Day Eleven

I woke up with a locked back, but would not appreciate until later how bad a day it would become.

Another 6 am Bikram Yoga session. I could not get my back loosened up, so I took it easy during most of the class. Finally, the last position set free my pain. Of course, that meant I just spent 1:25 trying to loosen my back and the last five minutes cured my ailment.

It was time for a massage; enters the Trigger Point massage tools. The ball hammered out my back for about ten minutes. I was able to bend over without any problems, so I finished massaging my other muscles.

I ran the worst race and was absolutely disgusted afterwards. It was a 5K that started at 7:30 pm in downtown Houston. Of course, it was the hottest day of the year in Houston at 91 degrees. I followed the lead pack for the first half mile, when I realized we were running a 5:35 pace. I immediately pulled off the accelerator, but it was too late. At the turn, I was still running strong with at a 6:10 pace.

Then came the first stitch! I usually do not get mad while racing, but this was the second race in a row. I fought it for 30 seconds, and then started to walk. It immediately went away, so I started running again. Then, the second stitch came about. You can't race if you can't run! I walked for 30 seconds and sprinted it home.

I really needed this marker test, because I just started The Kenyan Way speed workouts and can't run another 5K until the end of May. The morale, somedays you can push it and others must be strategically turned into training sessions!