Training Log Archive: Anna

Ok this was not planned, but I don't think I was being dumb, because I actually felt really good this morning, and also because I always run on soft surfaces! RHR has been a few beats higher than normal, but I think that's really good considering how bad the first vaccine dose was for me (and my sleep). Will really, actually follow max % increases next week and pay close attention to recovery metrics.

~23 min (slow) jogging total.

Walking running drills to get warm and hopefully prevent/improve whatever hamstring nonsense was going on before. It was a bit chilly, so I went over with a bunch of warm gear and ended up keeping my long-sleeve on!

Felt surprisingly great this morning, but had to cancel my bike appointment since I failed my symptom screener because of (what I assume are) vaccine side effects--very stuffy/runny nose, clearly beyond what I get from allergies; also a tiny bit of coughing. The symptom screener follow-upper called me within a few hours of me filling out the form, which was nice! They're apparently keeping track of vaccine side effects on their own, and he was asking me detailed questions like what arm I got the shot in, which shot, and the date of my first shot. He said people are reporting congestion even though it's not listed when you google symptoms!

Otherwise I felt really great in the morning! Skating this afternoon/evening (slow laps opposite-derby direction) felt worse than expected and my head felt a little funny, but my hr wasn't dramatically high like it used to be. I started feeling better ~20 min in, but I'm already pushing it for % volume increase this week, so I decided to stop after ~25. Enough to get blood moving and also get warmed up enough for a good stretch!

Feeling a bit worse after skating, but not gonna blame it on the skating since idk what the typical timecourse of side effects is, and maybe I would've felt worse no matter what! Either way, yay for my shot!!!

Also: remembered to do anti-inflammatory one of the days I said I was going to. Gonna do that again tonight but don't feel up to icing!

Lots of walking today! Second vaccine appointment in the morning, 40-ish min each way, then phone-call walking in the evening :) I'd expected to feel crappy later in the day, but nothing yet except a little arm soreness! And I was cold, but that's just my default state and was easily solvable with a space heater. I even worked more than a full day too bc I was feeling so great :) Maybe I'll even get to use my bike appointment tomorrow (and/or skate, and/or longer achilles stuff???)! I'd front-loaded my exercise this week just in case I felt crappy today/tomorrow, but may not have to take it easy after all!

Achilles exercises were modified calf raises on calf-raise wobble board + balance clocks on wobble board.

During a chalk talk. Had tried to snag a bike spot right before, but they were all full, so walked back and did achilles stuff. Followed the talk! Very clear! Also trying to warm up my hamstring at the beginning of this with some active stretching. Maybe helped slightly.

Halfway through the chalk talk walked back to the bikes to see if anyone no-showed for the next session, and success!!! So this was mostly during the Q&A. Was outside my area, so didn't feel bad for not asking questions, and learned a lot :)

Bonus on the way back from biking: stopped at the laundry room and found free pb, quick oats, garbanzo beans, brown rice, applesauce, AND A CAST-IRON POT on the giveaway table! Yay for me!!!

Other exciting thing for today is that I think I'm officially back in the domain where the foot injuries are my limiting factor and not the fatigue :) (But still being cautious with how quickly I get back into things!!!)

Hamstrings were tight (especially right one, in a skating way), so tried some active stretching/walking versions of running drills. Felt better after. Also went for a walk, also foam rolled, also iced foot/achilles. Yesterday I forgot to do topical anti-inflammatory like I'd planned, but today I'm definitely gonna remember!

Feeling tired today (expected) but not destroyed or groggy, which is great news! Also fitness trackers think I'm recovered :) Hoping to get a couple more great nights of sleep before my second vaccine dose Friday!

THIS FELT SO GREAT! I thinnnnk that makes 3 good skates/run-walks in a row, which seems like it counts as a good pattern!

Felt achilles a bit. Stretched and will do ice/topical anti-inflammatory.

Total time running: ~24:45

During brown bag

Headache doctor today!!! Did these waiting for the shuttle on the way back. (almost-calf raises on the edge of a short wall, rdl, balance clocks, stretchy band side walks, almost-jump running balance things. also calf stretch against the wall.) Side note: there was almost nobody on the shuttle, and it's ucsd people only now and you have to show your symptom screener to get on, so I felt super safe! I think it was the first time I've been on a bus since last March :o

I haven't really had disruptive headaches in the month before this appointment, but some she had some productive info anyway: headaches can keep happening after a trigger is gone, so it wouldn't have had to be caused by something that was going on for the whole worst 3 weeks of the headaches; she agreed she's never heard of iron supplements causing headaches, so despite the close timing between the iron starting and the headaches starting, that's unlikely to have been the cause; she agreed w the other doctor that my skating fall was unlikely to be the cause since I didn't hit my head; she pointed out that the headaches were super reduced within a day of me starting prednisone and said sometimes there's systemic inflammation stuff that could cause both headaches and a rash (she asked if I'd been sick, but I haven't been sick since summer); she said there's a thing called exercise-induced headaches, but those usually start really close in time to the exercise, so she doesn't think I had those (good news for future exercise--yay!!!!); I asked whether masking in my common areas when my new roomie arrived + at PT could've indirectly played a role, like if I was breathing differently, and she said breathing differences can cause headaches and something about vasodilation; she agreed the headache medicine I didn't like sucks (apparently in addition to making you feel messed up, which is my problem with it, it can also cause rebound headaches); I forgot to ask if allergies could've played a role, but also she didn't ask much about allergies, and probably it's unlikely that I suddenly developed allergies severe enough to cause super painful headaches; I asked if I'm just a person who gets headaches now, and she said not necessarily (yay!), and also that headaches are mysterious. The end. Hopefully they stay away, but if not then now I have more info and know what to pay attention to!