Daily Check In

gloriawrightcook

Sharon, I did add a picture to my newsfeed one time, but now I can't remember how I did it. I am sure it was from my phone. I will try to see if I can recall and if so I will let you know. I see people doing it every day so I know it can be done, and for some reason I am thinking it is done where you put your progress but just not sure.

That is so strange about your calves tightening up. Do you think maybe when you re-tied your laces they were too tight and that might have caused some issues with your legs? You had a strong finish despite that!

I did get to the track yesterday for my one mile time trial (plus warm up and cool down, cadence drills). I was so happy with my run, best one mile time I have had in a very long time. When I got home I did a short full body strength workout and a short yoga workout. Today is a rest day and I am not even going to walk I don't think. I did a short core workout (it was hard!) and a short yoga workout. Maybe will do some yoga for hips later. It was so warm yesterday, 70 F, but we had some very strong storms this morning and it suddenly went down to the 40s and it isn't going to warm up. It will be brisk for my run tomorrow morning! Oh and I retired my mauve escalantes and pulled out the coral ones. I was way overdue for retiring the old ones!

gloriawrightcook

Hi All, hope everyone has been enjoying some good running or walking, either indoors or out! I did my long run today and I was super happy with it. Still very very slow but last week I didn't even know if I could walk home let alone run and my last three miles were miserable walking but this week, YES, so much better, still slower but didn't have to walk home and I am not feeling the pain in my back that I felt last week. And best of all, the last two miles were the fastest for today's run. I did do run/walk/run intervals, nine miles, plus the warm up and cool down. I am worried about the workouts for later in the week due to my schedule and due to bad weather that we are allegedly going to have. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day but Thursday I have other things I am doing and Friday and Saturday are supposed to be raining so I am wondering if I should do my speedwork tomorrow - not ideal the day after a long run but otherwise I might not be able to do it.

sunshineyourway

Great job on your long run, Gloria.. So cool you have a track close by. Your weather is coming our way. We also got up to around 70 degrees. Today it is raining.

I got up real early to take my husband to the hospital for his surgery. 5 am to start all the prep and surgery starting around 6:20. I received a 2nd update. So far, everything is going well. The real involved part is happening now. I was told he should be done and in ICU around 2 PM.

I got to do some Cardio this morning followed by Yoga. Walked 4 miles yesterday and will walk Thursday morning, maybe with a short 1 mile run.

gloriawrightcook

Hi All! How is everyone doing? Hope everyone has been able to run or walk, indoors or out. Sharon, thinking of you, it must be almost time for your DH to be done and in ICU. Praying for the best, speedy recovery and complete healing. Will you be able to see him? I know around here some of the hospitals still aren't letting visitors go in at all.

Did a full body strength workout yesterday and am feeling it today. I really needed a rest day after my long run yesterday but I knew that I couldn't run tomorrow so I ended up doing tomorrow's workout this morning. It was 5 x 800 meters (with three minute recovery between each). Again, it gives me the pace range to stay in, and again, I was a little too fast on all of them (but the last, I was in range for that one). I tried harder this time to stay in the range because I knew I was tired from yesterday but nope. Just a few seconds too fast on each. After that I did a strength training workout but this one was more based on mobility and stability, which is very important for me as I have very loose joints due to a connective tissue disorder/faulty collagen. It was a good workout and reminded me of some of the things that I have done in physical therapy or with a personal trainer.

I have to figure out when to do legs - I don't want my legs to hurt for my runs but somehow that seems unavoidable. Last week on my long run I really suffered because my legs were still sore from doing lower body two days prior.

