I’ve been training for the Marquette Marathon, kind of. I would decide if my body was up to it, or just focus on Chicago Marathon. Well, this week my body made that decision for me. Chicago (only) it is!! I started having more noticeable and serious pains on my left side: hips, glutes & hammies. That was enough to make me stop running this week. With 14 weeks to go until Chicago marathon, I will need to come up with a revised training plan when I am able to run pain free again (me: Googling 12 week marathon plans 😂). Hopefully pain free running will come back soon! I did not get an official diagnosis on the issue yet, but that might happen soon. I did make it through 8 miles of running, and racked up 111 miles of biking!! I’m always very happy to swap a ride for a run. Anywhoooo, here’s what went down this week…
My son’s 18th birthday was last Sunday, and for his special day he wanted to go to Ray’s, which is an indoor mountain bike park. It’s in Cleveland, so a 2 hour drive for us. We loaded up the bike rack and packed the family into our EV! The summer season is not busy at Ray’s, so we pretty much had the place to ourselves. We biked from 5:30pm to 9:30pm. Even though it’s an old factory building (high ceilings), it feels more like a greenhouse in the summertime. We sweated off more than a few calories! A good time was had by all.
Mon – Rest day!! After all of the activity yesterday, my biggest effort today was getting out of bed for work after hitting the pillow at 12:30am. LOL! It was tough. I did some yoga to stretch out. Luna helped.
Tues – 8 miles running. Not sure what to say about this run. My inner thigh had a tight muscle again this morning, so I stretched it out extra good before I started this run. During my warm up mile my leg was feeling a bit wonky and I considered calling it quits, but then thought maybe it would warm up. Sure enough it did, and when I did my mile repeats my leg was feeling better. But overall, I was frustrated that I am having these issues. I did see a deer on the bike path, which was very unusual, and a fun surprise.
Lunch hour gym visit. My husband and I have been playing DJ during our workout sessions ever since we found out there was an app for that! As soon as Guns and Roses or AC/DC comes on, I know he requested it. My top choices have been Green Day!
22 miles biking – Ladies Ride night. The bike shop, Cycle Werks, treated us to pizza and drinks after the ride. The pizza was delicious!! Smoke from Canada has rolled into our area and it was oddly hazy on the ride.
Weds – Rest day. Our little foster Nami has been doing well. She is still little, so we need to make sure she is gaining weigh every day (in grams!). The smoke in our area was very noticeable today and I could smell it outside. Yuck!
Thurs – 11 secs of running! Today I decided my body was not in a good place and the hip/leg pain was indeed a problem. Even though I was excited to try out a new pair of shoes, I took just a few steps on my run and bailed.
17 miles biking. No worries, I had a few more things on my agenda today. I went for an hour bike ride instead. It’s still a bit smoky here, but it was a good ride and bonus – I found some free firewood, which my husband promptly took to our house. That’s a great score for camping!
Then we spent the afternoon at Planet Rock. This gym is an hour away, so I’ll be so glad when Adventus opens in our town (which is scheduled to happen in early August. yay!!) My kids were really into bouldering, but I prefer to go up the walls. I did a lot of climbs and my arms were jello by the time we left. I loved it :).
Fri – biking, 32 miles. A nice ride along the river.
In the afternoon, in the sweltering heat, I worked at race packet pickup for the River Run race. Phew, it was so hot under that tent!!
Then at night, we went to see fireworks.
Sat – 3 miles, walking. I decided to try running again, and it was another fail. But I did find a dollar. Winning!
Biking, 40 miles. After spending the morning at my parents being the tech support person for them, I was in need of some activity to destress! Seriously, I have never been so frustrated with a seemingly simple task: connecting a new Fitbit watch to an iPhone. UGH!! I think it took 2 hours. Luckily the rain had moved out of the area so I went for my long ride.
My husband and I enjoyed a casual dinner on the patio, and then it started to rain, which was really quite nice under the covered space.
Sunday – I was going to go for another bike ride, to breakfast, but it was rainy so we drove there and met some friends. Good food and good conversations! When the rain stops I might go for that bike ride.
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!
I can’t believe it’s July already. Summer is going tooooooo fast!! I’ll leave you with a happy picture of Nami. She is starting to get rambunctious already. We have to remind her that our hands are not toys!
Q: Did the Canadian smoke change any or your plans this past week?
On Thursday many outdoor events were canceled (track night, group bike rides). It gave me a headache!
Sorry to read that you are having pain from running again. It is great that you have so much cycling to keep you in shape while you figure it out. Fall marathon season seems really far away but I guess it’s not Hope this week is better for you!
I didn’t think there would be training plans for 12 weeks, but sure enough there are! Doesn’t seem like enough training time. I’m just looking for the minimum miles to get me to the start line, so fingers crossed I’ll have more time than that.
Okay, first of all, that picture of Nami being weighed is SO CUTE. How can you bear to give them up? I could never foster kittens- I would end up with 100 cats in my house.
Now down to business. I’m so sorry your hip is flaring up. A real diagnosis would be helpful- that area is so complicated, it would be nice to know where the problem is originating. In the meantime lots of biking can only help! I hope you get some answers and see improvement soon.
