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Sunday, November 1, 2020

Moving Ahead With Caution


Can you say BREAKTHROUGH!

Although my stress fracture rally-back has been going well, I still have had some fleeting moments of  fear and paranoia. After all, a stress fracture still is a broken bone...and that little itty bitty bone in my foot has to bear my full body weight.

I took one of my rally-back runs to the great outdoors, though, on Saturday, and whoa! It felt like I truly was back in my element. 

 Before I spill it on the details, welcome to the Weekly Run Down!

I love hosting this link-up with Deborah (from Confessions of a Mother Runner)! If you write a fitness-based blog, you're invited to join the party. The link-up opens at 1:00 (EST) on Sundays and remains open through noon on Monday. We love reading about everyone's weekly fitness endeavors, training highlights (or low lights) and race recaps. We ask that you link back to both hosts, and we encourage you to read/comment on the other linked blogs as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)


Anyways, here's what went down in my little world of fitness this week:

Never miss a Monday. When I awoke to not only fresh snow, but snow-covered streets as well, I quickly took a pass on an early-morning ride in the dark. No thanks. Instead, I went for a 2-mile wake-me-up walk over a path (around the college campus) I had not walked since my stress fracture. It had been a long time since power-walking in fresh snow, as well, so my legs felt a good burn. After work, all the snow (again) was gone, so I was able to get in a solid 10-mile ride. Brrr.


Not my typical Tuesday. Temps were chilly (but forecast to warm up some), so I opted for another morning walk before work. After work, the sunshine was breathtaking, though the temps had not warmed up as much as forecast...so after six miles, I bailed and headed back home. I wound up spending a little time with Milly (my  treadmill - 1/4 mile walk, 3/4 mile run, 1/4 mile walk). 


Double Workout Wednesday. Upper body strength in the morning...


...and 10 mile ride with the hubby after work, complete with a fire-breathing dragon photo-op.


Thursday's "I'm-Gonna-Regret-This-Later" Lower-Body Workout. As I admitted on FB and Insta, there are some strength moves that are simply more challenging than others, and for me it would be lunges. I can hold most balance poses without issue, but lunges have me teetering and swaying all over the place...which is why I do them. Staying in my comfort zone does me no good. So, here's what we did:

*5 stair flights
*10 squats (weighted)
*20 walking lunges (weighted)
*5 more stair flights
*10 push-ups
*20 mountain climbers

**four total circuits, 27 minutes and plenty of glistening & glowing. Not an especially long workout, but my tired body said “we’re good.”

As predicted, my glutes were feeling this by bedtime. I'd  also done a 7-mile bike ride after work (fighting a 13mph wind) and a 1-mile walk before dinner. As you can guess, I had zero issues falling asleep that night. 


Double Ride Day for Friday. Finally, we were gifted a beautiful morning. Temps were cold (32F), but -get this- there was no wind! Now, this is my kind of winter morning (even though, technically, it's still Fall). My only regret was only having time for five miles. After work, I met up with Barb (remember her?), and we knocked out 17 miles of chatter just before sunset. It's pretty incredible when your loyal running friend is also willing to saddle-up and go for an after-work ride with you. So, 22 total miles for the day!


A Sunny and Windy Saturday. I forgot to mention that the DOMS from Thursday morning's lower-body workout were pretty intense, and still present on Saturday morning. I took my time climbing out of bed (ouch), and eventually made it outside. I have a 1.5-mile route that I routinely walk, so I decided to walk to the halfway point, then run back home. O.M.G. Did that (short) run ever feel euphoric! I walked another 1/4-mile (for a bit of a cool-down), but I was on the biggest runner's high when I returned home. I grabbed a quick snack, then headed out for what I thought would be an easy 10-mile ride. Only, the 20mph S/SW wind was brutal. The wind hadn't felt that ferocious on foot, but on the bike it was insane.


