It’s Okay to Bike

A frequent flyer with my dermatologist, I was back in his office on Thursday morning for the removal of a spot on my upper abdominal area.  It was precancerous, but with my history it was removed with all the precautions of being cancerous. As a result I have a 1-inch horizontal incision and will need to limit my activities for 10 days.

Running is out, but walking is fine. Strength training is obviously out, but what I wasn’t expecting was for my doctor to tell me that easy biking, as long as it doesn’t pull on the sutures, should be okay. He knows me well!

 

Overview of the Week

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

 

Sunday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Planning ahead knowing I wouldn’t be able to lift weights on Friday, I moved my strength training sessions from Monday/Wednesday/Friday to Sunday/Tuesday/Thursday.

 

Monday

Cycling: 10 miles
• Average speed: 15.9 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 6:27 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 66°

Gardening: 3 hours

I took advantage of a beautiful day and a limited work schedule (I only had virtual clients since I continued to test positive for Covid) by pruning back all of our foundation shrubs.

 

Tuesday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Walking: 2 miles
• Average pace: 14:08
• Elevation gain: 115 feet
• Start time: 10:39 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 47° (feels like 43°), sunny, and breezy
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, nylon shell, gloves, mittens, headband ear warmer, and visor

I started out on my walk with just gloves and no ear warmer, but ducked back inside at the half mile mark to grab mittens and a headband when my fingers and ears wouldn’t warm up.

 

Wednesday

Cycling: 15 miles
• Average speed: 15.8 MPH
• Bike: Life Fitness Lifecycle Spin
• Surface: N/A
• Elevation gain: N/A
• Start time: 7:02 AM
• Location: basement
• Weather: 64°

 

Thursday

Strength training: 1 hour of total body

Running: 5K
• Average pace: 9:38
• Elevation gain: 66 feet
• Start time: 6:33 AM
• Location: neighborhood circle
• Weather: 32° (feels like 28°)
• What I wore: capris, s/s shirt, nylon shell, ear warmer headband, gloves, and mittens

I got up at 4:30 AM so I’d have plenty of time to get in a strength training session and run before showering and heading to my dermatologist’s office for surgery. I expected him to tell me I couldn’t workout for 10 days and wanted to get in one last workout…

I was also desperate to get in a run because Covid had prevented me from running since my last run two weeks earlier in Bar Harbor, Maine. I was thrilled that my lungs cooperated completely and that my run felt so good – amazing, actually.

 

Friday

Balance and stretching: 35 minutes

It felt great to finally teach my balance and stretching class at the 55+ community after taking 4 weeks off for a combination of vacation and Covid. I normally participate in all of the activities while teaching the 45-minute class, but had to skip a few so I wouldn’t pull on my wound.

 

Saturday

Walking: 5 miles
• Average pace: 16:35
• Elevation gain: 197 feet
• Start time: 1:31 PM
• Location: neighborhood trails
• Weather: 64° and sunny, climbing to 68°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor

I met my friend Betsy for a walk. Two summers ago we rode our bikes together about once a week, last summer only once, and this summer not at all. We were happy to finally find a time to fit in a walk together.

 

Last Week’s Blog Posts

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

 

Questions:
  • • Do you decorate for fall and/or Halloween? ~ I decorate for fall and have a few Halloween items I put out.
  • • What was your favorite workout of the week? ~ My run on Wednesday felt amazing, but it was fun catching up with Betsy during our walk on Saturday.
  • • Did you run in a race this weekend? ~ No

 

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!