My 20 Mile Hike...and the rest of the week

What a week! It started off well, with my successful completion of the 20 mile Mammoth March in Wisconsin on Sunday.  But when I returned home, I discovered a very large blister on the back of my heel. My tendinitis in my right knee also flared up. I took a rest day on Monday and went to the pool on Tuesday, which helped me feel better. There was no running this week, while I allowed myself to recover. A brutal heat wave arrived on Monday, with 'feels like' temperatures into the 100s, making it a lot easier to lie low!

In My Head

I dialed my miles back this week in anticipation of tomorrow's 20 mile Mammoth March Wisconsin. I'm also nursing a few niggles and did not want to make things worse. Off the road, the family situation continues to weigh on me, and I believe that the stress is taking a physical toll. I didn't realize it until someone pointed it out to me, but my confidence has also dropped (see my strength fails below). 

I'm looking forward to a full day in the woods, off the grid. Hopefully, this will help me reset. I'll share all the details on my IG and in next week's blog post.

Still She Persevered

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I had DOMS all week. From Sunday's run to Monday's strength training class and forward into the week, I struggled with soreness, tight muscles, and limited mobility. It's not as if I was doing anything more extreme than usual. But the DOMS, once they hit, wouldn't let go. I'm pretty sure our wacky weather added a whole extra element to the pain. Yet I persevered...

Celebrating Global Running Day on the Trails

On Wednesday, runners all over the world celebrated Global Running Day. Global Running Day was started as a movement in the US in 2009--do you remember National Running Day? It eventually evolved into a worldwide celebration of running and has grown in size and popularity over time. 

As a longtime runner--I've been running for well over 30 years-- Global Running Day always reminds me to reflect on how important running is to me. I started running in my late 20s to help me manage my debilitating anxiety and panic attacks. Growing up as an anxious child in the 1970s, I didn't learn any coping skills. By the time I was in my 20s, I was struggling. Someone suggested that I try running as a good way to 'get rid of negative energy'. I didn't even know how to start. We were living in Chicago at the time, and I joined a beginner's running group with the Chicago Area Runners Association. We trained for a 5k--the Zoo run at the Lincoln Park Zoo--and I was hooked. 

Looking back on my life as a runner, I can say without a doubt that running has been a gift to me. Running has carried me through every season of my adult life--through infertility to pregnancy to parenthood (especially the teenage years) to grad school and now into my current era--gram to be, retiree to be, and caregiver for my elderly parents. Running saved me from myself. Running gave me confidence and strength--both physical and mental. Running has brought some of the best people into my life. I don't know where I'd be without running, and I can't imagine a life without it! I'm grateful that my body still lets me move like this, and I continue to be grateful for the gift of running.

It Was A Good Week

I'm happy to report that I'm starting to feel better. Not fast enough for me, of course. Friday's run was especially promising. I think you all know that I'm not a patient person, but as it was my body putting on the brakes, I had to listen. I haven't minded slowing down as much as I thought I would--as you'll see below, I was rewarded on Wednesday's trail run for my meandering pace. 

In retrospect, it was a good week!

Keep 'Er Movin

I had no plans for the week's workouts except to stick to my routine and keep 'er movin. I have a 20 mile hike planned for June in Wisconsin--the Mammoth March-- and I need to be ready for it.  

Guys, the stress of the situation with my parents is taking a toll on my health. My Oura ring continues to flag me for elevated resting heart rate and keeps telling me to take a rest day. I struggled with my runs and have just been feeling off. I had blood work done this week in preparation for my upcoming rheumatology appointment. For the first time ever, there were some abnormalities. Yikes. I'll ask her to recheck my labs next week before I start worrying. 

On Thursday, I drove out to my parents' house to take my mom for her ortho follow-up. She was still feeling pain, so I suspected that the fracture wasn't completely healed. The xray showed that I was right. When I shared the information with my dad, he didn't take it well. As if there was anything I could do to make it heal faster. I guess I need to find a magic wand.

Getting My Groove Back

After the turmoil of the past 5 weeks surrounding my mom's fall and my dad's subsequent fall apart, I stepped back to focus on my mental health. With my mom at home and all her care in place, my dad continued to badger me about removing the caregivers from the home. The conversations were a never-ending loop. I continue to provide supervision of my mom's needs, but will now utilize our geriatric care manager to share information with my father. I also reminded myself that the agency will contact me if anything concerning is happening.

