Weekly Rundown- Answers and Possibilities
Hello! Welcome to another Weekly Rundown, hosted as always by Kim and Deborah. The big excitement of the week was seeing the podiatrist- I wrote all about it in this post. As you will soon see, the doctor said I can keep running- moderately- while he’s treating my foot. Victory! Here’s how the week played out. Monday I did a 45 minute “Beyond the Pose” yoga flow class on the Peloton app with Denis Morton (if you’re new to these weekly rundowns, it will quickly become apparent that I have one very, very favorite Peloton yoga teacher.) The class description said we would learn more about the concepts, philosophies and other practices of yoga- but I find Denis to be pretty philosophical normally, so this class wasn’t much different than his usual. Tuesday I did a 30 minute power yoga class with Denis in the morning, and then WENT TO THE PODIATRIST. Highlights from that appointment include a diagnosis of plantar fasciitis AND insertional peroneal tendinitis- so THAT’S what the other pain in my foot is- a treatment plan for both with shockwave therapy (he did the first treatment at this appointment) and the eventual plan to get custom made orthotics for my “difficult foot”. He said it was fine to continue running during treatments- keeping runs in the 3-5 mile range. In the afternoon, I went for a three mile run! Normally I’m a morning runner, but I just had that itch to get out this afternoon. It helps that our weather has cooled down the tiniest bit- it was 81 degrees when I went out at 5:00 pm, and that’s about ten degrees cooler than it was at that time a week ago. Wednesday Did a 45 minute “Slow flow” yoga class. I’ve discovered that the power classes are the hardest, with slow flow coming in a close second. You would think “slow” means easy, but actually holding the poses longer can be challenging. Thursday And speaking of challenging… holy crap. I did the hardest power yoga class yet. It was a 45 minute class, and you start off innocently sitting in an easy crossed legged position, stretching each individual finger. Well… I know Denis pretty well now, and when a class starts out that easy and gentle- look out. Before I knew it, we were doing a sequence alternating between Warrior 3 and pistol squats, GAAAAH! The third time through the sequence you actually go from Warrior 3, straight to a pistol squat (drawing your raised rear leg in front of you without touching the floor) then from the pistol squat, all the way down to the mat for a one-legged bridge, then straight back up into a pistol squat, back to Warrior 3. Having trouble following that? Go ahead… check out the class! In the afternoon I did a three mile run. Again- an unusual afternoon run. Like I said, I’m usually a morning runner but I enjoyed these afternoon runs! In this post I talked about how I worked on my cadence for this run, using the Metrotimer app. Friday I was a little sore today, and I suspect it had something to do with pistol squats. I did a 45 minute slow flow class, and it turned out to be a hard one. Or maybe it just felt hard because my legs were sore. Each time through the flow, Denis held a different pose for a minute. First time was high lunge, second time Warrior 2, etc. A minute doesn’t sound long, but it felt long. Good class! Saturday I knew that I wanted to run on Sunday, but also wanted to squeeze in a short run today. I walked for one mile and then ran for one mile. For the first mile of walking, I felt like a dog who’s straining against a leash. When my watch beeped one mile, it’s like someone unsnapped the leash and I bounded forward joyfully. Walking really fast is hard! Running is easier (and more fun.) After work I did a 30 minute yoga flow, focusing on twists. All my yoga classes are on the Peloton app with Denis Morton, and I love the variety. Sunday At my doctor’s recommendation, I limited this run to five miles, but I did a fast one mile walk first, for six miles total. I miss doing a longer Sunday run, but I’m thrilled that I get to run at all, while getting this foot issue treated. Overall I felt so optimistic all week. I’ve been dealing with my foot pain for so long, I felt like I would have it forever. I know it will take some time, but I finally feel like it’s going to be healed, and am hoping that getting orthotics will finally put an end to the cycle of injuries I’ve been in. I’m envisioning a future full of running adventures! How was your week? Are you enjoying fall weather? – Still warm here… hoping for a true cooldown soon!