I'm no doctor but...

My back is killing me. I've got a sharp pain in the middle of the left hand side. I think it's a muscular pain rather than being related to lung function. I don't think so, anyway, or else I wouldn't be able to run and tonight I wasn't short of breath or having any breathing difficulties whatsoever. In fact, tonight's run was pretty damn quick for me; 5km in just under 25 minutes. My legs felt light and sprung and I was able to accelerate easily. It felt like a smooth and energetic run.

However, because of the pain in my back I have a constant urge to press the afflicted spot hard into a door knob and to deeply knead the area. I could feel it throughout tonight's run. I think I did it whilst doing some sit ups a couple of days ago. Every morning, whilst my porridge cooks, I try to run through some simple exercises such as sit ups, push ups, lunges etc to build core strength. I felt a slight twang mid sit up a couple of days ago and I think it stems from that. I should probably visit the physio and see what she has to say.

Since I started running, injury has only once completely prevented me from running for a prolonged period; that was when I broke my ankle in 2007 and that took me out for a little over 3 months. Looking back over the last four or five years, I have certainly been in the wars. But I've managed (for the most part) to keep the running going.

I have run with my arm in bandages after surgery in 2008 to resolve my Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. The bandages were quite voluminous and when they were removed I thought them a bit overkill, given the size of the incision on my hand. I have run with my arm in plaster when I went over the handlebards of my bike in 2009 and broke the Scaphoid bone in my wrist. I have run with my knee strapped up whilst having physio in 2010 for Chondromalacia Patellae (itself related to the broken ankle and the compensations I continued to make).

I'll be damned if I'm gonna let a punctured lung stand in my way!