It was a Week of Mishaps but the Running was Good

Returning from an escape away is always tough. If only life could be that much fun all the time, right? If only every day could be filled with blue skies and sunshine...friendship and wine...boating and laughter...

Reality bites. I rode the wave (pun intended) for a couple of days. The good vibes carried me through my first day back at work. But by Wednesday, life took over and once again my feet were firmly back on the ground. Even the weather took a turn, bringing blustery, rainy, cool conditions which lingered through the week.

I had a few mishaps during my workouts, too. I think my body was tired. Being the stubborn warrior that I am, I kept on moving. Was it the right or wrong thing to do? Not sure. I do love to move my body, though. Even when my body pushes back.

The week in review:
Monday: CrossFit
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 7 miles, Yoga with Adrienne
Thursday: Strength training, Bootcamp
Friday: rest day
Saturday: run 3 miles, massage
Sunday: run 6.5 miles
September monthly mileage: 58 miles

After such an active weekend in Alabama, I debated going to CrossFit on Monday. Since I missed last Thursday, I went to class, figuring I could always scale the workouts if my body rebelled.  The strength workout included snatches. I successfully hoisted that bar overhead multiple times...and then fell out of the squat portion of the move. Nothing hurt but my pride, I continued the workout. The MetCon was for time and included running, single-arm dumbbell overhead squats, atomic situps, and pullups. Rinse and repeat.

Full Video in Friday's Runfessions Post, if you're interested

For Thursday's strength training, Sammy Jo planned on me making up for last weeks' missed session. I started out with back squats alternating with strict presses. Then she loaded up the green plates (!) for deadlifts. I was so excited! I love deadlifts! I love the colored plates! I lifted the bar and did several lifts for a warm-up set. Pain spread across my lower back. Nope. Not happening. I didn't say anything and SJ added more weight. I pulled the bar up once and yeah, my back said no. She even had me try lifting with a weight belt, but by that point, I was in enough pain that I stopped. I was not happy.

When we were done with the workout, I consulted with the resident PT of the box, who reset my SI joint. While I felt much better after that, my low back was still achy. I was able to participate in bootcamp, which was chock full of med ball cleans. In fact, I did so many that I lost count. We also did a lot of rowing with burpees over the rower. Because why not?

My back was sore the rest of the week but not so much that it prevented me from running. In fact, running was a highlight of the week for me. Now isn't that a change of pace? Wednesday's 7 miler, using run/walk intervals, felt GOOD. In fact, I finished that run with an overall pace of 10m/m. On Saturday, it was raining and 58 degrees, so I decided to take my 3 miler to the treadmill. Again, pacing was good. But the treadmill is just so freaking boring!

The Treadmill: I hate you but I need you

I woke up to more rain on Sunday, but the thought of another treadmill run had me shaking my head no. I took advantage of a break in the rain to hit the bike path. Again, my legs felt good for this 6+ miler! Unfortunately, on my way home, I was caught by an impromptu rain shower. The back half of my run was faster than the first 3 miles. I call that a win.

On my way to 6.5 wet miles

After my back injury on Thursday, I scheduled a massage on Saturday. There's no sugar coating it--the massage was painful. Several times, she asked me if she should stop or lighten up. I told her no. As much as it hurts, I know that if I let her go hard, I'll reap the benefits. She worked hard on my left SI joint, my right quadratus lumborum and psoas, and both IT bands. When I woke up Sunday morning, I still had some low back pain. I was also incredibly sore and my back was bruised, but it didn't prevent me from having that good run in the rain.

In spite of my mishaps this week, I'm feeling good about where I'm at, fitness-wise. I'm hoping to get on top of that back pain. That includes increasing my stretching via yoga, continuing to work on hip strengthening, and continuing to get those therapeutic (code word: painful) massages. I'll tell you, being an older athlete requires as much maintenance as it does training! But it is so worth it.

Running felt very, very good this week! Strength training? Not so much /via @oldrunningmom #crossfit #runchat #running #sijointdysfunction

Have you had weeks where it felt like nothing went right? Do you have SI joint dysfunction? What maintenance activities do you regularly do to keep yourself injury-free? 

I'm linking up with Deborah and Kim for the Weekly Rundown.