A number of things this time around. First, I got my new phone. And I was pleasantly surprised that most of my data had been saved on iCloud. In particular, my Docs-To-Go files. Yeah!
I started this last weekend with the Lake Mingo Trail a Run on Saturday. It's a 7.1 mile loop around Lake Mingo in Kennekuk Cove County Park near Danville. Unlike Howl at the Moon, most of the trails are single track with lots of ups and downs. And for the last three weeks, we have gotten rain almost everyday and some very heavy storms. So the course was very wet and extremely muddy. But I went into the race knowing this and was pretty well mentally prepared for it. The morning started out humid and by race time it was 85 degrees and sunny. No rain this morning, but quite oppressive. Things went very well, except for forgetting to double knot my shoes. Ended up stopping three times to tie them. The first time was probably a good thing, because I probably went out to fast and it put me with a better group of runners entering the single track. Stayed strong through the mud and hills and started passing people by the halfway point. Ended up running 67:48 for 40th place and second in my age group (60-69). I never really thought that I would be able to run sub-10 minutes in the conditions, so I was ecstatic to accomplish it.
I don't know if I did something during the race, but by bedtime that night my lower back on the right side was killing me. It made it very hard to sleep. In fact, it was worse by morning. Although it loosened up a bit once I was up and moving around, I wasn't too sure what it would be like on my run. It did get better by the midpoint of the run, but never went away completely. And a few hours after the run it was back. Took some ibuprofen and by the time I headed to bed, it felt much better. Morning arrived and it was back. Pretty much the same routine as the day before. It just was hard to lay down. Tuesday had some improvement, but it wasn't till today (Wednesday), that it seems to finally be lessening. Still there, but much better while I am jotting this down. What it boils down to, is that I haven't run as much as I had planned this week. Hopefully, it will continue to get better. Next race is Saturday. The Dew It! Trail Half-Marathon in Griffith, IN.
