Ab Work While Running 6 Miles

My running group normally runs speed work on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Long runs we do on our own.  Today was Thursday.  That means speedwork, but my coach is making final preparations for the San Diego Marathon this Sunday and he literally mailed in his workout to us.  Run 3 miles out and back.  It's a course we run regularly.  At least a good portion of it was shaded, which wouldn't have been the case on the hot track.  I don't run very fast for anything over 3 miles.  Not out of attitude, but rather ability or should I say inability.  I liked the shade idea, but I didn't want to run 6 miles today.

Coach wanted us to run a negative time on the way back, too.  Not happening unless I walked the out portion.  Since I wasn't getting any speed benefits and didn't really feel like pushing myself for that long of a distance, I needed to come up with something to get through this workout.  Here's what I came up with.  I tightened up my abs for 10 seconds and relaxed for 10 seconds.  Repeat for 5 of 6 miles.  I didn't come up with the idea until I was a mile into the workout.  That was a great way to pass the time and not have to just keep thinking about putting one foot in front of the other.  I may do this more often.

So my back is still a little stiff, but the pain is subsiding.  I took a couple Aleve tablets this morning, but forget to take them this afternoon.  In lieu of Aleve, I popped a stronger pain med immediately prior to the workout.  I didn't feel the difference until we were on our way back, but what a difference.

Once this back pain and stiffness are completely gone, I am getting back to my core workouts.  I have been skipping them for the past few weeks.  I actually can't wait to do them now.