Back Talk

I've had a really lackadaisical training schedule this past week or so.  My back started bothering me out of nowhere - a weird tightness, semi-spasm thing.  It's all right when I run, but I seem to pay for it afterwards, so I've basically laid off.  Did an easy 5K yesterday, but nothing at all over the weekend.  It's annoying!

So, with my free time since I'm not running, I'm naturally reading about running.  I'm about halfway through "My First 100 Marathons: 2,620 Miles with an Obsessive Runner" by Jeff Horowitz.  It's a great easy read.  Jeff explores the question of 'why we run' interspersed with training tips and descriptions of a multitude of marathon courses.  It reads like sitting down with a good friend and having a long heart-to-heart about running and how it has touched his life - complete with humorous stories and intimate details.    As, I said, I'm only halfway through it, but I've already jotted down a few exercises, a few tips, and nodded my head more than once over what he has said.  

I've also just started, "What I Talk About When I Talk About Running" by Haruki Murakami.  Very different fell to it than the previous book, and yet still seems to attempt to answer that same question, "Why do we do this?"  Just starting it, so I'll talk more about both of these once I get through them.