Saturday, February 5, 2022

A Quick Recovery

 Disclaimer: This post contains an affiliate link. 

My recovery from eye surgery continued this week, with rapid healing. Every day I was pleased to wake up to less bruising and swelling. I returned to work on Friday. Fortunately, my schedule was fairly light, thanks to the drop in Covid cases. It was a nice way to ease back in after my time at home.

Friday's pre-sunrise run
Weekly Rundown
Sunday: trail hike 4 miles
Monday: pool running
Tuesday: CrossFit
Wednesday: trail run 5.5 miles
Thursday: strength training
Friday: run 5.3 miles
Saturday: XC skiing, 5.5. miles

Running

It wasn't going to be a run for me, but on Sunday, I headed out to Moraine Hills State Park for the Trail Sisters Chicago Northwest bimonthly outing. This park is located near my childhood home and much like the Volo Bog we visited a few months ago, Moraine Hills was private property that was taken in the 1970s by eminent domain by the state of Illinois to preserve the land. Lake Defiance is the centerpiece of this state park and is a glacial lake. There are many rare plants in the park. There is also a bog. Even though it's in the area where I grew up, I've only been there a handful of times. There are about 10 miles of limestone trails in the park and they connect to other trails in the area. 

The trails were snow-covered and oh how I wanted to run on them! But since I was not cleared to run yet, I joined the group of walkers and we made our way around the lake on the 4 mile trail. Another woman and I ended up splitting off from the group. While we talked, we took in the quiet beauty around us. There were ice fishermen out on the lake too. We finished up in the parking lot, both of us looking forward to meeting up again in 2 weeks. I will definitely come back here in the warmer weather to explore. 

And no, the mysterious woman did not show up.

Guys, I was so excited to see snow in the forecast for Wednesday because my running snowshoes--the 'real'ones-- came on Tuesday! Amazon got it right this time. Unfortunately, we only got about 2 inches of fresh snow and with the thaw we had on Monday, I wasn't sure that the snow would be deep enough for snowshoeing. Instead, I pulled on my YakTrax and made my way around the preserve. I had to blaze my own trail and as expected, it was hard! The preserve was very pretty and peaceful. I'm still wearing my glasses--no contacts yet--and they kept fogging up because I was sweating so much. I finally took them off and ran blindly for a while. I swear, it's always something new. In spite of this being such a difficult run, I was really pleased with my pacing in such challenging conditions.


On Friday, I woke up incredibly sore from Thursday's strength session (see below). Still, with no wind and clear skies, my running shoes invited me to try. As I expected, it felt good to move my legs, especially on pavement, even if it was a little slower than usual. I'm still wearing my glasses and yes, had issues with them fogging up again. In spite of all this, I enjoyed this run and it was a great way to start my day before I returned to the office. 

Pool Running

After I saw my surgeon on Monday, I went to the pool for my Monday pool running sesh. My legs were tired from all the walking I had done over the weekend and I was looking forward to some aqua therapy. I got there later than usual and there were very few people in the dive well or the lap pool. That nasty lady from last week was nowhere in sight, thankfully. I talked to the front desk about her and yes, she's well known to them. They said she causes all kinds of problems and told me that if anything like that happens again, I should tell the pool attendant. My workout was uneventful, save for the very COLD water in the pool. Once I got moving, it was fine. I did the Good Times Roll workout and it was just what I needed. 

CrossFit/Strength Training

Since I was still off work on Tuesday, I opted for the 7:30 am BootCamp. This was a spicy workout! We had 4 AMRAPs:
  1. 8 minutes: 10 calories assault bike alternating with 8 Hang Cleans (55#) I did 4 rounds
  2. 7 minutes: 8 calories assault bike alternating with 20 lunges (unweighted) I did 4 rounds
  3. 6 minutes: 7 calories assault bike alternating with 7 toes to bar I did 4 rounds
  4. 5 minutes: 6 calories assault bike alternating with 20 KB swings (25#) I did 2 rounds and felt pukey after that, lol
I was pretty pumped about this workout. So was SJ--my hang cleans and TTB (not quite but getting close) made her happy. I could feel my abs working on the TTB, so I know I was doing it right! Doesn't it feel good when you see progress?

On Thursday, Sammy Jo told me to be prepared for lots of squats. She had me warm-up for an EMOM alternating back and front squats. When the weight was set (she never tells me the weight until after the workout), I did 6 back squats, followed by 3 front squats. The front squats were hard! In fact, when I racked the bar after the first set, I walked away fighting tears. That messed with my confidence and on the second set, I bailed on the third rep. My form felt off and I was straining to stand back up from the squat. SJ let me know that she was disappointed. She dropped the reps down to 2 for the front squats and I did 2 more sets, still struggling with the weight. 



