Week in review March 18-24: A good week for everything except running

A good variety -- not bad.

I’m pretty happy with my training last week. It was a good week for pretty much everything except running, from which I’m taking a break at least until I go back to physical therapy early next week. I even made it to the pool.

More than anything, I was consistent. I did at least one thing every day except yesterday (Sunday), including my ideal three trainer rides and two weights sessions. I struggle for time during the week so I only managed two PT homework sessions.

Yesterday became a rest day because of the uniquely Detroit holiday of the Marche du Nain Rouge. If you’re not up on your Detroit legends and history, the Nain Rouge (red dwarf) is a goblin that foretells disaster in the city. It’s apparently been spotted before the Battle of Bloody Run, the surrender of Detroit in the War of 1812, the riots of 1967, and even an ice storm in the '70s.

So, every spring for the past decade, Detroiters have gathered in costume (some terrifying) to scare the Nain away for another year. It’s always a good time and makes for excellent people watching, and yesterday we had good weather. It was nice to get outside for a few hours in the fresh air and sunshine, even if meant I traded that for a workout. I still had a nice, relaxing breakfast and did all my food prep yesterday, so it wasn’t a total loss of a day.

People dressed like bees, because why not.

Who ya gonna call?

I wish this were a better picture because that trumpet is on fire, literally.

Creepy mime juggler, train from hell... you know, the usual.

Workouts were:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 49.25 trainer “miles” in about 3.5 hours. My rides lately have been starting with “omg this feels so hard, I don’t know if my legs can handle this” and then somehow I power through them, even if I am super sweaty by the end.

Weights: One barre class and one of my heavy/body routines in about 2.25 hours. I added weighted hamstring curls to my heavy routine after my orthopedist suggested my hamstring pain is related to muscle weakness, and it didn’t feel like I was overdoing anything.

PT: Only twice, one longer session and one shorter, for about 1.75 hours.

Swim: Hey! I swam! I did mostly drills for 1600 yards in about 50 minutes. I quit at 1600 forgetting that I usually do 1750 in a yard pool for a mile, oops. Well, I’ll do three extra laps next time, haha.

Other: I did 20 minutes of boxing to warm up for PT one of those days.

Total: 9 sessions in about 8:42, not bad! I should have done some yoga last night but I was exhausted and went to bed as soon as I could. Oh, well.

Even on a (hopefully) short hiatus from running, I have been enjoying the evening daylight as I pedal on the trainer – I have been getting a lot of magazine reading done to distract myself from hard intervals – and driving to and from the pool or barre. I am getting antsy to take my workouts outside again. I am looking forward to a warm Saturday bike ride and an easy run out in the fresh air.

Here’s to another pretty good and consistent week. Happy training.

Back to the orthopedist (but not terrible news)

Oscar the Grouch is my spirit animal, so these shorts were perfect orthopedist wear.

I went back to the orthopedist this week. I have been having some pain in my hamstring for the last few months; the first time I remember it coming on was during a pre-Christmas virtual 5K, when I was running faster than normal.

The pain came and went since then. I did a few speed workouts on the treadmill this year with no problems. But it would act up on my longer runs, and then it started acting up on my shorter runs. Both runs in Argentina were pretty painful and I was keeping them super easy. So after one more easy run that I had to cut short because it hurt too much, I sucked it up and called the doctor. Since I've been there before they could get me in a week later.

Side note: I hate that I have an orthopedist. This getting old is garbage.

I was afraid my hamstring was torn or that I had a stress fracture in my pelvis. Although I knew I wasn't running stress-fracture-in-the-pelvis mileage, I had one in my tibia years ago, and when my bone density tests all came back fine, that doctor told me it just happens sometimes. Anyway, I got x-rays right away and only had to wait a few minutes for the doctor. He had me push my leg this way and that, stretched it hither and yon, and poked and prodded me.

Verdict: He doesn't think anything is torn or broken, just strained. I'm being sent back to PT for a while to work more hamstring and glute strengthening into the rotation. I can't do a lot of squats because of me knee, so maybe I will learn some other exercises.

