A Change Did Me Good

What a whirlwind of a week! Dealing with an RA flare, starting steroids, I prepared for my trip to California to spend a week with my sister and her hubs. I was stressed, but not because of that. The day before I left, I had to give a presentation for Grand Rounds, which is a weekly virtual education session for the physicians. I usually attend these sessions--they are always excellent, and I receive continuing education credits, which I need to maintain licensure. The Zero Suicide Team, of which I am a member, was presenting on Talking to Your Patient About Suicide, and I was tasked with the final portion of the presentation. The entire presentation was well received, and I was pleased with how it went. Let me tell you, though, I was glad to be done with that!

I landed in California early Thursday afternoon to 93 degrees and bright sunshine. After a good night's sleep, when I woke up on Friday, I felt like myself again. No anxiety, no pain. This was a much needed getaway!

Weekly Rundown

Sunday: Trail Sisters run 4 miles

Monday: unscheduled rest day

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: 12-3-30 workout on the treadmill

Thursday: travel to Palm Desert

Friday: strength training

Saturday: trail run 6.5 miles/1100 ft, hike at Anza-Borrego State Park 4~ish miles

On Sunday, I woke up to sunshine, but I still felt a little off. Since last Friday, my stomach had been misbehaving. I thought it was due to an RA flare--I had been super achy and fatigued as well. But you know I always try to push through it! I drove to the trail where I was meeting up with my Trail Sisters. There were 5 of us. We were greeted by a strong south wind. It was seasonally chilly, but that wind made it feel really cold!

We looped around the 4 mile trail. I felt pretty good for the first couple of miles, but by mile 3, my legs just didn't want to go. My stomach was also acting up. I decided that I'd head back to the parking lot and call it a day. My friends, to their credit, tried to talk me into a couple more miles. I'm usually easy to convince, but not today. 

I was really hurting on Monday morning. I skipped CrossFit/aux strength and started taking steroids. Once again, I took to the couch for the day. On Tuesday, I felt well enough to hit the pool for a Fluid running session. I thought the no impact movement in the water would be good for me. It was.

Still feeling achy and just off, on Wednesday, I took to the treadmill. I didn't think my knees would appreciate running, so I decided to try the 12-3-30 workout that I had read about earlier in the New York Times.  The object of the workout is to walk at a 3.0 pace on the treadmill, inclined to 12%, for 30 minutes. My treadmill only inclines to 10%, so I had to make do, lol. This was surprisingly challenging, but when I finished, I felt that I could have gone either faster or longer or both. My knees were no worse after and I was sweating. This is a workout I will return to in the future! By the way, I listened to the entire Rumors album by Fleetwood Mac, which was just perfect-timing and pace-wise. And yes, I know all the words! Good thing I was home alone!

Thursday was a travel day, so I didn't do much except soak up the warm weather-it was 96F-sitting outside on my sister's covered patio. After dinner with my sister and hubs, we jumped in the pool. Nothing strenuous, but it sure felt good to be in the water! On Friday morning, I woke up pain free for the first time in a week! Sure, the steroids took the edge off, but I truly think being in the dry desert of California was the key. I never believed people who said that climate makes a difference when you have RA, but I'm a believer now!

Last year, my sister took me to her strength class--it was great--and we returned again on Friday. It was a banger of a workout: 

Warm up: 

2 rounds:

-squat to pike, 10 reps

-rear delt fly (5#) 15 reps

-alternating RDL hold while passing DB (20#) from hand to hand, 8 reps per leg

Workout: 

4 rounds:

-standing lat pulldown (35#) 8 reps

-sissy squats, single arm dumbbell (30#)

4 rounds:

-face pull (35#) 15 reps

-split squats on a plate (30#) 12 reps

-rear delt swing (20#) 15 reps

-split squats on a plate (30#) 12 reps

Just what I needed!!! We came back to my sister's house and hung out by the pool all day. It was a perfect day.

On Saturday morning, I made my way to the mountain trailhead, hoping to catch the sunrise. It was beautiful. I continued on the trails, making my way up and down what has become my favorite trail on these mountains adjacent to where my sister lives. Although it's been very warm here, the morning was cool (59F) and very pleasant for my run. After my rough start to the week, I was so pleased with how strong I felt on this run. My RA symptoms were barely noticeable, and it was clear that the work I did over the past couple of months on my TM has paid off. 

Off the road...

On Saturday, after I got back from my run, we drove to Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is the largest state park in California. We were hoping to see some wildflowers, as the desert has been in bloom. We also wanted to check out a slot canyon that I had read about. BTW, it was 96 degrees when we got there.

The slot canyon was about 1.5 miles long and very narrow at some points! And yes, I am wearing a personal fan to keep cool, lol.

When we finished the trail, we had no idea how to get back. Should we go back through the canyon? We saw a sign that pointed to a trail that would take us back to the parking lot. We had to climb a very steep incline. The wind was blowing strong and it was hot. We were so grateful to get back to the car!!

From there, we drove to Plum Canyon to see if we could find some wildflowers. The trail was a 1 mile loop, and it was beautiful, with lots of cacti and flowering plants. My photos don't really do it justice, but trust me, the desert is a beautiful place. 

There is so much more to see, and we will be back! But we were hot and tired, so we decided to head skip our last planned hike. We took a detour to Idyllwild, a cute town 5000 ft up in the mountains. The temperature there was 66F! We stopped at a brewpub for dinner and beer, and headed back down the mountain to Palm Desert. 

How was your week? Did you go anywhere? Are you seeing signs of spring? Have you been to the California desert?

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