Still Running

Well, I'm still plugging along.  I think I remember the actual origin of this dumb back pain, though, because Melissa reminded me that I had complained about that spot before.  It was after a medium-length run and it was quite cold outside.  We finished our run and were headed in when we saw my husband backing his truck up by the mailboxes.  Turns out, our horses had gone walkabout - probably led by my mare.  My mare alternates between being a sweet, loving pocket horse and a total b!tch.

Here she is in a relatively sweet mood:

And, again - my niece is riding her.  She wasn't acting up at all.

But, on the day in question, she did NOT want to leave the neighbor's yard. And he did NOT want three horses grazing in front of his house.  Guess who prevailed?

So, we started leading them back to the house, and she was going faster and faster, and I was holding on to her lead.  And I told her to slow down, and pulled down on the lead and she yanked her head up.  And I thought she'd yanked my arm off - but that was mostly because I was shivering and cold by this point - the heat from the run dissipated while we were hunting down the horses. So, tight cold muscles + hyperextension = soft tissue injury.  I was pretty mad, and said a few choice words and corrected her, and then Melissa (bless her!) saw that I was struggling and took Mystique (that's the b!tch's name) so I could lead the calmer horse.

I've also been having a bit of trouble with that shoulder, now that I think of it, and I think both the back and the shoulder irritation stem from that day.  And, yes, I am going to continue to run and to play with the horses. And get a physical therapist to help me with body mechanics so that I can continue to do both AND move patients without further injuring myself.  I do love that stupid horse, even though there are times when I would like to choke her.

Today's run was 8 miles at a moderate pace on the treadmill - no back pain but I do feel a bit of a "tight" sensation.  That's an improvement over muscle spasms, anyway.  What is on your training calendar for the day?