Weekly Wrap-Up: December 19-25

First, a belated Merry Christmas!

Second, I know this is late, partially due to traveling and visiting my family, and partly because of something else.

I had a plan. I was going to finish my wrapping on Friday afternoon/evening, run Saturday (Christmas Eve) morning, write up this post because my running week would be over (Christmas was a planned rest day), and my official weigh-in happened on Friday, and then I’d be done until either my December 26-January 1 wrap-up, or my 2016 wrap-up, whichever came first.

My plan was derailed by something unexpected. My right shoulder (!?!?!) started hurting on Friday and got progressively worse through the day. It made it impossible to finish wrapping, and since it was painful any time my arm moved, I couldn’t run. I never thought my shoulder would keep me from running. So I made the decision to not run Saturday morning. I didn’t write the blog post because I was trying to take care of my shoulder, and decided to wait until I got home on Wednesday to write it.

Saturday night, I struggled to get comfortable when trying to get to sleep. Somehow, I managed to fall asleep, and when I woke up, it was almost like a fever broke, and my shoulder was just a little sore, but there was no pain when I moved it. I was still careful, and tried not to do any heavy lifting, but from then on, it was OK, and I was able to run on Monday, but that’s a story for my next weekly wrap-up.

I still have no idea what caused my shoulder problem, but knock on wood, it seems like it’s gone now.

Weight Check: 161.8, down 3 pounds from my last weigh-in. OK, first of all, I had two 10 mile runs in there, and second, I screwed up, and before my Friday run, I forgot to weigh in. So I weighed in after my Friday run, and I guess I lost some weight during the run. I didn’t do that on purpose, and I’m pretty sure I would have had a loss even before my Friday run. Of course, the lower reading makes it more likely that I’ll show a gain on my next weigh-in.

As far as my diet, I did drink a bunch of Mountain Dew at work on Monday and Tuesday as I scrambled to get everything finished before the end of the year, and there were a few Christmas cookies that someone brought in, but otherwise I did OK.

I’ll do my next official weigh-in on Sunday, January 1, so then maybe I’ll get back to a normal schedule. Also, as I write this on Wednesday evening, I haven’t stepped on a scale since Friday. I suppose I’ll see where I am tomorrow morning.

Christmas Present Check: My parents gave me 3 pairs of running socks (They’re not Balega, but I’ll give them a shot), a new short sleeve tech tee (It’s blue-ish, and I don’t really need another blue shirt, but it’s the thought that counts), and 2 packets of Gu, one Strawberry Banana (my favorite) and one Chocolate Outrage (which I guess I’ll try out sometime). Also, not strictly running related, but they gave me a 500 tablet bottle of Ibuprofen (which I could have used on Saturday, but my parents had some Ibuprofen that I could take.)

My sister gave me a reflective vest for running in the dark and a pair of socks (Balega, but she got XL and I’ll need to exchange them for L. Luckily, she got them at REI, who has excellent customer service and I know I’ll have no problems there.) And in the not strictly running related category, she got me a pair of quick-drying underwear. This time, they’re briefs. Last year, she got me one pair of boxer briefs and one pair of briefs. The problem with the boxer briefs is that they’re a little big for shorts, so I can really only wear them with long pants. The briefs work with anything.

Nephew Check: My nephew Jack (about 2 and a half years old) got a small roller coaster and absolutely loves it. My nephew Quinn (just over 6 months old) loved the wrapping paper about as much as the presents inside. They’re the best.

This Week’s Runs
Day Total Miles
Monday 5.16
Tuesday 5.17
Thursday 10.03
Friday 5.21

Total: 25.57 miles

Yeah, the total is a little disappointing because I missed my planned 5 miler on Saturday. On the plus side, that Saturday run would have been in my parents’ neighborhood. I love my Mom and Dad, but I don’t love running in their neighborhood.

Monday wasn’t a great run. It was cold and windy, and while it wasn’t raining, everything was still wet from some previous rain, so it was pretty miserable all around. My legs felt OK for the day after a 10 miler, but it was yet another run where they just weren’t moving very fast. It’s frustrating.

Tuesday was much better. My legs felt good, and they actually moved like they felt better.

Now, Garmin tells me how many calories I’ve burned during each run, but I don’t know how it calculates that number, so I don’t really pay all that much attention to it…unless it tells me I burned 666 calories, like it did for this run. That explains why it went so well.

(Side note: I kid you not, the song that is playing right now is Hell by Squirrel Nut Zippers. I swear I didn’t plan that.)

Thursday I decided to do my long run for the week. I ran 10.03 miles just so it would be longer than my last 10 miler. It went pretty well. I was pleased.

Friday, there was no sign that I was just a few hours away from experiencing debilitating shoulder pain. I ran fairly well, especially considering it was the day after a 10 mile run. I don’t think anything that happened during this run led to my shoulder problems.

This week, well, it’s already underway, I’ve got two runs under my belt, and I’ve got 3 more to go, including, yes, a New Year’s Day run. I’m closing in on 1400 miles for the year. It’s going to be closer than I’d like. I’ll check in with my 2016 wrap-up at some point over the weekend, hopefully on Saturday, if not Sunday. I may wait until Monday either way for my next weekly wrap-up. We’ll see how it goes.