Sharon, there is a track at the high school, which is three miles away. It's open to the public but only when there is no school - or no school activities! I like to use it for speedwork for sure but during the week I would have to be there at 5:30 am so I can be off the track before school starts - and it is dark that early so I don't do that (although some of the people in the running club here do run that early). After school, I never know when there is a school function - but usually if we get over there around 3:30 or so, we have plenty of time to get our workouts in. This morning I would have preferred the track but since I did it after school started, I couldn't. So I went to a park, which has a loop that is I think just over a mile long. It is almost flat, but not quite, and I have to dodge geese (and their droppings) as well as acorns and stuff, and plus there are always people there walking their dogs and stuff, so it isn't perfect but for my 800 meter repeats it has been working out okay!

gloriawrightcook

Hello! Rest day (from running) for me, so I went to a state park to hike with my friend. We just did a short distance. Also went to REI to look at running/hiking stuff and had coffee at a favorite local coffee shop. I am thinking about running goals for the month but it is just hard to decide what distance since my training plan is through Garmin and it doesn't tell me what my runs are until seven days ahead - so hard to guess what I can do. I used to run about 1,200 miles a year, but that hasn't happen in the past couple of years, only hit about 900 the past two years. Probably this year it will be even less. The four months when I was working this year I got hardly any miles in - in April it was only 42. I feel like in 2022 I will be back on track.

I still need to do upper body strength today and I am thinking about running down to Fleet Feet - they just moved to their new bigger location, opened up today I think - and I am excited to see it.

gloriawrightcook

I had considered doing tomorrow's run today but decided I really need to wait if possible - I am just worried about the weather. I might have to wait until later tomorrow since we are supposed to have strong storms in the morning. I did my lower body strength training today, hopefully won't be too sore over the next couple of days. My run for tomorrow is very short, hill repeats, so hopefully it won't be a problem for me if I am a little sore. I need to look at my calendar for next week, I have some appointments coming up and I might have to reschedule my runs to accommodate those.

sunshineyourway

Hi All. The month of December is flying by too quick. I just got home from hospital visiting my husband. Each day he seems to be a bit better. The first day was rough. I saw him in ICU and he was in sever pain. Still not really with it. They removed the tube from his throat/lungs, so I got to say a few words to him and left. The next day he was sitting up in a chair with a very positive, happy attitude. Still had tubes coming out of his chest and a pace maker. I was hoping they would remove the tubes today, but they decided to wait until tomorrow. Then they will close up his chest for healing. He has been doing well with his PT and walking with walker. He was told he may be released Sunday, but more likely Monday. We called our son and talked with him yesterday and today. Sounds like he plans to come early to visit and help before Christmas. So thrilled.

Gloria, you are doing so well, with your strength training and running training. Hope the soreness will be gone for your planned short hill training.

I have been taking this week off from running for a physical/mental recovery. Perfect timing after my Race last Saturday and Hubby's surgery Wednesday. I am so behind on card writing and decorating. I addressed envelopes yesterday and put up a few decorations. Hopefully I can do a lot more over the weekend.

I need to print out a new running schedule 14 weeks training for my next race in March. I still plan to run 13.12 every weekend and then increase up to 15-17 miles prior to cut back/taper weeks. Some how I need to focus on hill training. I'll be honest, I have been avoiding many large hills these days.

Take care all and have a wonderful weekend!

basoranno

Good Morning everyone!
Gloria-I hope you were safe from all of the storms. They looked nasty. We were on the Winter side of the system and received about 8-9 inches of snow. Very pretty but now I’m stuck inside until the roads are dry and I can get out for a walk.
Sharon-I’m glad you’re DH is doing well and can come home soon.
Yesterday was a rough day. We had to say good bye to our cat. His health has been declining but yesterday was the worst. The vet said he was in very bad shape. Temp was way down so with everything we told him about Baxter he figured he was in organ failure. It’s rough cuz I’m home alone with just the dogs now. DH is in FL with his brothers doing things for his ailing dad. I put off PT this week because she over worked me last week and I really suffered. Been doing my own thing now. Next week I’m going to have a discussion with her and if I don’t feel like things are going in the right direction I’m going to check into going to the PT I went to when I had issues due to running. Progress here has been slow and I’ve been in a bit of a depression. Not healthy eating either.
You guys keep up the good work you’ve been doing and I’m still hopeful that someday soon I’ll be able to give my reports on my workouts.

gloriawrightcook

HI Everyone! Sharon, did DH come home today or will it be tomorrow? Hope you were able to get a lot done this weekend! Is it hilly where you live? I just figured it probably was hilly there but I have never been there! I used to eat hills for breakfast but now I don't do them much at all and I think that is partly why my running is suffering.

