Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links…

 

Fourteen Miles, High by Today’s Numbers

Still sidelined from last week’s removal of a squamous cell carcinoma on the top of my left shoulder, I couldn’t ride my bike or use my left arm while strength training. Not one to just sit around, I worked around my restrictions.

I’m left dominant so it’s no surprise my right arm is weaker. It seemed like a good opportunity to do a few right side only unilateral upper body exercises; however, I opted to focus mainly on my legs and core.

I had every intention of riding my spin bike (affiliate link) since I couldn’t cycle outside, but just wasn’t motivated. Instead, I ran four times totaling 14 miles. My total miles for the week were fewer than my Saturday shorter runs back in the day, but I was grateful for every mile.

 

Overview of the Week

Before discussing each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll down for daily details…

 

Sunday

It was thrilling to be back running the Firecracker 5K in person this year. At 67° and sunny I squinted my way to the finish line (I’d forgotten my sunglasses in the car). My 26:31 (8:32 pace) gave me a 3rd in my age group, just missing tying for 2nd place by 2 seconds. You can find my full recap here.

 

Once home I rolled and stretched for 10 minutes each before enjoying a fun late afternoon Independence Day celebration with family and friends at our neighborhood block party.

 

Monday

Even though it was the federal holiday celebrating Independence Day, I chose to work since I couldn’t go on a bike ride with Bill and our friends. I lifted weights for about an hour between client sessions, being careful not to use my left arm and pull the stitches in my shoulder, and as I mentioned above, I did some right side only unilateral arm and shoulder exercises before moving on to my legs.

After dinner, Bill and I walked 5K, but didn’t record our time. It was 85° and not too humid and overall a delightful time.

 

Tuesday

I waited until almost 9 AM and when the temperature was already up to 81° before heading out for my run. It was sunny so I ran in sunglasses sans my contacts and I could only read my Garmin (affiliate link) at the end of each mile when it showed me my mile pace in a larger font. As a result, I ran on feel and ended with an average pace of 8:58. After my run I rolled for 10 minutes and stretched for 10 minutes.

 

Wednesday

A busy work day, I was happy to fit in my own hour of strength training between clients.

 

Thursday

Even though I was up early, I messed around until 10:30 AM before heading out for my run. It was 85° and humid as heck, but I didn’t melt and ran a pretty comfortable 8:55 pace. Not cycling this week is definitely saving my legs from their normal fatigue.

 

Friday

I completed another hour of unilateral upper body exercises working my right side only alternating upper body and legs. Once finished, I rushed over to my doctor’s office to have the sutures removed from my shoulder before heading into more client sessions. As with other Fridays, I taught my balance and stretching class so I got in 45 minutes of weight bearing leg exercises, balance drills, and stretching.

 

Saturday

Our friend Tiffany is in town from California so my friends and I planned a 6:30 AM run followed by coffee. The weather was absolutely delightful at 66° and with very low humidity. I had planned to turn around at the 2-mile point, but somehow missed my Garmin beeping and by the time I noticed we were already at 2.37 miles. I decided to turn with the girls at 2.5 miles making this my first 5-mile run since December. With all of the cycling I do, it wasn’t the least bit taxing on my cardiovascular system, but I was still leery that it might be too much for my cranky back (it wasn’t – I feel great today). We cruised back into the parking lot of the W&OD Trail finishing with a 9:25 average pace.

Once home I stretched for 10 minutes and then spent the afternoon at the gym teaching my twice-monthly fitness machines orientation class. After class I spent about 2 hours with Bill and our son gardening (weeding, moving rocks, and cutting back invasive plants).

 

Here’s What You Might Have Missed

In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…

 

 Questions:
  • • If you live in the USA, how did you celebrate Independence Day?
  • • What would you do if your dominate arm was out of commission, would you take the recovery time as an opportunity to rest and reset, or work around it?
  • • Did you run in a race this weekend? If so, was it live or virtual?

 

And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!

 

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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.