Boston Base Building: Week 3

Another week without lightning striking in my calves! It’s a Holiday week, and Holidays can often make working out a bit harder mainly due to the schedule shift. I decided on Tuesday that I was going to do the Turkey Trott. I knew I wouldn’t be fast, but all I’ve ever wanted since this got real bad was to just hobby jog again…. So my week was centered around that.

MONDAY: CrossFit
I pushed myself really hard today! I have yet to be anywhere close to the Rx or prescribed weight, but this workout was a lot of reps but lighter weight which is more geared towards my strengths so I gave the Rx a try. The sumo dead lifts wouldn’t have been so bad if there wasn’t also a high pull. That’s what really slowed me down!. I didn’t finish the workout, but no one in the whole class did. We did deadlifts first, I think I did 135lbs. 4x6… then I attempted the following… but I’m still stepping the burpees, and I made it to calorie 43 so still had “67 reps” to go.

Tuesday: 3 Mile run

Got out of work, and ran from school. It was the first time I went for a run outside a 400m radius. I did a full out and back in about 10:40 pace. It was the first time I ran a hill. My plans to run the Turkey Trott were contingent on surviving a hill, so I signed up after this run. Might have cried a bit. I’m crying every time I run. I really can’t believe it. Obviously when I first was treated I believed it was possible, but having such severe sharp pain after 2 treatments made me afraid it was something else…. Now I’m back to really being so surprised to be here….

Wednesday: off
​I had the sweetest little day with Maebel. I planned to make “12 Days of Christmas Crafts” for my nieces and nephews — we can’t always see each other for Christmas, especially with the pandemic, so I thought kiddos doing the same crafts and parents sharing pictures through texts would be a good way to feel together while apart. Raea didn’t want to go to the craft store with me, but Miss Maebel did, so Raea stayed with Matt and Maebel and I picked up my race bib and wandered around the craft store for inspiration. Not going to lie- my shins weren’t too happy. I’m feeling like I need more Botox to help my shins, but I’ll have to wait. Shin pain is my life- as long as the lightning bolt pain stays away I can manage until after the holidays when we might have money.

THURSDAY! Turkey trott! 29:45/9:30ish
​I’m not surprised I was able to run faster in a race environment, but I am surprised actually how hard it was with hills and my cardio fitness was finally challenged. Could I run faster cardiovascularly? Yes. But honestly, not much! I’m 50+ lbs heavier than I’ve ever been and with the hills that weight was noted! That might be another factor with my shins. I probably will do every two days a run instead of every other day until I feel more sure about the source of shin pain. Is it Botox waning? Or is it just an increase in load that I’m adapting to… or both. Probably both.

This is a far cry from my two other times at this race… one I ran one of my fastest road 5ks while pregnant in 18:09… the other I won in negative temps (but pulled calf on cool down), but this one was the only one I cried happy tears for.

Push-up contest-78 push-ups?
​I haven’t participated in the push-up contest for a while because for sometime I thought all my injuries were pelvic floor related, and didn’t feel comfortable doing them. I SUCK at pushups, I’m heavier than ever, but What the Hell.

Round 1 everyone takes turns and does 1 push-up. Round 2 everyone does 2 and so on. I got to round 13… and it ended in round 33… so do the math! … the goal is to go to failure… maybe with CrossFit I’ll do better next year.

Friday- REST
I thought about going to CrossFit because I skipped Wednesday in order to be less sore for the race… but with my shins being so sore on Wednesday I wanted to see how they were after. They weren’t sore walking around on Friday, but I made sure to do an epsom salt bath and massage/foam roll just to be safe.

Saturday- Rest
it Snowed, no sense in risking slipping. Also I’m feeling like my shins will need two days off for a while. Possibly until I get more Botox-to be determined…. But the girls enjoyed playing outside, doing some crafts… , and I scrolled shopping online all day.

Sunday- 3 miles.
shins a bit sore- warmed up- pretty sure it’s the compartment syndrome…. But also I’ve spent my entire life managing this type of pain so again—— as long as the lightning doesn’t strike I’m fine— but sore shins typically are a precursor to that shooting pain, not going to do anything crazy, considering the alter G again… we’ll see. Either way I’m incredibly happy to actually feel like I have a solid plan. Will I make it to Boston? I don’t know…. But the McGinley method is going to work, that’s for sure.

So that’s another week! Not too much running, but brick by brick!