Biking should help, right? Well, at least it brings me happiness, so there’s that. Hopefully I can get a Dr appointment soon to get checked out.
Nami has now reached the crazy kitten stage. She is super activity and attacking everything that moves!
So sorry to hear about your recent pains.
Hope you heal quickly with some time off.
I agree with Jenny. If I fostered kittens I could never give them away.
It’s been smoky but not bad enough to keep me inside.
My body is definitely not in agreement with the training plan right now! Hip pain is new to me, so I’m curious what is going on with it. I do hope it goes away soon too!!
Well, aren’t we the “birds of a feather” doing all of the biking in the absence of running, LOL. Wow, your pain sounds bad! That mountain biking place looks interesting, but I’d be pretty intimidated to try it. I limit my mountain biking to pretty much paved roads, LOL.
Biking is my favorite cross training for sure 🙂 The nice thing about that bike park is they have riding for all levels. You can stick with what you fell comfortable with. It is a lot of fun, but the heat in the summer is a bit much!
Yep, we had the smoke for a few days this week.
I know I’ve said it before, but that indoor bike park is so cool! Amazing it wasn’t busy — even in the heat.
Sorry about your running issues — I am struggling with something similar and trying to get a dr’s appt.
If you would have felt the temps in that place you would not be surprised that it was empty! Maybe on a rainy weekend it would be busier.
This long holiday weekend (kinda) has not been ideal for scheduling Dr appointments! Sorry we are both a bit messed up now 🙁
So sorry to hear about your injury–I hope you find answers soon and that they are simple!
I am often the tech support for my parents as well and yes, I feel your pain! Plus I’m not an IT person lol
Oh yes, the technology struggles still continue. Now my Dad’s (new) Fitbit won’t charge. I’m about 90% sure it’s user error, but he’s sending it back to Amazon regardless. 😂 Now he’s buying a Garmin. This should be fun.
Oh man I hope that ornery hip/glute/hammy issue doesn’t upend your Chi Marathon. Can you do some pool running for awhile so it can all heal? I was in the pool for 6 weeks during a Boston training cycle and got very good results.
That’s a great use for some old warehouse space!
Nami is the cutest!
Yes the smoke was intense here last week. Thankfully it seems like it’s finally out of here.
Even though I have a pool, I can’t ever motivate myself to actually “swim” in it! I get exhausted trying to swim laps in it (and sooooo bored). I’ve never tried pool running – and can’t say I’m really motivated to start trying it now!
So many fun activities! I wish we had more “active” things here. That mountain bike park looks amazing.
The rock climbing day was even more fun than the bike park! I did hit my leg on one of the rock holds and got a big bruise (and split skin) from that, because you know, it’s always something…
Sorry about the pain and you’ve made the right call. Hope you can see someone about it. Little Nami in her weighing scales is the cutest thing ever! We are supposed to be getting some Canadian smoke even over here, though not sure it will get right to the middle of the country where we are.
I didn’t know the smoke was going to head all the way over there too! How terrible. I can’t even imagine what it’s like in the area of the fires.
Nami seems to be gaining weight properly now. She seems to only want to eat off a plate (or spoon, or my fingers) but not a bowl. It took me a bit to figure that out!
Ugh, I am sorry you’re having leg pains… that truly sucks (especially if you can’t quite pinpoint the problem). Riding the bike doesn’t seem to be impacted?
I had to chuckle about the “I am my parents’ tech person”… I am too, but I am trying to help them “remotely” which adds more layers of complexity. Yay for figuring things out.
Your kitten is so cute! I hope she’s gaining weight and thriving!
My Dad is also quite impatient about figuring things out. I kept telling him “I’ll be over on Saturday to fix it” when he called me several times during the week. It sure is a struggle when it’s remote!
Thanks – hopefully I’ll get in to see the Dr soon!
Oh my, the kitty getting weighed. So darn cute!
Sorry about the new pains, but I think 12 weeks is plenty of time! I’m only 9 weeks out from Medoc, which isn’t a goal but its still the full 42km…and I haven’t really ramped up any long runs. So take the time now before these issues get worse, and you’ll be plenty fit to have a strong Chicago (just my thoughts!) You have a deeper fitness to pull from, you’re not a newbie!
Anyways, your dinner outside looks so nice! What a lovely setup.
As long as I can make it through the marathon pain free, I think any pace would be fine so that’s my goal. No longer a “try to BQ” plan! (and, look at you talking in KMs 😉)
I’m really sorry that you’re having to pivot. It’s really frustrating, but you were still super active!
Nami is so cute. It looks like she’s sitting in a little blender, LOL!
Oh no, I’m so sorry to hear that you’re in pain once again when running. I hope you can get it figured out quickly and get on with training for Chicago.
The little kitten is so tiny and cute!
Y’all are so active, I love it! so sorry you are having pain! that’s no good!! what is good is that you have cycling to fall back on! and I bet you will be just find for the Chicago marathon.
Nami is such a sweet kitty <3