Becky! Great to hear from you but sad that your PT isn't going so great. I hope you get that straightened out one way or the other. I'm so sorry about your cat. I know how heartbreaking that is.
And SNOW! I mean, I guess it is December but you know my feelings on snow. NO SNOW! Lol, I ordered some YakTrax so that if we do get snow this year I will be able to still run. Still not sure I will feel confident though, even with these.

Becky, so my inlaws and son live about 20 minutes from Mayfield, KY, which is the town in West Kentucky that was pretty much demolished. Fortunately no issues for any of our family or friends that live over there. For us, our house is fine, no damage to it. Our neighborhood is a hot mess but fortunately no injuries here and no fatalities. There are wires and trees down and most streets were blocked as a result, some minor damage to some homes, but nothing terrible. There has been a lot of cleanup done over the past two days. They might let us know tomorrow if it was straight line winds or a tornado. Our electricity was out for about 16 hours I guess, fortunately it came back on before bed last night. It went out for a very short time today and since some of our neighbors still don't have power, I suppose it could go out again while they fix things.

I went and met my small running group this morning, there were four of us. We went to a park that had some Christmas lights. It was fun. We ended up mostly walking that, and then I did my hills but by then it was so foggy and I didn't feel safe out on the streets so I used my treadmill and set it at a 6 - 9% incline for the hill part. It was okay. My Garmin wasn't happy with it though as I guess on a treadmill it shows as 0% elevation gain so my note said, "Room to Grow." LOL, it was sort of funny in an irritating way. After that I did my strength training, which today was mostly focused on core and upper body. Now I am trying to decide if I want to do week one again instead of moving to week two. I just don't feel ready to advance yet. Truly I feel like I could do week one at least two more times.

sunshineyourway

Hi All! Happy Monday. I have been up for a few hours.. 2:30 am and just could not go back to sleep. Thanks for the kind comments for my husband. Every day gets better but different issues come up. Saturday he went into A Fib. When I went to visit him yesterday that seemed to go away but then something else- heart doing sometime of fluttering. We were told that is common with major heart surgery that he had. Also blood sugars spiked and he is not diabetic. It is amazing how it effects so many different parts of the body. I hope he will be coming home today, but I truly believe he probably needs another day.

Becky, I thought about you with those storms. Glad you only got snow and not those terrible tornados. I am also sorry to hear about your cat. Our pets are part of the family and I know it is not easy.. Sounds like a good plan to try a change your PT. Something you were happy with before.

Gloria, you and your family are so lucky.. Sounds like everyone is getting it all cleaned up fast. Glad you have your electricity back and hopefully all will be restored soon. You are so lucky to have a running group to get together with. I just have not been able to do that. Most of them are early evenings and I am a morning runner.

I ended up running Saturday morning. I decided to go ahead since I have a virtual 5K race this week.

I hope you all have a great week.

gloriawrightcook

Oh Sharon, sending you virtual hugs and prayers for your DH's continued recovery. You must be so anxious, no wonder you couldn't get back to sleep!

They confirmed that we had an EF1 tornado here and we are counting our blessings because the bad stuff starts just seven houses down from us. When it happened I could hear the roaring wind (and that was when I tried to get my husband up and take shelter in our interior bathroom - we had no electric by then) and knew it was bad but had no idea it was like this. I had to go to the ophthalmologist this morning to get my retinas checked, and all is still good with that, thankfully, but on my way home I saw lots of streets still closed (I had to detour) and there are still a lot of wires down. Utility trucks are out working. I will not be able to do my normal route tomorrow for my long run. I'll have to figure something out. I can go the other direction on the peninsula but I will have to figure out a nine mile route. My DH drove me down the other way earlier and there is some damage but nothing compared to going back up the peninsula so as long as I can figure out a route that might work.

