Planning to Run, Back Gets in the Way but Yoga Saves the Day!

I awoke this morning with lower back pain.  But unlike other times when it was definitely nerve pain, this seemed to be muscle pain.  Of course, it could be muscle pain caused by things not being quite in alignment.  Believe me when I say I was bummed.  I literally dreamt last night about doing running intervals - the plan was 4 x 800m fast with 2-3 minutes recovery between each, after a 10-15 minute warm up run and followed by a 10 minute cool down.  I even had mapped out on google maps the exact 800m loop I could use (I get bored running on a track sometimes, so I thought I'd go for making the neighbors wonder what, exactly, was up with me.).  My toes were literally itching to be in my running shoes. Oh I had plans.

But when my back is talking to me like it did, I have two options: 1) run anyway and see what happens; sometimes it loosens up and sometimes it sends me to the chiropractor; 2) postpone my run until tomorrow and do an hour of yoga, followed by a few minutes with the foam roller hitting all the major points from my upper back down to my calves.  With a race on the schedule for 10 days from now, I decided to go with option 2.  I don't want anything to get in the way of race day... even if it's not an A race.  I've already had to forego one race this year and had back pain that prevented me from running the right way in another race.

I didn't pick an easy yoga set to do.  In fact, it's one that I can't 100% do... but I'm getting closer.  I can do all of it except for one pose in the middle of the sequence. The Crane Pose. I have a feeling that I'm not quite doing it right and that if I had a little more help, I could get it.  That and I have to get my brain to believe that I can in fact balance the weight of my body via my knee/thigh area on the back of my arms which are bent in a bit of a push up sort of position (oh and my torso is sort of bent in half at the waist as well).  I can get myself up onto my tip toes in this position, but can't seem to get my toes off the floor.  If you want to see what I'm talking about go HERE (and where I found, in fact, I am doing it wrong.... I didn't realize you're supposed to get your knees up into your armpits.  I'll have to remember that for next time...)

I'll get there eventually.  Lots of strength and balancing poses this morning... the type that look easy but are harder to actually do and you really have to maintain your breathing with your movement.  It was great.  And at the end when we did the twisting postures for cool down, my back went click-click.  And no more muscle pain.

So tomorrow I'm bringing on the run.  4 x 800m  Here I come!

For some reason I am itching to make our back yard into a garden.  I don't want to put in a fence because we back up to a nature preserve and I like having deer and other animals wander on through, but I want to do something - something with color and that is inviting.  I know how to mow the lawn, plant shrubbery, prune bushes (even cut down trees) - you learn all that being the only child of a high school biology teacher (who spent most of his masters thesis on something about trees in West Virginia).  Selecting plants and how to arrange them just so is not something I've done before on as big of a scale as this.  I secretly oooh and aaaah over all the gardening articles in Southern Living every month.  Somewhere I don't trust myself to jump right in and do it, but it is calling to me.  Especially after the July article in Southern Living about lilies.  I love lilies, and according to Southern Living, they'd like my back yard.  Full sun.  I think they'd back the perfect background - especially since the article said to treat them like shrubs in the planting.  I'm a sucker for a garden with wispy tall things with lots of color in the back ground and then medium size plants and then shorter stuff in front.  The question is how and what plants.  I have a Southern Living Plant Guide book somewhere in this house.  I just have to find it and enlist Mr. Darcy - not to mention asking my friend K, who in Atlanta is the plant expert.  Plants, gardening and time share law.  Her opinion will definitely be sought.

So don't be surprised if I end up with a marathon gardening experience pretty soon. : )  Once I get up enough courage to try my hand at it anyway.  There seems to be something peaceful about being in the yard and digging in the soil to create something beautiful that is calling me.

Of course, so is work.  And getting the girls to gymnastics before heading off to my Junior League Committee meeting tonight. (Not to worry Mr. Darcy is meeting me at the gym to trade off on the parenting duties - I would never just leave them there!)  So I better "run"!