Weekly recap (7/25-7/31): Two steps forward, one step back

Weekly Recap

1 Aug

After a week or two of feeling good, I got hit with another round of allergy/sinusitis madness. This shouldn't really be a surprise because I haven't done allergy testing yet at the specialist and I'm not on any kind of treatment other than what I've been using for a while (which obviously doesn't work as well as it should). I was hoping it wouldn't come back, but without solid treatment it will.

While I tried to tough it out and deny I was getting sick, by Saturday my symptoms were undeniable and clearly not going to go away on their own. I was non-functional with intense face and head pain and pressure, rainbow colored snot (YUM!), a cough, and a sore throat, so I had to get some antibiotics. I didn't get any steroids this time since my lungs and asthma are good (YAY!) and the steroids would also mess with my upcoming allergy testing. I have another week and a half until allergy testing and hopefully once we figure out my specific allergies, I'll get the long-term relief I'm so desperate for.

Other than illness, my week was fairly uneventful for the most part. Uneventful weeks are good, especially considering the tumultuous months I had for the first half of the year!

Workout summary

Monday: Intentional rest day
Tuesday: Off (sickness setting in)
Wednesday: Paddleboarding/Yoga on the board
Thursday: Tempo run (treadmill/indoor track) - 4 miles (7:47 pace)
Friday: Barre class
Saturday: Sick
Sunday: BodyFlow class

Totals

Running miles: 4 miles (blah)
Total runs: 1 (ugh)
Barre/strength: 1
Yoga/BodyFlow: 2 (counting SUP yoga)
Crosstraining/SUP: 1
Total workouts: 4

D was gone for most of the week, so it was just me and the little bean. We had a painting party two nights in a row and he sang his little heart out while he painted (totally my kid). While he was "whooshing" and dotting (and counting his dots) with his paint brush, I did an abstract painting of lampwork beads. I love using lampwork in jewelry designs - the colors are so intricate and vibrant - and I thought they'd make a fun subject for a painting. I'm now planning on doing a series of them.

B's paintings ended up with a very autumnal palette. I think it's his way of rebelling against this crazy heat (yes, we're still in triple digit heat indexes here).

B's watercolor paintings - very Fall-LIke colors

Not feeling well again obviously affected my workout schedule this week. On Tuesday I started to feel sickness coming and in an attempt to thwart it, I took another rest day. I still wasn't feeling well on Wednesday so I skipped my run, but I did do some SUP yoga. Saltwater therapy - yes!

The SUP yoga session included a 10-15 minute paddle out, a 20-30 minute yoga session on the board after we anchor down, then a 10-15 minute paddle back. My board yoga this year has definitely improved from last year. I can do more complicated poses like crow, tripod, and wheel without wobbling. These are all easy poses for me off board, but on-board can be a different story, so I'm excited to see improvements this year.

On Thursday, despite still feeling gross, I got a good speed session in. I took it inside to the treadmill and indoor track because speed sessions outside in this weather are a big "no" for me right now. I did my first two miles on the treadmill (one warmup up mile at an 8:34 pace, second mile at tempo at 7:45), the last two miles I did at the indoor track, which is right next to the treadmills, with an average pace of 7:13. That's faster than I've run in a long time for that distance, and certainly much faster than the races I've done lately. I'm hoping this speed (and faster) sticks around and translates outside this fall.

Friday I went to barre class and even though it was an okay class for me, I just felt tired and drained from allergies and sinusitis. Saturday I could no longer ignore my symptoms and I had to skip all workouts, go to the doctor and then hang out on the couch. Sunday morning I still wasn't feeling well and skipped my barre class.

By Sunday evening, I was feeling a bit better so I headed to O2 Fitness for BodyFlow. My flexibility was on point, but my balance was nowhere to be found. So I had a lovely dancer pose with my leg high over my leg, but it was so wobbly! But I think the sinus infection is about ready to leave the building, so there's that.

I start fall training in a few weeks and won't be able to afford having these rollercoaster weeks where I run a ton of miles (relatively speaking) one week and hardly any the next. That's not great for training or PRs, and it's what I've been dealing with for more than a year now. Hopefully allergy treatment kicks in fairly quickly and I can stay healthy for the long-term.

In other news, since I wasn't feeling well and we stayed in this weekend, D and I binge watched Netflix's new show Stranger Things after B went to bed and we loved it! Eight episodes wasn't enough. I love Netflix, but hate how long we have to wait between seasons (and the fact that encourages binge watching)!

So how's your summer training going? Anyone else watch Stranger Things?

I'm linking up with HoHoRuns and MissSippi Piddlin' for their Weekly Wrap post. You can check out all of this week's posts here.