Sharon, there are two running groups in my town, and then there are some in Nashville that I will run with too. The big running group here is too fast for me right now. They run early on Saturday and Sunday mornings, and there are some runs in the mornings during the week and in the evenings. The smaller group is very small right now, we are trying to revitalize that, but mostly they only do the weekend mornings, though if I reach out to them to run weekday mornings, they will - but at 5 am which is way too early for me these days. Mostly I have been running by myself so I can do it around 8 am during the week. Even the weekend group runs are too early - Sunday is called 6@6 which is six miles at 6 am. It's dark then. I am afraid of hitting a deer driving over there. I don't like getting up that early. And I don't usually need six miles that day - usually my weekend runs are very short and on Saturday usually, so mostly the Sunday run is for fun and might be walking.

Anyway, gonna go now - I got home from the eye doctor in Nashville and it was lunch time, and now I need to get stuff done. And I hope to do my workout too - no run today but the plan I am doing calls for cardio for 45 minutes, I really need to do that.

gloriawrightcook

Long run day. Did my nine miles plus the walking warm up but did only a minute and a half of the cool down because I was home. My overall pace was a bit faster than last week's long run but no negative splits today. Did run walk run intervals today and my back felt fine, but my right knee (which is the problem one) started to bother me at about mile seven, so miles eight and nine were a bit slower. Still managed to push through though. Haven't done my strength yet today, I messed up my schedule, thought I had continuing professional education at noon but it was actually at 10, so I missed it - tried to log in at noon and figured out that I was too late. So now I can try to get strength done. Strength today is POWER. I guess I am moving on to week 2 - even though I think I could benefit from doing week 1 again. The cardio session last night was okay - not super high heart rate from that but felt it was a good workout and beneficial. I think this program is more geared toward beginners and I am okay with that, until I get my back and hips straightened around, it probably benefits me to do these lighter loads. It's going to be interesting to get my runs in later this week - we've got a lot of rain coming and also DH and I are going to see Greg and my in-laws. It has been a very long time since we have seen them. They are only about 2.5 hours away but Covid has kept us home a lot more.

sunshineyourway

I was just stopping by to say hi. Will check back early in the morning. I am going to bed early now. Have a great evening.

gloriawrightcook

Hi Everyone, Sharon, did your DH come home?

I didn't do my strength yesterday because I got so caught up with Christmas prep. So this morning I did today's and yesterday's. Yesterday's was full body and today was stability and mobility. I feel tired after all of that but my BFF suggested I do my speedwork today at the track. I haven't decided because I did my long run yesterday and I need a rest day from running. I think it's a bad idea to do two hard workouts in a row without a day off. With the weather later in the week being uncertain, maybe I should but my legs are tired. It is certainly nice out today. My speedwork is 5 x 800 meters with a three minute recovery between each. I need to decide soon!!!

gloriawrightcook

Got my run in this morning, so glad to do it before the rain came in. I didn't do it yesterday, that just didn't seem smart. I needed the recovery time and I am glad I waited. It would have been nicer to do it on the track but I haven't done them there so far so I am being consistent! I need to do my strength training.

sunshineyourway

Good Morning! Happy Friday All.

Yes, Gloria, my husband finally got to come home yesterday afternoon. Trying to fix up the rooms for him to make things easy. We have my mother's wheel chair back in the family room so he can get out of chair a bit easier. Hospital also ordered a walker for him with a seat so he can get around some. The first 6 weeks is taking it easy to heal and just walking indoors in the house. Sometime today I will help him in the shower and wash hair.

Great job in your training Gloria. Sounds like you are following a great plan.