I'm going to take a bit more time off from running to let any inflammation settle down and then I start PT. I'm not happy about it, but I'm glad to hear I probably haven't torn anything. I'm bummed that a half marathon next month is probably out, but there will be others next summer. And it can't hurt to have strong hamstrings and glutes.

A friend commented that it was frustratingly nonlinear progress. Yes, I am frustrated. But I am trying to keep in mind that while it is nonlinear, at least it is progress. 15 months ago I couldn't walk without pain. I worked through that and I am sure I will work through this, too.

Week in review March 11-17: Stressful and a pain in the hamstring

With the soon-to-be demise of Daily Mile, I'm getting used to Garmin Connect's charts.

It was a weird week and I’m not happy with how it ended, because I might be on the injured list once again.

I had the day off work Monday, but we had gotten in from vacation late the night before and needed the day to sleep in, grocery shop, food prep, and catch up on laundry. I got a nice trainer ride in Tuesday after work, but had to pick up one of my dogs from the doggie dental surgeon (yes, there is such a thing; no, this is not her first time getting dental work; no, it is not cheap) on Wednesday so that day became a wash taking extra care of her. So there was already a bit of stress going into the week.

I have been having some mild hamstring pain for a few months now. The first time I could find a mention of it in my logs is when I did a virtual 5K just before Christmastime – it came on as a bit of a twinge, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t shrug off as a bit of tightness. It came and went, so I didn’t think it was THAT big of a deal. Unfortunately, it hasn’t gone away for longer than a few runs at a time. It bothered me on both my Argentina runs and was so bad on Thursday that I had to cut my run short. So, on Friday I bit the bullet and scheduled an appointment with my orthopedist.

I’m ticked that I have an orthopedist in the first place. This getting old business is crap. But since the hamstring is the same side as my injured knee, and as my out-of-whack SI joint a few years ago, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out to be an alignment or weakness/compensation issue of some kind. I would really love to rule out a tear and be told that I need to add hamstring-building exercises to my PT routine. That I can handle. Whatever happens at my appointment, I expect that I will be making another appointment with a run coach or sports clinic to re-build my running form from the ground up. I’ve always had pretty terrible running form (I’m an adult-onset runner so I never really learned the correct way) and this cannot be helping.

I’m pretty frustrated because I was hopeful I could pull off a spring half-marathon with the successfully increasing mileage I’ve been doing. Maybe it’s nothing and I just need an extra few days off. I’m frustrated because this is yet another setback, and right when the weather is starting to get better, too. Grrrr!

After that disappointment on Thursday I actually rallied after work Friday for a hard bike trainer workout when I really wanted to take a nap, so I was pretty proud of myself for that. I’m going to hold off on running for now so I dusted off my boxing bag for a warmup Saturday before some weights, and a long, easy spin on Sunday. I also did PT all three of those days, so at least the weekend ended on a good note.

By the numbers, it was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for 51.5 fake trainer miles in about 3 hours, 49 minutes. This was a really good trainer week for me.

PT: Three times, all homework exercises, for about 2:45.

Weights: Once, my heavy/body weight routine, for about 1:15. I was pretty proud of myself again that I could do more than one pullup or chinup, since it’s been a while.

Run: Just the one aborted easy run/walk on the treadmill, for 3 miles in about 39 minutes.

Other: 20 minutes of boxing as a warmup for my weights workout. I used to go to cardio kickbox all the time, so I just did some combinations I remembered from back in the day until I felt good and warmed up.

Total: Nine sessions in about 8:48. Not terrible, considering the week, and considering the two days off.

I’m going to try to focus on what I can do without pain for the time being, instead of whining about not running. I got some good trainer rides in last week and I want to try to hit the pool today. And hopefully I’ll have some answers soon.

Here's a pic of my not-so-ferocious pit bull with three fewer teeth, wearing a pink sweater:

A very belated and quick February in review for posterity

I’m super late to the party reviewing February, so I’m going to do it real fast mostly so I have something to look back at later.

I was able to do a pretty good amount of training last month. I had an out-of-state wedding early on, and a few oddball meetings/events/parties/birthday dinners/etc. that meant I missed a regular workout. I was kind of disappointed in my totals compared to January until I remembered that February has three fewer days, haha.

February was:

Running mileage over the last few months.

