Saturday, January 21, 2023

Are You There Sunshine? It's Me, Wendy

This may be the gloomiest January I can remember, and that's saying a lot because January around here is always gloomy. According to local weather icon Tom Skilling, we've had 20% of our normal sunshine so far this month. Even though it's been warmer than normal, it's pretty rough waking up to gray skies every morning. I was fortunate to catch a little sunshine on my runs on Sunday and Wednesday! It's something you really appreciate when you live in the Midwest. I'm making plans to go out to California in early March to visit my sister again and I cannot wait to soak up the sun.

For now, I have to make my own sunshine.


How many of you remember the book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume? Reading it was a rite of passage for so many of us growing up in the 70s and beyond. My copy was so worn out! The title of this blog post is an obvious take on that book title, but did you know that the eponymous movie is being released on the big screen in April? How can it even be as good as the book? The trailer looks pretty cute. The 1970s are having a moment and I for one cannot wait to see this movie!

Weekly Rundown
Sunday: trail run 4.8 miles
Monday: CrossFit
Tuesday: pool running
Wednesday: trail run 8.1 miles
Thursday: strength training
Friday: treadmill run 3-ish miles
Saturday: rest/work

Running

On Sunday, I woke up feeling pretty good in spite of my hard effort at the Frozen Gnome. I was excited to meet up with the Trail Sisters at the local preserve with the new single tracks. Although we had a very large group, only 4 of us opted for the single track trails! The rest ran the pavement that loops the preserve. Are we not trail runners? Anyway, the four of us looped around, pulling off the trails to let the mountain bikers pass. As we ran, I started to feel a little woozy and I told the other runners to go on ahead. I walked a bit and whatever was going on with me passed, so I finished up the run. So odd! Was it fatigue from my effort the day before? A side effect from my tooth infection? Too much wine the night before? Whatever it was, I took it easy the rest of the day.


Our unusual weather continued into Wednesday and it was still really muddy on the trails. The sun even peeked out for about 20 minutes during my run, which was really a mood lifter. The woods were very quiet, save for a few birds. I spotted some deer and a coyote, and squirrels were out gathering nuts. I also spotted this fungus growing on a tree, a pop of color in the very brown woods! A little bit of sunshine, if you will. My legs were still fatigued from my race but I somehow managed a decently paced 8 miles, mud and all!


Once again, the weather on Friday morning was dicey for heading out into the dark. It was lightly snowing, but after all the rain we had the day before, I was concerned about black ice. I took my run to the treadmill. I got a few miles in but was distracted by some technical difficulties. No big deal, I needed to dial it down anyways.

CrossFit/Strength

Martin Luther King Day means a lot of people are off work and so I was #5 on the waiting list for class on Monday. I was preparing to do the WOD at home when I received a last minute notification that I was in! Who are these people who sign up for a class and decide not to go? For the skill portion we did a 12 minute workout of 12 weighted V-ups (I struggle with these and did them unweighted), 3-6 strict pull-ups (we could not do banded, so I used a box to push off and did negatives on the descend), and 1 lap banded side steps. I made it through 4 rounds of this. The MetCon was a 12 minute AMRAP of 21 wall ball shots (I used a 10# WB), 15 single arm hang power cleans (20# dumbbell), and a 9 cal ride on the ECHO bike. 3 rounds plus one extra ride on the bike was all I could do! During the MetCon, SJ was really pushing us to get our hips below parallel for the wall balls. It sure felt like I was getting low, but I videoed one round and yeah, she was right: 


True to her word, on Thursday SJ had me all set up to bench press with a goal of hitting a one rep max. My 1 RM from 2 years ago was 87.5#. I failed on the last lift and even though I tried again, I could not lift the bar. Just like she did with the back squats, she loaded it past my 1 RM--for this lift, to 90#. Prior to that, I successfully lifted to 85#. I am happy with that but it always amazes me how such a small increase leads to failure when doing upper body lifts. I'm going to work harder on upper body strength for the rest of the year and hopefully challenge that 1 RM. 