I won't lie, stepping back has been difficult, but mentally, I realized how much of a toll this has taken on me. As the week went on, I started to feel more like myself. I reminded myself that I can't be good to anyone if I don't take care of my needs. 

From the Frying Pan Into the Fire

I couldn't think of a better metaphor to describe the past week. The temperatures in California were HOT. Like 100F+ hot with a blazing sun. As the saying goes, it's 'not the heat, it's the humidity,' and I found that to be true. But no matter how you look at it, 100F+ is hot, and on Wednesday, it hit 107F, a temperature I had never experienced before. The hot temperatures didn't stop us, as you'll read below, and the mornings were pleasant enough that as long as I got out before the sun was overhead, I had some really decent runs.

But...on Tuesday, we learned that my mom fell on the ice and fractured her pelvis. No head injury, thank goodness. She was hospitalized, and her dementia and my dad's anxiety proved to be a huge challenge to my sisters and me. The recommendation for post-hospital care was subacute rehab; my dad was determined to take her home. No one thought this was a good idea; getting him to understand this was a challenge I hadn't even considered, and it was formidable. It took a compromise--home health staff will be in place on Tuesday, and Mom will go to rehab in the interim. 

I took a couple of additional days off work to help my parents with the transition. I can't express how difficult this has been. I am thankful for the support of my sisters, who have agreed with my decisions for my parents. As I always do, I am leaning into fitness as much as I can. It's how I manage my stress.

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!

Springing Forward

For once, the calendar and the weather matched up--it feels like spring! At least what spring feels like in Chicago. Coolish with a tease of a warm day here and there, gusty winds, mud, and rain. But the birds are singing and dive bombing, the squirrels are squirreling, and the deer are out.

The portapotties are not yet out. Sadly.

My favorite part of this time of year is shedding all the layers when I run outside. That also means less laundry! IYKYK. Springtime here can be frustrating--it takes so long to finally come, and then when it does, it's summer... not that I'm complaining...

Bye February!!

I am so happy to see February go. It was a busy and overwhelming month for me. Between several projects at work and managing my parents' health, the month flew by. I accomplished a lot this month, but my biggest accomplishment? Completing the 1000 push-up challenge, though! When I first signed up for it, I truly didn't think I'd get it done. Even though I didn't always want to do my 36 daily push-ups, I didn't want to skip a day, because that meant double the push-ups the next day. Interestingly, as the days went by and I did my pushups, I felt myself becoming stronger, and the pushups felt less difficult. I was also able to increase the weight on my bench presses every week, which was really exciting.

Will I continue to do the push-ups? Yes, but not the volume we did this month. I have to admit that the DOMS never went away. My plan is to do 25 pushups 3x/week after I run. Hopefully, that will be enough to maintain the strength I built this month. We'll see!

Hello, It's Me

After 6 weeks of illness and recovery from dental surgery, I can finally say that I'm feeling almost like myself again. Almost, because my mouth isn't 100% healed, but I'm done taking pain meds, and I'm eating food that can be chewed. Lol. Between health issues, the weather, busyness at work, and the unrest in the country, I was feeling a little shaky. I don't want to jinx it, but I'm in a much better place.

Thankfully, we had a reprieve, albeit brief, from the bitter cold this week before the deep freeze rolled back in. I was able to get outside for a run on Wednesday. And what a run it was!! It did me a world of good. Here's to hoping for a few more like that. Weather gods, are you listening?

Tiptoeing Back to Where I Want to Be

It's been a bumpy start to 2026, and that includes off the trail. I won't tackle what's happening in the US on this blog. In my little world, there's been illness, and this week, dental surgery. I'm continuing my return to fitness and am hoping to stay healthy from here on out. 

back at it

It was an otherwise uneventful week in my life as I resumed my post-holiday routine. Work continues to be busy as the baby boom continues unabated! I can't complain. I'm grateful that almost all the parents we see are pro-vaccine. Tough times, for sure. And while this is a fitness blog, I also want to comment on how heartbroken I am for Minneapolis and the family of Renee Good. It's hard to process the news cycle these days. 