Run: Nine times, four on the road and five on the treadmill, for 67 miles in about 12 hours. This is four more outside runs than I usually do in February, so that was nice. Plus it’s a bit more mileage in about the same time as last month. I am still doing walking warmups and cooldowns but I’ve pretty much cut out the run/walk intervals.

Bike mileage over the past year.

Bike: Nine times, all on the trainer, for 149 fake trainer miles in just less than 11 hours. Nothing out of the ordinary here; I knew I wouldn’t be doing any outdoor riding this month. It’s about 2:45 less time and 2 fewer sessions than last month – I think I skipped a couple of long ride Saturdays in there.

PT: Five times in about 3:30. Not nearly enough, and I am feeling the fallout.

Weights: Twice, both my heavy/bodyweight routines, for about 2:30. Again, not nearly enough. The silver lining is I did figure out some hamstring/quad moves that don’t hurt my knee, so I’ll count that as a minor win.

Yoga: Three times for about 45 minutes. Eh, it’s almost once per week, so I’ll count that as a minor win, also.

Total: 28 sessions in about 29.5 hours. I mean, this is still an average of one per day and more than an hour per day, so… I can’t be too mad about that.

It’s too early in the year to really spot any 2019 trends, but adding up the number of days in January and February (59) and looking at my totals, I bike on average once every three days, run every three and a quarter days, do PT every five days, weights every 10 days, and yoga every 8.5 days. And I’m on track for fewer workouts overall for 2019 than 2018, but I still have plenty of year left, so I’m not worried about slacking off for the next 9.5 months.

OK, since we're halfway through March, that's enough about February. On to the next month.

Weeks in review Feb. 25-March 3 and March 4-10: Vacation walking and two vacation runs

Hello! I’m alive! I left for vacation on the 2nd and didn’t bring my computer. I had grand plans to update my blog from my phone while I was gone but my days were consumed with taking in the sights, shops, and steaks of Buenos Aires. =)

Of course, the week before we left was busy with errands, cleaning the house, and packing, as well as a birthday dinner to celebrate my brother-in-law. As a result, I only worked out three times. I had high hopes to squeeze in one more session Friday, the day before we left, but there was just too much to do. Oh, well.

Feb. 25-March 3:

Run: Twice, both on the treadmill, for 10.25 miles in 2 hours.

Bike: Once, on the trainer, for 14.5 fake trainer miles in about an hour.

Total: Three sessions in a hair longer than three hours.

After a LOOOONG travel day on Saturday and sleeping in on Sunday, we rallied for a nice long walk to an early steak dinner. I brought my Garmin and every day I wore it I logged at least 10,000 steps, maxing out at nearly 22,000. I figured I was on vacation, so doing some walking most days was good enough.

However, I did log two actual runs while I was there. Both times, I walked about two blocks to a local park, where I did laps around the perimeter until I hit something like 4.5, and then walked home. Both were pretty easy; the air quality isn’t great in the city and it was pretty warm both days, and my hamstring is still acting up. I wasn’t trying to be a rock star, I just wanted to burn off some of that steak. =)

I’d write a nice, long blog post about running in Buenos Aires, but I literally just did laps around one park, so I don’t have much to say. Both days I ran, the park was packed with both people and dogs getting some exercise. If you do want to run there, you’ll probably be in good company. I had checked out Strava heat maps ahead of time, but when it came time to head out, I stuck with what I knew would be close by and safe. The one thing I noticed was that the park didn’t have a water fountain, where there would probably be at least one in a park that size in the U.S. So if you’re running in BA and it’s warm out, bring your own water.

Around and around and around the park I went.

March 4-10:

Run: Twice, both on the road, for 9.49 miles in about 1:45.

Honestly, I am happy with two easy runs and a lot of walking. It was vacation, after all.

I’m off to a slow start this week; we got in super late Sunday night and slept in again Monday before rallying for brunch, grocery shopping, and food prep. Sadly, I had no extra time for a workout, but I got food prep done through Thursday and even went to bed early-ish, which was a small miracle. I have a bit of a sniffle today from what I assume is travel germs, but I’m looking forward to at least an easy trainer ride to try to get back in the swing of things.

Even if you couldn’t run in Buenos Aires last week, I hope your training was also fantástico.