A super sunny (and super windy) Sunday.  With the sub-freezing temps (and 19mph wind), I again took a pass on an early morning ride. Instead, the hubby and I took Max for a short walk then headed back out for a 2-mile brisk adventure on foot. Even with the super chilly morning air, the sunrise never disappoints! Besides, the ride can happen later, when the temps are a good 20-degrees warmer. Glass half full.


 Amazingly, this week actually played out better than anticipated. Not surprisingly, biking is still the dominant fitness fix...this week Gustavas and I logged 65 miles (with more on tap for Sunday afternoon). Walking is slowly on the upswing with 10 miles this week. And, running! Although I'm paranoid about re-injury, I cannot deny how great it feels to be breaking a sweat in the running shoes again. Only two short runs this week, and both were merely 3/4-mile each, but both felt incredible (effortless and pain-free). Also, I was very happy with both strength sessions, and am glad to be getting in some stair-training again.

In case you missed out, here's what else went down on the blog this week:

Thumbs Down on the Weather

When she pivoted from running to cycling

"Fall" 'fessions

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair!  With all things COVID this year, we didn't have our annual Halloween potluck at the office, Thus, there was ZERO enthusiasm, via office personnel, for dressing up. None the less, I dug out my "vintage" spider web shirt from the back of my closet anyways.  As always, you're welcome to join me on Fridays...post a pic on Instagram, grab the hashtag (#FridayFashionFlair) and be sure to tag me (@runningonthefly).


The biking streak continues! As this post goes live, we're at Day 72 of continuous daily biking, and (prior to Sunday's ride) the mileage is at 818. As I've said before, this streak will not survive the winter (at least outdoors, LOL), and I'm totally alright with that. I'm hoping I can either make it to 100 days, or 1,000 miles, before allowing Gustavas's hibernation to commence.


So, things are moving in the right direction with my stress fracture rally-back. Thankfully, being sidelined has not been so bad. I am quite grateful to have had this opportunity to dip my toes in the world of cycling, but I am eager to get back to regular running. Saturday's run, outdoors, reinforced how much my body is craving that running routine to return. 

How was your week? Crazy wind in your world? Good runs? Fitness breakthroughs? Plenty of reasons to smile?

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38 comments:

  1. Wow girl, I'm so impressed on those weekly miles on your bike still! I made it out for 2 miles this week. LOL! Glad your run felt good. Love the shiny vest!

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    1. I've been upping my "weekly" miles since we haven't had long group rides in the past couple weeks. My rides aren't that strenuous because I'm keeping them in town, but there are a few occasional hills LOL

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  2. I am so glad to see you getting back to some weight bearing activity on your foot! Take it slow and steady. You got this. Way to go on that serious bike mileage

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    1. I'm really feeling good "on my feet." It took a good week to get used to walking like normal, but now it feels effortless again.

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  3. High 5 on your return to running! And your "I'm gonna regret this later" workout;-)

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    1. The "I'm gonna regret this later" workout was crazy LOL It's a good kind of pain, but pretty uncomfortable for a good 12 hours.

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  4. Biking in the wind...brr! Glad the return to running is feeling okay. I wonder if potlucks will ever return...people might be too paranoid going forward.

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    1. I'm hoping we can get a reprieve from all this wind! It's way too much and way too early. The run outdoors, yesterday, felt 100-times better than anticipated. My shins are a little achy today, but I know that's from not pounding the pavement for almost three months.

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  5. Great to see you back on your feet and I love your Halloween outfit!

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    1. Thanks ;-) It feels, good, really good, to be back in the running shoes!

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  6. FYI It might make you feel better to know that when a fracture heals, the bone forms a callus over the fracture site. This actually makes it stronger. You've had more than enough time to heal. Just proceed slowly and work on strengthening your legs to make your stride more efficient--helps with impact on the feet.

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    1. Yeah, my podiatrist told me about the callus, but it's still a bit unnerving having never been through this before (or any of us in the family). Getting outdoors (instead of on the 'mill) was euphoric!

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  7. What a great week of workouts! Fingers crossed that you make it to 100 days or 1,000 miles on your biking streak!

    Thanks for the linkup and have a great week!