And about that tooth...

By Monday, the toothache from last week was gone. I felt optimistic that it was just an infection and that the antibiotics I was taking would take care of the problem At the very worst, I'd need a root canal. Right? WRONG. On Thursday, I saw the endodontist, who did a tooth CT scan--who knew that such a thing even existed--and it gave me very bad news. The tooth is fractured all the way down to the root and the bone surrounding the tooth is gone, due to infection. Yay me. So instead of a root canal, I am scheduled for tooth extraction in a couple of weeks. They will also do a bone graft and I can plan for a dental implant down the road. I'm glad I have dental insurance, but interestingly, so many oral surgeons no longer accept it. I did find a reputable one who did. Now to hope and pray that the infection stays calm until my appointment.


How was your week? Are getting any sunshine where you're at? Any signs of early spring? What goals are you working on this week? I'm hoping to max out my deadlift for real this time. Any words of wisdom in the dental department?

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




36 comments :

  1. tooth issues are the worst! Hopefully you get lots of whatever they give for that and just sleep through it! You have been working hard on your strength work and it shows! We have also had lots of rain and not too much sun this month. I cannot complain bc it has been pretty mild still for January so no ice to keep me inside. Have a great week!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel the same about the weather! It's kind of mixed blessing, right?

      Delete
  2. Oh I loved the JB books back in the day! They were so edgy back then! Can't wait for the movie but like you said, how can it possibly approach how good the books were? So sorry about the tooth. That is exactly what I went through a year ago. I have a graft there waiting for an implant. The struggle is real. I think this is one of the aspects of aging nobody tells us about. Ugh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I forgot that you went through that! Yeah, getting older is not for the wimpy.

      Delete
  3. UGH on the tooth. My hubby has a broken tooth that needs to be pulled and a implant $$$$

    Hope everything turns out well for you!!

    NO sign of sun here... snow today & tomorrow!! BOO!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just hope that the tooth stays quiet until the extraction! That was a pain I don't care to repeat.

      Delete
  4. Yikes on the tooth! I hope that everything goes well.

    Trust me the NE doesn't get much sunshine either. Which was why the blue skies on my walk yesterday was such a gift. We had a lot of rain, refreeze, snow, sleet, ice . . . you name it. It was a treadmill kind of week for me & luckily the runs are quite short at the moment. :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sunshine really does help- coming from someone in a gloomy but mild climate, haha! This whole weekend was sunny and everyone was so much happier.

    i'm sorry about the tooth issues. Ouchie...and surgeon's don't take dental insurance anymore? What the heck.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My theory is that so many older folks who don't have dental insurance are needing this work done and since they pay cash, who wants a measley little insurance payment? It's really limiting who we can go to.

      Delete
  6. As soon as I read the title I knew EXACTLY what you were referring to! Of course I did- I think every girl who grew up in the 70s read that book. I had no idea there's a movie??? I'm skeptical.
    Anyway, you've had 20% of your normal sunshine this month??? I would imagine that brings you down to almost zero. I remember those endlessly gray days, very well. I'm glad you got a couple glimpses of sunshine this week.
    Ugh on the tooth situation. That sounds very unpleasant and costly. But at least it's feeling better! Unfortunately I have no words of wisdom for you- I've had two root canals but nothing worse. Good luck with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We got some snow overnight and that was a welcome change of scenery. No sun tho!

      Delete
  7. OMG, A Margaret movie? I loved Judy Blume; her books were a huge part of my early teen years. SOrry for the ongoing tooth drama.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I smiled when I saw the title of your post. Not sure what I think of them making a movie.

    This January has been gloomy - I really can't remember the last time we had sunshine. Glad you caught a little sun this week!

    So sorry about your tooth - dental situations are never fun. I hope things go smoothly for you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. So sorry to hear about the tooth! And how odd they don't accept insurance?
    I've been thinking the same as you about sunshine.. although we've actually had some good sunny days during January, with the weather we've had this week it feels I haven't seen the sun in months! But I've seen daffodils (I think) on their way up. That is a wonderful sign that spring is coming soon!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Our spring doesn't come until April--although we will get some teases before that. I'm so jealous that your daffodils are coming up!

