Looking into the future

I am still fighting hip and back pain resulting from a March 3 downhill ski crash.  It came to a head June 26th when I was already tired, but ran a couple hours on the Ice Age trail from Greenbush.  I had to drive right by for a 2 day off site meeting and could not resist.

Since then I have made some bad choices to not cross train and eat and drink without much control.  This has put 15-20 pounds on my already not too svelte frame.

I did see the general MD before vacation and I am now looking to get an appointment with a specialist.  The MD did an ex-ray that showed some mild compression between a few vertebrae.

I see it likely as two unrelated issues.  My back has a softball sized area that has remained tender / sore to the touch since the ski crash, it is half way between my spine my side.  The mild compression of vertebrae would seem normal to me after 47,000 miles of running the last 10 years.

My DW and I have been thinking about retirement (15 years away) and trying to plan what we want to do during retirement.  Looking into the future, I want to be active into my 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond.  I am seeing this issue as my "50,000 mile check up"

With the goal of being active in a relatively pain free manner, is it wise to continue to run?  I hope the answer is yes and I am able to work through the current issue and the compression of vertebrae is a non-issue.

I am also more than willing to accept alternative ways to get my aerobic fix.

Until I get an answer,  I have started to jog again on treadmill and trail trail to minimize the impact.  I have made a plan to lose those 20 pounds by mid-September.

I am guessing it will be a couple of weeks before I know anything and may be a couple of months before I have the real answer.

Good running to all!