In one of my recent posts I said that my life is a little less “sparkly” when I’m not running. Well, this week I was able to add a little sparkle back! Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s just see how this week went from gray to sparkly…
Sunday
I started the day with a 50 minute pool run. Finally, a slightly interesting pool running photo:
I’ve been doing exercises to strengthen my piriformis muscles, and I knew there’s a good one in Brad Beer’s book, You Can Run Pain Free.
When I dug the book out, I remembered that he has four hip stability exercises, including the piriformis one, and I decided to do them all. I used to do them years ago, but then I stopped. Why did I stop??? I re-committed to doing them on a regular basis.
Monday
I started the day with the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout,, and then did a 30 minute pool run.
Later in the day I did the four Brad Beer hip stability exercises again. I’m on a roll!
Tuesday
I started the day with Caroline’s deadbug workout, and then a 40 minute pool run.
Later in the day I had my second dry needling treatment on my calf, and then later I just did the Brad Beer piriformis exercise. My hips were a little sore, and I was saving them up for leg day at the gym!
Wednesday
As planned, I hit the gym, and decided to do a full body workout, including (but not limited to) squats, bench press, and rows. I knew it would probably be my only gym day of the week so I wanted to make the most of it.
Later in the day I decided to go for a walk. In my running shoes. And, well, guess what happened…
I walked two miles and then broke into a cautious run. My calf has been feeling good, and I wanted to get some feedback before my next dry needling appointment. I did run/walk intervals for a mile and my calf felt perfect!
Thursday
Ha, the result of my full body workout at the gym was that my entire body was sore today. I knew I should do a pool run, but I just couldn’t- I felt like I would have a mental breakdown if I had to run around and around in the pool again. I did the Caroline Girvan deadbug workout and called it a day.
Later I had my THIRD (and last?) dry needling treatment. She gave me the green light to try a little running (er, oops- I didn’t mention that I already did that.) Hooray!
Friday
Okay fine. I’ll get in the pool. My calf was sore from the treatment- which is completely normal- so I didn’t want to do anything to stress it out. 40 minute pool run.
Later in the day I did the Brad Beer hip exercises- everything was still a little sore from the gym, but these exercises don’t use weights so I figured it was okay.
Saturday
Run #2! This time I walked a mile and then ran/walked for two.
I’m CAUTIOUSLY optimistic. My calf didn’t hurt, but I’ve been down this road twice before. I take time off, the first couple runs back feel fine and then the pain returns. I’m not sure if the dry needling worked, or if my calf feels better because I took time off of running. Only time will tell!
Sunday
On tap for today- sleeping in. Later in the day I’ll do some strength, definitely including the hip stability exercises. I do remember why I stopped doing them now- they’re boring, and they make my hips sore. But I’m determined to keep up with them this time and see what happens.
What makes your life sparkly?
Have you heard of Brad Beer or read his book?- It’s a good one!
Top photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash
44 Responses
So glad the calf pain is gone (for now at least). Do you mind sharing the hip strengthening exercises? Maybe just the piriformas one? I’ve had piriformas issues in the past (actually, they plagued me for over a year) and I’d love to learn a good exercise to combat them.
I hope your calf continues to feel better as you up your mileage. (Fingers crossed emojis!!!)
Yes, I’ll post it here- but in the meantime I’ll go over to your blog and leave it in the comments as well.
I am glad you were able to do a bit of running this week! I hope you can continue to keep that calf pain at bay. Glad the dry needling seems to have helped! Phew!
I did my long run on Friday morning on my shouldless day and it went amazing! The humidity was low and the temps were cooler and I am sure caffeine + being properly fueled helped, too. I am relieved it went well because the previous long run was seriously so awful. I had to do a lot of walking in the final couple of miles.
I think spending time with friends is what makes my life sparkly! My work trip last week was with a woman that I consider a good friend so we had a lot of fun together. And today we will see Phil’s high school friends. It’s a little ironic that I say friends make life sparkly because I am an introvert! But I guess introverts need social time, too! It just needs to be the right amount!
Yay! I knew that run would be a good run- all the ingredients were there. And, struggling through a bad run makes us stronger.