      Delete
  10. I'm confident you'll hit that 90-pound 1RM by the end of the year!

    Because I get up long before dawn most days, I never have to wake up to gray skies. LOL I think it rained a lot here at home while I was at the farm, but two of the three days down there were sunny.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Bummer about your tooth situation :( As I mentioned last week, my husband is going through this right now. I'm the one who manages all of the insurance stuff and I was disappointed to find out the insurance I bought specifically for this purpose wasn't all that I thought it would be. It's so confusing trying to figure out what the final costs will be and what portion of the process will be covered. My friend told me she was very happy she got her implant so I hope yours goes well, when you get there. Oh, and my husband also needs a sinus lift. Something else that won't be covered by our insurance I think. Ugh. I am glad he's getting it all fixed up though!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. A sinus lift? Oooh, I guess there is a silver lining to the tooth saga, since mine is a bottom molar.

      Delete
  12. I just got back from CF this morning. In one part, we had to do 3 back squats every minute for 10 rounds, gradually building up the weight. I had to bail at 80 pounds. This is not even HALF of what you can lift! This really put it into perspective for me of what heavy weights you are lifting. Amazing!
    Is that SJ in the read sweater on the photo? She looks strong, too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For that WOD you did, I would have gone much lighter than I normally do as well. When we do high volume lifts like that, you get fatigued so quickly. But what a great way to build strength!

      Delete
  13. Sorry about the tooth, that's horrible! But you know what you're facing now, right? I bet the wooziness was from the infection. It's been dull or sunny here but mainly COLD! I didn't actually go for my run yesterday morning as it was minus temps here (23 in your temps) and that was just too much.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As long as our temps are on the positive side of 0F, and sometimes even lower if there's no wind, I'm outside. I'm not a fan of the cold, but it's nice to get outside.

      Delete
  14. I Never Take Our Sunshine For Granted - We Tend To Receive Over 300 Days Of Colorado Bluebird Days - Thankfully I Say - Stoked You Are Still Rocking The Pool Workouts - Good On Ya - Teeth , What A Bummer - Will Be Sending Vibes Your Way - Big Hugs

    Cheers

    ReplyDelete
  15. I think that the gloomy weather has mad it's way over to CT. It's been rainy and gray since yesterday - ugh!

    Oh no! So sorry to hear about the latest development with your tooth :( It's crazy to me how insurance in this country works, but that's definitely a topic for a another day. Your tooth meme made me laugh.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's a family joke, lol, and when I found the meme...I had to share it!

      Delete
  16. I've been through the whole extraction/implant/crown process for a bottom molar, and aside from how many months the whole process takes and the expense, no need to worry - as long as you can make it to that appointment with no pain they'll deaden you up good for all the procedures and you won't feel a thing. Now that I've got my crown and am all done, it feels just like my natural tooth and doesn't feel weird or "foreign" at all. It's better than a root canal in one way since a root canal takes soooo long... it's hard to keep your mouth open for the 90+ minutes a root canal takes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I went to the endodontist, they told me the root canal only takes an hour! I guess they have some new technique, similar to getting a filling.

      Delete
    2. Ooh, well that's great to know!! I love modern medicine.

      Delete
  17. Dental woes are the worst! I have a routine appt tomorrow -- I hope he doesn't need to see me again for 6 months.

    Yikes on feeling woozy on the trail. Maybe it was a combination of everything. Glad it passed quickly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, every once in a while that happens to me. I have no idea what it means. I blame menopause, lol

      Delete
  18. I remember that book but cannot remember if I ever read it. I did see the trailer and it would be interested in seeing it too. I recently switched from dental PPO to HMO and am not sure if I made the right decision. There are different procedures that I am not used to (I cannot see a dentist till February 1). Whenever I make a change, I need to call before the 20th so that it can go into effect the following month. Umm, seriously?

    ReplyDelete