Author: Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Bright, shiny and new!!!!

Shoes!!!!!! As I mentioned in a previous post, my Mizuno Wave Inspire 9 were getting a little tired. In fact, I probably shouldn’t have run my half marathon in them. But I loved them so much! I set a PR for 5K, 10K, and half marathon distances in them. So, ok, maybe I was a little attached, a little overly sentimental.

Monday’s short little run brought the mileage total up to 444. The wear was showing and the support has faded. Poor shoes. 😦 It was time to do something. Mizuno has been teasing the release of the Wave Inspire 10 for sometime in mid-November. I had mixed feelings about this for a few reasons. #1 was that I didn’t want to wait that long. I needed shoes now, so I could break them in for November races. #2- I loved these shoes, 10 were redesigned, what if I hated them? Plus by the time I would figure that out, I may not have been able to find the Inspire 9.

I have been checking websites off and on for about a month now, hoping I could find the Inspire 9’s for a little less. Monday after my creepy run, I decided to just buy my shoes. I have bought (been gifted) every pair of running shoes from The Running Warehouse. I love them, great selection and customer service. I am probably a very annoying customer, as I usually try on like 7 pairs of shoes each time. This time I knew exactly what I wanted, so I figured I would go online. Easy peasy right?

Strike 1, they had the 9 in two colors but not my size. Well crap. Ok, how about the Mizuno website? 3 colors available, but again not my size, strike 2. I was starting to get a little nervous. Did I wait too long? Next I checked out Road Runner Sports. I had never been to the site before but kept seeing it on Twitter. Success!!! They had my shoes in my size!!!!

I ordered them around 10PM Monday night. They had a deal with their VIP account, so I figured why not. I got 20% off plus free shipping. Score! And yes, I paid for my first pair of running shoes. Tuesday morning, I received an email that they had shipped. Well that was fast. I still expected them to take a while. After getting home from work school on Wednesday, I found my shoes!!! Less than 48 hour turn around! I was impressed. Part of me wanted to go for a run but my neck was freakishly sore and stiff after class, so I held off.

Thursday, I headed out after work, before more school, for a little 3 mile run. The weather was amazing, bright shining sun and blue ocean. It was a little windier than anticipated; the water was choppier than I had seen it. The shoes were great, no issues, I could really feel the support.

Only one slight quirk, the shoes are pink, like in your face, bright pink. (Sorry, Mizuno, Beetroot not pink) I think this is the brightest pair of shoes I have owned. I could see the pink out of the corner of my eye while running, that will take some getting used to. 🙂 I can count the number of pink things I own on one hand.

On the shoe subject, I rewarded myself for achieving my 10K goal with these super cute platforms-

I wore them today for the second time 🙂 Love them, but almost walked out of the right one 3x today, my right foot is smaller. 😦 I need to buy one of those heel inserts. It’s hard to believe I am a runner when I sometimes have troubles walking!

Can’t wait to get my next run in with my new shoes!!!

Anyone else have any favorite shoes?

Anyone racing this weekend?

Creepy Running

I did make it to the track like planned on Sunday. Headed out around 10:00 hoping to avoid the heat. My legs felt tired before I even started so I set Mr. Nike for a timed run of 45 minutes. Figured that sounded like a good amount of time for the day and I would just do as many laps as I could at a steady pace. By the end of my 45 minutes I had done a little over 4.5 miles. I maintained pace and by mile 3, my legs felt a little better. So I walked a short cool down and stretched out. I have no idea what the football players use this thing for, but I love stretching with it-

After my run, I headed home for a lazy day of eating way too much. Seriously, I ran a half marathon not Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim. But I still gave myself license to eat way too much last week. The amount of times I ate pizza was just ridiculous. Amazingly tasty but ridiculous. Plus for work, we are having a candy crush October. I have most of the treats for the crew in my drawer and have been snacking on them way too much. Bad!!! They are not for me!!! Plus my skin has decided to tell me that it is not happy with the unending string of junk food either. Ugh.

