Elbow Woes

Hello everyone and happy almost Friday! We have our third snow day of the year already today. It has been just perfect conditions for lake effect snow here in West Michigan, with the chilly temperatures after having such a warm fall! We aren’t getting too much snow today but the winds are going crazy. Teaching in a district with lots of county roads sure makes it difficult to keep them all plowed when winds keep blowing the snow right back on. So here we are, one school day left until Christmas break. It’s hard to believe there are only 10 days left until the big holiday! I feel like this Christmas season has flown by faster than any others.

All of this winter weather has made running extra difficult outside. The times that I have been able to get outside remind me that I can really kiss speedwork goodbye if I am planning on running outside when there is snow on the ground. Despite all of the plowing and shoveling that happens, there will always be plenty of uneven or icy spots on the roads and sidewalks that make running consistently challenging. I am planning on getting some indoor workout equipment for Christmas which should help significantly with maintaining cardio when it’s not possible to run outside. I have also finally found a gym that is within a decent distance to the tiny village we live in. This will help immensely!

Last week I started Kayla Itsine’s BBG workouts for the second time. I did all 12 weeks of them last year while training for half marathons and found them incredibly helpful! I am not sure whether it was just the placebo effect or what, but I felt so much stronger by the end of the workouts and my running times improved drastically. I seem to have hit a large road block this year with my strength training though. I think I mentioned on a previous post that I was dealing with some weird elbow pain throughout October. This was incredibly painful with limited mobility for about two weeks, then got better, then moved to my other elbow and was painful for about two weeks. Throughout November it healed very slowly and I’d say my elbows were back to about 90% mobility and pain free. I had the intention of starting out this half marathon plan really slowly, easing back into strength training and using my elbows after such a strange time off. This worked for the first two or so weeks, and now my right elbow is starting to flare up again. Safe to say I am in a strength training rut, not sure whether continuing through the pain and stretching is what it needs to help bring it back, or if I need to take even more time completely off from using them. I plan to set up an appointment with a Sports Medicine doctor later today which will hopefully give me some answers. I am not the most patient person and seem to make things worse for myself quite often 😉

We are back at this last week of school after a snowy weekend in Chicago! Christmas shopping there is one of my favorite traditions this time of year and I am so glad we were able to make it happen amidst the busy holiday concert schedule. The snow seems to be everywhere this winter and I am loving it! Aside from making running and traveling difficult, the snow is absolutely beautiful and brings back child like excitement that I can’t deny. I hope you are all enjoying these last few weeks before the holidays. One thing I love about teaching is that every holiday is a big deal at school, full of treats and parties. I can’t even think of a day when I didn’t receive some sort of cupcake from a student for their birthday or for a holiday. Gotta love it! Enjoy the last 10 days until the holiday and eat some treats for me 🙂