So I guess I should update this thing

Where have I been? What have I been up to? Is that the $1,000,000 question?

I've been laying low. I've been getting fat. I've been in Seattle. I've been in a mental funk.

I'm still dealing with back problems, which a doctor 'diagnosed' as a Piriformis issue. My Physical Therapist seems to disagree, as do I, so we continue focusing on my back and core. I got a look at my x-rays and my lumbar region looked pretty jacked. The squishy parts between the vertebrae are much less squishy (technical term) and the vertebrae.. well, let's just say they don't look like they're lined up properly. That seems to wrecking havoc on my low back and hip. Or so they say...

I'm accepting it for now and doing what I can to get better. That is, after not doing much the month of December. Look at my training log and it's pretty barren. Look at my belly and it's pretty rotund. I'm done feeling sorry for myself and knew I could do more than bike my 4 miles a day and eat almonds. The thing is, I'm not one to ease into something. If I'm going for a run, it's a 10 miler with hills. If I'm lifting, it's deep squats and some kettlebell snatches. And not 1-2 times a week, but 4-6 times with a couple two-a-days.

So I'm taking a heeyyyuge step beck to look at the big picture. What can I do now, without overdoing it, to get healthy? How little of baby steps do I have to take to build my mileage? I have MMT coming up in May. I also have another (potential) hundred miler in October. Between now and then are a number of long runs and races I'd like to do.

Last week was basically Week 1 for me, and I decided to test things out. I haven't run since Oct/Nov. I was (legally!) picking up some prescription meds from down the street and decided to run the length of my alley on the walk back. I did this twice - dropping off the meds, picking it up. Each "run" was 100m. So far, my mileage for 2010 is a whopping 200 meters.

I've been adding more workouts and working on strengthening my core (no crunches) to keep my back aligned. So far I've been feeling good. I've been getting on the erg more and even did some dead lifts - 35 reps of a 75# bar, and no pain afterwards. This is all promising.

I'm going to do my best to keep this more up to date with more posts about my workouts. It will keep me honest and give everyone a glimpse into my training. As I did last year, I'm going to follow CrossFit and CrossFit Endurance to train for everything. No more weekends of 50k races Saturday followed by a 20 miler Sunday. I do have a few longer runs planned that I hope I can still complete. If not, oh well. I'll have to trust my training.

Stay tuned!