Bruised & Battered but Bouncing Back

 

It was another crazy week, navigating my way through the after effects of the previous week’s nasty tumble. 

The residual road rash, along with several obnoxious gashes (in awkward places) made for a few frustrations. Although the muscle aches were notably diminished by week’s end, the wild card (the strategic “tight-fitting" scab on my knee) was still cramping my style.

Ugh, first world probs, anyone?

Before I dis on the deets, 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 8:00AM (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 blog as well...please don't link-drop & dash ;-)

Anyways, here's what went down, this week, in my little (bruised & battered) world:

Sunday - The Heat is (still) On!

It was a beautiful sunshiny morning, but the air was balmy. I started the day with three steamy miles of walking. 

Later,  I met Jim for an afternoon of heat-induced cycling. We not only had heat and humidity, but Momma N also blessed us with a lovely 16mph wind (very generous of her). 

 

Never miss a Monday

It was already 77F in the early hours for my 2-mile run. The humidity was nice and heavy as well.

After work, I headed out for a quick 10-mile ride before settling-in for more Olympics (in other words, #CouchTime). A bonus was sneaking in a short upper-body workout, amidst the gymnastics viewing, and having pretty much full range of motion in my wonky & cranky shoulder! 

Tuesday - Holy Sudden Brrr, Batman!

For a fleeting minute, I’d considered going for a walk. Then, I opened the door to let Max out, and yikes! It had been 93F on my bike ride (not even 12 hours prior), and it was now 63F! Sorry, but that’s ridiculous for August. I decided to cower in the basement and did some lower-body strength work instead. I did get out for a 2-mile lunchtime walk, but the 14mph wind was anything but pleasant. Thankfully, things had calmed down by the time I got home after work. Max took me on a rather leisurely walk before we made dinner. 

Wednesday - Back to the early morning meet-ups!

After skipping last week (due to the weather), I met Hannah and Bill for the weekly 4:45 run. Bill split-off at the 3-mile mark, but Hannah stuck around and joined me for two bonus miles (check out those progressive splits!). Later, I got in three workday walking miles (one over my morning break, and two over lunch).

Triple threat Thursday

Another chilly morning outside had me opting inside for some bike time (eight miles) and a quick upper-body (light weights/high reps) workout, via Peloton. Although my left shoulder is still feeling compromised, I do have full range of motion. Most upper-body moves feel alright, but I'm being cautious with shoulder-focused stuff for the time being. After work, I hustled over to Altoona (not even a 10-minute drive) for the Thursday night group run (three miles, with a fast finishing kick in the last mile).

Friday - Low-key; Low-impact

Following Thursday’s antics, mainly that somewhat speedy 5K group run, my body was craving some TLC. I started with some Barre (which always feels good on the legs and glutes), added a short core session, and finished with some more upper-body strength. After work, I saddled-up Krystal for 10 miles of bliss in the pleasant temps (and enjoyed a hefty tailwind after the turn-around).

A Successful Long Run Saturday

I had seen there was a 10K Garmin badge up for grabs, so I set my sights on that for Saturday's run. The temps were 59F upon wake-up...sorry, friends, but that's really cold for August, LOL. I grabbed some arm warmers and headed out. A few spoilers to disclose: (1) I didn't need the arm warmers after the first mile, LOL, (2) the first couple miles felt tough (I blame my tired body and that %$#& scab on my left knee), and (3) turns out the Garmin 10K badge isn't available for a couple of weeks (#MyBad). Overall, though, this run went better than expected. I'm always amazed how much strength and endurance is lurking in my reservoir and am grateful when it shows up. And, Garmin did reward me the Run Like the World's Best badge (accruing 26.2 miles during the span of the Olympics), so there's that, LOL. I  also got out for a late afternoon 3-mile walk in the beautiful mid-70F temps.

… and what about Sunday?

Similar weather is in the forecast: lower humidity and cooler-than-normal temps. There will (obviously) be some outdoor action in the morning (walking, possibly biking). I might do a little more recovery work (Barre and extra stretching). Also, the Iowa State Fair is underway, so that's another possibility in the afternoon (lots of walking, people watching and fried food on-a-stick ).

I guess this week played out decently, but the frustration of slow-healing injuries is most annoying. Granted it's only been a little over a week since my dramatic tumble, but these bumps. bruises, and crusty wounds are in high-maintenance places (see below). Anyways, this week saw 16 miles of running, 14 miles of walking, and 53 miles on the bike. As mentioned, I'm being careful with any strength moves that involve my shoulders, and am hoping things are back to some semblance of normalcy fairly soon.

In case you missed out, there was only one post this week:

Succumbing by default

In other news:

Friday Fashion Flair. The temps were pleasant, but bordering on chilly with the crazy 14mph NW wind. My morning walk almost had me doing a Marilyn Monroe maneuver with my skirt.

Ugh, these injuries! I am in a much better place this weekend than I was a week ago, but still very much in recovery/healing mode. The bulk of the crusty scabs have flaked-off from my shoulder and elbow, but there's still a substantial bruise on the underside of my elbow. The scabs on my knee and on the upper-calf (just outside of the knee)  are giving me the most grief. I keep putting ointment on the edges of them to keep them somewhat pliable because bending my knee is excruciating (from the tight pulling of said scabs). Hopefully, in another week, these will have shrunk small enough that they won't be so burdensome. 

So, that's another wrap on another week. Onward!

How are things in YOUR world, fitness and otherwise? Any annoying injuries you're awaiting to heal? Did your summer temps take a plummet this week, like they did in Iowa? Anyone ramping up the mileage, in prep for fall races?

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