I think I pulled a muscle in my left upper thigh area. Been very painful for the past few days. I possibly overstretched doing my Yoga? Trying to keep up with my Yoga almost every day now and being more careful on that one leg. I did my virtual 5K yesterday and saw improvement on my speed. The cold air still takes my breath away but got it done. My first mile was a bit faster than usual, so no negative splits.

Gilad did another You tube season, this time focusing on strength. Here is the link if you want to check it out. Of coarse, I prefer his workouts on the beaches of Hawaii, but this is so cool he is doing these zoom live workouts at least once a month. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX2w_uhNEUo

Last full weekend before Christmas and Holiday's. Wishing you all a Happy Time.

gloriawrightcook

Hello! Thank you for the link Sharon. I have been using some Gilad workouts, also have found Caroline Girvan to be good though she doesn't give lot of instructions or cuing. The strength plan that I have been focused on for a couple of weeks is a Beachbody one that is new, and I am really loving that one because the first few weeks are focused more on form and there is a lot of mobility and stability stuff with it. That is exactly what I need. I was thinking about doing week one over but moved to week two and am almost done with that, and have been doing fine. This program isn't as intense as some of the other Beachbody ones and I guess a lot of people don't like it but for me and where I am, I am so happy with it. Some of the exercises are things that I was doing in physical therapy so I know it is good for me. I am also finding I am able to plank longer and stronger. Yesterday I got so busy that I didn't do my strength training so I ended up doubling down today and did both lower body and upper body. There is a lot of good core work in these too.

Sharon, hope your upper thigh is okay. Sounds like you are hanging in there with it. Glad your Dh came home, hope it isn't too much for you though! Take care!!!

gloriawrightcook

Rest day today since we went to West Kentucky to see family. Also saw a lot of horrifying tornado damage. So good to see MIL, FIL and DS. It has gotten very cold, winter has returned. We have had such a mild winter. I don't think it will stay cold for long.

sunshineyourway

Happy Sunday. Happy Holiday Week for All who Celebrate.

It has been raining here in NC and later cold air will be moving back in. I honestly got spoiled with the warmer temps. Glad you found some strength you like with Beach Bodies, Gloria. I have a few of the DVD's, but many of their workouts are a bit tough for me. I'll be honest, I just have been with Gilad for so long, that I have probably most of his DVD Collection. I never get bored and always participate with his 21 day challenges and he chats a lot on FB on his 21 day challenge team.

So sad to hear about all the damage in your area. Thankful your family are all OK. Perfect day for rest. I did some cardio, strength and yoga today. I missed yoga yesterday, but did finish week 1/14 8 mile run for my Tobacco Road Half Marathon. Inner thigh still has slight pain. Being real careful with the stretching etc.

Hubby has been taking it easy and doing well. Each day gets better.

Becky, I have been thinking of you. I hope you have a Wonderful Holiday.

gloriawrightcook

Sharon, so glad to hear your DH is recovering well! Will your son be here this week?

I did do my mile time trial, kind of disappointed in it, it was not as good as last time. I expected improvement but my mile was about 20 seconds slower than it was last time. Last time it seemed easier than it did today. I don't know, maybe because of the weather? It isn't super cold, maybe 44 degrees, but the wind is very brisk and maybe that makes it seem harder?

Sharon, hope the thigh gets better, I know it must be worrying you. I was going to order some Gilad DVDs when you told us about him but then I found him on YouTube and was doing some of those, along with some others. I've had BeachBody for about a year now (had some of their DVDs before that) and YES, you are so right, some of their stuff is too hard and I would find myself discouraged. But this is a new program that they put out and I am having very good luck with it so far. I have no doubt that it will get harder and if that is the case, I will modify. It's 13 weeks I think, and I will see where I am at the end - if I will do it over or if I will move on to something harder. I like this one because he is teaching good form and there is a stability and mobility component, and I feel like I am actually able to do some of the things...but I am only on the last day of the second week so who knows what I will have to say about it later, ha!!!