Well, it was an interesting week! As a reminder, last week I talked about an extremely painful rib injury. Lots of people shared stories of similar injuries (btw, ribs are apparently very fragile!) and here’s what Debbie said: “Once when I had pneumonia, I coughed so much that I irritated the connective tissue where my ribs attach to my sternum. It felt like a broken rib, but wasn’t.” As soon as I read that, I had a strong feeling that’s what I had. Thank you, Dr. Debbie! Not that it was instantaneously cured, but I had a better idea how to cope with it.
The universe also decided to throw a couple other curveballs my way. Thanks, universe! And, thanks to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Let’s get into it.
Monday
Rib area is still extremely sore. I got out for a 3 mile run. Running doesn’t make it worse, but breathing hurts. Not a super fun run, but I got it done.
My new plan was to avoid stretching the connective tissue between my ribs and sternum, so before I went to work I wrapped an ace bandage around the area to keep everything compressed toward the midline. I definitely think it helped!
Tuesday
Okay, I’m not quite ready for the gym but I have to do SOME strength. I did a lower body strength workout using dumbbells at home. Good workout- but I’m kind of bummed that I can’t find any type of core work that I can do. Sigh.
I wrapped up my rib again for work. It was definitely feeling better! As a matter of fact, later in the day I felt a sneeze coming on and I thought “This is so much better, I think I’m ready to sneeze again.” You’ve probably never analyzed your sneezing mechanism, but prior to the actual sneeze, your body takes a sharp inhalation, which caused a searing pain in my side. NO! NOT READY! NOT READY!!! I frantically smashed my hand into my nose and stifled the sneeze just in time. Not quite there yet. This, by the way, all happened in the grocery store. If anyone was watching me, I’m sure I looked like a lunatic.
Wednesday
My daughter didn’t go to school, so I was able to sleep later. That was nice- but then I went out for what turned out to be one of the worst runs of my life. It was warm and muggy; my legs were sore from my strength work yesterday; and my side ached.
3 extremely hard miles. When I finished, I felt like I had just raced a 5k as hard as I could. What the…? Oh well. It feels like a long time since I’ve actually had a good run.
Thursday
I tried some upper body strength today. There’s a lot I can’t do, but there were things I could. Like, I could do bicep curls, and I did those standing on one leg, which was good for my core. My CORE, which is turning to mush, thanks a lot rib injury! Sheesh.
At night, I suddenly got oddly chilled. Yes, we had a “cold” front come though. I usually love that, but this time I couldn’t seem to warm up. And oh yes… I noticed that my eyeballs hurt. Like, it hurt to look side to side or up and down. And I felt all the energy drain out of my body. This seems… like a bad thing.
I got in bed, piled blankets on top of me and slept with warm socks on. Sometime in the middle of the night I woke up drenched in sweat, but then went back to sleep. Ugh.
Friday
I woke up… not sick! But also not completely well. I felt a little fragile, and opted to postpone my run. It was the day I wait for all summer, our first morning down to 50 degrees- and I couldn’t even appreciate it because I was too cold. It was a cruel irony!
This might be the perfect time to mention that in addition to everything else, our wifi was out FOR THREE DAYS. It was out for our entire neighborhood. This would be an inconvenience at any time, but remember I’m joining San for NaBloPoMo this month! I tried using my phone as a hotspot, but ended up spending lots of time at Starbucks.
After work I decided I felt well enough to try a run. And it actually felt pretty good! I missed our low of 50, but still got to appreciate a beautiful Florida day. It was upper 60s, sunny, and lovely.
I actually felt better after this run than I did before. Sometimes, you just have to go for it and see what happens.
I was VERY glad I felt well enough to go to the high school football game at night! It was our regional semi-final game, and we beat the other team so badly that I truly felt sorry for them. But, I didn’t feel so bad that I couldn’t celebrate our victory!!! Next up- regional finals next Friday.
Saturday
Once again I opted to sleep in and postpone my run till later. The day got so busy that I ended up running in the dark. That’s okay- I’m used to that from all my early morning runs..
This run felt absolutely exhilarating! It was cool outside, and I loved it. I finally felt like I was over my “not well-ness.” And… I can finally say that, while I still feel the rib pain, it’s more of a nuisance than a major problem.
At night I watched Baylor win their fifth game in a row. Apparently we’re still in contention for the Big 12 Championship- how did that happen??? It’s an amazing comeback.
And THEN- my son came home!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a perfect night.
Sunday
Ah. Sleeping in. Making my son’s favorite breakfast. Happiness!
Honestly, I ended the week feeling turned around by all that happened. We had a cold front; I got “sick” (?); we lost our internet (it’s back now, phew); my son came home; and oh yes- Thanksgiving is coming up? Goals for this week- get back to some regular semblance of strength training, get my running mileage up a bit, and ahem, plan and cook a Thanksgiving dinner. Onward!
