Weekly Rundown- Mmmmm…. Lemonade.
In his article, 7 Life Lessons from a Guy Who Can’t Move Anything But His Face, Jon Morrow says, “We’ve all heard the cliché about turning lemons into lemonade, but to do that, you can’t be pissed off at the lemons, go into denial about the existence of the lemons, or get depressed because you’re tired of making lemonade. You just have to grab a lemon and squeeze the sh*t out of the motherf*cker.” I’ll admit there were a couple times this week where I got really tired of making lemonade, but I’m ending the week on a higher note. I’m linking up with Kim and Deborah for this Weekly Rundown. Here’s how the week went! Monday Well, let’s rewind briefly. My run on Sunday was mysteriously difficult due to the achy knee issue. When I went to bed on Sunday night my neck, low back, and feet were slightly achy as well and I was worried I was getting sick. But I woke up Monday feeling okay. Physically, that is. Mentally I was pretty bummed out, and I’ll admit I rage-quit my PT exercises for a few days. I had been doing them so diligently, but to be confronted with aching knees just as my hip was completely better was discouraging, to say the least. Tuesday This was a planned running day, but I did a pool run instead to give my knees an extra day to rest. I had a little conniption fit on this day, and wrote a blog post about my frustrations. I realized that one reason I love running is that it makes me feel young. When I can’t run, I feel old. I don’t like feeling old. Wednesday I was determined to get out for a trail run- I desperately needed it for my mental health. My knees ached but I pushed through it. Since my knees ease up as I run, I decided to dispense with the run/walk intervals, and just ran for 30 minutes. I needed this run so, so much. It was hot- I got out late- and I haven’t run on the trail, or for 30 minutes straight, in about eight weeks. But it felt amazing. I finished and felt like my old self. Thursday Back to reality! I took Deborah’s advice and finally got on the Peloton bandwagon. I did my first class, 30 minute Strength for Runners with Becs Gentry. If you have no issues, are running well and need a quick workout to keep everything strong, I think this is excellent. There’s a little bit of everything- single leg, squats, lunges, abs, upper back… short, sweet and effective. Unfortunately I do have some issues (have I mentioned that?) so I had to modify the lunges- I was afraid they would fry my knees. But I replaced them with more of the single leg moves, and still got a good workout. Obviously if you’re paying $12.99 for three months of unlimited classes, you’re not going to find things like “Strength for Runner’s with Achy Knees” or “Strength Workout for Your Left Glute Medius.” For now I’ll have to modify the workouts to suit my needs- but I think it’s going to be a good thing. Friday Started off for a run but my knees really hurt. I had to decide if I could hobble through the first mile or so and hope they eased up- and I just couldn’t. I walked back home and got in the pool. Obviously I was disappointed, but the adrenaline I was feeling pushed me to have an awesome pool run- if those words can really go together. I’m going to say something kind of weird here. I don’t think my knee pain is from running. I can’t explain it exactly, but you know how sometimes you just know what’s going on in your own body? One day I was running happily and the next, both my knees were aching terribly. Nothing in any of my PT exercises irritated my knees, and I’ve never had a knee problem before, in my entire life. That includes slow running, fast running, marathon training, 50 mile weeks (in my youth) and many, many times returning to running after an injury. I’ve been googling other reasons for achy knees, and things like lupus come up. So I’ve stopped googling (I don’t think I have lupus.) For now I’m just going to wait, take my turmeric, try not to irritate my knees, and see what happens. What else can I do? Saturday Did another Peloton class, 20 Minute In the Heights Core Strength with Emma Lovewell (is that really her name?) I liked this one as well, although there were lunges in the warmup (grr!) Then I finally went back to some of my PT exercises- the clamshells, glute bridges, side leg lifts… etc. Sunday Very exciting- another pool run. PT exercises planned for later in the day. In other news, I can see that all my best intentions for sleeping more have been thwarted for the next two weeks. I can’t resist staying up late to watch the Olympics! I’m not that into beach volleyball, although I respect the fact that these women are incredible athletes, and of course I’m rooting for team USA. But I’m loving the gymnastics and swimming, as always! Last summer was such a terrible summer (in addition to all the other issues, my sister had a serious illness- she’s better now!) and we kept saying “Just look ahead- next summer all this will be over and we’ll be watching the Olympics.” And here we are! YAY! Tell me your favorite Peloton strength classes! Women’s gymnastics on tonight- who’s watching it?