Brrrr! It’s cold around here! I had a change in my work week which made this feel like a vacation week. I usually work on Tues and Weds. Working on Thurs and Fri felt quite liberating like I had a whole week off to do whatever I liked (which honestly is always the case, but it just felt different!). I spent quite a bit of time doing some ski trip planning. I swear the more I planned, the more I stressed about my knee. It doesn’t really hurt (well, maybe a 1 or 2) but it just feels odd. I gave it a lot of rest and did stretching and strengthening. Fingers crossed! Here’s what went down this week…
Mon – 5 mile run, treadmill. To avoid the cold outside I decided to run on the treadmill and watch a movie. Even though I watched it last year, I ended up watching Falling for Christmas again. It’s a silly fun Christmas rom-com which has all of my favorites: skiing, celebrities and humor. On my gym visit I have been using the Red Light Recovery. They say it’s supposed to improve skin issues (spots, etc) and tone up your body. That sounds impossible but since it’s included in my membership I’m willing to give it a try 😉
I also went to the movies. We were the only ones in our theater. We saw Now You See Me, Now You Don’t. I liked it!! We bought a huge tub of popcorn because it had free refills. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have even more popcorn to enjoy at home! The take home popcorn was enjoyed while watching Stranger Things.
Tues – 1.6 mile walk. My knee isn’t feeling any worse this morning, but not feeling any better. Time to pull the plug on running and just walk instead. We woke up to a wintery wonderland! Although it was quite chilly I didn’t mind one bit with these views.
Weds – 2.5 mile walk. Another hearty walk! Thankfully all of the sidewalks are cleared today. Then a trip to the gym. Another day of PT exercises. After a trip down the Google rabbit hole I am now wondering if my knee is some sort of bursitis instead of runner’s knee. Does it matter? Not sure.
Thurs – 1 mile walk. So cold. Here’s my cat pretending he is being good. Don’t be fooled.
It was another movie day… I went to see Wicked For Good with some friends. It was good! Since I haven’t read the book or seen the play, there were a few things that surprised me. Yes, I gasped!
Fri – 1 mile hearty walk again! Walking at night is actually pretty good. It’s fast (so cold, gotta walk fast!) and the snow makes a lovely backdrop to the Christmas lights.
Sat – 3 miles treadmill. After diligently waiting, I think it’s time to test the knee with a run. It felt good! One very interesting thing to note was that my knee no longer makes the familiar crunching sound when I go up and down stairs! I guess those stretches are working. Everything was feeling pretty good until I had to carry something out of the basement and then my knee complained a little. Overall I’m counting this as a win.
Road trip! We went to Columbus for some fun with our son and holiday cheer. We went to the Gallery Hop in the Short North, aptly named the Holiday Hop this month. Alan and I used to live in Columbus when we were first married and went to Gallery Hop for date nights. Of course that was 30 years ago… today’s event was more of a street market kind of thing and we didn’t even go into any galleries. I didn’t see any. Gallery peeping was the fun part! Most of the street vendors were reselling clothes. Thrifting is such a big thing now!
We went to the Hofbrauhaus in Columbus. It looked just like the one we went to in Munich!
On the way home we drove through a living nativity. Kudos to the kids for standing out there in the cold!
Sun – maybe another short run? I’m also going to watch Wicked again with my Mom so we can see Wicked For Good together.
With the end of the year nearing, Spotify and other apps have come up with yearly recaps. I thought mine from YouTube was perfect.
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: Is anyone watching Stranger Things??
It’s quite gory and spooky this season!! And what’s up with El’s shorts. LOL
Q: How was your YouTube recap?
Oh gosh the dreaded knee! I hope it starts to feel better with some more rest from running. When is the ski trip?
Ski trips… first in early January, then in February, and planning the last in March! I did have an achy knee by the end of ski season last year so I’m trying to possibly stop that from happening this year by doing a ski workout… which of course I had to stop doing this week due to annoying knee. Ugh.
It’s good to hear that your run went well yesterday and I hope today’s is pain-free as well!
