Day 58: Overcoming Setbacks

Two days ago I wrote about a run I had into Narnia and the neck pain I developed during church that morning. That neck pain has not gotten better, in fact, it's significantly worse and has put a damper on my workouts.

On Monday, my wife and I both had off from work so before going to my Mom's house for a BBQ and fireworks, we decided to go to Valley Forge Park and run the 5 mile path through the park. After about a mile or so, I started to struggle because of the pain. I couldn't breath deeply because it hurt and my neck would spasm. I eventually asked if we could stop for a minute so my wife could rub my neck for me, hopefully relieving the pain. This didn't work. I actually continued to get worse while we attempted to run. I told my wife I wanted to at least walk the path, but was doubled over in pain before we got a half mile from when we stopped running.

I was extremely disappointed because from the waist down, I felt completely capable of running 5 miles. From the shoulders up, I was completely stiff. I ended up popping Advil all night and got an icy-hot patch to relieve some of the pain. It only kind of worked.

Today, I spent most of the day working, but found it difficult to drive safely because it's hard to turn my head to look for cars in other lanes. I also had to sit on the floor with a client for two hours which wasn't as much fun for me as it was for him. When I got home, I spent some time with the heating pad on my neck and popped more Advil. Then I decided I wanted to work out.

Before I started this whole thing, I would have just taken the injury and sat on my butt watching TV and eating/drinking whatever I wanted. It would have been time to give up because my body couldn't take this crap anymore. Not anymore.

Today I set my bike up on an indoor trainer and started riding. I only did a half hour because I got bored, but it was nice to do something. I was able to hold my head at a comfortable position and push out a few miles. I set my bike up on the trainer with my laptop in front of it so I could watch a Sufferfest video.

Here's what my living room looked like this evening...

I am hoping to continue working out while this neck thing heals. I'll just keep hopping on the bike every day until it gets better and I can get outside and either run or ride my bike.