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    1. Thank you, Debbie ;-) We have a better week, weather-wise, on tap so I'm hoping to knock out several more miles towards that goal.

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  8. Virtual high 5 on your return to running. I'm glad that everything has gone well with that so far!

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    1. Yesterday's run really made me feel like I turned the corner. Things were going fine before (it's only been two weeks of running LOL), but getting back outside was a game-changer.

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  9. SO glad to see you on the comeback trail to running! That's a huge win. The wind is still wicked and howling here. I'm glad it was not this way yesterday for the trick or treaters. Ugh.

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    1. The wind, in Iowa, has been brutal. We've never had this kind of wind, this early...and for so many days/weeks. This next week is looking better....fingers crossed!

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  10. Yay for getting back to running! And I'm so glad its feeling good. We had lots of rain this week. It's really starting to feel like fall!

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    1. Sounds there was a lot of rain out in the NE last week. YUCK!

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  11. That's wonderful that your runs have felt so great this week. Yes to crazy wind today! Fingers crossed we keep the power on, because the generator hasn't been coming on during its weekly self test.

    Obviously, not much smiling going on here right now, but we'll get through this as we always do.

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    1. We had 24mph wind (early afternoon) when I got out for my bike ride. Talk about a strength (and balance) workout. SO sorry to hear about Lola...hugs to you as you cherish her memory <3

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  12. Yay on the cautious return to running! I know it’s scary, but you are healing, so that is worth celebrating! Brr on your weather. I needed light gloves yesterday morning, but could wear shorts today.

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    1. Our weather has been simply psychotic lately, especially the insane wind. But, we have a rather warm week in the forecast, so all will be well ;-)

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  13. welcome back to running! it's good to be cautious - i've come back stress fractures and always want to make sure i'm healed first. but sounds like you're still getting in some good biking miles!

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    1. Thankfully, everything has felt great so far. Looking forward to biking in shorts this week!

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  14. Boy, you are active.

    Great news about the foot. I ran on mine for weeks and then I got an xray which showed callus (as Wendy said) so it was almost healed.

    You'll be back before you know it.

    It was windy here but I went windy and in the woods, I did not feel the wind.. . It was awesome.

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    1. My podiatrist, a few weeks ago, told me about the callus and that it looked really good on the x-ray. So far, everything feels good. We have warm weather (for November) forecast this week, so maybe I'll get to run outside, in shorts!

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  15. Love the dragon. So cool.
    Glad to see you back to running and walking, you're kicking ass. I agree with you on lunge wobbles

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    1. Lunges are tough! I think I'm not doing them slow enough, so that's part of the problem LOL

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  16. I love the label for your Thursday workout :)

    So happy to see you running! And way to keep biking despite the cold temps!

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    1. That Thursday workout had me penguin walking by bedtime, and for most of Friday LOL

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  17. I still can't believe you guys got snow already. Crazy! We're getting our first real "cold" front this week...it'll be in the low 50s tomorrow and Tuesday!

    I feel the same about being overly cautious...when I got cleared to walk and cycle I was so happy but I keep feeling "phantom" pains nowhere near the site of the injury. In fact the injury doesn't even hurt at all...I can press on it with no issues. But around my ankle bone I feel a tight feeling that I know is all in my head because I walk without the boot now. I think it's normal.

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    1. I had significant tightness on my injured foot, just below my outer ankle. I think it was from walking "flat-footed" (with no bending) for almost two months. Now, it's fine, but it was a bit freaky at first when I was cleared for regular walking.

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  18. Glad to see you running again. But no matter what you are still being active. This was another great week for you.

    No snow here but it was very windy today. I am glad I was only out there for 20 minutes.

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    1. Our wind was around 24mph this afternoon, when I went for my bike ride. It was crazy!

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  19. I love your fire-breathing dragon! And I love that you and hubby ride together <3

    Back lunges always give me trouble, which is weird because my balance is pretty spot on, too. I guess they can't all be easy.

    Happy November. Fingers crossed that it's a great month.

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