A small but hopefully useful goal checked off my list

I checked a small healthy living goal off my list today: Organize all my PT homework exercises.

I made copies of all the pages, cut them into horizontal strips, and made new pages based on exercises I'm supposed to do every day and every other day. I have another packet of all the moves, organized neatly. Everything is labeled and color coded.

My husband said this was a "very Kristin thing" for me to do. I'm happy to have one tiny thing in my life a bit more together.

Neatly organized and ready to go.

My June numbers were a very pleasant surprise

Hours trained in June. Not too bad!

I was legitimately shocked when I added up my totals for June because I had no idea it was so good of a month. Sure, there were five weekends, which skewed things a little bit. But I was floored to see my numbers! More than 11 hours biking and running! 100+ biking miles! Almost 45 miles of running! WHAT?!?

I’ve had some disappointments – running out of time, not making it to the pool, sore knee making me take a few days off – so this was a huge confidence booster. It turned out to be my biggest month, time-wise, since at least the beginning of 2017. I attribute it mostly to being excited to run again, NOT going anywhere for vacation, and being diligent-ish doing my PT at home. I only took three days completely off all month – two to hang with friends and family, and one just because. It definitely all adds up.

My thrilling month worked out to be:

Bike: 12 times, 10 on the trainer (67.5 fake miles) and 2 outside (33 miles), for about 11:37. I increased my usual trainer ride from 30 minutes to 45 and added in a couple of longer weekend rides, which really made the difference. Plus – two outdoor rides on beautiful days. If you do the math I just hit 100 miles for the month and I wasn’t even trying. And, best of all, my knee only had a bit of discomfort here and there while riding. I’m still not doing hills or big gears but I am perfectly happy riding flat and easy for a while.

Run/walk: 13 times, 8 on the road and 5 on the treadmill, for 44.92 miles (I seriously couldn’t add this up before the end of the month and do another 0.08 miles?) in about 11:15. For these, I include the walk warm-up and cool-down I do before my running intervals since it is part of my workout and I call the shots for my training and logging. I started out the month at something like a 16:00 minute/mile pace average including the walk parts, and ended the month at closer to 13:00 including the walk parts. (I haven’t been tracking pace for the run-only segments but I have seen a few 9:20s, 9:30s in there.) I also bumped it up gradually from 3:00/2:00 walk/run to 4:00/2:00 walk/run and my knee is feeling OK. I am NOT looking to do too much, too soon here – slow and steady will win the race and I intend to continue slowly and steadily.

PT/rehab: 14 sessions in about 8:30. All of my PT work is at home now since being unofficially discharged and I try to rotate a shorter routine and a longer routine with a few additional exercises. I feel like I have been slacking lately so I am happy to see that I am averaging about every other day. I mean, I SHOULD be doing this every day, but if I only have an hour I’m going to run or bike. However, I have been good about only allowing myself a few days in a row off PT, max.

Weights: 6 times, 3 barre classes and 3 heavy/body weight sessions, for about 6:45. This is another one that surprised me – I didn’t think I was being THAT consistent. My usual goal for the week is to lift heavy on the weekends and go to barre during the week. I have a few videos that I like that I should dust off, as well. It doesn’t hurt to change it up every now and then and work some different muscles.

Yoga: 3 times, all at home, for 55 minutes. OK, this wasn’t great, but I have only done yoga once this year in April! So this is a huge improvement! Catching 15 or 20 minutes here and there is what seems to be working for me, when it works, so I’m going to continue as I can.

Total: 48 sessions!!!!!!!!!! In 39 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!! Holy cow!!!!!!!!!!!!

I made some loose monthly goals at the beginning of 2018, which were:

Work through my health issues and re-start a training schedule that gets me back to racing. I am running more and signed up for a 5K in a few weeks, although I won’t be “racing” it. I feel like I’m on the right track. I have a doctor’s appointment next week to check in on a few things.

Run some cool places, maybe another marathon. I am back on my usual running routes, does that count? I didn’t really do any cool places in June.

Work on whole-body health, incorporating things like yoga and pre-hab. Yay, I made some progress this month! I need to work on the non-workout things like going to bed at a decent hour and having actual downtime, but that is in progress, too.

