Weekly Updates 7/13-7/20 and a Monkey Wrench

Hello and happy Monday, everyone! This heat makes me crave ALL THE FRUIT but sometimes you need a little substance to start your morning and week off right, so I tossed some blueberries and bananas into my Peanut Butter Puff-in-a-Mug this morning and paired it with fresh strawberries and iced coffee for a filling pre-workout breakfast. Apologies for the photo – I couldn’t help digging in before I snapped one!

 

 

 

I’m coming at you after a pretty low-key weekend, altered by a bit of a monkey wrench thrown in to my plans. Not my favorite kind of monkey, like this guy:

 

Curious George

 

 

Instead, my little wrench is actually a stitch above my ankle. I thought this was enough of a close-up (and it also shows my nail polish, which is aptly titled ‘Need A Vacation’…)

 

Sad ankle

 

Every summer for the past 6 or 7 years, I’ve had a small seasonal allergy that’s appeared like clockwork when the warm weather arrives. I always figured it was to a plant or type of grass that touched my legs when I was wearing shorts, because it appears in little patches on my lower legs. It doesn’t bother me, but it’s been more intense this summer than usual, so I went to the dermatologist Thursday, and my doctor quickly diagnosed it as granuloma annulare, an auto-immune response to unknown triggers that is relatively rare but most common in young adults, females, and people with multiple allergies (sound familiar?)

There is no treatment, so I was all set to go, but my doctor mentioned that in a very small number of cases, it can be a sign of Lyme disease, so he wanted to do a quick biopsy. Before I could even open my mouth to ask a question, the shot of local anesthetic was in my lower leg. It was over in mere minutes and I had one stitch right above my ankle. I’ve never had any stitches, and I was a little upset they didn’t wait for me to ask about what the procedure would entail before beginning. I was especially concerned about running. Afterwards, the doctor said I could run starting on Saturday, but the nurse gave him a look, and he amended that to Monday.

 

My attitude when they told me

 

I was not a happy camper, since I have the Dumbo Double Dare coming up in about six weeks and had just started to get into my training groove, but I figured with the heat and humidity a couple days of rest might turn out to be a silver lining. Unfortunately when I woke up Friday morning, my leg was stiff and I was moving a little slow. Over the weekend, I was only able to take Sasha on walks, and did a morning walk of roughly 3 miles on my own, which took me a gasp-inducing hour Friday but went down closer to my normal speed by Sunday. I think it was probably exacerbated by the fact that my right side is weaker anyway (I fractured my right ankle doing gymnastics in 2006, developed tendinitis in my right knee because I was overcompensating the following year, and last summer I pulled my right hip flexor). While I have to admit I had a little meltdown between that and the stress of the bar exam looming, I was doing okay by yesterday morning and enjoyed a sunny walk in town early in the morning before the heat arrived and started the day off right. I mean, what Sunday that begins with this breakfast of champions could be bad?

 

 

I would eat chocolate chips and peanut butter in my oatmeal, this is just a more efficient way to breakfast!

 

 

I was still craving sweets, hence the peanut butter cups for brekkie, even though on Saturday night I tried some new-to-me So Delicious Gluten Free Cookies n’ Cream. I think I prefer the Cookie Dough flavor, because I like a vanilla base with big chunks of cookie dough and while this ice cream was scrumptious, those gluten free Oreo chunks you see were not very big. Still awesome though, and a major shout out to So Delicious for coming up with such awesome allergy free alternatives! 

 

 

 

 

And since it was National Ice Cream Day, even though this took care of Saturday night, I had to have some Moose Tracks on Sunday to finish off a weekend of sweet snacking.

 

 

 

 

 

In the end, the stitch was an unexpected hitch to my weekend running plans and hindered my ability to run off the bar study stress or take advantage of some of my other techniques like dance partying. I just had to remind myself it was not the end of the world. And indulge in some comforting desserts in the form of ice cream, peanut butter cups and mini Peanut Butter Snickers (I love my dad, and I inherited my love of dark chocolate and peanut butter from him, but he seriously stocks our house with our own personal kryptonite in the form of such treats). Now, I’m about to head out for my first jog after posting this, so cross your fingers and wish me luck! 

 

 

 

What were you up to this weekend?

Did you enjoy some ice cream for National Ice Cream Day?

Ever had your workout plans complicated by an unexpected procedure?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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