An Unexpected Snow Day
Wednesday was an unexpected snow day! I knew the snow was coming, but didn’t expect the gym to actually announce the day before that it would be closed all day on Wednesday. My clients who were scheduled to come to my home gym didn’t have 4-wheel drive and chose to ere on safety and canceled.
I spent my newfound time sleeping until 8:15, lifting weights, riding my spin bike, shoveling snow twice, and drinking a huge cup of hot chocolate!
Virginia Tech Wrestling for Bill’s Birthday
Friday was Bill’s birthday and he decided he wanted to celebrate in Blacksburg at the Virginia Tech/NC State wrestling dual. We went into the meet nationally ranked 14th against #10 NC State. We ended up losing 17-16, but saw some really great collegiate wrestling.
Shortly after taking the above selfie, we decided to move down closer to the mat so we walked around Cassell Coliseum to the opposite side and grabbed seats just two rows up from the action.
A Quick Visit to the Farm
From Blacksburg we drove to the farm for a quick two-night visit. It was raining during our drive on Friday and didn’t stop until sometime this morning before we woke. Callie and Hobbes hardly moved from their favorite napping spot on the breezeway except for occasionally hopping off their chair to beg for head and chin scratches whenever we walked by.
The rain caused smaller creeks and the North Fork of the Holston River to flood. The water was almost up to the road where I run when visiting the farm. This morning when we left the flooding had subsided a bit and I wouldn’t be surprised if the road was flooded yesterday during the non-stop downpours.
We ended up leaving a lot earlier this morning than originally planned due to high wind and gusts warnings from Southwestern Virginia pretty much all the way up the Shenandoah Valley and into Northern Virginia. Luckily, we beat the wind and had an uneventful trip home. It was great seeing my mom even if it was a whirlwind trip!
Yipping Coyotes
At 9:45 PM last night I heard noises outside Mom’s house. I ran to her back door and opened it to the sound of coyotes yipping with each other as they ran across the field just beyond her back yard. It wasn’t the traditional howling sound I associate with coyotes so I ran and got mom who confirmed that indeed it was coyotes. They’ve been back in the area for several years, but I hadn’t had a chance to hear them, and luckily I’ve never seen them while out on a pre-dawn run.
Physical Therapy Update
I had two more PT sessions, one consisting of dry needling with electrical stimulation and the other cupping. I was happy that my therapist did the less invasive massage style cupping rather than with fire or cuts to the skin. My PT also did some massage and manual traction.
And Now on to a RunDown of this Past Week’s Workouts…
Running
I discussed with my PT the prospect of trying a little trial run one day this coming week and he thought that would be fine. Hopefully, next week’s recap will include a treadmill picture!
Biking
My new weekly goal is to ride at least fifty miles on my spin bike (affiliate link) and I’ve hit that goal the last two weeks. Here’s hoping I’ll have no problem keeping up with my friends at our upcoming rides this spring.
Strength Training
I isolated a couple of my strength training exercises to see if I could figure out which might be causing my ongoing foot numbness – single-leg pistol squats were suspect, as were supine leg curls using a Swiss ball. With minor changes I was able perform both exercises without any residual problems.
The numbness is gradually going away, but not as quickly as I expected, especially since I haven’t run in almost eight weeks, I’ve been doing PT for three weeks, and I’ve been taking an anti-inflammatory for four weeks.
Yoga
My PT is a huge fan of cobra pose so after a few weeks of pretty much only doing stretches specific to helping my sciatica, I’ve added in some of my old yoga routines which include cobra. I’m also doing cobra pose while stretching out after lifting and riding my bike. It’s one of those poses that just feels so good to me!
It’s on the Blog
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Looking ahead to this coming week…
In addition to the workouts I mentioned above, here’s a complete run-down of my workouts from this past week (completed mostly in our home gym)…
- Questions:
- How’s the weather been in your neck of the woods?
- Do you enjoy watching wrestling (not the chair throwing kind)? ~ Our sons were both four-year varsity wrestlers in high school, and as a result, Bill and I got interested in the sport. I really enjoy watch it at the collegiate level. Wrestlers at that level are amazing athletes and their muscular bodies are easy on the eyes. 😉
- Did you race this weekend?
And that’s a wrap… Have a great week!
Disclaimer: This post may contain 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.
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I’m linking up with Holly at HoHo Runs and Wendy from Taking The Long Way Home for their Weekly Wrap. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
Sounds like your PT and stretching routine are helping alleviate your pain. I found the cupping helpful when I tried it on my calf. My redness did not last too long. Happy birthday to your hubs
Deborah Brooks recently posted…Here we snow again! Weekly Wrap
I hope it lasts when I start running! Thursday’s the day – keep your fingers crossed for me.
