Weekly workouts – rest and rolling all the miles

Another week of rest and recovery with my sports hernia. I did start PT this week and also attempted a few short runs. This week included some fun biking events and I’m happily riding instead of running. (have I mentioned how much I love my bike?? 😊) Running = 3.5 miles, biking = 117 miles! (confession – I was super happy with my accomplishment of 117 miles this week until I saw my “cyclist” friend had 190!!! Goals!)

Mon – 30 mile bike ride.  I was hoping for 40 miles this morning, but I’m still not sure how long it actually takes me to ride and I had a limited amount of time to ride.  And, when I first woke up it was raining so I slept in!  This turned out to be a good ride.  It was a bit windy so a challenge on the way out, and I flew home, getting a few PRs in Strava along the way. Yay!

Next, hydration in the form of iced coffee. Free drinks at our new local coffee shop for their training day!! 🙂 🙂

The rest of the day was spent at orientation for the University of Toledo with my daughter.  Follow up from last week – the poison oak/sumac rash was MUCH better on my daughter’s face. Phew!! Not going to lie, I did get a bit choked up during one of the presentations to the parents about kids going off to college for the first time.  Oh the changes ahead of us!

Tues – Physical Therapy appt.  It was my first PT appt for my sports hernia. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to get some exercises to help out, but I was told I need to do stretching first, then we work on strength.  So, I’ve got a list of stretches to do and I’ll get at it.  I’m not super hopeful about this course of action at this time, but I know, body parts are all related and we need to work on other parts to help strengthen other areas, but still…. He did say I could try running again and stop if there is pain.  Maybe 1 mile.

16 mile bike ride.  It’s Ladies Ride Night!  We had a slower ride tonight, and my husband went off with his new riding group for another fast ride.  I do enjoy my social ride, but I’d really like to pick up the pace too.  We enjoyed food from a local restaurant after this ride along with cookies and beer.  These are my kind of people!  Since I don’t have a friend that rides with me regularly I get paired up with whomever is lined up with me when we start.  I’ve had some good conversations with new people on these rides.

Weds – 21 miles bike ride, 16.7 avg speed.  OMG, what a fun ride!  My husband and I rode with this group last year and it turned out to be such a fun speed workout for me.  This year the group is larger with some new riders.  Unfortunately the new group riders are just that – new riders.  There is a bit of a learning curve to riding in groups, and a big difference in bikes (road bikes vs hybrids).  What started out as a slow learner group quickly turned into a speedy ride when my husband and I were offered to take the lead for the front of the group, we gladly accepted the role.  We ended up with group of 9 people.  We took turns pulling (being the lead riders) which was appreciated because this ride always has strong crosswinds (named the “Windsday ride”, and it’s out on the country roads with the cornfields!).  Prior to splitting the group we had speeds around 15 mph, but on our own we averaged 18 mph!  Even hit 20 mph for one mile with the wind at our backs 🙂 Although I did hear our riders saying they were challenged to hang on for the ride, they were all smiles at the end with “that was my fastest ride!” being exclaimed.  Fun!!! Oh – two guys in our group are 83 and 84 years old. Wow, they ride fast!!

As part of our annual Mileage Maniacs challenge, this month is to draw out “Happy” on Strava (as in Brooks, Run Happy) and today was the letter P.  This is now a walk, and not a run, but it still counts.  It turned out well!

Thurs – 1 MILE RUN!  I was on a high after that ride last night, so why not give running a try? My PT said to try a mile, so that’s what I did.  How did it feel?  Well, not fixed, but not as broken!  Not pain, and certainly not “stabbing” pain, but there was a tight feeling like a knot in my lower abs.  I just went slow and one mile felt right for as much as I could tolerate.  So despite still feeling broken, I also felt encouraged by this test run.

Fri – 30 miles biking.  Once again, I was hoping to go for 40 miles, but had time constraints.  It was raining for the first half hour of this ride!   Luckily it wasn’t slippery and it cleared up, but it sure got my bike and shirt dirty.

It’s Zach’s 16th birthday.  Too bad it’s raining all day, but he did enjoy his gift, going out to dinner, and cake & ice cream.   (and his free birthday Starbucks treat!)

Sat – 2 miles of RUNNING!  It’s been a few days so it’s time to try running again.  I still feel tightness and pressure which kind of feels like I have to pee!  But it wasn’t pain, so I cautiously ran 2 miles.  I plan on trying every other day to see how things feel.

3 miles on the bike, just to check out an adjustment to make sure it was working right.

10 miles of rollerblading. We hit the bike trail this morning.  It’s a smooth trail with minimal roads to cross.  Very nice!  I did feel the groin pain a bit more than running on this activity, but it was bearable.  Also, some ducks were hanging out on the of the trail. I guess they taking a break.  So cute!

As part of Zach’s birthday celebration we went bowling.  What a fun surprise when it turned out to be glow bowling!!  

Sun – 16 miles biking.  Just a “short ride” for the morning 🙂 it was windy, hot, and wonderful.  I washed my bike yesterday and it was feeling all smooth and happy today.

Our son joined us at the gym today.  It’s been so long since I’ve been there (I usually don’t go often in the summer).  He has a guest pass to give it a try.  And later, we’re heading back to Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike park!  

Need some more inspiration? I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Check out all of the fun blogs there!

Q: Ever been glow bowling?

Q: Any fun plans for the upcoming 4th of July holiday?