Author: Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Shoe Talks

Let’s talk about shoes. So I am currently wearing Mizuno Wave Inspire 9 and I have been since December. As of today they have 386 miles on them. I love these shoes and of course they are introducing a new model in November. But I love this style!!!! I really should replace them now, but I do not want to break in a new pair before my half marathon in 3 weeks. And I have been using that excuse for the last 2 months.

I have also held off because every time I buy a new pair of shoes, the shin splints that I use to suffer from every day always make a reappearance. Why can’t they just stay gone? Since there is a new updated version about to hit stores, I think that I will see if I can find mine on clearance anywhere. Fingers crossed! But then again, the new ones do look pretty.

I really do love these shoes. Prior to these Mizuno’s, I had only ever run in Brooks. Actually my previous two pairs were both Brooks Ravenna. While I had never had any problems with them, I wasn’t dead set on them. So after Christmas last year, I headed out on a shoe hunt. My shoes always seem to need to be replaced around Christmas or my birthday. I have managed to not have to pay for a pair of shoes yet. Yay for presents! Changing to Mizuno was a jump because it was a different brand, I went down a size and they were a different support level. Yikes! I was nervous when I first started wearing them. But they have been awesome. I am sad to see the wear on them. I have also set 3 PR’s in them, so maybe I am a little emotionally attached to them. J

Speaking of shoes, I wore my boots to the chamber mixer on Thursday and it occurred to me that they probably have almost as many miles on them as my running shoes. Slower miles for sure but they got me through a crazy time back at the beginning of the year. I had just transferred locations for work and we were going through something like a merger. We had crazy hours and did lots of running around, and these shoes were my go to. Got me through the day, didn’t hurt and kept my legs warm! Sadly, they too are in need of replacing. I hate replacing shoes, you never know if the new ones will be as comfortable as the nice old, worn in ones. And breaking them in always takes time. Plus, I have a hard time finding boots that actually fit my calves. Ahhh, the joys of being a runner 🙂

Yep, I wear knee socks :) — Yep, I wear knee socks 🙂

Thursday was busy but good, and Friday has come and gone. Bring on the weekend running! I now have 8 days until my 10K, and possible 5K, so I would really like to get in some decent miles this weekend. I also have some shows that I would love to catch up on, Slacker style in my comfy chair. And maybe some good food along the way. All that after I get off work that is.

Anyone else have a pair of shoes that they just don’t want to let go of?

Hope everyone had a good Friday and if you are racing this weekend, good luck!!

Not so bad…

Today is shaping up to be a busy one. It started with a dentist appointment this morning. I am not a fan of dentists; I think I would rather go barefoot across some Legos, first. I went to the appointment with no pain, and now my jaw hurts. 😦 And that chair just aggravated my neck.

No More Sorting or Stepping On Legos Thanks to Box4Blox (Giveaway) | 5 Minutes for Mom

Still left for the day, I have work, then a chamber mixer, and finally followed by school. If I am lucky I will be home by 10:30. So no run planned for today. Tomorrow’s not looking so good either as it is always a long day at work. Plus, I work this Saturday for a partial day. Well, crap.

So last night, I gave into my mother (aka new gym junkie) and we went back to the gym. I was still feeling discouraged so I had a goal of 4 miles, however long it took me. After a quick warm up, I upped the pace of the treadmill and started running. I figured since it was the treadmill, I would try a quicker pace just to see if I could hold it for any decent amount of time. After all it’s easy to slow down on a treadmill. I finished 4.11 miles in 40 minutes which is closer to where I need to be come race day but it was a very erratic 4 miles. It also included 3 walking breaks. After that 4, I walked another 1 waiting for Mom to finish her workout. I didn’t feel like using any of the other equipment. We then went for frozen yogurt, orange-vanilla, so yummy! 🙂

So while it was better than it has been, I don’t think I can maintain it. Plus it was on a treadmill not a road, so that makes it harder to duplicate. Now, my upcoming 10K is flat, but my half marathon is not. I would like to get in some miles at the track this weekend before next weeks race.

In other news, I updated my phone to iOs 7, very odd. Not sure about it yet.

Hope everyone is having a good week!

Slow moving rant…

This post may be a little Rant-tastic. Just wanted to give you a warning first.

Sunday’s treadmill run was slow but I figured hey I was still tired from Friday. Yesterday, I had planned on doing speed work at the lake. I was looking forward to running as it had been a crazy day. I had slept like crap the night before and I knew the first day back from vacation is always spent catching up plus it being a Monday, I was prepared for it to be a very busy day. I was not prepared however for someone to spend 20 minutes forcefully expressing their displeasure and disappointment with me. So by the time work was done, I felt like I needed a good run.

ilovetorun.org | RUNNING CAN BE GIVEN

Got to the park and dropped my phone down the black hole on the side of driver’s seat. So I wasted 5 minutes trying to fish it out. Finally got it out and set off. From the second I started running I just felt sluggish and tired. For the past few weeks I feel like I am getting slower not faster and that is just stressing me out. I have 2 races coming up that I had wanted to improve on my previous times. Right now I don’t see that happening. I was so frustrated and cranky last night that I quit after 2 laps, just 2.5 miles. Lovely Mr. Nike gave me a pace update at the 2 mile mark and I told him to frak off. ( Yes, I talk to my Nike + App ) Plus come to find out, I had forgotten to take the Nike App off of treadmill mode, so my mileage was off from not using the GPS. Ugh!!!!

