March 15-21 in review: Good weather, long runs, and great vaccination news

My big news is I got my first COVID vaccination on Friday. My health department expanded eligibility Wednesday morning, I called immediately, and had an appointment minutes later. It actually went fine. The city has a drive-through clinic set up in one of the expo center parking garages, and everything was run surprisingly smoothly. I cried all the way home with relief.

I did have a sore arm for the rest of the day and all day Saturday, so I skipped my weights workout. I still felt good enough for a long-ish, steady trainer ride, and it was nice to take the rest of the evening to relax and screw around online. By Sunday, my arm was about 95 percent back to normal, and I did my usual Sunday run, PT, and yoga without incident.

Until the vaccine, my big news was that I did a successful 17K (really 10.5 miles) for St. Patrick's Day for no other reason then it was a beautiful day and I was feeling just fine. My knee has been a bit achy off and on lately, so I kept the pace easy enough not to bother it. I would really like to go 1:59:59 for the virtual half I'm signed up for in May, and this ended up right at goal half-marathon pace plus about 35 seconds, so about right on the nose from where I'd want to be anyway. I've come to terms with the fact that I might have pain or at least discomfort in my knee forever. If I have to run easy for the rest of my life, at least I will be running, and I will be happy.

Not a bad week at all, considering all the excitement.

Overall, last week was:

Bike: Four times, all on the trainer, for 75 fake trainer miles in about 4:43. This was mostly easy riding due to me being exhausted, a very long work day Thursday, and taking it easy Saturday after my vaccine the day before.

Run: Three times, all on the road, for 25 miles in about 4:02. This was the long run on Wednesday, a zippy run Friday afternoon that included a few legitimately fast miles, and an easy run on Sunday for which I swung by to pick up one of my mutts for the last mile. This was the first week in a while that I had run more than I did PT!

PT/Pre-hab: My usual three sessions of mobility and three sessions of PT for 3:45.

Weights: I skipped my Saturday heavy session, but still did my Monday Mobility and a mid-week video for 1:20 total.

Yoga: Three Down Dog sessions for 45 minutes total.

Total: 18 sessions in 14:35.

It was a roller coaster of a week and I was happy to wrap this one up. Mostly, I am glad that I was able to take a big step toward getting things back to normal. I am still going to be social distancing and wearing my mask and I hope you all are doing everything you can to stay safe, too.