Back Spasms + Running = Ouch!

2/13 - I woke up with a very sore back. But I went out for a short run anyways. The lovely back spasms really slowed me down... 3.4mi in 29:28. 14:37 out, 14:51 in... which comes to approximately a 8:40 pace. That was about as fast as my body would allow. Whenever the back bothers me, it makes me feel like a 90 year old.

Year o' Fun
This is just going to be another fun year of running for me before I get serious in 2011. I'm sure I'll still have fun when I run faster races. Maybe I'm just toughening myself up mentally by slogging through these marathons with practically no training. Speaking of which, the Pasadena Marathon is coming up this Sunday. This might be the last time that I run this race. I already have 3 (maybe 4) marathons that I have set to run every year. I will probably sign up for 1 other out-of-state marathon in 2011 to work on completing a marathon in all 50 states. But the primary goal for 2011 is to work on qualifying for Boston.

1. LA
   
2. San Diego
3. New York (if I get in)
   
4. Honolulu

Strategy for Pasadena
I'm hoping to finish Pasadena in about 4:30. I'm going to run it the same way I run most of my marathons. Go out as comfortably fast as I can and hang on for dear life! That will translate to about a 8:20 - 8:40 pace. I'm going to try and abandon my usual 2nd half walkathon strategy. But if I'm feeling horrible, I will back off since I have the Mardi Gras Marathon the following weekend.

Pictures
My blog is practically void of pictures. Pretty much only my FB friends get to see my race photos. But I'll try to liven up my blog with pictures in the near future. I'll just have to remember to bring my camera to the races.

Rewards
I got this "triple crown" medal in the mail for running in 3 Rock n' Roll events in 2009. By the end of this year, I'll get the "rock legend" medal. It's so much easier to do now that the Competitor Group has gobbled up so many races.