I come clean about something that’s been bothering me a long time. Then there’s tech issues (because when isn’t there?). Then finally there’s some animal shenanigans — because isn’t there always when you live with furkids?
I runfess . . .
I’ll open with a whopper: my achilles tendon started acting up about mid Summer. It went back and forth for a while — sometimes it would painful enough that I would limp after a run (it would be fine after just a few hours), other times I’d feel nothing wrong with it at all.
I’m not 100% sure what caused it, in the end, although I suspect it may just have been shoes with too many miles on them. There were those downhill races — but I’ve run down mountains and not been bothered it at all. There was one particular virtual race where it was very painful the next day and I was limping for a while. That’s when I decided to drop my mileage, and it’s taken me until now to feel almost normal again.
I’m also not quite sure what I did to fix it — like many aches/pains, I did a variety of things. Even now sometimes it’s a case of one thing is not like the other (it’s only on the left leg, which is the leg susceptible to all those sorts of thing) but most of the time it feels just fine. Hopefully this runfession is now firmly in the rearview mirror!
I runfess . . .
I’m okay with the treadmill — up to a certain point. I don’t want to do long runs on it (although I have). I don’t want to do every run on it, either. I’m very happy that it keeps ticking along. The Peloton app definitely helps me feel more comfortable on it, as you can see from my review of the Peloton Road to 5K Program here.
I runfess . . .
Speaking of the treadmill, we got the idea to try to train Bandit on that. Let that sink in a minute. I started it on the slowest speed, with me also standing on it. I forgot, though, that because of its age and multiple repairs, it starts out way faster than what it’s set to and then slows down — so now imagine poor Bandit sliding off the back of the treadmill . . . yes, he’s just fine.
We actually tried it again with it already running, but although he got up on it again, we still didn’t have success. Okay, buddy, you can just suffer with cabin fever — and he is, because the cold + the Nor’easter means he wasn’t walked for days last week. We did spend more time playing with him & doing some training, which he loved. It didn’t make him any calmer in the “long run” though.
I runfess . . .
My Vivoactive 3 suddenly stopped syncing with the Garmin Connect app not too long ago. I updated the app. I deleted the app and then reinstalled the app. I checked to see if there was a software update for the watch but there wasn’t. Nothing seemed to be working. The watch isn’t that old.
Then I turned the watch off and back on — the standard fix — and voila! I never turn it off because it’s also my fitness tracker. The updated app now breaks down my sleep into light sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep, and awake. For some reason I find that kind of fascinating. Skimming through it, looks like my patterns seem relatively normal (now, wasn’t always the case). I found this interesting post on sleep, its stages, how much you should get in each stage here.
Then I had to turn it on and off to get it to sync again this week. I hope this doesn’t continue!
I runfess . . .
It felt good to run outside more after I finished up the Peloton 5k training program, but I also runfess I’m still perfectly happy to run on the treadmill on bad weather days (like today). And by bad weather I mean too cold, too hot, too windy, too wet, too slippery, or anytime I don’t have too much time, LOL!
Have you ever had your dog run on a treadmill?
Any tech problems lately?
What do you have to runfess from December? Come join us
All kidding aside, despite the trials and tribulations of 2020, I have much to be grateful for, not the least is a healthy family so far, knock on wood. I know for many, myself included, Thanksgiving wasn’t what we expected or wanted, but I hope you found it in your heart to be grateful for what you have. Ditto with Hannukah/Christmas/whatever you celebrate at this time of year.
ICYMI: my gift to you — the third short Yin Yoga flow + meditation (if you choose) to help you sleep better tonight. Give yourself the gift of relaxation! Practice with me here.
I am also linking up with:
Chocolaterunsjudy 
I’m glad your achilles tendon is feeling better. It is hard to know what causes and what fixes things sometimes. It can seem random.
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I’ve had it bother me occasionally off & on over the years, but this was a lot worse than what I normally deal with.
Grateful that I was able to continue to run without damaging it further!
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Achilles is nothing to mess with. I had tendonitis (at least that what the Dr said). I had to stop running for 6 weeks. That was years ago but it has never bothered me since. Not sure what caused because i wasn’t running a lot back in 2011. (Most likely now that I am more experienced, I would have continued running and just cut back as you did.)
If you use technology, you have problems. Now my Apple watch shuts off in the cold (if I uncover it). Not a big deal since I don’t time my runs but I occasionally use it for distance if I’m on a new route.