Chicago had some good news late last night as the Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers in a wild playoff game!!

As always, I lean into running and fitness to give me an outlet and relief from the anxiety I am feeling. While I'm feeling better physically after having back to back illnesses, I'm tired.  It's all been a lot lately.

Holly Jolly Holy Moley

This post contains affiliate links.

Despite the festive season, the hits just kept on hitting this week. After a visit last week to my PCP, I received my blood test results and found out that I am prediabetic. Not only that, but I carry a gene that makes me at high risk for heart disease. As you can imagine, I was very upset by this news. I hope that eating well and exercising are enough to overcome my genetics. I have scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist in February to discuss my risks and my options.

I also had a couple of really challenging incidents at work this week. While I won't go into details, the antivaccine and antiscience sentiment is increasingly impacting our practice. Vaccines are a hill I will die on, and if this week was a sample of what's to come, then retirement will happen much sooner than I wanted. 

And after Christmas, I fell sick again, with fever, body aches, and congestion. I spent Friday and Saturday on the couch. I thought it was influenza, because one of my partners has influenza B. The hubs went to the pharmacy to pick up a test, but there were none left! I had some old Covid tests, and I tested positive. When I messaged my partners, another one messaged that she has influenza A! We are the trifecta, lol. 

What a way to wind up 2025.

All I Want For Christmas

This year, I had no idea what to put on my Christmas list. I never do, because when I want something, I just go out and buy it. But this week, I was gifted some really nice runs after recovering from that respiratory illness, a new Fluid Running workout, a PR at the gym, a fun photo on IG, and a new Garmin. 

It was a fruitful week! The weather took us on a windy rollercoaster ride, tho....

It's That Cold Day in Hell...

What a week! 

A Big Snowstorm ✅

Bitter Cold Temperatures ✅

Gale Force Winds ✅

Taken down by a virus ✅

Hepatitis B is no longer a required vaccine ✅

Retirement is back on the table ✅

An Unintentional Cutback Week

With the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, things were a little mixed up! Different work hours on Wednesday and a turkey trot on Thursday had me flipping my workout schedule around. The gym has special holiday workouts that fill up fast, and there was no space for me to work on my squats and bench presses. I consider myself to be a flexible person, but I was kind of bummed about missing my heavy strength because the strength cycle is ending in 2 weeks. I did what I could with my home equipment, but you know...it's not the same.

Anyhoo, there was movement every day. Let's just call this a cutback week, shall we?

Finding Gratitude

In these crazy, unsettled times, I'm focusing on finding gratitude for the good things in my life.

I don't know about you, but to me, right now, every week feels like a year. The news cycle is dizzying, and my physician partners and I continue to deal with the fallout from ongoing anti-vaccine sentiment being pumped out of Washington. Work is crazy busy with the ongoing baby boom and the influx of new patients into the clinic. My patients continue to bring me joy--this week I was examining a 4 month old who couldn't stop giggling. She was giggling so loud that my coworkers outside of the exam room could hear her! That was definitely a highlight of my week and a reminder of why I do what I do.

Thankfully, family life has been calm, and I'm looking forward to seeing my sons, daughter-in law and youngest son's girlfriend, parents, sister, and her family on Thursday this week.

I'm happy to be running with my Trail Sisters again, and on Mondays and Thursdays, my workout friends at the gym brighten my day. On Saturday, I had lunch with a friend who always makes me laugh. 

As usual, I found comfort on the trails. Even though the weather was downright depressing, I didn't feel depressed after heading into the woods. My RA symptoms continue to resolve, and I was able to move comfortably on the trails. I have so much gratitude for my local forest preserve--nature is truly good for my soul. 

These are the things that bring me joy and remind me of what is really important: family, friends, nature, and caring for others.

Weekly Rundown: 

Sunday: Trail Sisters run 7 miles

Monday: Yoga with Adriene, Strength Training

Tuesday: Fluid Running

Wednesday: trail run 8.7 miles

Thursday: Yoga with Adriene, Strength Training

Friday: run 6 miles?