How was your week? Have you ever had a 12 hour virus???
44 Responses
Wow. What a week!!!
Hope this week is much calmer.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you Darlene! This week SHOULD be better! Happy Thanksgiving to you too : )
It sounds like quite a rollercoaster of a week. Glad it ended well.
I don’t get sick often but I have had some times when I feel better so quickly I wonder if I was sick at all. That’s not what happened this month though!
That’s what mine was like= Wait, was I sick, or not? That kind of “sickness” is definitely better than the other kind!
Sheesh what a week! I forgot that Phil also injured his rib from coughing when he had pneumonia last fall. That is a tough injury to have with young kids that want to jump on you with no warning… it took a couple of months to heal completely. I hope your heals quicker! It’s tough to be in pain!!
I’m glad you were still able to get out for some runs. Bummer about the odd virus, though. We have been pretty healthy this fall. I am afraid to even type that out and invite a virus to hit us. Phil was just commenting about how he wonders who will get sick on Thanksgiving. One of the kids has been sick nearly every Thanksgiving!!
Ha ha… okay, sending healthy vibes your way- hope you can get through this week with no one getting sick! And- SO many people have injured a rib from coughing. Why is that so common? Seems like our ribs should be able to withstand that.
Every once in a while I strike it lucky and am only sick for a very short period of time. That’s the thing about starting to feel “not well” – I never know if it’s the start of a bad cold that will take a few weeks to fully clear up or just a short session of the sniffles. Yay for short illnesses/boo for not being able to enjoy “Florida cold”.
And yay for your son being home. I can’t wait for our family Thanksgiving!
Yes, I definitely got lucky this time. Now I feel better just in time for out weather to heat up again, SIGH!
Ooof I’m sorry you were “sick” but it sounds like you’re better now? Just in time for Thanksgiving! Have a good week.
Yes, if I had to be sick for 12 hours that was a good time to do it!
Sounds like a rough week. Have you thought about taking a rest week? Sounds like your body is telling you it needs to recover. Just my 2 cents. Happy Thanksgiving to you and enjoy your family time
Thank you Deboarh- Happy Thanksgiving to you as well! I’ll play it by ear this week. I’ll be able to sleep a little later since my daughter doesn’t have school, so that will be lovely.
Wow, I think it’s impressive that you kept excercising through that pain. And to the “You’ve probably never analyzed your sneezing mechanism” I must say, you’re not the only one. I have had such back pain that any sneezing that is coming on will make me flinch and try anything to stop it because I know it will hurt SO BAD. I am sure that the fear makes the body cramp even more than without thinking about it beforehand, but yes, it is not easy to relax into it.
Take care of yourself!
Sneezing is actually a very violent motion! Sorry to hear about your back pain- I certainly hope you don’t have any allergies! I was thinking that this week, what if I had some seasonal allergies that were causing me to sneeze? It would have been a disaster.
Man, I hate it when I am injured or sick and you got the double whammy. At least it did not last long! Hopefully with a little rest and lots of eating it will be gone in no time! 🙂 I have (luckily) not been sick in a while. I did get a cold this spring that lasted for a while but it was very low grade, so it was not too bad. The only issue I had for a few days was that I could not breathe through my nose, so I was all dry mouthed at the beginning of the day. However, it was very mild.
Ha, lots of eating- I should be able to accomplish that!
Yay, your son is home! Happy Thanksgiving in advance!
I wonder if your strong exercise regimen is what shortened your sickness?
And I’m glad to hear wrapping worked to alleviate your rib pain somewhat… (I thought it was an “old wives’ tale” that you shouldn’t stifle a sneeze–but have learned it’s actually bad for you.)
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays–so I’m looking forward to it!
Wait, is it actually bad for you to stifle a sneeze? I have an ex-boyfriend who believed that- he was a big fan of sneezing as hard as you possibly can. I’m going to have to look this up.
I hope you have a wonderful week!
Aww, I’m so happy for you that your son is home! Enjoy!! I personally appreciate hearing about your 3 mile run that felt impossibly hard- I mean, I’m sorry that happened to you, but it makes me feel a little better about myself! Ha. I feel like whenever I run anymore it’s SO hard, so if it can sometimes still be that hard for you, who runs every day and is a total beast, then it just makes me feel a little better to know that it’s just a hard thing! I am glad your Saturday run was so good though. I think this is the first time I’ve ever heard you mention running at NIGHT?! I had a good leg workout yesterday at the gym. Was supposed to do it Thursday, but ended up missing it, and then moved it to Friday, but I ended up in bed all afternoon/evening with a terrible migraine!! Saturday I felt like a new person though and I enjoyed a good workout at a very quiet, late Saturday afternoon gym.
