Sooo, I don't have a traditional workout recap this week. On Monday, I hurt my neck during yoga. It was absolutely not the instructor's fault -- we were just in a normal pose and I rotated my neck a bit to loosen it up since it felt tight. Then, "crunch." Yes, my neck made a bone-on-bone crunch noise. I tried not to freak out, but as I moved around, I felt a lot of pain in my neck and shoulder. I stopped moving with class and went into child's pose. After about five minutes of rest and still feeling a lot of pain, even when not moving, I had to leave class.
Thankfully, after an emergency appointment at Finish Line consisting of massage and heat, the pain lessened and by Tuesday I could turn my head without a ton of pain. A massage this weekend pretty much cleared up the problem, although I'm still curious about what happened Monday morning!
But backing up to before I crunched my neck... the instructor (who I really liked) said something: "take it easy on yourself." She expounded on that, saying that so often we push ourselves in every pose (or on every run) and sometimes it's okay to take it easy.
I took that to heart this week. I played it safe and didn't work out Tuesday or Wednesday before work. Then, work got crazy Wednesday evening when I was staffed to a deal out of Houston, and I worked late Wednesday through Friday nights.
Instead of getting no sleep and fitting in a workout, I decided to take it easy on myself and focus on sleep and nutritious eating. And Sunday when I saw the forecast of "feels like 10 degrees" with 25 mph winds, I decided to skip the race I'd planned on running. I'd only paid $25 for entry and had picked up the shirt, so I didn't feel too guilty about the wasted money.
Better than a race? I slept for 11 hours! Sourabh and I both crashed around 9 PM on Saturday and didn't wake up till after 8 AM on Sunday.
I still managed to get in some workouts. Sourabh took his first yoga class on Saturday, and I joined him for the basics class. We also ran 2 miles at the gym last night. And I guess I can count the first 20 minutes of that Monday yoga class?
I'm not stressing, though. I don't have any big races for a loooong time (oh yes, I have some goals for next year, that I'll share in a future post!). A physical and mental rest week now and then will not kill my fitness, and in fact, it'll probably lead to much more successful training cycles next year!
Now let's talk about food.
Thanksgiving Menu
Here are a few resources I'm using as I prepare Thanksgiving dinner! I'm doing a small dinner for Sourabh and myself, then Saturday we're going to a friend's place for another big meal.
Thankfully, after an emergency appointment at Finish Line consisting of massage and heat, the pain lessened and by Tuesday I could turn my head without a ton of pain. A massage this weekend pretty much cleared up the problem, although I'm still curious about what happened Monday morning!
But backing up to before I crunched my neck... the instructor (who I really liked) said something: "take it easy on yourself." She expounded on that, saying that so often we push ourselves in every pose (or on every run) and sometimes it's okay to take it easy.
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| Taking it easy and walking Mason instead of running. |
Instead of getting no sleep and fitting in a workout, I decided to take it easy on myself and focus on sleep and nutritious eating. And Sunday when I saw the forecast of "feels like 10 degrees" with 25 mph winds, I decided to skip the race I'd planned on running. I'd only paid $25 for entry and had picked up the shirt, so I didn't feel too guilty about the wasted money.
Better than a race? I slept for 11 hours! Sourabh and I both crashed around 9 PM on Saturday and didn't wake up till after 8 AM on Sunday.
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| More walk pictures. It was sooo pretty out on Saturday night! |
I'm not stressing, though. I don't have any big races for a loooong time (oh yes, I have some goals for next year, that I'll share in a future post!). A physical and mental rest week now and then will not kill my fitness, and in fact, it'll probably lead to much more successful training cycles next year!
Now let's talk about food.
Thanksgiving Menu
Here are a few resources I'm using as I prepare Thanksgiving dinner! I'm doing a small dinner for Sourabh and myself, then Saturday we're going to a friend's place for another big meal.
- Healthy Cooking Camp Thanksgiving Menu. I'm eyeing the dijon roasted Brussels sprouts. Yum.
- Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dishes. A lot of these dishes just sound like fabulous winter dinners in general!
- Smitten Kitchen. Just in general, Smitten Kitchen is incredible, but particularly for Thanksgiving, her apple-herb stuffing and parsley leaf potatoes look awesome.
- Chobani Pumpkin Pie. No clue if this is good but the incredible ease of making it appeals to me...
- How to Make Perfect Mashed Potatoes. I almost always mess up this super simple dish. Maybe with this guide's help I'd get it right?
- Perfect Roast Turkey Recipes. For those that are eating turkey, these look like awesome ways to boost the flavor!
- Gingerbread Pumpkin Ice Cream Sandwiches. If you want the traditional pumpkin in an untraditional dessert form. Everything Katie makes is freaking incredible, so bookmark that blog for future deliciousness.
I'm not sure if I'll post again before Thanksgiving. If I don't, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!! Hope everyone has a lovely holiday and gets to spend time with loved ones eating delicious food.
Yikes, glad to hear the neck is feeling better. It sounds like you played it smart by taking it easy. Aren't yoga instructors the wisest? One from YogaWorks taught at the store on Saturday morning, and one thing she repeated a few times was "let go of exceptions." She runs a lot too, so she talked about it's important to remove the pressure we put on ourselves during workouts, races, life in general, etc.
ReplyDeleteGlad the neck is feeling better! And that I am not the only one who decided not to race on Sunday. That wind howling made the decision for me. I am definitely NOT an outdoor winter runner.
ReplyDeleteHave a happy thanksgiving!!!