I never run on a tm even If the weather is bad, I just skip my runs. I am considering running in the rain today since it is warm.
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I still have to juggle running with weather and trips to my mom (and sometimes vet visits). It isn’t always easy — even without a job.
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Not sure your response refers to?
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To your just skipping runs when weather’s bad. Despite not working I still have a lot of demands on my time that can mean making time for fitness challenging. Just different sorts of demands.
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Ouch to the Achilles pain! Fortunately, I’ve only had a couple of incidents, and they were pretty mild (in comparison to what I’ve heard other people experience). Max hasn’t been properly walked much when it’s been so cold, but he’s so active, that I don’t worry about him. He’s constantly jumping up and down on/off the furniture, and he loves the stairway almost as much as me LOL It’s been a tough year, but we do get out of it what we put in…if we focus on the good, that’s what we’ll experience. 😉
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Oh, dear. I didn’t really want company in the sore Achilles club! Mine probably needs more time off than I want to give it. Glad you got your Vivoactive to work again. I find with my Garmin sometimes I have to turn my phone off and on for the app to see it. I don’t think I’ve turned my watch off more than a few times in the years I’ve had it.
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I turn my phone off completely at night. I had hoped that would do it the first time I noticed it but nope.
Sorry that your Achilles is also bothering you. Take care!
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Thankfully my achilles was never too bad, probably because I paid attention to it, but it’s still not completely healed yet either. Like 99% thought.
Max is a lot younger than Bandit, which makes a difference. Oddly Bandit seems calmer the last few days, for whatever reason, for a while he was being kinda annoying. Although he definitely didn’t want to walk in the extreme cold (we’ll see how he does today, it’s cold again).
I totally agree that what we focus on expands!
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So sorry about the achilles! It seems to be everywhere these days. I saw my dentist this week and he’s in a boot–ruptured his while running. Damn!!!
I’ve had those issues with Garmin syncing with my watch on and off. At one point I had to remove my phone from the app and reconnect it. Of course, then it was a ‘new device’. Life was so much easier before technology, wasn’t it?
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That’s why I was cautious I definitely didn’t want to rupture it!
Well, technology is a great help and a great pain. 🙂
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I runfess that I also like to split my time between treadmill and outdoor running. I really don’t mind the treadmill, especially on those super cold days.
Really sorry to hear about your achilles but hope that it starts to feel better again soon.
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I don’t mind the treadmill, and feel lucky to have one, although I’d rather run outside. But sometimes it’s kinder to my body, too.
Achilles is much better, thank you. Not 100% still, but most of the time just fine.
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I had some achilles issues a few summers ago and I had no idea why really. It finally went away with a little babying. Annoying none the less. Too funny about Bandit on the treadmill. I’d love to see some video on that!
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I know — I wish I’d had some video running when Bandit tried the treadmill. Not the first time that’s happened with a dog & the treadmill, although the last time we weren’t trying to get Chester on it!
It really would have been funny (especially since he wasn’t hurt).
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Yikes on the achilles; Glad you got it to settle down. Ozzy seems interested in the treadmill, in that he stands right there when I’m on it, but I can’t coax him to get on, even when it’s not moving. Wow on melting all that snow already. Fast!
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Bandit usually sleeps on the chaise next to the treadmill while I’m on it. He doesn’t mind the noise. He was really getting antsy, despite extra attention.
That treadmill has seen its share of animal shenanigans. The cats used to jump up on the display while I was running on it which gave me a heart attack every time!
We also had a similar incident with Chester years ago, but we weren’t trying to get him on, he just jumped on it one time while I was running (luckily he wasn’t hurt, either).
And then there was the famous baby bunny incident . . ..
We got another dusting over night, darn it.
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I will be coming back later and doing Yoga with you!
I’ve never on purpose but any of my dogs on the treadmill ( they’ve climbed on because they were curious), but now I am wondering if treadmill training is something I should consider doing. Our dogs don’t get walked nearly enough now that it is winter.
I am so glad that you and your family have stayed healthy! That is definitely a win for 2020!
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We mostly do walk every day, even in winter, but it does get cold enough that Bandit just balks. I think it’s too hard on his paws. We’ve tried booties in the past so I’m not doing that again, it didn’t really end well.
The main reason we tried it was that Bandit was just being very antsy, despite playing with him & training him. We’d have him going up & down stairs sometimes with the training, but it still didn’t seem to be enough.
but it’s going to have to be. 🙂
So I guess it really just depends on how your dogs are acting.
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