Pushing Through

While preparing this post, I looked back through this week's recaps on IG. The impromptu winter that started the week brought me down, but as the week went on, the sun warmed things back up. Mentally, the return to normal weather conditions helped keep me focused and positive. 

Unfortunately, my body didn't respond as well as I would have liked. I've been having an increase in RA symptoms for a while now, and this week was worse than usual. If you know me at all, you know that I don't usually let this stop me, pushing through it and trying my best to stick to my routine and get my workouts in. I had good success this week in the gym with strength training, but running was hard for me. Besides the joint pain, my body just didn't want to go. I ran my usual 3 times this week and am grateful that I was able to run, albeit much slower than usual. By mid-Saturday afternoon, I was hurting badly, so I finally broke down and started the steroids. Because of my ongoing uptick in symptoms, I have a follow-up with my rheumatologist in December. 

Fingers crossed that this flare resolves quickly! I've got a Turkey Trot to run with my family on Thanksgiving! 

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Ice Age Trail Run 4.6 miles

Monday: strength training

Tuesday: Fluid running

Wednesday: trail run 6.2 miles

Thursday: strength training

Friday: run 6 miles

Saturday: yoga with Adriene

We were up at the lake on Sunday, and woke up to, yes, SNOW. It was also very windy and cold. I figured that running in the woods would help shield me from the wind, but I decided to go to Gibraltar Rock for the views. It wasn't actually that windy up top, but it was cold. Despite the beautiful surroundings, I just wasn't feeling this run, and instead of going back up to the top, I took the spur trail back to my car. My runner's conscience wouldn't let me finish at about 2 miles, so I decided to drive to the Fern Glen segment, a short little segment that I don't visit often enough.

Fern Glen was peaceful, save for the cows mooing in the distance. One cow was bellowing quite loudly, which made me laugh out loud. The last time I was here, I saw deer, but no such luck this time. The trail was covered with leaves, and with the snow, it was very pretty! When I finished, my conscience continued to tug at me-should I do another segment? But the cold weather won out this time, and I called it quits. 

On Monday, I woke up in a funk. Cold, windy, and snowy, this weather hit me hard. I'm pretty good at sucking it up during the winter, but this shift from normal, beautiful fall to bitter early winter was hard to take. I really had to dig deep to get myself out the door to the gym, but was I ever glad that I did! My lifting partner and I pushed each other on our deadlifts, and I put those 190# deadlifts to rest after completing my 3 sets of 2! Yes, they were hard, but they didn't feel impossible like they did last week. After that, I worked on shoulder presses and was excited to complete 6 sets of 3 at 65#, a new PR for me. This breakthrough happened just when I needed it, but that's how it goes with strength training after being stuck for a while!

I went to the pool on Tuesday for a Fluid Running workout before work, and on Wednesday, after a 7 am Zoom meeting, I hit the trails. It was sunny and windy, but not as cold as Sunday. I did 3 strong miles on the main trail and then slowed my roll on the single tracks. I made my way through the buckthorn-clogged section to the piney woods and yay! found quite a few deer. Always a treat, I was happy to see so many-a few bucks, does, and the mamas with their now almost fully grown babies. I don't think they were as happy to see me, and getting photos was a challenge. 

What else made photography a challenge on this run was the lower angle of the bright sunshine. Now I'm not one to complain about sunshine, but I should have worn sunglasses. The sun was angled right in my eyes, and I was worried about not being able to see any trail hazards. Luckily, I stayed upright and wrapped up my very pretty run after I hit 6 miles.

For Thursday's strength sesh, I had planned to increase my weight, both on the bench press and the back squats. For the bench press, I built to 82.5# and did 6 sets of 3, only struggling with my very last rep. I was really pleased with the progress on this lift! After working on my depth in the back squats over the past couple of weeks, I returned to 125# and successfully did 6 sets of 3 with almost all my squats below parallel! Yes, it was heavy, but thanks to my willingness to drop the weight and work on form, I didn't get anxious when I dropped my hips low. l still hate squats, but at least I'm not afraid of them anymore, lol. And no, I'm not going to rush to increase the weight either. I'll probably stay at 125# for at least another week. We'll see how it goes. And to her credit, SJ was pleased but said she'd like to see me drop even lower lol.

Ooof. On Friday morning, I woke up so sore and achy, I seriously considered skipping my run, as well as going to work. After a cup of coffee, I came to my senses, but once I started my run, I wanted to reconsider. Even though I was wearing my Brooks Hyperion Max 3s, my legs felt as if the shoes were made of concrete. I slogged down the bike path. When I hit 4 miles, I saw the sun above the trees and stopped for a selfie. My bike path friend, Scott, caught me, and we spent a few minutes catching up on life. That really perked me up, and the final miles home felt like redemption. I won't lie, though, my day in clinic was rough--I felt so sore and fatigued! I guess I did those squats proud, right?

How was your week? Are you experiencing wild weather swings? Did you have any fitness breakthroughs or wins this week? Are you planning on running a Turkey Trot?

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