Keep a healthy work-life-training-family-friends-other balance. I did spend some quality time with friends and family in June.

Have fun. I did some of that, too. My two outdoor rides were a big highlight. Basically, whenever I could enjoy time outdoors, I did.

If I can do this all over again for July, plus throw in a swim or two, I will be ecstatic. So that’s my official goal for July: Have as good a month as June was.

Week in review June 25-July 1: Starting with a bang and ending with a bummer

Well, at least I had some consistency for bike, weights, run/walk, and PT.

I ended last week on a down note: My knee was bothering me to the point where I didn’t think it would be prudent to do any kind of workout. Add to that a rest day Monday due to skipping town to avoid the fireworks and resulting dog meltdowns, I had two full rest days this week.

It has been so hot I have moved a few runs indoors, and I really think treadmill running is messing with my knee. My treadmill isn’t great and my belt will jump occasionally. Plus, I remember it hurting more after treadmill runs in the past. So I think I’m going to take a couple days off and start running outside again once this heat waves move out.

Staying inside in the air conditioning Saturday meant I logged my second bike and second weight workout of the week, plus the third PT session. So, even with two days off, my totals weren't terrible:

Bike: Twice, both on the trainer, for about 2:21 and 22 fake trainer miles.

Weights: Twice, one barre class and one heavy/body weight session, for about 2:15 total.

Run/walk: Twice, one on the road and one on the treadmill, for 8 miles in about 1:50. Right now I'm at a 4:00 run/2:00 walk interval schedule, run four times total.

PT/rehab: Three times, all homework sessions, for about 1:45.

Yoga: One solo session for about 15 minutes.

Total: Ten sessions in about 8:25.

It wasn’t a bad week, I just wish I could have ended a bit stronger. And my knee was a bit stronger. Hopefully, resting it for a few days will help me get things back on track. I few days when it's not quite as hot as the surface of the sun will help, too.

Two bummers on this Sunday

1. My knee has been bothering me these last few days. The only thing I've done differently is run on the treadmill a few times in the past couple of weeks. My form isn't great to begin with, so add in the unnatural running on the treadmill and it sounds like a recipe for disaster.

"Just run outside!" you say. Well:

Feels like 96 degrees after 7 p.m. Yuck!

2. A friend of mine ran the Independence Aquathon today. I've done it a few times (2014 and 2015 race reports here) and DNF'd/DNS'd once (2016). My swimming has been in the toilet pretty much since then. I've really struggled with my times and keeping my anxiety under control. I'd like to say it's a work in progress but I haven't done anything lately that could be considered progress.

I've even won a couple of age group awards at this event!

I'm trying to stay positive, but ugh.

I did go to an outdoor pool yesterday, when the heat index was more than 100 degrees, just to splash around. It was nice to get in the pool with zero expectations.

There's nothing I can do except keep working at what I can do. If I can't run or swim, at least I can ride and stay inside in the air conditioning.

The summer is off to a slow start

I haven't posted much because I don't have a lot going on. It was a rough week this week, and it got off to a slow start. I had good workout days yesterday and today, which felt good.

I did sign up for a 5K in a few weeks! For the third year in a row, I hope to run the Pure Detroit 5K (2016, 2017 race reports). It's right down the street from me and I will be totally fine running it slowly at my own pace, as my knee is still healing.

I also found a flat duathlon at the end of summer that I am thinking about, although I'm not signed up for it quite yet. I've never done a du, so it would be an automatic PR. Yay!

I failed on one of my healthy living goals this month — take at least a long weekend off every month this summer. I took two half days this month, once for a migraine and once to get out of town to escape the fireworks, but that was it.

Also, I missed the broadcast of "40 Years of Dreams," not hearing about it until I had already left for work, too late to set my DVR. (Trailer here.) If you saw it, let me know how it is!

I will watch this eventually!

Week in review June 18-24: Step in dog poop, bike, run

This past week was a busy one, so I’m going to blame that for not updating here. We skipped town last night because my lab mix Daisy hates fireworks, and it was the International Freedom Festival in Windsor and Detroit... with lots of fireworks. So we headed to my in-laws for a nice dinner and a quiet evening.

