Who me? Bulging disc?

Yep, it's true. It's back. Quite frustrating indeed!!! Unfortunately once you've hurt your back it has an increased risk of being hurt again. As in my case I assume. Since I've already hurt my back 2 or 3 times previously, it's increased my chances. I haven't hurt it for about 17 months though so that's good. All I can do, unfortunately, is dope up on Advil to reduce the swelling, ice it, drink tons of water, and take extra glutamine. Yes, I'm doing all those things. I may try a little heat later since I know that helps after a couple of days too and since I hurt it on Saturday, this will probably make it feel a little better.

I'm still on track so that's okay though. Hey! How cool is my coach? For the Fourth of July she actually let me have a moderate refuel meal. It was sooo great! I really enjoyed it and then it was right back on plan finishing out my meals last night and today was right back at it with my workouts and everything. There are some things I won't be able to do with my back and some things you don't even realize you're using your back for, as witnessed this afternoon at my workout. I just have to concentrate a little harder on tightening my core BEFORE I even BEGIN to lift any weight regardless of the exercise.

I'm keeping my chin up though and just plugging along through my training and cardio sessions. The cardio on the treadmill actually feels good. It feels better to be active than inactive when your nerve is being pinched by your bulging disc.  Wanna see a picture of how the nerve is being pinched?

Yep, that's cool looking, isn't it? LOL!! I still have my sense of humor so I think I'll make it through just fine. I don't think there will be a lot of stepmill going on this week and there will be no HIIT sessions so therefore, no sprinting. :-( And I was enjoying that too!!

Yesterday was a great day even though my back was hurt. I got up, ate Meal 1 and then headed to the gym for my cardio. Having completed that I came home and ate Meal 2 and then packed up and headed to the beach in the hopes that shortly after I arrived there the sun would shine. And guess what? It started shining right when I got there so that was perfect! I took 2 meals that I ate there and then I came home and had my refuel. So...the question might very well be, "So Erin, how did your pale little 'in-the-gym-all-the-time' skin like the sun?" And my answer would be, "Yep, I got a little sunburned." But honestly not too bad considering I was out at peak hours. I was proud of myself though since my goal was to get some more sun and make sure I relax more when I can so good job on both counts. I LOVE the sound of the ocean...so soothing. LOVE it!

Tomorrow it's back to work and the usual grind but only for 3 days because then it's off to San Diego to meet up with Gina. I hope she likes what she sees. I think she will. We get to work on my posing some more so that will be good. I'm feeling a little more confident with it but not 100% confident. I still think there's room for improvement. Again I can see why most girls mess up there. Again it's so much harder than it appears...truly! I'm good with the hooker heels! Practice ya know! ;-) Kidding of course!!!!! Walking in the heels is the easiest part for me though. It's just the little nuances that are so hard. Who knew?!? I surely didn't!!!

I'm going to go get a little bit of something done before tomorrow hits me with a big KABOOM!!! Until tomorrow then, I hope you all are well and happy and enjoyed your 4th!!


One of the girls on Gina's website posted this quote right before Lance took his big spill in the race in Spain and he must be right because look at him already up and running in the Tour de France. Yes, he got caught up in a crash today but from the sounds of it, so did everyone. Go Lance! You still rock!

“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” ~Lance Armstrong

 And then there's this quote. I was looking for pain or injury but I really like this quote even though it's talking about emotional injury and not physical.

 “If the other person injures you, you may forget the injury; but if you injure him you will always remember” ~Kahlil Gibran