Today is the first evening in a week that the house temperature has dropped below 26 celcius INSIDE. Not only that but it’s happened while I was still awake to witness it.  We have Earl to think for this.  We’re currently at 23c (and dropping?).

This realization got me thinking about what else hasn’t happened in a week. I have not been without back pain – in a week. It is really discouraging that every time I get past that 2-3 week hump in establishing a new fitness routine, it seems to happen yet again, a road block. Just as I am feeling successful and excited and beginning to note progress in my abilities, on slam the brakes!  The only good thing about the heat wave and the back pain coinciding is that I haven’t been out running in the 40 celcius humidex.

Today I thought my back pain was gone, but decided to wait before making the decision to head out for a run, within a couple of hours I could feel the strain and twinging once again, this time with far less intensity than earlier in the week. So I took another rest, choosing to make swimming a priority as soon as the girlies returned home from school. With the heat at its highest point of the week it was certainly a welcome option.

The lake was the busiest I’d seen it all summer, and here we are September, coming up on Labour Day – the lifeguards are no longer on duty.  As soon as my spouse arrived on his way home from work (and could supervise our lot) I headed for the open water, away from all the crazy kids who’d arrived directly off of the school bus.  I would have liked to make a second loop, but one of the girlies was having issues that needed to be headed off, so a medium intensity 400ish meter swim was the extent of today’s workout. Tomorrow may be a write-off, unless we have power and my back feels well enough for a treadmill run – I won’t be heading outside in Hurricane/Tropical Storm winds and rains, and I am pretty sure my back will not go for a bike ride, even indoors on the trainer.

Usually at about this time in the cycle I get completely discouraged and feel like I’m back to square one. Not this time. I was consistent and stuck with the plan well enough that I KNOW it will work. After discussing the frustration with my Osteopath he assured me that it’s just a part of starting back up, and that it’s a good sign that my back is feeling significantly better within a week. He did not discourage me from getting back out there, in fact I felt like I had done all the right things for once. So, as soon as I feel ready I’ll be back out there following the same plan, as it turns out my body gave me a forced cut-back week. Not such a bad thing, considering I hadn’t actually figured out that part of the plan yet. 😉