Sounds like you had some fun non-workouts events last week as well! I love that living nativity, and yes, kudos to those kids for standing out in the cold.
I did see one of the kid actors doing “6 -7”. As much as I hate that, it was pretty funny. I liked that the kids were all in character, but couldn’t quite keep it up the entire time. They were having fun!
Your knee sounds like it’s rebounding…a little? I’ve never had knee issues (other than the weird staph infection in 2017). I did have a very brief thing with bursitis (a steroid shot did the trick), but nothing else in the past 20+ years of running. My hips & glutes, though…LOL
We all have our problem areas! Never calf, ankle or feet issues for me really, but plagued with hamstring, glute and now my knee. I’m sure that says something about our lack of strength in certain areas. I was super surprised how my crunchy knee sound went away this past week though. I consider that a good sign that my specific stretches are working! I just need to take it easy (easy to say, so hard to do sometimes!).
Well, you’re being smart about the knee. Sounds like everything you’re doing is helping- no crunchiness is a good thing.
You really know how to have fun! I love that giant popcorn, AND the giant beer! And… my cat does the same thing, lying under the tree looking all cute and innocent. Ha.
I should have clarified – Alan got the beer. I was driving! 🙂 But I did take a few drinks of it. It was fun to have German food again.
Looks like a fun week! I have never been to the Hofbrauhaua in Columbus — only Cincinnati and Cleveland (and of course Germany!). Looks like a lot of fun! And I’m glad you liked Wicked. I’ve seen the musical so it’s always interesting to hear what people think who haven’t seen it.
It was fun to have German food again! It really took us back to Octoberfest.
Oh wow! I don’t think i’ve met anyone who hasn’t read the book or seen the musical before! I’m a little jealous. The book is so different, and I really love the movie so much more than the stage version. And while I liked the book a lot, it’s nothing like either of the two, so it’s just an odd connection.
I really want to see the Now You See Me movie. I always really enjoyed that franchise.
take care of that knee.
Oh, your cat is innocent. I’m his lawyer. Stop with your defaming narrative LOL!
Yes, I’m the totally Wicked clueless person! My coworker asked if I had read the book and I was “what, there was a book?” haha! I see the audiobook is 20 hours long. That’s quite a commitment. Maybe that’s a 2026 goal.
The new Now You See Me movie was very enjoyable. I recommend it!
My cats have been pretty good this year. Sam (siamese) has been nibbling at the needles but neither cats have climbed up the tree, so that’s a win. Sam gets sprayed by a water bottle when he nibbles but that hasn’t stopped him yet!
I’m glad to hear that the knee is feeling better! Remember my knee drama from earlier this year? And I had to get an MRI because my doctor wanted to rule out a meniscus tear? And it turned out to be ….patellar tendonitis? It was so painful! But I started wearing a patellar strap per my PT suggestion, and it worked well. Maybe try it?
Your holiday hop looks fun! There used to be a Hofbrau House near here, but it’s no longer there. It was so much fun–the fraus (servers) had a big paddle they’d slap the men with. Ahh, those Germans…
I was a bit bummed the restaurant didn’t serve Currywurst. That was my favorite food in Germany!
Interesting about the patellar strap. I’ll keep that in mind. Maybe it would help for skiing too. Hmmmm
Sorry to her about the knee. Hopefully rest will cure the pain.
I saw the show Wicked many years ago and loved it.
Saw part 1 & II.. I enjoyed both. Had to compare. I think I liked the show better.
I’ve now seen Wicked three times, and Wicked For Good just once. I watched Wicked (1st) twice in the last week! I’m all “wicked” out now!! It was really good though. I’m still not an Arianna Grande fan but I think she was perfect for the role and did a great job.
Brrr, it seems to be cold everywhere… it was a very cold week here in NorCal, too, but no snow at our elevation!
I haven’t been to the movies in forever (!) and that popcorn tub is HUGE – haha.
We just can’t pass up the free refill deal 🙂 It’s a good amount for our whole family to share… and just a TON for two people. But we’re not quitters, we ate it all!