Saturday: Yoga with Adriene

After a good night's sleep--my Oura ring was ecstatic over the 9+ hours of sleep I got--on Sunday morning, I went to meet my Trail Sisters for a run! It's been a while since I've run with them, and I missed them! We met at Moraine Hills State Park, which is right outside the town where I grew up. It was a bright sunny bluebird morning with temperatures in the 40s--the perfect combination for a good run with good friends. After spending all day Saturday on the couch with a full-on RA flare, I was pleased that I felt good enough to run. One of the other women was having high heart rate issues, so we took it nice and easy. I didn't mind at all. The miles passed quickly as the conversation flowed. As always, I am so grateful for this group of supportive, like-minded women. 

Still feeling off, I was a little nervous about going to the gym and lifting heavy stuff. During the warm up, I was doing hip bridges when the room started to spin. I sat up until things stopped. My lifting partner was feeling off as well, so we decided not to push our deadlifts any heavier than last week. We built to 185#, did 3 sets of 2, which felt ridiculously heavy, and called it a day. While the rest of the class did some sprint work, I again worked on shoulder presses, staying at 65# for all 6 sets of 3. 

On this raw, drizzly Wednesday morning, I really wanted to stay in bed. Instead, I laced up for my weekly trail run at the preserve. I planned to do about 6 miles. But I had to take a detour for a pit stop, which led me to running into the piney woods to see if any deer were out and about. And yes, the mama and her two fawns were in the woods! I stopped to just watch them as they grazed for foliage. It's almost magical, being that close to them. As I moved away, I spotted a big buck behind a tree. He wasn't happy to see me and ran off. I kept going, looping around, and saw 3 more deer! On my way back, I again saw the buck, this time taking a rest. As I watched him, it occurred to me how lucky I am to have access to these beautiful creatures in their habitat. My heart was full. 

When I run in this preserve, I always have a 'plan', but often make changes on the fly. The thing about knowing these trails so well is that you can go as far or as little as you want and not repeat a step. On this run, I took a detour along the creek just because I wasn't ready to call it a day, finishing up with 8.7 miles. It's amazing how much beauty I was able to find on such a gray day!

On Thursday, I was set to increase my weights for both the bench press and back squats. My partner and I worked on bench presses, building to 77.5#, miscalculating the plates that we put on the bar. Barbell math is hard! So at that point, instead of pushing to 82.5#, I pushed to 85#. And yes, it was hard, but I lifted at that weight, 4 sets of 3 reps! I was very happy about that. For the back squats, I had planned to increase the weight to 130# (last week I did 125#). You wouldn't think 5# would make a big difference, but as SJ said, 'things are getting very heavy now". I did 4 sets of 3, doing my best to get my hips below parallel. Again, it was hard, but I was pretty happy with these as well. 

I woke up early Friday morning for my weekly bike path run. After my first cup of coffee, I realized that I had gone to bed without preparing my lunch. I'm on a tight timeline in the morning, so that was my first ugh. When I was ready to run, my watch beeped when I connected with the satellite, and off I went to the bike path. At my first photo stop, I looked down at my watch and noticed that while it was tracking my time, it showed 0 miles. UGH. Since I run this route every Friday, I knew I would be running about 6 miles-give or take a few feet. But still. If it's not recorded, did I even run?

Overall, I felt pretty good on this run. It was 46F, there was no wind, and overcast with a little fog. In other words, perfect running conditions. When I finished, my watch clocked 58:37 minutes. Not bad! Garmin showed my pace as 32 hours, 24 minutes, which made me lol for real. Maybe Santa will bring me a new Garmin for Christmas.

How was your week? How do you find your center? What are your Thanksgiving plans? What are you thankful for this year? Have you ever had your Garmin not track your miles?

It's also the end of November, and time for my monthly mini book reviews! Next Friday, I'll be sharing my reads for Nonfiction November. Don't miss it!

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

 

Savoring the Last Days of Fall

We have had an amazing fall--warm weather and beautiful colors! The leaves are starting to fall, but we've still got good color. I'm sure that's going to change in a hurry with the impending arrival of more winter-like weather. As much as I don't love winter, I will admit that I am looking forward to days of curling up on the couch by the fire and reading a good book. And winter foods! Soups, stews, and baked pastas--hearty fare that just don't work in the warmer weather. I came home from my aunt's house last week with a bag of wild rice that their neighbor harvested, and I made chicken and wild rice soup with it. I also baked an apple crisp. 

I know by March, though, I'll be ready for warm weather again!