When My Mind Writes a Check that My Body Can't Cash

The title of this post, tho...

Last weekend's trail race really beat me up. I felt pretty bad at the beginning of the week--not so much sore, but more like a total body illness. This wasn't typical post-race discomfort. Was it RA reminding me that it's always lurking, ready to strike when I push myself? Not one to poke the bear, I had to dial it back a bit and let the post-race inflammation dissipate. By mid-week, I knew I was going to have to renig on my commitment to pace my friend on 3 loops of her 50 mile trace race. It was a tough decision--I didn't want to let her down but I also didn't want to risk a full-blown RA flare. Fortunately, she was able to find someone to replace me right away. With rain in the forecast for Saturday, I knew I made the right decision.

By the end of the week, I felt like myself again. The what-ifs started to creep into my thoughts, but no. I made the right decision not to pace her. I should know better not to commit myself to something like that so close to a hard race. Lesson learned.

A couple of people have asked when I'm going to post a race recap. It's written, but I'm waiting for race photos. Like everything with trail races, in due time, I guess! Stay tuned...

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Yoga with Adriene

Monday: CrossFit

Tuesday: FluidRunning

Wednesday: Trail run 3.2 miles, Yoga with Adriene

Thursday: Strength training, Yoga with Adriene

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: more Yoga with Adriene

Running

On Wednesday, I did a Yoga with Adriene stretch sesh to loosen things up before I headed over to the preserve. I intended to run the loop where my friend's upcoming 50 mile trail race would be taking place on Saturday. It was a beautiful spring morning, but this run showed me that my plan to pace her was not going to be an option. I started out ok, but by the second mile, my left hip and lower back started to bother me. My shins were also very tight. I completed the loop, walking, fighting tears because I hate when my body holds me back. 

I don't know if was the new shoes Brooks sent me, but as soon as I hit start on my Garmin for Friday's run, I didn't stop but once to take photos. My legs felt good and I marveled at the even splits as the miles passed. It was one of those runs--the kind of run that makes you want to run forever. It was pretty darned near perfect, my friends. All the training, the pain of last week's race--well, here it was. My reward and a great reminder of why we push ourselves so hard.

CrossFit/Strength

I woke up Monday morning still feeling off from Saturday's race. I debated whether or not to go to CrossFit, but seeing that there were rope climbs in the WOD made it a go. This was the perfect recovery workout for me--it was definitely challenging but not too challenging to make me feel worse. The strength/skill portion was a 12 minute EMOM: 8 downward dogs to a push-up, 8 hanging high knee raises (from the bar), and 1 lap of high knee jogs/1 lap butt kicks. The MetCon was 2 AMRAPS: the first had the rope climbs alternating with 10 handstand push-ups (I did push-ups with my feet on a box). I completed 4 rope climbs and 3 sets of push-ups. The second AMRAP was 8 Devil's Presses (I used 15# dumbbells) alternating with 10 box jump-ups (I used a 20" box). I finished 4 rounds of both. I felt great after this. I'm so glad I went!

 I was feeling much better on Thursday and after I did a nice flexibility sesh with Adriene, I headed over to the gym to work with Sammy Jo. She had me start out doing 8 hamstring curls on the fitness ball and yowza-that first set really woke them up! Fortunately, the next 2 sets were much less painful. I alternated those with 12 'bikers' squats- goblet squats with my heels on a plate. After that, I did 3 sets of  'Copenhagen' planks, holding them for 20 seconds, each leg, and alternating those with 3 step push-ups. I used a band and SJ had me do 4 each from the bottom to halfway up, from right below the bar to chin over the bar, and then from the bottom to the top, which she assisted me with. 

We discovered that all those scap pulls I've been doing to fix my shoulder/scapula have made me much stronger, but only at the bottom of the pull-up. I still need to work on pulling myself all the way up to the bar. I've been feeling stuck--it is really so hard to do a strict pull-up! I recently saw a reel of a woman doing TRX pull-ups and that is something I can do at home to build lat strength, which is really what I need. I do have an over-the-door pull-up bar and I'm going to start using that as well. 

Off the Road...

On Thursday, my sister and I went to the Chicago Botanic Gardens for the spring blooms and lunch. It was an absolutely beautiful day and we were both so glad to be able to be there to enjoy it! While we marveled at the flowers, we couldn't help but notice that the flowers weren't as lush as in previous years. Most likely our cool, wet spring has something to do with it. The Gardens are such a lovely spot and we really had a nice day!

And finally... on Saturday evening, I headed over to the forest preserve to catch my friend Melissa finish her 50 mile trail race. She ran a total of 54.79 miles and her official finish time was 11:57:36. I'm feeling pretty inspired by this and so happy I was able to be there. Her wife ran the last loop with her while I waited with the two women who paced her. I made some new friends today and once again, I am so glad I found trail running at this point in my life!

How was your week? I think I ask this a lot, but are you good at listening to your body? Do you get frustrated when your body doesn't want to cooperate with what you want to do? What was your favorite workout of the week? Mine had to be Thursday's run!

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