Author: Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Rambling On-51

Happy Friday!

Oh I am so glad it’s Friday, it’s been a long week.

I had other posts planned but well, sickness arrived. Boo. It did enable me to catch up on some of the stuff on my DVR though. And delete a lot of it.

I maybe, possibly spent a little time last weekend doing some online shopping. It’s so easy to forget until every delivery service out there starts sending you tracking data. Oops. Then #allthethings arrived. Yay? Really, it wasn’t that bad just kind of feels like it.

There has been multiple early morning starts this week, I am so tired. I actually only missed a couple hours of work and probably went in on a day I shouldn’t have. But we are short and the show must go on.

I’ve been starting to get into audio books. I swore I never would and now I’ve finished a few. Although I have say that damn song from The Greatest Showman did more for me in 4 minutes than 6 hours of Unf*ck Yourself.🤣

Are we really halfway through March?? How?

Just got distracted writing this because I heard my mom’s tennis team mentioned on the news. Say what?? Oh wait, they lost.😛

I’m sure have more important things to say but right now I’m like- look cows!

Tell me something! Please?

Week 10- Rain, Tears & Consistency

2019 Race Schedule (so far):
3/24 Oakland Running Festival (Thanks BibRave)
4/28 SLO Half Marathon
8-11 Oaktown Half (Thanks BibRave)

This week was a little all over the place. I am so over the rain. Work was busy, like stupid busy. I took Monday off from running to rest my leg, turns out it was the driest day of the week.

A Target mirror gave me a rude awakening, I managed to stick to a workout plan- mostly. Now if I could just get my eating habits in order. It was a fairly consistent week that ended with a slight emotional breakdown when I thought I lost the necklace I’ve almost everyday since I was 17. I eventually found it but not before more tears than I ‘ve cried in recent history.

Other than that-

Monday- Liift4
Restarted the entire program- liked it the first time, decided to commit again.

Tuesday- Liift4
Following the plan.

Wednesday- PiYo
Rest day from Liift4, more rain, thought this would be a good stretch. Haha, this made me sweat.

Thursday-2 Miles
One last run in the twilight before the time change. The moisture in the air angered my lungs but other than that it was a decent short run.

Friday- 5 Miles
A day off from work meant I could run in the afternoon! I almost never run on Fridays so it was kind of cool. I played dodge the rain drops for a few miles and melted the other few. I also chose to run #allthehills. Why? I was feeling decent so I was looking forward to powering up the last hill and was doing so when my watch vibrated. I looked down to see “power save”. Oh for crying out loud! I stopped in the middle of the hill cursing out loud. Seriously, again?! I legit back tracked to the point I had paused my watch and ran the damn hill again. Which I did not make it all up without a walk break but then it was my second time up it. The only downside was the almost blisters my Altra’s gave me. I have to admit that they are dead.

Saturday-Liift 4, PiYo
My right leg and left ankle were feeling a little cranky so I opted for a non-running day.
I did make myself productive though and completed 2 more workouts.

Sunday-4 ish miles
I set out for my long in the early afternoon. Right as I parked my car there was a random lightning weather warning. I debated it because how likely would that be? Knowing my luck? I turned around and headed for the gym. Oh lord, I was melting. A blister was forming on my right foot and felt chafing on my left side- my butt. I was seriously overheating and thankful every time someone opened the door and the cold air puffed through. I couldn’t hack it anymore, I called it a little after 4 miles.

So 11 ish miles for the week and 4 cross training workouts. I worked out everyday this week. Who am I? Now, can I keep it up?

How was your week?

Hurts So Good

“Disclaimer: I received an Addaday Pro Roller to review as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review, find, and write race reviews!”

I fully admit I slack on recovery. Well, unless you count napping?

I know I should roll. I know I should do my PT exercises. Yet, I never do until I feel something more than a twinge. Bad Slacker. It’s not for lack of equipment. I have a regular old foam roller, a generic stick thing and a random, bumpy roller I picked up at Target one day. Yet none of them ever seemed to really do anything. Could be I wasn’t using them properly either.

Enter the Pro Massage Roller from Addaday.

First impressions was that it sure looked pretty. But did it work?

I always feel so awkward rolling, somehow it makes me feel uncoordinated. That said, I did notice that this roller can pinpoint soreness much better than my previous ones. Once I figured out the red roller was to pin point problem areas, I went to town on my shins. Not gonna lie, at first I was saying- ow, ow, ow! However after more use, it felt better each time.