Yesterday I was pumped to get in a run after work at the lake. I figured with the looming time change, this would be one of my last chances. Getting out of work was a little delayed due a waiting for a big announcement that was supposed to come down the pipeline. There’s always a moment when your stomach sinks hearing that but no need, it’s all good. We’re expanding!! That was a good thing to hear! But it did put me a little behind schedule. I changed and started the drive towards the lake path. The sun was behind the hill a little more than I planned when I got there but I still set out for a good run.

What was not cool was the creepy guy walking two dogs that was totally weirding me out. Granted it could have been the border collie he was walking that was giving me the willies. I love all dogs but not border collies, sketchy devils. But the way he kept looking back and staring, not cool. It may have even been someone behind that he was staring at but, ew. I passed him quickly and tried to settle into a decent pace. My legs did not like me so much last night. I felt like I was mincing my steps. I kept looking down at my form and it felt ok, but my legs were off. I just felt funky. Clocked mile 1 at 10:25, ok then. The sun was even lower but I pushed on for another lap. My legs still felt funny. 😦

Coming through the park section of the path again, I swear I saw creepy guy sitting on a bench staring at the path. But without the dogs… ummm what?! I wasn’t sure if I was more skeeved out by him or the fact that there may be a border collie on the loose. They’re the reason I carry pepper spray. Yeah I was done. I finished the lap coming in at just under 2.5 miles. I stretched really quick and jumped in my car to leave. Best way to get a negative split? Run from something creepy.

The bottom of my left foot felt funny today. Not painful, just kind of odd. I had no problems at volleyball though, so who knows. We won!!!!! Well, 1 of the 2 matches, but woo hoo! Both matches went to 3 games and now I feel a little bruised but it was fun. Could have done without the second team of the night deciding to intentionally aim everything at me but I said bring it 🙂 Not sure what I did to them but oh well, women can be so bitchy. (myself included). They were pretty vocal about it too. Maybe the fact that we took the first game spooked them, there are the first place team right now.

Now I am relaxing in the Comfy Chair, watching The Biggest Loser and eating potato chips. Wait, what? Oops. Why does this show make me want to snack? 😦

Anyone else have any sketchy encounters while running?

Sun and scarecrows

I managed to get in a run on Thursday before heading to school for my exam. Oops, sorry mixer!!! I’ll go next month- it’ll be too dark to run then 😦

I wanted to take it a little easy, so I set Mr. Nike for a 3 mile run. I love the distance mode. He comes on and tells you at the halfway point, great way when to know to turn around. Otherwise I get distracted and just keep running. Which if it wasn’t my first run after my half or if I didn’t have an exam that I should have been studying for, that wouldn’t have been a bad thing. 🙂

The halfway point is just inside the state park, I barely get to breathe in the Eucalyptus before I had to head back. I take a slight detour on the way back just to see this-

Bonus, the weather was amazing! 70 and shining sun! Usually by this time of evening the marine layer rolls in and it’s just gray. All in all, finished a nice 5k when I made it back to my car. And I averaged a 9:46 pace, fine by me.

Since I work 3 of the upcoming 4 Saturdays, I admit to a little whining. But I have an awesome boss, so I got a few extra hours to sleep in on Friday. I have been so tired; I just wanted some time with a few less alarms. Yeah, I set 5 daily. Usually sleep through the first 2 and snooze the rest repeatedly. While a better person may have snuck in a Friday morning run, I am a Slacker. I chose to sleep. It was so nice. Then I headed into work, picking up a birthday cake along the way for the afore mentioned awesome boss. I really need to stop eating junk. This has been a very indulgent week.

This morning’s commute actually wasn’t that foggy! As I drove into town, I tried to take a few pictures. This town has an annual Scarecrow festival that I never knew about. Last time I worked there, the fog was so heavy and zombie like, then creatures were just popping out the mist. WTF? The first 2 scared the crap out of me before I figured it out. This time, I was prepared and snapped a few pictures along the way. Yes, I should have gotten out of the car, but I am lazy.