Introverts definitely need social time- my mistake is not scheduling it because I THINK I just want to be alone- but too much alone time isn’t good for anyone.
Hooray. Glad the calf is improving.
Yes running makes me feel sparkly.
My sparkles were off this past week.
Now it’s cooled down but I caught a cold in NYC. Boo.
ARG! That’s bad luck. Hopefully it’s mild and you can get back to your activities. You’re probably itching to run again in the cooler weather.
Love the cat cameo! Muffin is so cute!
LOL on remembering why you stopped doing those exercises after only a few days of them. PT exercises are like that.
I hope your calf is better for real this time.
I think at this point I find sparkle in being able to workout hard in any modality.
Oh, I wish I could feel like that! Although, I guess a hard non-running workout gives me “mini sparkles.” Much better than nothing.
Yes, PT exercises are not my favorite. i’m going to force myself to do them to see if it makes a difference- I’m tired of constantly putting out fires, dealing with one issue or another. If I could just run pain-free (as Brad Beer promises) it’s worth doing the exercises.
Yay, I hope the calf keeps behaving!!! I just woke up and honestly cannot pinpoint what specifically makes my life “sparkly” and now I’m concerned. 😅 I’ll have to report back once my brain is more awake and can decide.
Hahahaha… I would guess from your blog that you would say travel, time with your family, and Charlie. But I’ll be interested to hear what you come up with!
Oh, I’m so glad you are feeling a bit better! That’s great news. Yay for sparkle. I can’t think of an example of sparkle, but my life generally feels sparkly.
Nicole, your picture should be in the dictionary next to the definition of “sparkly.” I really think your whole life sparkles.
Glad to read that your calf is starting to feel better and that you have been able to run. With it being so hot, I ran less this week too. I am ok with it and I am finding ways to enjoy pool running and swimming. It is always hard for me to be patient when I have a nagging injury too. Hope this week is better for you
Thank you Deborah! Yes, it’s hard to be patient. I’m just trying to find ways to pass the time so I don’t get too insane!
I’m so glad to hear your sparkle is coming back! Fingers and toes crossed your calf continues to feel good. Hooray for getting in some good pool runs and yay for Muffin’s cameo! Haha!
Thank you Marcia! Muffin brightens everything up, for sure.
Love the little glimpse of Muffin 🙂
And yay for sparkle and the calf feeling better. I had to chuckle that you didn’t tell your therapist that you had already run (or maybe you did). Either way, hilarious and also so smart to listen to your body! I know it’s not easy to stick out the pool runs, but I’m sure that’s a big part of why you’re feeling better.
Ahem, no I didn’t quite mention that I had already run. I mean, she didn’t ASK so it wasn’t like I lied (right???)
I am cautiously optimistic as well! Welcome back to the sparkle! I hope that the only time that you’re in the pool next week will be for a post-run dip.
Ha, yes I definitely hope for that as well!
What great news about the added sparkle!! Whatever made the calf better – I’m so glad for you that you can run again! Really hope this issue is behind you now. Good work with the hip & piriformis exercises – I need to get back to doing mine too. I sort of put everything else (except walking) on hold when I’m into my heavy strength program.
Susanne, it is SO HARD to do everything! I feel like it’s a tradeoff between all the little things, like PT exercises, and heavy lifting. I guess in a perfect world we would do it all, but it’s hard.
Good to hear that the dry needling may have helped you out! I seem to be sore after the dry needling and then maybe a week later I’m feeling good. Running used to give my life a lot of sparkle, but running right now seems to be more of a chore and painful, so I haven’t really been getting much pleasure from it! And ironically, I haven’t missed it much. But as soon as I can’t bike anymore I’ll have a different point of view!
Despite the boring nature of it, you have done a great job getting in that pool run! I have not been motivated to do mine this week.
I think you get a lot of pleasure out of your bike rides. I wish I had a cross training activity that I liked, but they’re all a chore to me. I hope your runs start to feel better so you can enjoy them again!
