There’s nothing worse than an injured runner before race day, am I right? Well, how about TWO injured runners? Yes, my husband hurt his foot this week and is hobbling around now. This is super bad news as his training was going well for the Glass City Marathon, which is happening this week! As for me, I’m now running the half marathon. The half marathon is the best marathon! LOL! Hopefully it will be for me. My brain was scrambled with all things senior year this week. Too many things bouncing around in my head!! Senior breakfast, picnic, graduation, graduation party planning, college visits, freshman orientation… need I say more? All of this on top of the marathon weekend coming up, AND a huge fundraiser event for the high school band. YIKES. We officially have a future Buckeye! Decision made. Woohoo! Not as close as my daughter, but still very drivable.
Thanks to the great weather I was able to bike more (36 miles) than I ran (21). It seems like each run got worse this week and it was frustrating.
Mon – Would have been 4 miles on the treadmill, but within the first mile I bailed on that. I was sore, same old glute pain. No need to push anything at this point. I hopped on the elliptical for my workout instead.
Tues – Run, Train, Bike! Ran 4 miles in the morning. This run started out amazing! No pain! OMG. But then, a pinchy feeling returned and let me know it’s still here. Hello stupid butt!
The day was sunny and warm, and I cued up a Caroline Girvan workout. It’s been a loooong time since I’ve done one. Arms and shoulders for the win. Ouch. Feeling like the Hulk when it was done. We got our volunteer shirts for the Glass City marathon. I am looking forward to helping out!
Biked 20 miles after work. With 70+ degrees and sunshine, I could NOT resist! My first road ride of the season. I’ve missed it a lot! Beautiful pine smells in the woods. Ahhhh!
Weds – Rest day. My triceps and shoulders were feeling it. Oof! It was also a PT visit. By the time I left PT I already had a headache. Some new exercises were added and some manipulations (? massages?) were done to my tight calves and hips. I got the “all clear” for the half marathon although it was mentioned that “it will hurt”. Ummm, great.
Thurs – 5 miles running. The heat has hit. It was 83 degrees today! It was only 58 degrees in the morning but it already felt too warm. I tested out my potential race gear. Luckily a super friendly kitty was on the path so it was a good excuse to take a break from running.
Fri – 3 miles easy run. This run was ok, but still a bit painful. I did my PT work with my new foam roller which is much softer than my TriggerPoint roller, and also super long! It feels good to relax on top of it and stretch my back. I also got 3 more miles in when I walked with my friend. An hour of chatting was great!
16 miles bike ride. It was 82 degrees with very little wind. A wonderful time for a ride! I had a good ride.
By the time night rolled around, and we shared a bottle of wine on the patio, I was spent. Phew, a tiring day.
Sat – 8 miles, “long run”. I expected this run to feel super sore after all of the activity yesterday, but instead, it just felt exhausting. My goal was to run 8 miles without stopping, but I only made it to 6.5. Sigh. At PT we discussed running with a higher cadence to avoid overextending my hamstrings, and also talked about running slower to lower my heart rate (so as not to tire myself out on long runs). As much as I try to make an effort, a higher cadence and a slower pace are not compatible. The effort of trying to stay in a range was frustrating. This run felt like a fail and I was pretty much bummed the rest of the day. Today’s running just made me sad that the process felt hard, and lately, painful. Whomp whomp.
Luckily our dinner plans lifted my spirits! We went to Twin Oast Brewery which is an hour from our house. A little road tripping with my VW ID.4! It was the perfect night for dinner, drinks and listening to live music.
Sun – Rest day.
With this disappointing week of running, I might just be skipping a lot of days of running in the upcoming week to (potentially) make race day more enjoyable. It’s going to be an interesting race day I’m sure!! I laughed when I saw this list recently. It’s very applicable!! (mostly the “mere shadow” 😂😂). Feel free to use this as needed. 😉
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: Did anyone else have summer-like weather this week? Did you love it.. or was it just too soon?!
We had to use the air conditioner. I like to hold out until May, but waking up in a sweat was not enjoyable, so I gave in! I also got a lot of yard work done. Yay!
It was warm here too and my runs all felt hard! But I do love the warm weather and I have a race next Saturday too, so I just sucked it up and pushed myself. Of course, it’s going to be cold and rainy this week. Spring… Sorry to hear about your ongoing issues with that hamstring. Hopefully, it will behave for your race!
I need to get on my bike too!
