A cautionary tale of back injury and recovery

For me, recovery meant accepting limits — no more “Air Daddy,” for example. For others, it might mean a change in diet or exercise habits or trying to walk more and drive less.

By the spring of 2004, I was well enough to start running a few mornings a week with my teenage daughter.

Later I joined a Saturday morning running club. As summer rolled around and talk of their Columbus marathon training picked up, I thought, “Why not?”

It’s October 2006 and I’m past the 18-mile mark. The tightness in my back has loosened. I’m feeling pretty good.

Still nervous about the uncharted territory of the race, I wait until 21 miles to pick up the pace and see what I’ve got left.

Ever so slowly, I pass one runner, then another.

Kiichiro Sato / AP Welsh-Huggins no longer takes shortcuts when it comes to doing his back exercises.

I manage a sprint to the finish where I’m amazed to find that my time of 3:17 beat my goal by 13 minutes.

The next day I have trouble walking but the day after that I manage a two-mile jog-walk-shuffle.

Back home, I head straight to the basement and hit the floor for my exercises.

It’s tempting to take a shower instead, but I remind myself of everything I’ve accomplished with my ongoing recovery.

Running 26 miles in a row. Not bad.

Walking with my wife again — now that’s great.

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