When I finished, we talked about this. SJ told me that this was all about mental toughness. SJ thinks that I should have no problem with that weight. I've given this a lot of thought and I am not exaggerating when I tell that weight was really heavy for me. It's no secret that I don't like front squats, but I do them so I can get better at them. I don't think I've done anything close to that weight for front squats in a long time. I am not sure why SJ was so adamant that I do them when I was clearly struggling with it. The DOMS I felt for several days after proved to me that I wasn't ready for that weight. 

After that, I did 'tempo' squats with an empty barbell, 2 sets each of quickly paced 15 back squats and 8 front squats. That was followed by Turkish situps, something that was new to me!

Recovery

I woke up Saturday morning feeling a little queasy and still very sore from Thursday's strength session. I thought movement might help me shake it off.  Even though it was very cold (6F), the sun was shining and the wind was minimal. I layered up and took my XC skis to the preserve, hoping the snow on the trails would be skiable. I was very pleased with the trail conditions and made good time around the loop. It was truly a beautiful morning to be outside and I warmed up so much that I had to peel off some of my layers! 


Speaking of XC skiing, are any of you watching the Winter Olympics? After my morning ski on Saturday, I turned on the Olympics and was able to watch the women's XC 7.5 km Skiathlon! It was kind of fun to see that after my 9k ski. Is it too late for me to compete? LOL

How was your week? Are you enjoying the winter conditions? Those of you who work with a coach or a trainer: do you ever feel that they are pushing you a little too hard? Are you watching the Winter Olympics? What is your favorite event?

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





39 comments :

  1. hmm I don't know about that Thursday crossfit session. Sounds like you knew it was too much at the time and were smart to back off. No one needs another injury from something like that. The fact that you are still sore seems to underscore that. Why was she pushing you so hard? All of your snow adventures sound like a blast! Way to take advantage of your weather

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    1. I had the same thought and I'm not sure why she was so determined to get me to pick up that weight when clearly I was struggling. I will have to talk with her about it when we meet up again.

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  2. No coach... not sure I am coachable lol

    It seems that she thinks you can do it... coaches are not always right, right?


    I remember once a coach called me a "sandbagger." Because I can run faster doesn't mean I want to or risk injury to do so. That's what I told him.

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  3. I’ve never done XC skiing. As a kid it looked so boring! I’m sure I’d enjoy it now. I hope you get to try out your snowshoes soon!

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    1. I did XC skiing as a kid as well as downhill--they both have their merits!

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  4. I don't mean to play the age card here but I've been noticing this very thing about some younger trainers. I do think you know your body best and sometimes enough is enough. I have no doubt she was pushing you out beyond your proverbial skis. Glad to hear the healing continues to go well!

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    1. Well, see you get me...this was exactly my thought. The weight she was pushing me at was only 5# less than my 1 RM. Idk. I was so sore until today, so methinks I was right...

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  5. You definitely make the snow look fun! I've never been cross country skiing but I know it's great exercise. I did see it on the Olympics!
    Kind of a weird story about SJ. I know it's their job to push us, but in the end you know your body. I think the worst part is it seemed like she tried to make you feel guilty about it. I'll be interested to know if you get any clarification about what happened there.
    Glad your eyes are healing up! It'll feel great to get those contacts back in, I'm sure. I wear contacts and only glasses when I have to- glasses are especially annoying now with the masks.

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    1. Yes, I ran with my contacts in today and it was great! I'm dreading taking them out, tho. I have to use a plunger to remove them. Should be interesting.

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  6. Ouch! Post-squat DOMS are nasty! My bad, I have not had any time to catch any of the Olympics (nor have I made the time,LOL). While I am not a skier, I do like watching others do it. They make it look much easier than I know it actually is.

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  7. Interesting about you & your coach. I mean, it's their job to push you; I worked out with a personal trainer many years ago & I loved it! But your coach isn't in YOUR body and in the end, you and only you know how your body feels.

    I'd like to be a fly on the wall for your next conversation!

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  8. Oh that's a bit much from your coach. Well done for knowing what you need to do. And I'm glad the gym know about the horrible woman already and you don't have to be the one to push it with them. I have a physio appointment tomorrow for my bent finger (from the fall in october in that race) and I will then have a plan hopefully and know when I can go back to being able to get my hand flat on the floor. Wish me luck!

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    1. Yes! Good luck with PT. I hope it's an easy fix.

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    2. All good, exercises to do and they're helping already.