I really loved being out on my bike again. I have to start planning out some new routes. Hopefully it can be my recovery activity!
We definitely had a glorious taste of summer heat (which I loved), but also had psychotic wind with it (which I detested, LOL). I’m dying to take my rides back outside, but not in the extreme wind. Sorry for your continued hammy/glutes distress. I hope things mellow out a bit by next weekend.
Luckily I had a tailwind heading back home on my bike rides. Zooooom! I did try to stay in areas with some tree shelter to minimize the wind.
I did love the weather — not so much for running, but for giving me a shot of energy (except for Thursday when the little 3 mile run wrecked me for the rest of the day).
I’m so sorry you’re BOTH experiencing pains Fingers crossed for a good race anyway. It’s all about managing expectations, right? And hopefully cooler weather will come for race day, too!
My injury is a bit easier to accept since it’s been brewing for a while, but to get hurt with just a week to go (for my husband) is really disappointing! Still not sure if he’ll be able to get to the start line at this time. 🙁
Aw man, that really sucks for Alan. I’ve got my fingers crossed for his foot to heal up in time for the start line and for a great half for you! The weather was AH-mazing this week and I could really get used to that…except that it won’t last of course. Oh well.
Alan’s foot pain is quite mysterious. He’s heading to Dr on Monday hopefully to get an opinion on it. We’re getting to that age when it’s always something… sigh!!
I hate to hear about injuries… hope you can race and your hubby can too. It sucks to miss a race. I know!! I just DMSed my 3rd half.
My runs are happening so I can’t complain but running more than a minute without walking is hard…. what happened to all my fitness??? Gone!
Your 3rd? Ouch. I hear ya – feels like I was hit with some illness that zapped away my endurance!
Very lucky that you have the elliptical option at home! That brewery looks like so much fun.
I do enjoy having the elliptical at home. The brewery has a super fun vibe. Especially since a family can go there and have their kids run around the yard while they socialize. A perfect summer destination!
That list is hilarious! Sounds like your plan for the week is like mine — back off and hope for the best on race day. 😉
Congratulations to your daughter!
I was excited that I could actually bend down without being sore and achy after a few days rest. That’s a feeling I haven’t had in a long time!
I hope your race day goes well too!
Hahaha… yes, I love that list! But, I’m bummed for you and especially your husband! That’s really frustrating. I hope he can figure out what’s going on. For you, maybe if you back off the running and do a lot of biking this week it will help? I have my fingers crossed for both of you.
And, congratulations to your son!!! How exciting, and what a relief to have that decision made.
I am soooo happy to have a decision on college. Now I can focus my worrying on specific things and not wide random things. haha! Step by step, it’s all coming together. Very exciting!
Sorry to hear about both of you having running injuries. Sounds like a very smart idea to switch to the half. Hope you feel ok for it. I have to get my bike tuned up and ready to get outside this season. Thanks for the reminder. I hope you feel a little better this week
I am more than OK with running the half. There is no way I could make it through the full! And then, time to regroup and get healthy and stronger again!
Such lovely weather and such lovely roads for biking and running! But how frustrating with that lingering glute pain. I’m so sorry to hear about your husband’s foot pain too. Foot injuries are terrible!!! I know all about that experience by now. I hope it’s nothing major for your husband and that you both make it to your races.
Here we’ve had terrible weather lately but it suddenly turned around to sunshine and 15C (59F)! That’s good news for us after weeks of rain, wind and sub-pleasant temps.
Our weather has taken a turn colder again. Glad I didn’t put away all of my sweaters and running tights!!
That is a beautiful restaurant/patio! How fun!
I’m sorry things are hard right now. Injury is hard, and it’s even worse when you are rebuilding and have your heart set on bigger goals. Having two injured runners in the house sounds miserable.
Senior things sounds bittersweet. The end of freshman year is a lot so I just can’t imagine this.
I hope this week feels better than last.
There are too many fun race events happening this week for me to be sad about not running the full marathon. I don’t mind at all. The rest is doing me good so far. Hopefully it will help me out on race day!
“It will hurt” doesn’t sound fun! I remember the half I did with the end of an IT band issue and kinesio tape on my knee. “Well, nothing will snap or fall off so you’ll be fine”. I was actually fine. Good luck to both of you. I’ve done 4 x 10 minute test run/walks this last week, doing OK so far but it’s a bit frustrating …
Those kitties are adorable.
Suspense.
Can’t wait to hear how the race went.