I built a good base over the winter, but strained my back 3 weeks ago and have not paddled, or worked out since.  I have exactly 16 weeks till Round the Rock 14 mile race.  Can I jump into the Riding Bumps 16 short medium race program?  How could I modify it to fit my circumstance.  Thank you very much.

Before we get to your answer, we need to get some of the standard stuff out of the way. Go get your back checked out. A strain could be something more sinister like a disk rupture, or heaven forbid, something even more serious like a serious bone lesion. It would be irresponsible of us to make any recommendations until you rule out something serious or surgical.

Now assuming you went to your doctor and you are cleared to paddle the first order of business is to ask yourself “what in the heck did I do to my back?” Did you strain it because you are all wonky and imbalanced from too much paddling. Do you need to get more serious about your cross training/strength training/or flexibility? Did you get injured because of overtraining? If any of that is possible you should start there first.

Now, assuming that you are strong, flexible, balanced, your doctor gives you the OK and you just strained your back (maybe you fell off a ladder or something), with all of our programs, things start off pretty slow.  If you follow the program from the start you should be able to get right into it. Just skip any intensity if the first two weeks. If after 2 weeks you are going without pain you should not need to make any other adjustments. Conversely, if you are still painful, you need to go back and really sort out what is going on and if a 14 mile race is what you should be doing right now. Back injuries are no fun and they don’t get better on their own.