A week on hold

So I had two weeks of steady running.  Yay!

I figured I'd be hard pressed to get running or swimming in this week due to my work schedule.  I have to do some after school rehearsals with my orchestra to help prepare for Large Group Performance Evaluation (LGPE).  I have 4 weeks to prepare for said performance (BOOOOO!), but the band has until the end of March?!  DOUBLE BOOO!!  But I won't vent on that...  Lol.

I don't like running after dark for safety concerns.  I am female (and an attractive one from I'm told) and running alone in the dark hasn't always been kind to me.  Where I used to live, I had issues with dudes following me in a car and badgering me.  So I started carrying a nasty looking pocket knife that I'd flip open without looking at them.  That usually sent them on their way until a new guy would give it a go.  Sometimes I would also carry a fanny pack that had a built in holster for a handgun.  I own a Glock 22 and I would conceal-carry it in the pack while I walked the dog after dark for our safety.  I witnessed drug deals, had creep-i-zoids follow me on foot, etc.  I had to protect myself and I didn't really enjoy that.  Why can't people leave me alone?!  Lol.

I moved almost 2 years ago to a really nice neighborhood in a great area of town.  I probably could go running after dark (wearing proper reflectors, lights, etc) without being bothered too much, but I'd rather not.  When I drive around the area (on my motorcycle or in the car), I notice that there aren't any females running in the early morning or after sunset; pretty much only males do that.  The gals seem to run during the daylight hours (there are plenty of walkers and runners around where I live).

So... That being said -- since I was getting home after dark everyday due to work, I opted not to run and give myself a week off.  I'd run on Friday-Monday (MLK Day is this weekend).  Then on Thursday, my usual chronic spinal pain flared up and went out of control.

It's kind of a long story, but I am 30 years old and have a crippled back.  I've lived with back pain since I was about 13 years old and there isn't much anyone could do about it.  I had a severe back injury in Nov 2001 that has crippled it.  I am supposed to be restricted on what I am able to do.  I keep pushing the limits of what my body can supposedly handle.  I refuse to live my life with such limitations.

I have learned to live with the pain.  On a normal day, my pain is about a 6 or 7 (scale of 1-10).  When I get these flare-ups, it goes to about a 9 or 10.  So when I mention to anyone "Man...  My back hurts," it ain't no slight twinge, ache, throb, etc.  It's devastating pain that leaves me lieing on a bed with a heating pad (because I refuse to take pain killers anymore) for a couple of days.

Thursday I had a flare-up.  Now it's also spread to my neck and left shoulder.  It awful.  It's killing me.  A week ago I made an appointment with a sports chiropractor for MLK Day.  Perfect timing.  I have never gone to any chiropractors in the past.  I needed a referral to get it covered by insurance and no PCP would ever give me a referral.  They just insisted on putting me on steroids and physical therapy (neither of which EVER worked).

Needless to say, I didn't run or swim like I planned yesterday.  :(  Too much pain and agony.  I'm taking some webinars this afternoon at SimpleK12.  The pain has died down to about an 8 for now.  If it stays like this, I'll try running later this afternoon after my last webinar.

Living my life around this sometimes unpredictable pain is ridiculous.  I have high hopes that Doc can help like my cyclist friend says he can.