Here’s some mundane sparkle. Our dryer works. It dries clothes completely. For years we had a dryer that took forever and only sort of worked, but I just did all of our laundry for the week in four hours and it’s because our dryer is efficient. I get a jolt of joy every time I empty the dryer!
I hope you’ll soon be able to get that running sparkle as often as you want it!
Ha ha, well that is a little mundane but I get it! Having a washer and dryer that work well REALLY make life better.
Positive news about your running, I hope that calf is finally better, third time lucky perhaps. I’m so curious, who/what takes all your photos? So many good action shots of running, yet you don’t mention a running partner.
What makes my life sparkly is travel/exploring new places, and social catch ups with close friends and family. These days I don’t do either of those things as often as I used to, and sometimes I definitely feel in need of more sparkle in my life.
Sophie, I do not have a running partner! I have certain spots where I set up my phone- usually on a fire hydrant, and then I take a video of myself running, and then take a screen shot from the video.
It’s hard to travel and explore when you have young kids, so I get it. You’ll get your sparkle back in time- it definitely gets easier.
I’m so glad your calf seems to be improving and you were able to run a bit! Hopefully it’ll stay happy and you can run more this week.
Running definitely makes my life more sparkly as well! There’s been a little less of it the past two weeks as I’m tapering but I’m actually finding that I kinda enjoy the taper now — it feels good to cut back a bit after training hard for a few months. But I always get a little antsy during race week because I just want to get out there yet at the same time I’m anxious about the race!
Oh yes I know that feeling! Taper can be hard mentally. But it’s also exciting- I’m assuming your race is this coming weekend?
Yep, the race is on Saturday!
Yay for the sparkles! I’d be curious what those hip exercises are, as they’re probably something I should add to my routine. I lot of the Peloton Barre workouts have moves that include a lot of the PT stuff I was doing up until a year ago or so. They’re more fun doing them in a Barre workout than just on their own, LOL. A we all know, the PT stuff (and probably your hip exercises) are all things we SHOULD just do on the regular…but we don’t. You’d think we’d learn, right?
Yes I know! Those exercises are so boring, the minute I’m feeling better I forget all about them. Maybe I’ll learn this time? We’ll see…
I’m so glad to see that you’re easing back into running and it is pain free. FIngers crossed. I need to do some calf massage–that longest mile workout really did a number on them. I may even have to get a massage or dry needling…
Yes, get a massage! It will feel good. Hmm, maybe I can get a massage this week as well. Thanks for the idea!
I need running, reading and sleep – sadly the running is not great at the moment as I seem to have lost the impetus to do it. I hope that returns. We are sorting out That Room in the house where everything ends up and I should be able to get my recumbent bike / rower out again and use it which might help a bit. I’m just scared of my knee going painful when I’m somewhere inaccessible, then only get to run in boring places! Anyway, good work by you and lovely appearance by the kitty! Does she get bothered by you exercising in the pool? Mine came and shouted at me while I used the foam roller today …
Ha ha, my cats absolutely can’t leave me alone if I’m doing anything on the floor! I think they’re slightly puzzled and alarmed when I’m in the pool.
Liz, I know that feeling- it is HARD coming back from an injury, not knowing if something is going to hurt or not. My calf is acting up AGAIN and I’m thinking of trying a run on the treadmill at the gym tomorrow- SO boring, but if it hurts I can just stop immediately and do something else. Sigh.
Glad to hear you’re feeling the sparkle again <3. I know how important that is…
And all the AW-s at that cameo of Mx. Muffin!!
i love it when the cats get in my photos- they add a lot!
Eeeek! We are in it for the sparkle! I’m so happy for you! I fist pumped when I saw your title and my enthusiasm is going strong!
Cautiously optimistic is good, but it sounds promising! Keep it up!
Thank you Jenn! I’m trying…
That’s great news about your calf! I hope it continue to heal so you can get all of your sparkle back! 🙂
Trials and tribulations continue with the calf… but it will heal eventually.
I have an awful feeling that the calf recovery was short-lived. Sigh. I hope that broadening your fitness perspective helps regardless of whether I am right or not! You are pushing through and doing the work – now your body just has to cooperate, darn it!