Relaxing into it

The last time I was on a trip sleeping in different beds, I ended up with a back injury that kept me home from work for 4 weeks and away from running for nearly 4 months. So this trip had me a little nervous.

On Monday I decided to do an early morning run just to see how my body felt considering I'd slept on two different mattresses in two nights -- and I haven't been on my inversion table (which always helps) for a few nights. My back was a bit sore. My piriformis has been really tight. Too much driving? Different mattresses? No inversion table to hang upsidedown on? Who knows? Still, the run went pretty well.

It was really warn -- 78 degrees at 7:15 a.m. so I knew starting out that I'd have to do a short run just to acclimate to the heat. It wasn't just 78 so early in the morning -- it was a humid 78. At home, I've been running in 50s and low 60s in mid-afternoon. So this was definitely different.

I could have run on the beach, but the slope of it really didn't sound good for my back, so I headed out to the street. From the place we're staying, there's about a half mile row of beachfront resorts before I hit the highway which luckily has a nice sidewalk about 20 yards south of the street.

I started slowly. In fact, the goal was about 11:15 to 11:30 miles. First mile was like 11:15. Perfect. But in the second mile I started to feel my back ever so slightly. I couldn't decide if it was just a result of a different mattress or something to be aware of. So I did 1.25 miles and turned around to come back. 2 miles on the first day was plenty. Well not really but it sounded good in my head and I certainly didn't want to hurt myself on the first day of a two-week trip.

I figured if all went well, and I held back on Monday that Wednesday's run could be longer.

It was the right decision. My back felt fine on Tuesday.

This morning I almost blew off my run. I had waaaaay too much food last night (burger, sweet potato, spinach salad, watermelon, ice cream. Makes me kind of sick just thinking of it all). So I just got a newspaper and a small OJ and sat on our balcony. But after about 30 minutes, I thought why not give it a shot. If I felt terrible, I could always turn around. Besides it was only 73 degrees and there was a nice breeze heading back, which meant one thing: a tailwind on the way back.

Again, I want to run at about 11 minute miles or so. Mile 1: 11:08 Mile 2: 10:26: .75 miles 10:06 pace. Really didn't expect to have that kind of pace given dinner plus all the other junk, but from the first minute or two, I could tell it would be a good run.

Felt terrific. Back felt great. No tightness. Stretching the piriformis before the run was REALLY smart.

One more thing: Been really focusing on reaching my crown for the sky, tailbone grounded and then relaxing into it. More on that later..