Once upon a time

Back many years ago when I worked for the City, I had some sciatica pain. It was bad, so bad that sometimes I could hardly walk. I think it came from too much walking on concrete in ill fitting boots, and not enough stretching and such. It took a bunch of physio sessions to deal with it, then another bout a bit later on, and I've been good since.

One of the guys I worked with was also having the same issues, only he was much further along. They had him scheduled for surgery, and in the meantime he had drugs. One night both of us were in secondary, dragging ourselves around, one step at a time. One tunnel was 220 m long, and it had a twin. Doing the tunnel round was nearly a Km, and this was before they let us have a trike down there. It was a long painful night.

We met in the control room, with him looking at a little spherical pill. I can't take it till I get home, because I can't drive after taking one pill". I suggested we split it, and after a bit of back and forth we did. It was the most amazing thing I've ever felt. Very shortly after I felt like dancing down the tunnel. I was strongly cautioned that the issue was still there.

Today I sat too long, hunched over and focussing on something, as the office got colder. I caught on too late, and was really creaky, with sciatica like pain, not my recently normal cranky legs. I did a really good twisting stretch session before supper, and was rewarded with a massive "CLUNK" in my back. Within a few minutes I was feeling like normal again, and did a core session after supper.

Then came the dancing. About 3/4 of the way through class I started pooping out. It was getting painful. I just barely managed to finish class. I did a bit more stretching when I got home, and I can tell my back isn't sure what to think. Time for bed.

Been reading about running, and while there seems to be two schools of thought on running better, one thing they all agree on is that core strength is critical. The two schools of thought seem to be 1 - Run lots, with periodization, and a variety of speeds and stuff, while trying to stave off overuse injury. 2 Run little but with great intensity along with a variety of other workout stuff. What are your thoughts?

Oh, and just after dance class I found out I have a funeral to go to on Friday. If you used to work at Skystone and don't know, email me or leave a comment. So young.