Injured Jessica finishes a 5K!

I got off the treadmill, grabbed a stability ball and stretched out over it. It felt SO good! Then I grabbed my phone.

"I don't think I've ever been happier to finish a 5K!!!" I texted to a running buddy.

To recap, my saga has gone like this: Training for the Pig was going swimmingly until I encountered some horrible calf pain. I saw a chiropractor, who said it wasn't my legs at all. Instead, my back bone was curved wrong from practically a lifetime of subconsciously leaning to the right.

It's been almost 2 weeks since I've run more than a mile. I was cleared to run on Tuesday, tried on Wednesday but couldn't make it more than a mile. I was ok to cross train though, so I tried to make up for not running as best I could spinning and on the elliptical. I spent nearly 3 hours on the elliptical Saturday trying to make up for the 14 miles I wasn't running.

I told myself I'd go to MIT Saturday if I could manage 3 miles today. After spin class, I got on the treadmill and set it to a 12-minute mile. I did a 4:1 run-walk ratio, the same as MIT's run walk group. The first mile went well, but 12 minutes in it was so discouraging to see that I hadn't even gone a mile! That's when things started to hurt -- bad. I tried to stand up straight and have good form, like the chiropractor said. Every time I fell into a slouch it was more comfortable, but the slower pace made it easier to focus.

20 minutes in, and I was only halfway there! And this was so painful -- all in my back, but my legs feel fine.

By 30 minutes, though, I was starting to feel better. I finished the 5K in 39:52, and by the end I actually felt like I could keep going.

I'll probably be doing the slower pace and the run/walk thing for awhile, but I'm just happy to be back on my feet!

I'm excited to go back to MIT Saturday... I'm about to seek out some advice from Coach Randy and the chiropractor on how far I can go.

Time to stretch!