Two workouts from the end of week 11 and the beginning of performance training, my back gave out. It's done this before. Razzle fratzen. I woke up on Friday morning feeling stiff from the long, hard bike ride the night before. When I tried to stretch myself out of it, it all locked up and that was the end of that. You never realize how much you need your lower back until it refuses to work, like washing your face which requires a slight, oh so painful bend forward if you don't want the water to dribble down your shirt. Flipping your hair into a towel after a shower. Taking your socks off. Lacing your sneakers. No, no, and no way. There are lots of things laying around the floor of my apartment. The envelope that slipped out of my hand. The coffee grounds that missed the garbage can. A Staples receipt. It's where I dropped them. It's where they'll stay, for a little while anyway.
The pain was bad on Friday. Not the most severe I've ever felt (which required an emergency room visit and a shot of demerol that still didn't completely relax my locked back muscles), but enough to make me count the hours until I could get back into bed and forget about it until the next morning. Why didn't I stay in bed? They say, these back expert people, that it's the worse thing for you. But really, unless you're conked out, there's hardly any position that you would call comfortable when you have back pain. Mine as well be walking around and forgetting about it.
Fast forward to Monday morning. Still in pain. A lighter pain, but the random, jolting spasms hadn't gone away. Still terrified of a cough or sneeze, both of which feel like they might break you in half if they come on hard enough. The ice, heat, epsom salts, stretching, back pills, more ice, more heat. None of that seemed to do anything but lighten the pain ever so slightly. Make me more functional and pleasant, but not able to work out. Three workouts missed and counting.
I take it a step farther and go see a chiropractor. She points out that the right side of my spine is tightly knotted, from my neck to the painful bone in my lower back and an inch or two higher than the other side. It seems the crick in my neck, which I had assumed came on the same day as my back injury to taunt and make fun of me, is related to the pain I'm feeling above my ass. She touches three problem areas and they are the exact places I've felt pain in various points of my training. It seems my neck, shoulder and now lower back are in cahoots. And I'm sold on this woman. I would kiss her but I'm face down on a chiropractic chair and the protective coating of tracing paper is sticking to my face.
Some massaging, electric therapy and crack crack. I'm done. I've got much less pain, just a slight throb in my lower back. I'm only allowed light workouts. My right side is working harder than my left and I need to correct that. The floor no longer feels like a threatening place that will cause me pain to touch. I don't wince when I lift my leg to put my jeans back on. The angels sing.
