The Glass Half Full is Frozen

For the past couple of weeks, while the Midwest has been immersed in an early winter, I've been running outside, sucking it up like the warrior I claim to be. Heck, on Wednesday, I even followed my own advice from my post on Winter Running tips and layered up, completing a 6 mile run in subzero windchills. Because that's how we winter warriors roll. Trying to find our own sunshine, even when the skies are gray and there's snow on the ground.

The Week in Review:
Monday: CrossFit
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: run 6 miles
Thursday: strength and conditioning
Friday: rest
Saturday: run 4.5 miles
Sunday: off/injury

On Saturday, the sun was out and the temperature was in the upper 30s. It was a heatwave! I headed out the door for an 8-9 mile run, eager to continue my preparation for my upcoming half marathon and get some Vitamin D. With snow and ice covering most of the bike path, I decided on a route that would take me mostly on roads. Using 4:1 run/walk intervals, which I plan to use for the race, I ran through the neighborhoods by my house. On the way back, I took a detour through a local park, figuring I could get some good selfies for IG and the blog.

Scanning the path for snow or ice, it looked fairly clear and I ran down the hill into the park. All of a sudden, I began to slide. My legs flew out from under me. In what felt like slow motion, I found myself falling to the pavement below. Somehow I was able to maneuver my body to land on my forearms and thighs. With a thud, I hit the ground. I could swear I heard clapping, but there wasn't anyone around to witness my fall.

After a minute or so, I pulled myself to my knees. I assessed the damage. My left elbow, hand, and big toe were talking to me. Shakily, I stood up, brushed off my tights, and slowly began walking down the path. My left big toe hurt enough that I needed to limp a little bit, so I walked for a while. Grateful not to have seemingly broken anything, I considered that I could keep running. That thought made me happy and I set up my phone to take a video for my selfie.

I started to run again and felt pretty good except for that big toe. I was able to run on it for about 3/4 mile and that's when it really started to bother me. I hobbled the remaining mile back to my house. My toe wasn't very swollen but it was bruised at the distal joint. I drove to my office to get an x-ray. While the nurse practitioner and I thought we saw a fracture, the radiologist did not. Just "degenerative" changes. Ok then. I spent the rest of the day on the couch with an ice pack on my toe, cursing my luck and praying for quick healing.

First the 'degenerative changes', then this.
 I'm sure the commenter meant well.

The earlier part of my week was uneventful. I went to CrossFit on Monday where the strength workout had deadlifts! In fact, we had to do 4 sets of 8 lifts at 65-70% of our max, which for me was 125#. Let me tell you how hard that was! We alternated those with glute bridges using a barbell. The Metcom was an AMRAP of rowing, 12 shoulder-to-overhead (I did push presses) at a scaled 55#, and pull up progression (I did the band).

I skipped bootcamp on Thursday because I had my PMHS certification exam, but I did do strength training with Sammy Jo. Gotta get the blood flowing, right? This week, she had me focus on skill work for hips, shoulders, and lats. She also had me do 3 rope climbs (holla!), finishing up with 10 minutes of conditioning work from the bootcamp workout.

So while I'm grateful that I wasn't seriously injured by my fall, I can't help but curse my luck. Allow me this short tantrum: I'm finally back to feeling good and running well after spending most of the year battling my disease. Then THIS happens. Is it just bad luck? Or is the universe trying to tell me something? Time will tell and hopefully, by mid-week, I'll be able to lace up my running shoes again and hit the road. I've got miles to run.

😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕😕

Who doesn't love good news? I had a lot of good news this week, so it kind of offsets my running mishap. As I mentioned on my Friday Randoms post, I passed my PMHS certification exam! In other good news, I found out on Saturday that I was asked back to the All Community Events Ambassador team! The team is downsizing and I was certain I'd be cut, especially after my health issues this year limited my participation. I guess I did enough to earn my spot back and I'm looking forward to running a lot of their races in 2020! Hoping that they'll come up with a discount code to share with you all. 

How was your week? Any winter-related mishaps? Isn't falling the worst? Especially when you're older... Got any good news to share with me?

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