Pain In the Neck

Saturday's long run was very enjoyable. I was joined by my dad and fiance on their bikes! I was aiming for an 18 mile run so we set out for a recently paved path along the Rio Grande. It's a beautiful path that stretches about 7 miles, has great views of wildlife, hardly any traffic interruptions and it's flat so it makes for a faster run. I really enjoyed this run not just because my body felt strong and capabale but because when else can you enjoy 2-3 hours of solid time with a couple of people? No cell phones, no email, just gorgeous weather (hello upper 50s) and conversation. It also helped that my fiance downloaded the Pandora app to his iPhone and we jammed out!! Talk about some motivation!!

Around mile 14 my neck pain started up. It was so much worse than before. I could feel the pain radiating down my back and up my neck. I couldn't believe I was in so much pain while on one of my strongest runs. I decided to head back to the car and not take my dad's offer to run and get the car. The last 2 miles were incredibly slow and it was just painful. I really wanted to continue on and meet the 18 mile mark but my dad talked some sense into me- if I'm in that much pain I'm only hurting my training by pushing it for 2 miles and really run the risk of causing some damage. Aren't parents smart?? Even though it was a miserable finish, it is still one of my strongest, most memorable runs.

I did go have another sport's massage and the therapist could tell that I have multiple knots that have started pinching my nerves. She thinks it's totally fixable, I just need to keep up with the massages (which I didn't do before last weekend's run...) and some stretches she taught me. When everything- my legs, breathing and mind- are finally feeling strong enough to tackle this race, I don't want to not be able to because of a nerve in my back. I'm really hoping this gets better soon.