Adventures in Injuryland

Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link.

Time flies when you're having fun, right? I must be having fun because I'm almost five weeks into my injury. It's hard to believe. I am in a better frame of mind now. I've been able to settle into a new workout routine and have found some activities that help me break a sweat, burn some calories, and make my heart pound. I also went back to work this week after 3 weeks off. 

As much as I like my job, I'm not so sure it qualifies as fun. It is never dull and more often than not, very entertaining. The kids were all fascinated with my boot.

I won't deny that I miss running. One of my fellow Deer Grove trail runners posted on FB in our group that he thought her heard the deer whispering: "where is Wendy?" Which made me laugh out loud! I really miss those trails. Speaking of trails, I contacted both RDs from my two fall trail half marathons to ask for deferrals and was granted a deferral to one and a guaranteed entry to the other. I am grateful for this. Plus it gives me something to look forward to in 2022!

Friday's Assault Bike Ride

Weekly Rundown

Monday: stationary cycling, upper body strength

Tuesday: rest

Wednesday: stationary cycling. upper body strength

Thursday: deep water pool running

Friday: assault bike 200 cal and upper body strength

Saturday: rest

Sunday: walk

Stationary cycling

I continued to ride my bike in the trainer. It was so nice this week that I dragged the trainer outside to our deck. The sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze while I rode. On Monday, I did an hour long Garmin ride through some random mountains. On Wednesday, I did a 30 minute GCN interval ride. Both were hard and made me work, which I loved. Sadly, my bike was not happy during either ride. I didn't tempt the chain this week and kept my gears on the smaller wheel, but during both rides, my back tire deflated, so my rim was riding on the trainer. After Wednesday's ride, I took my bike over to the bike shop for a tune-up and a new tire. They're actually going to put a trainer tire on it which should help prevent the deflating issue.

So what to do now that my bike is in the shop? I messaged Sammy Jo and asked if I could go to the CrossFit gym to ride on the assault bike. On Friday, that's what I did. Coach Jeff moved the assault bike for me--back to the exact spot where I fell. Do you think he did this on purpose? I pedaled those demons away, doing 10 intervals of 10 calorie sprints alternating with 10 cal recoveries. This ride took me a little over 30 minutes and I covered 14500 meters/9 miles. By the end, I felt like vomiting. Oddly, this felt satisfying.

Pool running

The last time I was sidelined from running was in 2016. While training for the Big Sur Marathon, I did pool running in the diving well, but it was all on my own. Now the local park district offers classes twice weekly. On Thursday, I got up early and went to my first class. The instructor is a triathlete and is certified in pool water running. Who knew there was such a thing? We did a lot of intervals in this class and I was surprised at how hard I was working. I felt like I was sweating! While I don't love to swim, I love the water and this felt wonderful. This was a great workout and I will go back to this class next week. Oh, and by the way, the boot did not go in the water with me.

Starting next week, I am also going to do one day of deep water running on my own, using the Fluid Running system. I was gifted the Fluid Running H2Go System and Digital Bundle from Jennifer Conroy, the owner of Fluid Running. I am really excited to try it out and will share a full review on the blog after I've used it a few times. They even have a workout called Take the Long Way Home and you know I'll be doing that one!

Strength training

I'm still doing just upper body strength. I don't know what I can do for my lower body right now. Hopefully, the cycling and pool running will keep me strong until I can lift again. On Monday, I did Marcia's Arms and Shoulder Workout again. That one is a burner! On Wednesday, I tried a different video, a 20 minute upper body dumbbells only workout. This one had 5 different movements, 4 sets each. 

After my assault bike ride on Friday, I did 4 sets of strict presses, 35#, followed by 4 sets of 8 bench presses, 40#. Then it was time to go to work, although at that point, I really wanted to take a nap!

And yes, walking...

Thanks to a recommendation from a blog reader, I purchased the EVENUp Shoe Balancer. I swear, there is a fix for everything! The EVENUp helps equalize limb length while wearing a walking cast or a CAM boot. I'll take it for a walk later today. Stay tuned for a review coming up in the future.

How was your week? Have you ever tried pool running, and if you did, was it a class or did you do it on your own? By the way, did you see Molly Seidel take 3rd in the women's Olympic Marathon? Did you know it was only her 3rd marathon? And that she's only the 3rd woman to medal in an Olympic Marathon? Three is a lucky number for her. Congrats to Molly!

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