Weekly Rundown- Not Bad, Just Different
Well, it was a week! A week with some big gym workouts, and… pool running. You might remember last week I mentioned a little pain in my shin- by the end of the week it was bad enough that I decided to take some time off. That meant no July 4th 5K, but that’s okay. If I really, really wanted to run that race I would have done it, but it wasn’t important enough for me to run it with a sore shin. I’d rather take a little time off now voluntarily, than be forced to take a lot of time off later. Of course there’s still plenty to talk about! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s get right into it. Monday 45 minute pool run! Looking on the bright side, I’m incredibly lucky to have a pool in my backyard (it’s a Florida thing.) If I were going to say something negative, I would say pool running is REALLY boring. To break up the monotony I did intervals of hard “running” and listened to a podcast (obviously!) Tuesday I went to the gym with my son! We don’t usually go together because we’re on different schedules. But because of the holiday, our paths aligned. I did his “pull” day with him, and it was hard! Wednesday I went to the gym with my son AGAIN, and this time I did his leg day workout. It’s different than what I normally do, but I felt like a change. His workout is all machines- calf raises, leg extension, leg curls, adductor, abductor, and then he finishes it off with the most grueling sets on the hack squat machine you could ever imagine. Here’s how low he goes: We discovered that you can actually adjust this machine- who knew? (My son said, “Well, I knew, because I read the instructions.” Oh.) But even racking it on the low setting, it was only possible for me to go down this far. You guys, this is HARD. We did the same weight, and my son did sets of FOURTEEN. I did sets of five, and on the last one my son challenged me to do six, which I could barely do. I’m still going to do most of my squats with the squat bar, but I’ll incorporate some sets on the hack squat machine. You can get down LOW and work to failure in a way you can’t with the bar. At my suggestion, we finished with abs and low back. My son wasn’t into it, but he humored me. Thursday Another 45 minute pool run. Again looking on the bright side- it’s HOT here. It’s pretty nice to get in the pool instead of running in the heat and humidity. On the negative side- well… again, boring. Friday Back to the gym! My legs were still sore from Wednesday (obviously) so I did upper body- rows, bench press, overhead shoulder press- and calf raises. On Wednesday, I asked my son to watch me while I did calf raises, because it feels like my right leg is working much harder than the left. He confirmed that my right calf muscle is noticeable bigger than the left. AHA. The left side is the side with my plantar fasciitis, and less range of motion. So from now on I’m going to do calf raises one leg at a time, and focus on building up the strength on that left side. And I’m also doing calves every time I go to the gym. I finished off with abs and low back. Good workout! Saturday On Friday night we went out for Indian food with friends, and I had… a couple… glasses of wine. Saturday was the perfect day to take off, so I could sleep in a little before going to work. Sunday On tap for today- a run. Not in the pool! If my shin hurts, I’ll stop and get right in the pool. It’s been an entire week with no running, and my shin feels fine while walking. Fingers crossed! Whenever I take some time off running to rehab an area, it seems like the rest of my body decides to fall apart. My plantar fasciitis and my achy low back have been worse this week- must get back to running ASAP. How was your week? Did you run a race on the 4th? Does your body rebel when you take time off of running? Or do you like it?