Then there was spider monkey. I was rounding the back corner of the lake on lap 1 and completely frustrated with my pace when out of nowhere came this guy. He came running in from the side leaping from rock to rock. While shirtless and wearing gloves? After the rocks, he leaped to the railing of the bridge. Then hanging like a monkey from the side of the bridge climbing up and down and doing some pull ups. He passed me again about a ½ mile later running with Tom Cruise hands, and then leaped from rock to rock again before ending up doing pushups on the tall parallel bars. That was new, and at least it provided a distraction from my crankiness. Not sure where he went after that, didn’t see him on the second lap around.

The second lap wasn’t any better than the first and I was just done, so I called it a day and drowned my sorrows in pizza 🙂 Today, I decided to look for some motivation and I found the best tweet!

Not all workouts work out #inspirationalquote #toofasttuesday @Flotrack @RunnerSpace_com @runnersworld @RunCompetitor @tandfn

— Aric Van Halen (@Aricvh) September 17, 2013

I also had a doctor’s appointment to go over some neck x-rays I had last week. Doctor recommended physical therapy but said nothing against running. Woo hoo! So tomorrow, I am heading back to the gym, hoping that maybe the treadmill will like me. If not, then I will just keep running. It’ll get better eventually right?

Easy Sunday

After Friday’s treadmill 10, I stopped by the desk on the way out and upgraded my gym membership. Now, this might seem a little odd as I hadn’t been to the gym since February. However I could upgrade for free right now and the upgrade meant I could bring a guest for free anytime I wanted. So today I headed back to the gym with my mom in tow.

We checked in and headed for the treadmills. I took her through the basics and she was off! She was planning on walking 4 miles on the treadmill before checking out the other equipment. She had a couple of minor mishaps on the treadmill before settling in. She pulled the emergency stop out twice, oops! That’s why I don’t use that thing. She also almost ran into the front of it, I do that all the time! I told her that just meant she could go faster. 🙂

From the second I started running, I could feel how tired my legs were. I think I maybe could have used another rest day. Since I had already run my 3x this week, I had no real plan for today. I ran an very easy 3 and then walked just shy of another mile. Then my mom was like “let’s check out the ellipticals!”. Yeah, ellipticals and I don’t always get along. I can hardly ever get them to stop! But I gave it a shot. Meanwhile, she was just powering it away on her machine. Took me almost 11 minutes to complete a mile, yeah that was it for me. My legs were so tired, not really sore, just tired. Plus, by now I am far enough into training that my toenails are talking back to me.

ilovetorun.org | RUNNING CAN BE GIVEN — Ahhh, the joys of running 🙂

I think I created a monster; she already wants to go back to the gym!

Slacker Saturday yesterday was pretty nice, I can’t complain. I was able to pick up a new quilt as well, so bring on the mini renovation 😉 I was super excited until I hit a little snag today. That lovely headboard that I bought on Friday? Yeah, it’s too big, by 5 inches. Crap!!!! So even though I still have to figure that out, I could make some of the changes.

I guess she approves :) — I guess she approves 🙂

As of today, I am exactly 2 weeks from my 10k and 4 weeks out from my half marathon. Eeeek! And now it’s back to work tomorrow which bites but its ok too. There’s a 3 day weekend (race weekendJ ) in October and then I have a full week vacation in November to look forward to 🙂

Anyone else sharing in the toenail troubles?

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend!

Shine On !!!!!

Happy Saturday everyone! Thanks again to BayRunner Jamie for the nomination for the Shine On Award 🙂 The rules are as follows:

1. Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.

2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog, and link back.

3. Share seven random, interesting things about yourself.

4. Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs

5. Copy and paste the award somewhere on your blog

Numbers 1 and 2 done, so here goes #3:

Seven Random Things

1. I watch too much TV, I really do. Netflix and I get along great. It’s very helpful for marathon sessions of Doctor Who or Supernatural. Or whatever else strikes my fancy.

2. I’m a natural blonde who dyes my hair darker. I currently have a couple shades going on, blonde, red and brown.

3. I love Diet Coke and can’t stand coffee. Drink way too much Diet Coke, but I’m working on that.

4. I have posted Harry Potter fan fiction online.

5. I love to read, a lot.

6. I put on foundation and mascara before every race, it may be ridiculous, but it’s part of my race ritual.

7. I am in my early 30’s, and on my 9^th car.

Ok, that was hard! Now on to the fun part, the blogs that I would like to nominate for the Shine On Award are:

AttemptedRunner

Run, Hemingway Run!

The Princess and the Jog

I Sweat Pretty

eatbreatherun

Move Eat Create

I chose ones that I really like to read and that I don’t think have been nominated before. If I am wrong, I am sorry!!!

This also made me realize that I need to read more! If you haven’t read any of these, you should check them out.

Since, I am working on having a nice Slacker Saturday, I think I will work on finding more blogs to read. You can never have too much inspiration right?

Hope everyone is having an awesome day!