I’ve used the roller on my calves, shins, hamstrings, knee, etc. Tried to use it on my feet but that’s a work in progress. I’ve even used the softer blue rollers to gently roll out my neck.

My only wish is that I could get it to dig a little deeper into my right hip/ butt area. It’s my weak spot. The roller is not a replacement for the PT exercises I should be doing on the daily but it makes a great add-on.

My calves are more often than not a little cranky but they’ve felt better since I started using the roller. And for clueless people like me, the Addaday website has a lovely page with links to tutorial videos. Score!

Also, something I discovered quite by accident is that you can move the little roller balls around. I never claimed to be gentle on things (my nickname should be Destructo Girl) so one day I tossed the roller and the handle came off. At first I freaked out a little but soon realized it just screwed on. Whew, but that means the rollers can move- sweet!

I love this little roller ( I’ve already given my other stick rollers to my mom for the tennis team) and hopefully I will continue to use it regularly and not be such a Slacker.

How do you recover?

Rambling On- 50

It’s been a while since I rambled and boy are lots of thoughts bouncing around my head.

The rain is making me cranky and fussy. Well, maybe that’s just me. The last time I was this stressed by the weather was 2 years when constant rain took out my route to work. Maybe that’s a hidden stress- constant worry that the highway is going to get shutdown for 2 months again. Well, that and that it’s effecting my running. Running in the rain is one thing but I don’t trust the drivers around here on sunny, clear days. I mean we iced over a few weeks ago and there were 15 accidents in a 2 mile stretch of freeway in an hour.

Sometimes I feel like it’s 2 steps forward and 15 back. Work, running, health, etc. I have a feeling I know what my weak spot is but can’t seem to make myself do anything about it. Which then again is the problem. Grrrr.

But in good news, I got my tax return. Paid back the room re-do, yay. I also paid off my bed. Could someone explain to me why those things cost so damn much?!?!

Oh, did I mention added some more races to the calendar? I used to race just for the hell of it, I miss that. The last few years I was focused on getting faster but did nothing but get slower and slower. I miss those naïve days of racing and want to get back to just having fun and running ALL the races.

Did I ever mention that I am part of Orange Mud’s ambassador team – The Dirt Unit?? I’ve the company for years and own 4 different packs, the handheld and multiple transition towels. Serious love. And if the damn rain ever stops, the trails might open and I can get back out on them.

I feel like there is more to say but I’ll stop there for now.

Share your random!

Week 9-Close

2019 Race Schedule (so far):
3/24 Oakland Running Festival (Thanks BibRave)
4/28 SLO Half Marathon
8-11 Oaktown Half (Thanks BibRave)

Last week was a mixed bag.

Some things went like I hoped and others not. My leg was angry for more days than I would have liked. I know it’s due to the stool I was using at work. Last week I switched back to the desk chair, which is only slightly ridiculous as I have a counter height desk with a Varidesk on top. It usually takes a couple weeks to unkink though. I attempted cross training but didn’t check that box as much as I hoped.

It also rained quite frequently which put a damper on some of my runs.

I did sign up for 2 more races though. I also finally got my tires rotated. Oh and I paid off my bed so there were plenty of positive things too.

Wednesday- Liift4
Haha, I was so sore after this. Starting it over may be harder than I thought.

Thursday- 2 miles
Wanted to run at the lake which meant a shorter run. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the time change. I ran a fairly easy 2 miles and called it a night.

Sunday- 8ish miles
I headed out for a long run but wasn’t really feeling it. I was aiming for between 6-10 miles and would see what happened. A car parked at the end of one my frequent roads had me rerouting so I turned down a street I’d never run on before. I did have a vague idea of where it would let me out though. However I soon realized that if I kept running the adjusted route, I would be short of 8 miles. I also failed to resume my watch after a picture break so the mileage is at least a half mile off. Grrrr. Also around mile 4, I noticed that my feet were going numb. What?? It hadn’t happened since Surf City where I blamed my old shoes. Well, I was running in newer shoes this time. So much for that theory. I walked until they felt normal and then would run on. This repeated for the next couple of miles until they felt completely normal. I finished my run and everything felt fine. What gives?

So, 10ish miles for the week. Not great but better then the beginning or middle of February.

How was your week?