it one day at a time.
I’ve been through three major injuries: a tibial stress fracture (out six weeks no running), IT band (out another six weeks) and weird hip/back thing last year (out about 3 weeks). I overcame most of them by not running, but I did take spinning classes each time, which helped to relieve my non-running stress. I do remember that I only ran every other day while I was coming back and that it did still hurt slightly.
My husband had back pain from running and he switched to a lower-drop shoe because apparently heel striking was causing it. Have you looked into that?
Your back injury is really interesting to me because I hurt my back recently too. Just get the MRI (if you need a rec email me as I have docs in the UES associated with the big hospitals in the city)! It might be nothing but then again, maybe it will solve all your problems.
Girl, I feel you. I have been dealing with a left hip/groin injury since February. I have been been seeing docs, going to PT, and going to a chiropractor, and I am convinced it is the chiropractor that is helping and the other stuff is just me going through the motions of standard medical practice. I finally had a left hip MRI yesterday and I’m hoping it won’t show anything.
Could your pelvis/back be out of alignment? I’m not a medical person at all but I do trust my chiropractor. I started with slow run/walking about a month ago, worked my way up to 30 minutes of jogging, and suddenly BAM I can now barely move my right arm – my upper right back is killing me. (The fact that the pain has migrated really makes me think it’s an alignment issue.) I’m currently lying flat on the couch with an ice pack on my back and my hip. I cried a lot today out of pain and frustration.
We are making progress. We will make full recoveries.
Don’t get me wrong – I love running, but I am always so so so scared to get an injury. I had a freak accident with my ankle and had to take about 3 weeks off – of course I hated every minute of it.
How frustrating. Resting, no turning fat patients, patience, icing, and stretching…You will get better!!! Whenever I read runners world and hear advice on increasing mileage when beginning a running routine I’m always surprised at how slowly you’re supposed to increase mileage, so you dont get injured in the process–it’s like painfully slowly. It’s annoying advice but it’s for a good reason and I’ve found it to be useful.