Monday night, as I packed for a few days, I picked my small suitcase up and was rewarded by big pain in my lower back. I’d been experiencing some tightness in that area for a couple of days, but this was a completely different sensation. There was a “pop” and my knees buckled in pain. I almost went down, but managed to stay on my feet as my mind raced with panic at the thought of being injured. Not good.
I immediately took an Aleve and tried to stretch with limited success. As you might imagine, I decided to keep moving at a modified pace and continued with my travel preparations. The boys and I walked to the fireworks because I was afraid of sitting still and everything tightening up. At bedtime I fell asleep face down with an ice bag on my lower back. It helped.
Tuesday I popped another Aleve and got on the road, a little nervous about 4+ hours in the car but committed to reaching the beach. The ride was fine and I marked my arrival in Wellfleet with a short run and, later in the evening, a ride to the beach to catch the sunset. I felt a little stiff, but my flexibility was definitely improved.
Wednesday was a full day of bike riding and beach going. Each time I stretched out on my blanket with the sun warmed sand below me and the intense heat radiating from above, I felt my muscles loosen a bit. The ankle numbing cold water was the perfect foil to the sun’s rays and my body felt better than it had the day before. When a friend asked how my day had been I texted “beachy,” which was auto corrected to “be achy.” I immediately edited that back to beachy. Who’s got time to be achy?
DelSo 