Running...post BGN #1

It's been 8 days since the BGN (big giant needle of cortizone in the lower back between L4 & L5). It now seems the lower back pain is laterally...and not getting better. 2nd BGN in 9 days...I hope it works.

Ran the Conoco Rodeo 10K last Saturday. Amazing what can happen in one year of little to no running! One minute per mile slower than last year! It's a long way back ;)

Some running observations this past 11 months. NOTE: This is in addition to all that silly scientific stuff on runbayou.com.

• If you run 50-60 miles per week for several years, you're likely to be faster than those that run 0-30 miles per week for the last 11 months
• If you do speedwork twice a week for several years, you're likely to be faster than those that have not done speedwork for 11 months
• You're likely to be more motivated to run if you're NOT in pain...vs if you are in pain
• If you eat a bizzillion calories per day and run 50-60 miles per week, you'll burn 'em right off. If you eat a bizzillion calories per day and run 0-30 miles per week, you'll store 'em just above your belt
• You're likely to run faster if you haven't stored a bizzillion calories just above your belt
• Actually, some of the bizzillion calories are at the belt...forcing the use of fresh belt holes

More later.....

BGN!

Got the infamous BGN in the lower back today. BGN is short for big giant needle. In this case, an epi-dural cortizone shot. It's supposed to take a few days to produce the full effect. In two weeks, another BGN in the back.

That said, I do get to run tomorrow afternoon so my spirits are high.

Back again....

I'm back again. Literally. Have tried just about everything (and I do mean everything) to heal my lower back injury (slight disk bulge between L4 and L5) but so far...nothing's worked. Tomorrow though. Tomorrow is the day for the epidural cortizone. Supposed to be a magic fix. We'll see.

Am making another attempt at training for a marathon. This time for the 2007 Boston Marathon. Am not training to race it...just to finish it. If the cortizone works, if my training goes well (read: no pain while training); then I'll run my 8th Boston in April.

Getting kind of excited and motivated. Updated the web site yesterday and may even keep it updated for a while ;)
Have you heard of it? It's at: www.runbayou.com. There's a lot of endurance training information there although it may take a while for you find everything. It is my first web site so the design has been, shall we say, somewhat flakey. Anyway, if you're patient, there is some good info...

More later...after the cortizone ;)