faster with age

Ran out to the mailbox to get the paper 1 mile.

Ran 9 miles at an easy pace mostly 8:40 to 8:50 per mile. My son was out of school and wanted to ride his bike along with me. It was kind of nice to have some company on a run for a change.

Took a bike ride this morning in the blowing snow. Six miles of my route had been freshly graded. I think the grader was just ahead of me because mine were the first tracks in the fresh dirt and gravel. This made for very slow going even down the hills. It wasn't all bad though, I got to see a bald eagle up close and had a lot of canadian geese flying around. I went the same 18 mile route I have been going in 1:21:23. This took about 7 or 8 minutes longer than it has been and I actually put out more effort as my HR was in the 140s for a lot of this ride.

 About noon ran 5 mi. at a very easy pace.

Yesterday morning before my bike ride I was moving some things around while in an awkward position and tweeked my back. Yesterdays ride and then easy run didn't seem to make it any worse but it bothered me the rest of the day and was still there this morning. I don't know if the buildup in miles helped to bring this on or if it is just a coincidence. This morning I had planned to take it easy on my run. I only got 1/2 mile and I could tell the running was not helping. Rather than risking making it worse I turned around and went back and took a bike ride. I took the same gravel road as yesterday but then feeling pretty good I went another 6 mi on the highway for a total of 24 miles in 1:36.

My back felt much better this morning but not 100%. Just to be safe I took another day off from running and did 35 min. on the eliptical. This didn't seem to bother the back at all.

Did an 18 mile mountain bike ride this morning. My back is feeling better but I don't want to risk aggravating it more. Running while it is sore seems to aggravate it a bit but biking seems fine. I have had this lower back thing flare up on me 5 or 6 times over the last 8 years. I have had times where it took weeks to get back to 100 % but that was before I got into running. The last 2 episodes [since I have been running ] have been less severe and haven't lasted very long. I rode the second half of my ride at a harder pace than I have been keeping my heart rate in the 150s and 160s. Total time 1:12. Some of the freshly graded gravel is getting packed back down but there are still some very slow spots. I'm not sure but I may try a short easy run later I'll see how it feels.

This morning I tried running a mile but I could still feel it in the back a bit and decided I'd rather be safe than sorry so I went back and did 30 min. on the eliptical. Then I went on a 4 mile bike ride with my son. After I dropped him off at home I went on a ride for another 20 mi. in 1:27. I sure hope I can start running some miles next week. By not running today and taking a complete rest day tomorrow I have high hopes for monday.