Laid Up

ARRRRRRRRRRRGH.

I think that describes exactly how I feel right now.

I've spent the last week with back pain that keeps getting worse. I used to get low back pain quite often in my early 20s and tried several different treatments with varying levels of success- physical therapy, chiropractic care, massage, etc. Luckily, in the past few years, I haven't had any back pain at all- particularly since starting yoga (oops, shouldn't have backed off on that recently)- until now. I'm really not too worried about it in the long-term and am pretty sure it will go away with time. The last time I went to a doctor about it he told me to take 800 mg of ibuprofen 3x a day and alternate ice and heat, and I'm confident that will work now, too. What I AM concerned about it that I can't run. Actually, I really can't even walk too well (Corey says I look like an elderly, crippled woman. Not too far from the truth!). I tried to run on Thursday and made it only a few feet before I was almost screaming in pain. So that's a no-go for sure.

This is not a great situation considering that I have a half marathon coming up in exactly one week! Granted, though, things could be worse. To be honest, I'm not really racing any of these races, and really, it's not like I was going to make any huge progress in the last few weeks before the race. The main goal is just to run in my new city with one of my favorite people from my old city (well, in the world, actually- let's be clear ;)). And I've got to think after another week of totally babying my back it will be fine. But- has anyone ever taken on a long-ish race without running at all in the weeks prior? Is this crazy? And speaking of crazy, anyone have any magical cures for hurt low backs? :)