Rockin’ Big D and My Aching Back

The photo is of the start line of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Dallas Half Marathon. Look VERY carefully at the left hand side of the photo, just to the left of the balloon arch, just behind the tree. See those little people? One of them is me. OK. You can’t SEE me, but I’m there.

The other people you can’t see are the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. But I digress.

This is the second inaugural event that we’ve done in the past two weeks. It seems like we just got finished with RnR Mardi Gras and we were lining up for RnR Dallas. That’s not altogether bad. There’s something exciting about being at the first year of an event. And Dallas did not disappoint.

All that aside, my biggest concern going to Dallas was whether I’d be able to get off the airplane. Although the Running Doc, Dr. Lewis Maharam, had manipulated my hip in New Orleans to get me functional it was clear that we had not solved the problem. My left SI [sacroilliac] was displaced and was not going to go back on its own.

The doc brought what we needed and asked me to come by his “office” at the Hyatt. It was like a scene from Pulp Fiction. He opens the door, the stuff was on the table, and in a matter of minutes the procedure began and was over. He injected some Depomedrol into the left SI joint and within minutes I was feeling better.

I was able to walk/run on the treadmill the next morning and then ran/walked outdoors on Saturday. It was the first time I’d been able to run – really – in over a month. Granted, it was only for 30 minutes and I walked as much as I ran, but it was a start.

There is still some lingering pain in my lower back which the Doc thinks is just residual muscle soreness from the SI joint being out for a month. His prognosis is that it will be fine if I’ll take it easy and give everything time to get back to normal.

Then, it will be the lifestyle change to focusing on core strength and flexibility. I’ve just got to. At 61 years-old I can’t keep kidding myself. This will have to be as dramatic a change in lifestyle as when I stopped smoking and started running.

John “the Penguin” Bingham, Competitor Magazine columnist Author, The Courage to Start, No Need for Speed, Marathoning for Mortals and Running for Mortals.

Have a question for John? E-mail it to thepenguin@johnbingham.com.