I really did plan to run today but the Slacker in me finally beat out the twitchy feet. After work and lunch and errands, I was tired and lazy. No lies, I was just a Slacker. Tomorrow, I get back on track. Literally- track Sunday!!!!! Woo hoo!!!! I love the track. It’s supposed to be over 90, but hey, soon I will be complaining that it will too cold, so I may as well enjoy it while it lasts.

Today wasn’t totally running free, I did finish my scrapbook page for my City to the Sea bib. Yes, I keep a scrapbook of all my bibs. Cheesy but I love it. Wish they made better embellishments though.

To anyone who ran or raced today, you’re awesome!!!!

Anyone’s towns have any interesting Harvest traditions?

And another one…

A little email alert told me that City to the Sea photos were ready. Yikes!!! I was really hoping for a good one this time 😦 Below is the least scary one, well, they were all pretty bad. And what is with my damn ponytail?! It is bouncing around like a dang cheerleader in every picture.

This morning, when I checked Facebook, I saw a familiar sight. Run The Edge had posted the following picture-

Photo: No political agenda here. Just a funny sign and a shout out to all those runners who still believe that they are slow or "no good." You guys are running and that is all that matters!Poster seen on From Fat To Finish Line - the documentary

That’s my race! That is the same girl and the poster I was talking about during the race. That was the halfway point, leading up to the overpass, the bridge in the background. Not sure how it got to their attention, but woo hoo for a little local shout out! And if you have never checked out their site, you should! I am currently reading their book, too.

Didn’t get in a run today 😦 but enjoyed lots of yummy homemade Beef Stroganoff and birthday cake with the family. Happy birthday brother! Have to figure out how to run that off tomorrow!!

Getting twitchy

Normally, the first few days after a big race, I feel sore and achy and look forward to rest days. This time around, I have twitchy feet. I want to run so badly, but haven’t worked it out yet.

Monday was a holiday and a day off for me, so I thought I would be able to get in a very, very easy 2-3. But between physical therapy, running errands and the sudden urge to overhaul my entire closet, I ran out of daylight. I had a short amount of time when I may have been able to squeeze in a run but my guilty conscience reminded me that I have a big exam that I needed to study for. 😦

Tonight was volleyball and I wanted to run instead. However, I have never missed a game (5 years!), so I followed through. I am glad I did, it was fun and we played really well. I finally ponied up and bought new shoes, actual volleyball shoes this time. Not sure if it was because I don’t have a big race on the horizon (less fear of injury) or if it was the shoes but I was like a freakin’ jumping bean. I didn’t know I could block like that. Hopefully, that skill sticks around.

Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday (27, I feel so old) so it will be a speed race back to town for dinner with the family. Thursday is supposed to be a business mixer after work, then off to school for the big exam. So, short of dragging myself out bed at 4:00 in the morning, I have a schedule problem. No lie; I am a huge Slacker in the AM. Big time. The bed is so warm and comfy, yay for flannel sheets! Transitioning to a daily commute was hard enough.

I want to run and I want to race. I am a procrastinator when it comes to registering for races; you never know when life may throw a speed bump. There is a half locally on the 27^th that I kind of want to do, but it’s freaky expensive. There are 3 races in November I am contemplating and I am still looking for December options.

Two of the November options are Turkey Trots. The other November race sounds awesome, it’s a 7 mile trail run at a nearby state park. What makes me leery is this:

Yep, that says a 1700 foot elevation gain. I have actually done the incline portion before. Now, granted, I walked a lot of it last time, but my splits looked something like this-

And I almost took a header on the way down. Hmm, decisions decisions. There are also 3 half marathons in the beginning of 2014 I am interested in. Those will be determined around finances. I will admit it, races cost money!!!!

I hope everyone is having a good week so far! How is it almost Wednesday?

Any thoughts on what to get a 27 year old with expensive taste for their birthday? (yeah, I procrastinated that too.)