Every once in a while I’ll have a run like that, that’s mysteriously SO HARD. Everyone has those days. And, I haven’t run at night in a long time. I wasn’t planning on it that day, but things just got out of control. It wasn’t that late- it’s just that it gets dark so early now!
I’m glad that your crazy week ended on a high note. That rib pain sounds annoying, but glad it was nothing serious. Probably a contusion. And no actually illness sounds like a win as well.
Here’s to a calm week ahead! Enjoy having your son home!
Thank you Wendy! The week may not be calm, but it will be fun.
Wow, what a wild week for you but it sounds like it ended on a high note with your son getting home!
I have definitely had times where I wondered if I was getting sick if I wake up with a sore throat but it’s usually just because I’m dehydrated and it’s goes away pretty quickly. But so many of my coworkers have been sick over the past two weeks that I’m just trying to steer clear of everyone as much as possible!
Yes, lots of people are getting sick. Hopefully I got whatever was going around, and it was super brief.
Well, that was a rough roller coaster ride of a week! I’m glad things turned around for you. Hopefully the worst of the rib pain is behind you. Your “almost sneeze” story was so funny despite the pain…hopefully that will feel better when the next sneeze happens.
I actually sneezed today! I’ve made so much progress!
Three days without the internet! I can’t even imagine what I would do. (And during NaBloPoMo no less?! Don’t the internet people know you’re doing something IMPORTANT!)
I hope your rib/tissue issue gets better soon. How long does it typically take for tissue to knit itself back together?
Great question. The general consensus for rib injuries is around 4 weeks, so I’m going with that! I’ve already gotten through two of them.
Hooray your son is home. What a week! I had a virus like that a few weeks ago- basically sick/not-well for 24 hours. Glad it didn’t develop into anything more (your immune system must be in great shape!). Hopefully a couple more days and the rib injury will be healed, so you can fully enjoy running in the cooler weather (and your thanksgiving celebration).
My rib won’t be completely healed this week, but it’s SO MUCH BETTER. I’m lucky it happened when it did, so I’m able to enjoy my life this week.
Sounds like your week ended on a high note. Besides the major water damage event at work (my lab looks like a construction side) I had a good week. BIL an SIL came and now we are on the road to have some adventures.
Ooh! Adventures? I want to hear all about it!
What a week. I’m so glad it ended on a high note with your son coming home. My week was busy. I’m describing it in tomorrow’s post. I made some headway on my closet overhaul project and did a few fun things with the girls over the weekend.
The new rib diagnosis makes sense, and that’s so much better as I believe it’s harder to come back from a broken rib. When Coach broke his ribs, sneezing was his worst nightmare and he had a cold early on.
Oh, that sounds terrible! Coughing isn’t fun either, but it’s not as bad as sneezing. I’m looking forward to hearing about your fun adventures with the girls!
I’m glad that you are feeling better, what a relief. I heard on NPR once that if you get sick for less than 24-48 hours, it’s probably not a virus, it’s probably something you ate. Is that correct? WHO KNOWS. And maybe I’m remembering incorrectly, maybe that’s only if it’s a stomach bug.
Yay to your son being home, and having internet again!
That’s interesting! It might be for stomach things though. I should look it up!
Never had a 12 hour virus, but it sure felt like that when I had my shingles vaccine. That was rough! I bet you will be hitting the gym with your son. Have a great time and enjoy your family!!
Thanks for the reminder- I need to get the shingles vaccine, but keep putting it off because I don’t want to have to take a down day. How stupid is that, because if I get shingles I’ll be out of commission a lot longer than that.
sorry to hear that your week didn’t turn out so well. Things happen outside of our control, but glad that you were able to enjoy running in the cold weather. That’s the best right?
Having your son back will definitely lift up your mood.
Yes, you are right Coco! Having my son here always lifts my mood.
That’s great to hear that your ribs are slowly healing and happy to point you in a direction (hopefully the right one). 😉 BTW, I was able to run pretty comfortably within a couple of weeks, but it took months for me to be able to roll out into a bridge on a Swiss ball and not feel a little twinge. Happy healing!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sounds like your week was kind of all over the place but ended well and that’s what’s important. How great to have your son home. Enjoy every moment!
I had a few days this week where I was just TIRED. Like falling asleep on the couch kind of tired. It was weird. We didn’t lose wifi but the phones were out the other day. Not ideal.
That stinks about your rib! I imagine it was super painful.
Congrats to your team! Good luck next week!
The Canes are #8 overall, but 3rd in the ACC (behind two teams ranked lower than them in the overall rankings. it’s weird). We have one of those games on Saturday.
That was quite a turbulent week. I hope this week is much calmer.