I know nothing about wrestling, except for what a pin is LOL Our son never had any interest in it (and opted for swimming when he got in high school), so I have not been to many meets. I’d be a nervous wreck if my son was on the mat, I think. I know it’s a tough, high endurance sport that requires a lot of quickness & strength!
You should had seen me at meets watching our sons wrestle. I’d lean and sway as if I was helping them with my movements. In fact, I was even doing it at Saturday night’s meet. 😀
My two youngest sons both wrestled for our high school. I thought wrestling was the most difficult sport to watch my kids do. I was usually tied up like a pretzel by the end of their matches. I was always glad when wrestling season was over and either baseball or tennis season began!
Hope your trial run goes well. I actually ran over 7 miles on Saturday and felt great. Yay!
Laurie recently posted…Share Four Somethings – February
I was exactly the same way; I’d lean and sway as if my movements were helping! LOL
We have a lot of coyotes here, but they’re pretty acclimated to the suburbs and when I see them on the run, they just look at me curiously. I’m not what they’re looking for–maybe if I was small and furry…
Glad you’re recovering, albeit slowly! I wonder what’s causing that numbness in your foot. Have you seen a neurologist? Is it the same leg as the one with sciatica? I hope you get to run again this week. Hang in there!
Yes, the foot on the same leg that’s bothered by my sciatica is the one that’s numb. When I first experienced the problem in 2012 I had to have three spinal injections to deal with my nerve pain, and my foot stayed numb for over six months after that episode so it’s not uncommon. Fortunately, I’ve not dealt with any foot weakness or foot drop, both problems I could be experiencing with a more severe herniation.
Hope you are on the road to recovery. It sounds like you are.
Soon you’ll be back running. It’s frustrating when you cannot run.
We have 65mph winds predicted for tomorrow. Guess I won’t be running outdoors.
Thanks, Darlene! Running in that kind of wind sounds miserable.
Ooh if that’s cobra I think I could do it. Maybe. I just mastered pigeon.
Never got into wrestling, but I admire the balance of flexibility and bulk that goes into the matches.
Hope your mom’s place is OK with the flooding.
Cari recently posted…Physical Therapy: Week 2 and Half Marathon Recovery
I think pigeon is much harder than cobra, so I bet you wouldn’t have a problem with it.
And thanks, Mom’s place was fine. Just lots of flooding all around the area.
Wait, what? Fire and cuts to the skin? Is that the normal way of cupping? I had no idea…does it work?
Fire and cuts (to release toxins) are more of the Eastern medicine way of cupping. The way my PT did my cupping was more of a massage type technique.
I’ve never even heard of cupping with cutting – yikes! My son wrestled in high school and once in a while my husband watches college wrestling, but we haven’t been to a match since my son graduated. 😉 Wednesday’s snow day was so odd. Everyone called off Tuesday night even though it didn’t start until 6 am Wednesday.
The cuts in the skin supposedly allow toxins to be released… Yes, I agree about how odd it was that everything was canceled the day before the snowstorm hit.
I absolutely love that you have been able to enjoy spinning more during your running hiatus. Spinning is one of my favorite cross training workouts – I love it!
Glad that the PT appts are going well overall. I’ve heard of cupping before but have never tried it.
I’m so thankful I have the spin bike as an option and I feel like I’m getting my strength and endurance back!
We’ve got coyotes here like crazy. They don’t hesitate to come up on my deck. I’ll bet they smell the dog. My husband was a wrestler. I think everybody’s weather is jacked this season. Almost March and it’s 6 degrees here today. May your healing process continue!
Growing up, we didn’t have any coyotes in SWVA, but they returned to the area about twenty years ago. Even though my mom hears them often, it was the first time I’d heard them.
Happy belated birthday to Bill!
so the cobra looks a bit like the McKenzie exercise that my husband has been doing daily for years. The back doctor thought he had a hernia and he was prescribed several exercises in hopes of getting rid of the hernia (and not having it get worse or having to operate) and it seems to have done the trick. Don’t ask me how, I don’t really understand it!!
we had chilly but spring-like weather here in the Netherlands last week and this week it’s already exploding. It’s the warmest Feb day I’ve ever experienced in the 24 years I’ve lived here! I think around 65F. (19C).
I haven’t really watched wrestling but if you want to talk about muscular bodies being easy on the eyes then I’d tell you I do enjoy watching Rugby for that reason 🙂
Renée recently posted…Weekly Wrap: Week 8 And No Rest
Wow, it’s great to hear that your husband has seen such great results from that stretch. I’ve added it to my list of regulars hoping for similar results!
Thanks for the tip – I’ll have to check out a rugby match. 😉
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