I had another workout week where I was dealing with a lot of pain and nausea for part of it and felt better for the other part of it. I guess that’s better than a full week of feeling awful. And I did try my best each workout day to see what I could do and to make sure that I was pushing myself but not pushing myself too much.
Monday’s workout was an endurance day. It was also a day that I felt really horrible. I wasn’t as nauseous as I usually am, but I was in a lot more pain than normal. Even after taking 3 different medications that usually help me, I was still feeling awful. The pain was really taking it out of me, but I was determined to do the best that I could. And that’s not always easy with an endurance day.
The cardio was a 23-minute block without a break. It was split up into lots of runs for distance with base pace recoveries after each one. The runs for distance were twice as long as the base paces (for example, 5-minute run for distance with a 2.5-minute base pace). But for me, I wasn’t focused on the different distance challenges. My goal was just to keep going as much as I could and take breaks when I needed them. I didn’t pedal that hard or fast and the breaks were frequent, but I did what I could and tried not to stress out too much about what I was doing and what I felt like I should be doing. I still was comparing my effort to my normal effort, but at least I was constantly reminding myself that I wasn’t slacking off but was managing with the situation I was in.
The floor had 2 blocks. Both blocks started with a row. The first block had a 2-minute row and the second block had a 1-minute row. Then, both blocks were mainly Bosu work. The first block had goblet lunges (these I modified to not use the Bosu), scaptions with weights, sit-ups, hip raises with weights, pullovers with weights, and side plank hip dips. And the second block had lateral raises with weights and back extensions (which I modified to bird dogs which still made me very nauseous). It was a battle with pain during both floor blocks and a lot of nausea hit me at the end, but I got through it and once the workout was done I was able to recover and relax at home.
Unfortunately, I was feeling just as horrible (or worse) on Wednesday. It was a power day and I knew I didn’t really have much in me to push myself. I went to the workout knowing that and tried to remember that doing even a little bit is better than if I stayed home and did nothing.
There were 2 cardio blocks, but I didn’t pay a lot of attention to what we were doing. I had a similar plan to what I did on Monday. I was going to pedal when I could and rest when I needed it. I didn’t focus much on how fast I was pedaling and I kept the resistance level at my base level the entire time. And I didn’t get that much distance done between those 2 blocks because of how often I had to take a break.
When we switched to the rowers, even though the rower at my station was still being fixed I was able to use a rower at another station so I didn’t have to stay on the bike. For the first block, the rowing was always 150-meters and we were supposed to do lunges between each row. The lunges were supposed to start at 12 and go down 2 reps each round. I did squats instead of lunges and got pretty far with the rounds. And the second block, we matched the cardio with all outs and recoveries. I wasn’t too worried about timing things since all of my rowing was close to what recovery would be. So I just rowed when I could and rested when I needed to. After both blocks, I will say I was surprised by the distance I managed to get done on the rower because I thought it would have been a fraction of that.
And the floor was one long block that was split into 2 mini-blocks. The first mini-block was all mini-band work. We had side steps and we were supposed to do plank toe touches. I did the side steps, but I switched the plank work to be stand side leg lifts since that was working the same muscles and wouldn’t make me nauseous. But I did have a small win during that mini-block. I usually have to wear the mini-bands around my ankles instead of calves because they were too tight around my calves. But this time, they fit fine! So maybe I’ve lost some weight in my calves or something. The second mini-block had lunges, lunges with hops (which I did holding on to the straps), and plank with arm in and outs. I did front raises using a mini-band instead of the plank work for that block.
Friday I was doing much better, but still not completely better. And instead of having a Valentine’s Day-themed workout (which I would assume would be a partner workout), we had a Singles Awareness Day workout with a lot of single arm or single leg work.
We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and we switched after each block. The first block for cardio was a 3-minute distance challenge and we were supposed to remember our distance. Then for the second block, we started with that same distance that we did in the first block. We had a minute of recovery after that and then we cut the distance in half. We repeated that pattern until the block ended.
I was using the bike again for the rower (the rower will hopefully be fixed soon, but I don’t mind doubling up on the bike) and it was a similar plan to what we did for cardio. The first block was a 3-minute challenge. And the second block started with that distance again and then we had lunges after we completed that. Then we cut the distance in half and repeated the pattern. I was able to do lunges instead of having to modify them to be squats since I was next to the bike and could hold on to it for support.
On the floor, the first block had single-arm thrusters, lunges, and step-ups (which I modified to be weighted lunges). The second block had single-arm split stance high rows, single-arm chest presses, single-arm low rows on the straps (I modified these to be using both straps), and single-leg v-ups (I modified these to be regular full sit-ups). I had a little bit of nausea during the floor work, but nothing unbearable. I just had to take a break to let it pass and I was able to get back to the work quickly. It was so much nicer than how I had been feeling the rest of the week and it was a good boost for me mentally.
Saturday’s workout was a strength day and it was when I finally felt like myself. I was able to work on the resistance levels on the bike and I really needed to do that this time. We had 2 blocks at each section of the room and the cardio and rowing blocks stayed the same.
For cardio, we started with a 4-minute progressive hill. We increased the incline/resistance level each minute before going back to a flat base pace. I was able to increase the resistance level for each minute and it felt really good. And each block ended with a 30-second all out.
And I was on the bike for the rower again. The rower at the station I use should hopefully be fixed this week, but I guess it was a good thing to have extra practice on the bike. And this was really good practice because it required me to use a resistance level that I never use on the bike. The rower was supposed to be stroke drills, and there isn’t a great equivalent on the bike. So what I did was use double my base resistance level and my coach helped me figure out how long to bike each time. I don’t think I have ever used that resistance level before and it was hard. But every interval was 30 seconds or under, so that was good. And between each one, we had front raises and presses with the medicine ball.
And on the floor, each block was a bit different. The first block had tricep extensions, squats, and toe reaches. And the second block had uppercuts, front weighted squats, and toe reaches. I did need to take a few breaks on the floor, but nothing like I had been doing the rest of the week.
I’m cautiously optimistic that this week will be a good workout week for me. And we have a benchmark coming up soon so I want to get some practice in for that. But I also know that I can have an unexpected thing happen that will make the week harder for me. Hopefully, that doesn’t happen because I really want a good workout week this time!
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