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  9. The first thing I thought was you could still be a little wiped out from surgery recovery... remember how exhausted you were the first couple days? It sounds like she overloaded you anyway though, even beyond that! But it's possible you are still say 5% not-quite-back-to-normal even if you feel completely recovered. Recovery can linger even if you don't necessarily feel it.

    I once flew all the way to the U.K for a 10 day vacation having forgotten my contacts and had to wear glasses the whole time. UGH! I even tried to get contacts there b/c I know my prescription, but no dice - they won't do that!

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    1. The hardest thing about front squats is that with the weight in the front, it pulls you forward. Since the bar was so heavy, I was struggling to stand up straight when I came up from the squats. Clearly, I did it right because I was sore in all the right places but I was ridiculously sore. This did not feel good!

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  10. Hmm...that strength workout definitely sounds like it was a bit too much. I hope you aren't disappointed in yourself, Wendy, you're SO strong. Your body could still be recovering from the surgery...Does it motivate you if your coach is disappointed? My coach probably is disappointed with some of my marathons- probably Baton Rouge :), but she's never said that. I'm just curious as a run coach myself what motivates or what de-motivates! Definitely varies per person and per day too!

    Before I got Lasik, I had to wear my glasses for awhile (maybe a few weeks?) and I remember the struggles with running outside and them fogging up!

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    1. I guess I'd be more motivated if I felt that I hadn't tried my hardest to lift those 3 reps. It wasn't that I didn't want to. It was just too heavy. When SJ gets disappointed in me, it's usually because I'm not trying hard enough. This was not that situation. I actually don't respond well to guilt, since it's a tactic my mom used (and occasionally still does) when I was growing up.

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  11. Ha! I was going to ask if the mysterious woman showed up to the run but then I read your caption.

    That's a bummer that the lady is "well known" at the pool. Honestly if she cause that much trouble, they should just cancel her membership. No need to keep her there to keep making people miserable.

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    1. I guess they can't because it's a public pool? I'm just speculating, tho.

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  12. That Thursday strength sesh sounds particularly intense. You're not one to back away from a challenge so why do you think she was pushing so hard? Clearly you know your body well and the fact that you were still so sore afterwards...

    Great to hear that you're healing is going so well!

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    1. I'm so pleased about my healing!!! Hoping that in another week or so, I'll be back to normal.

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  13. Was fun to watch the skiiers in Central Park last weekend. I haven't been cross country since Vienna and that was so much fun
    Glad you're healing well and yay no mean or eccentric lady
    Sorry your strength session was such a challenge

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  14. Glad to know that you are healing!!!! Very good news.
    Fun activities on the snow: you have a lot of options to stay fit!
    I have never had a coach even if I know some of them and could have availed myself of their advices especially when I was in the Navy Running Team. Moreover another coach, good friend of mine, is the torch bearer who lit the Olympic flame in Rome in 1960.
    I don't follow Winter Olympics.

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    1. So many people hibernate in the winter, but for me it's better to embrace it and get outside!

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  15. How did you know I was going to ask about the mysterious woman?! :-) So glad the recovery is going well and that you were able to put in as much as you did. I don't wear contacts but can't run with glasses, so most of my runs are blind!

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    1. It's not so bad running with glasses this time of year, but in the summer, forget it!

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  16. Aw. I'm sorry your confidence was shaken. I hope you and SJ get back on the same page next time.

    I'm glad they are on to that woman - she sounds like she's just awful and needs to be stopped at all costs.

    I'm not really watching the Olympics, but I do love figure skating.

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    1. She was there this morning, interestingly in 'my' spot. I just moved to a different place. I'm staying away!

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  17. I'm so over winter! Glad you were able to get out and ski though.

    I don't have a trainer, but the few times I have had one, I've felt like they have preconceived notions of what I should be able to do and sometimes they are way off. Hope you can get it all worked out.

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    1. I've worked with her for years so she's actually pretty good about knowing my abilities. I'm not sure what this was all about.

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  18. It's good to hear that your eyes are healing nicely and that you're back to working out.

    Quick question: Do you still have to wax cross country skis depending on the temperature and weather conditions or has technology made that obsolete?

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  19. I am loving winter this year. I've managed to hike frequently and generally on sunny days, with blue sky and shiny, fresh snow. I put a couple photos on my blog, which has been kind of neglected lately lol. I am watching the Olympics...I really liked the snowboarding events. You look so strong in your weightlifting pics and your hike with the group sounded wonderful.

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    1. I do like winter, as long as I can get outside and do my thing. This past week reminded me of the downside of winter--the freeze/thaw nonsense, which leaves us with ice...

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