On Monday I had my long-awaited PT appointment for my left hamstring (?) issue. It was a be-careful-what-you-wish-for situation, when after her assessment she asked if I could stop running for a week or two.
At least she asked?
Be Careful What You Wish For
If this were a runfessions post, I would tell you that I did pause for a beat before agreeing to take at least one week off from running. I had to ask myself, do I want to get better or not? I reminded myself that I just enjoyed a fantastic week of running in Copenhagen. Taking off a week now wouldn’t be the worst thing—even though we ended up having amazing weather with morning temperatures in the 60s …..
Aside from not running, she suggested I also stop doing deadlifts and RDLs. She said hamstrings tend to respond better to isometric exercises than loaded exercises or stretching. So, I have a few variations of this type of exercise to do every day:
As well as these leg lifts that I know well from Hannah C’s Peloton barre classes.
After doing virtually no strength workouts in Copenhagen (other than a few core classes), I already had decided to jump back in with Ben Aldis’s new three day split program, which has two upper body days and one lower body day.
As with JJ’s split program, I found the “push” day to be the hardest. I had to keep dropping my weights to get through those darn skull crushers.
I had to modify the lower body day because it did have deadlifts, but only in the first block.
Weekly Wrap
There’s not much else to say about the week. I got in one run last Sunday, and extended Scooby’s walks on the other days to enjoy the nice weather.
Sunday: Core + 5.0 Scooby Miles
My one run of the week!
It was so humid!
Monday: Core + 30 min UB Strength
I didn’t want to overdo it before PT, so my only pre-work cardio was my walk with Scooby. I walked to/from PT (about 1 mile from my office), and she did a short running assessment while I was there—interestingly she didn’t see anything wrong with my form. 😀
Tuesday: Core + Barre + 20 min Peloton Ride
You can see from the time I started my walk on Monday (4:43 am) my jet lag was getting worse, not better (waking up too early) so I decided not to set my alarm for yoga. I was so happy when my 5 am alarm actually woke me up on Tuesday.
Wednesday: 30 min Strength + 20 min Peloton Ride
My PT thought cycling would be OK, but I still don’t want to tax my hamstring so I opted for low impact rides this week.
Thursday: Core + Flash 15 + ALW
I took Scooby on a long walk, and then did a relatively short workout. For those of you with the Peloton app, take this Jess Sims class to hear Kim get a shout-out!
Friday: 5 min Core + 30 min Strength + 30 min Peloton Rides
My assistant is coming to the office on Fridays now (she works at home 2 days a week), so I decided to go in too. I had the office gym to myself for most of the time.
Saturday: 1.5 mile walk + Corepower Yoga
Since I missed yoga on Tuesday, I decided to take Ann’s Saturday morning class. The peak pose for September is eight angle pose, so the flow had lots of twists for preparation. I really liked it, but it was a tough class after nearly two weeks away.
I know I will make it until my next PT appointment on Tuesday without running, but it’s going to be a struggle after that. I’m going to Boston next weekend for a conference, and told my PT I really need to be able to run (or at least run-walk) there ….
A huge thank you to Deborah and Kim for hosting the Weekly Run Down link up.
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Well, you are in a similar situation to me this week. I really did not want to take off running for a week when I feel like I am finally getting my endurance back. I know it is the right thing to do especially after Prolo. Have you thought about getting some in your hamstring? Also, who wants to run in the weather we have coming this week? Hope you feel better
I actually feel the need for a week off running, LOL, but it seems like every time I choose one, then something comes up & I can’t run. So I’m satisfying myself with much less mileage.
Fingers crossed you get the green light for Boston.
Well, like you said, you did a ton of running in Copenhagen, so this was a good week to take off and focus on strength (I say that, but is any week really a good week to take off of running? Hmmmm….) Anyway, I hope this week off helped! Interesting about the differences in the hamstring exercises- that makes sense.
Fingers crossed that you get the go-ahead to run for your weekend in Boston!
Well, the weather was nice for running, but I didn’t feel desperate to run, so that’s good.
If I could go back in time, I would have gladly taken a week or two off running if it spared me the Achilles injury… I know it’s hard but a break can work miracles for your body.
I had that exact same exercise with the physio ball! Do you have one at home?
Yes, I do have one at home, so I can do all my exercises at home.
I hope the time off from running helps and that you’ve improved enough by next weekend to be able to run at least a little bit while in Boston. Happy healing!
Me too! Really, I can run — it’s just a question of whether I should. 😉
I took a couple weeks off running after Leadville, but I am still struggling to get my mojo back. It feels as if a lot of us are struggling right now. I’m holding out for the weather to improve–maybe that will help? I hope your hamstring enjoys the break.
I think cooler weather definitely sparks my running mojo. We won’t have much of that this week.
Hope you are feeling better soon.
Too bad about the hamstrung. Glad you got some great runs in Copenhagen and I hope you are healed by Boston.
This is going to be a heatwave. Maybe the best time for a break.
Noooo, the question no runner ever wants to hear! But I think it’s smart to ease off the running for a bit… you don’t want to make things worse. And luckily there is so much on the Peloton platform to keep you entertained in the meantime 😉
As much as running is my main go-to, I don’t have a problem (anymore, that is) taking time off is my body needs a break. I’m so grateful to have cycling in a regular rotation (and walking is a given), that I’m never without other cardio options. I hope things feel better!!
It’s always hard when the remedy is time off from running. To be honest I could probably do with some time off myself but I’m so close to my race date! I hope the time off is just what you need and you can run while you’re here in Boston. Can’t wait to see you!
Oh, I’m sorry to hear about the hamstring. 🙁 But it’s good to get help with such issues even if it can mean not running for a while. I do a lot of those side leg lifts and they’re very effective.
I also find push exercises much harder than pulls. I do very well with barbell rows but still really struggle with the bent-over raise although it’s more or less the same muscle group working.
Gulp. That’s a big request! 🙂 I hope your week goes well. I have another PT appointment on Tuesday and I’m not really sure what we will be working on now that I’m not feeling glute pain. Exercises to make me stronger I guess!
Oh, that’s so frustating! Your head knows the right answer, but your heart… Ugh.
I hope the week passes quickly and you get the green light for Boston.