I am taking part in a run tomorrow. However, I am troubled by a sore lower back. Help/advice urgently require

Question

I have trained too hard to want to give the race a pass. So not taking part in the race is out of the question. Am presently taking pain reliever (voltran) and applying gel to the affected area. Would welcome helpful advice from experienced runners as to what to do. Many thanks.

Answer 1

I think a lot depends on what exactly you have occurring and why.

A pain reliever isn't going to help heal anything, though proper rest might. It's generally advised not to run while under the influence of pain relievers as they simply make it harder to detect when you may be making something much worse.

Not sure what "gel" you may be applying, but again, it's likely not helping anything heal.

Rest and heat application (e.g., via a steam heating pad) would be the most likely ways to help something heal. You don't want to do something like fall asleep on a heating pad and scald yourself though. Also beware interaction that may occur between whatever gel you've applied and a heating pad. (You don't ever want to do both Ben g*y and a heating pad at the same time, for example. Bad and painful.) Icing might also be a possibility depending on what you've had happen and why, especially if this is more of something like an overuse injury rather than muscle tightness.

If you're still feeling bad come race time, you're likely better off not risking long-term injury if you'd have to do something like take pain relievers to even try to participate. If this has been a one day thing though (like you slept in a weird position last night), getting a good night's rest will likely help it pass overnight.

Do be careful. If you truly need to give the race a pass and don't, you may be giving a lot more races a pass in the future. If you do give it a go, I'd strongly suggest staying off the pain relievers. If you're doing harm, you need to know without interference from pills so you can properly adjust or stop.

Some people view a race as but a "victory lap" for the training they've put in. If you properly value your training over the "victory lap," you shouldn't have a problem taking your victory lap some other day if that's the way it needs to be. Don't s***w up and trash the true value of your training unnecessarily. In the big scheme of things, unless you're in the Olympics right now, it's really about the training more than any particular race.

Answer 2

dont know too much but i get lower back pains all the time. take a warm bath to help soothe. then get some rest. make sure you lie either on your back or side. lying on your tummy curves your spine and also hurts your back