Mutts chilling at Gwamma and Gwappa's.

Last week got off to a craptastic start, literally. We dogsat for my parents’ geriatric shih tzu, Jack, and when I got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night I stepped into a pile of his poop. Sigh. Most likely, he was just stressed from the travel and staying at our place. The rest of the week passed with much less excitement. Thankfully.

Everyone tolerated each other, for the most part.

With that start to my Monday, it could only get better, right? I managed a decent number of workouts, although I still haven’t broken the 10-hour training mark. I gave up one night to hang out with friends in their sweet backyard setup and eat a delicious pork roast from their smoker. The weather was rainy and I didn’t feel like dealing with it Saturday, so I did a long trainer ride instead of trying to hit the road, although I had luck avoiding getting rained on when I went for a run on Sunday.

Not a bad week.

All told, it was:

Bike: Three times, all on the trainer, for almost 30 fake trainer miles in just longer than 3 hours.

Run/walk: Three times, twice on the road and once on the treadmill, for 11.25 miles in about 2:42.

Everything bike and run felt pretty OK this week. I had some twinges doing both activity here and there, maybe a little discomfort, but nothing that reached real pain or made me want to pull the plug.

PT: Four solo rehab sessions for about 2:30 total. I did one each Monday and Tuesday, slacked massively for the rest of the week, and picked up again Saturday and Sunday. Oh well, at least I did something.

Weights: One round of my heavy/bodyweight moves for about 1:15. I am definitely feeling the renewed interest in chin-ups and pushups.

Total: 11 sessions in about 9:30. Not bad at all!

I didn’t do any yoga this week. Early week was PT focused, and I had errands and such Thursday, and by Friday I was sooooooooooo tired all I could manage was a mediocre run. I really should have at least stretched while watching TV but… oh well. I was pretty lame and stayed in for most of the weekend.

I have a couple of health goals to work on these next few weeks. I have to get better at going to bed earlier. I get up at 5:45-ish currently and a good night is one where I’m in bed by 10:30. I was up too late both weekend nights. Blech. My problem is, I try to cram too much stuff into the precious few evening hours.

My other health goal is to slowly try to get back to the pool. I went this morning for a blood draw which may confirm or deny my suspicions that I am actually over medicated for my thyroid issue, which could be causing the shortness of breath and anxiety. Getting my thyroid taken seriously and then medicated appropriately has been a 10+ year struggle, and I’m so used to being slow and sluggish. Well, I’ll know more after the draw and follow up in a couple weeks.

I hope your week is off to a good, poop-free start.

Week in review June 11-17: 10 miles of run/walking! But not enough PT

Not a bad week - a nice variety, even if PT was lacking.

It feels like 103 degrees outside so I am hibernating for the foreseeable future. Yesterday was the hottest day of the year here so far. After a walk around the block, my dogs pass out for two hours. (OK, that part I don’t mind.)

I did move my run indoors yesterday, but I did run twice last week and ride once last week outside before the heat wave moved in. I hit one of my goals of run/walking 10 miles over the course of the week, but I definitely slacked on the PT.

Other than that it wasn't a bad week. I had a good mix of training (except for swimming) although I didn't do as much as I would have liked in each. I really want to hit 10 hours of training one of these weeks! 9.5 hours last week is the best I've done in a while.

Anyway, last week worked out to be:

Bike: Three times, twice on the trainer and one nice road ride, for a bit less than 3 hours. My road ride was 20 miles in about an hour and a half, super easy and spinning up the "hills" that pass for hills in southeast Michigan.

Run/walk: Three times, twice on the road and once on the treadmill, for a total of 10.27 miles in about 2:45. Everything felt operational.

PT/rehab: Major slackage here. Only twice for an hour total. Blech.

Weights: One hour-long barre class.

Yoga: One 20-minute solo session.

Total: 10 sessions in almost exactly 8 hours.

Another victory from last week was that I did at least one thing every single day. Hooray! I prepped food for the week on Sunday and took a salad to work for lunch every single day. Hooray, again! Training wasn't 100% but healthy eating was on point, and that counts for something.

Heat wave be damned. Hopefully this next week will be even better than last.