Down but Not Out

This week was all about moving my body in a way that didn't aggravate my knee injury. It helped that as the week went on, the pain lessened. I'm so glad that I'm able to walk. When I first started walking on my trails, I felt like it was taking forever! But as the week went on, I started to enjoy the slower pace. I'm spotting a lot more things that I might not have seen had I been running. And I have to admit that I'm glad to be walking when we are experiencing some of the highest temperatures we've had in years! 

I'm working hard to keep my miles up so that when I'm ready to return to running, it won't be like starting over again! Fingers crossed that it will happen soon.

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Ice Age Trail Fern Glen segment 2.75 mile hike/475 ft

Monday: Auxiliary Strength

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: Trail hike 5 miles

Thursday: Auxiliary Strength

Friday: walk 4 miles

Saturday: walk 6 miles

When I woke up on Sunday morning, my knee felt pretty good, so I decided to take it for a little hike at Fern Glen. This may be a short segment, but it is not short on climbing or beauty! The trail traverses across a wooded area of 2 local farms. Shortly after I started my hike, I saw a deer take off through the woods. There were a lot of birds singing, but I was also entertained by cows mooing. I spotted a lot of different mushrooms, which is always fun. I took it slow. My knee was really bothered by the downhills, but going up didn't bother it at all. 

Do you remember these 'elephant ears'?

Edible chicken of the woods mushrooms.

Deer mushrooms

Week 4/4 of the second set of strength workouts was a repeat of the last 2 Mondays. The goal was again to build from last week. We had to do the same movements as an E2MOM, each set in 40 seconds or less:

Set 1: pick a weight in which we'd hit failure in 8-12 reps 

Set 2: drop the weight and complete 8-12 reps to failure 

Set 3: drop the weight and complete 8-12 reps to failure. 

 

Movement 1: Dumbbell deadlifts 60-->65#, 55-->60#, 50-->55# all sets of 8

Movement 2: Barbell backward lunges  75#, 70#, 65#. I had to modify the reverse lunges to squats to a box. I held a 30# KB and did sets of 8

Movement 3: Dumbbell strict press: 25-->20#, 20-->15#, 15--12# I could not do 25# with my left arm at all this time

Movement 4: Bent over barbell rows: 75-->85#, 70-->75#, 65-->70# 

The class did a tabata of single unders. I rode the assault bike.

On Tuesday, I went to the indoor pool to do my Fluid Running class. I learned that the indoor pool will be closed after this week, so it will be all outdoors for the rest of the summer!

My knee was feeling better on Wednesday. I was oh so tempted to run my trail run, but it was still feeling weird, and I didn't want to tempt fate, so I did a brisk walk around the preserve. It was super humid--ugh--and I worked up quite a sweat! I saw a few deer and also my spirit animal, crawling along the paved trail. I am not sure what this snapper is looking for on the trails. 

I also saw a ton of mushrooms! If you are a mushroom lover (I am), then this is your year!

Another repeat of last week's workout, only with modifications to accommodate my knee. The rep scheme for this class was the same as Monday, E2MOM x 6:00,  8-12 reps to failure, dropping the weight each set, and no longer than :40 per set. In my case, the goal was finding the heavy weight that makes me 'fail'. 

Set 1: Bulgarian Split Squats modified, doing them to a low box, without weight, using the back foot as a kickstand. These were harder than I expected!

Set 2: dumbbell bench press: failed at 30# x10-->12, 25# x10--.>12, 20# x10-->12

Set 3: Hip thrusts: 135#, 125#, 115# x8-->10 reps each set

Set 4: Pull-ups: 3 assisted->6 assisted, 5 green band-->6 red/blue band, 8 green/red band-->6 green band

We followed this with sprint work: an E2MOM x 12 minutes:

:20 Ski erg alternating with :20 assault bike

Friday mornings are for fast runs--at least for me. But since I'm not able to run, I decided to try for a brisk walk. I had hoped to do 5 miles, but didn't get out the door as quickly as I wanted, so 4 miles it was. I made my way around my 'hood--not very exciting, but it got the job done. The knee let me know it wasn't right, but it behaved itself. I finished this walk with an average pace of 14:50 m/m. That made me happy!

We were stuck at home this weekend. With temperatures predicted to be near 100°F, humidity to match, and no air conditioning at the lake house, staying home was our best option. I was on the trails at 6 am on Saturday in an effort to beat the heat and get some nature. It wasn't too hot when I started, and very peaceful. The wind kept it comfortable, but it did get pretty warm as I finished up. I enjoyed my solitude and did more mushroom hunting--who am I anyway? I spotted the 3 does towards the very end of my walk. 

This might be the same doe I saw on Wednesday!

Off the road...

On Monday, I hobbled into my rheumatologist's office for my semi-annual appointment. She focused on my knee injury and told me I 'bought myself an MRI'. That is scheduled for this upcoming Monday--I'm anxious to find out what is going on. The pain has improved since then, and I'm now able to walk without a limp. I still cannot run without pain--something I discovered on Wednesday when I dashed from my office to my car during a downpour. Ouch! 

My sisters and I are hiring a 'dementia-informed' caregiver for 12 hours a week to work with my mom at home. Both of my parents were opposed to having anyone in the home, so we did our due diligence and found an agency that specializes in working with dementia patients, hoping to convince my parents that this would help my mom with her memory. We're excited about this opportunity to help my mom continue to function at the high level we all are accustomed to. We're all hoping this goes well.

On Thursday, my youngest son and I had lunch together. We had hoped to go to the Cubs game, but believe it or not, there were almost no tickets available. The ones that we could purchase were cost-prohibitive. The Cubs were playing the Milwaukee Brewers, which is a huge rivalry, making the games very popular. It was also Juneteenth, which meant a lot of people had the day off. We were disappointed, but had a really nice day together!

How was your week? Are you having a heat wave right now? Do you adjust your runs/workouts to accommodate the weather? What's your favorite alternative activity when you're injured?

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