Author: Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Rambling On 4

Happy Friday!

This is not the post I had planned or started earlier this week…oops.  I have a post half done about fuel but that can go up next week.  I feel like I blinked and suddenly it was Friday.  I mean don’t get me wrong, I love Fridays but where did the week go?  On Thursday I thought it was Tuesday.  How does that work?

We had 2 days of sun!!!! Insane wind came along with that but who cares the sun came out!!!   I wanted to be like a cat and just find a warm (indoor) spot to lay in the sun.

My pace has been frustrating me lately.  Ok for 3 years.  I used to be so much faster.  I just can’t seem to break the wall I’ve built in my head.  Or my lungs.  And then on random Thursday runs, things like this happen-


What the hell.  I didn’t feel like I was running that hard.

Speaking of random Thursday runs, I wasn’t supposed to run, I was supposed to have lab work done.  Except part of that of lab work was a glucose test.  And it turns out it was the glucose test you need to fast for…despite my doctor and the nurses at his office telling me that I didn’t.  They also wrote that on the lab slip.  Aargh!!!!!  I took time off work for this!


I had another sunset run this week though, so shiny. 😉

Was your week speedy?

What are you doing this weekend?

Share something random!

 

 

Week 7 Recap- Hello Lucifer

Training for:

  • Livermore 13.1 -March 26
  • Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13

So other states have winter storms with names but California never has.  Mostly because we rarely get storms out here.  We get earthquakes.  Well, last week California got their chance at a storm with a name- Lucifer paid us a visit.  Talk about over dramatic.   But in all seriousness, Friday was kind of like all hell breaking loose.  Flooding, landslides, sinkholes, etc.   The drive to work was sketchy at best with next to zero visibility between rain and fog and that was before I encountered the crazy wind.    Debris was all over the road, I really missed owning an SUV.   I was rerouted in work town due to downed power lines.  We ran without power for 3+ hours at work.  At one point, the entire town was out of power.   Trees were falling left and right, including our parking lot.  Work is one building over from the police station and one block up from the the fire department- I have never seen that much non-stop activity before.   One news report said that there was a new emergency call every 2 minutes.  All state parks and beaches were evacuated and closed due to falling trees.   Roads were closed for flooding all over the county.     And this was calm compared to some of California.

Monday- Rest  After the previous days long run, my legs were a little tired so I stuck to the day off in between workouts plan and rested.  As I drove away from what looked like an amazing pink sunset and decent temps for once, I couldn’t help but think that I should have run.


Tuesday- 3.1 miles   The slowest, most uncomfortable miles ever.     My stomach was being a total asshat but I forced myself to run anyways.   Or I tried… if you can call it that.   I couldn’t tell you the last time I ran that slow.  It was definitely not a confidence inspiring run.  What I haven’t mentioned is that my stomach has been a complete asshat these past 2 weeks.  Pretty much everything I eat makes me sick, boo.

Wednesday- Rest  After the previous day’s farce, I wasn’t even going to attempt it.

Thursday- Rest- More asshat-ness from my stomach.  Yay.  This time I listened to the cues from my body and just put my running gear back in the car and drove home.

Friday- Lucifer–yeah, no running.


Saturday- 4.5 miles  I had planned on running my long run but the break in the storm wasn’t as long as the weather app said.  Boo.   Then when I did head out, I could not get it into gear. I was so sluggish.  Even downhill; I slowed down downhill- who does that?   I know there’s a ton of moisture in the air which is not making my asthma happy but man I saw some numbers on the watch this week that just depressed me.  So I tried not to think about it.


Sunday- 8 miles– I slept like crap the night before so when my alarm went off to get up and run, I slapped that thing off, rolled over and went back to sleep.   I figured I would see how many miles I could squeeze in before the storm came back in the afternoon.    I won’t lie, I kind of wanted to skip the whole thing.   I told myself I could cut it short if I was absolutely miserable.    I was thinking about it during mile 2 but I kept pushing on.   Mile 3 picked up the pace a bit, same with mile 4.  Mile 5 saw some rain, a hill and a mini wall.  I slowed down but kept going.  I also let myself be distracted by a cute little house for sale.  Mile 6 was better but I knew mile 7 had a big hill.  Oddly, mile 7 was the exact same pace as mile 5.  I did an out and back loop kind of thing that put me just past 7 at the bottom of my driveway.   I had a sudden burst of energy so I ran past so I could hit 8 miles.     For a run I didn’t really want to do, it ended up being the best run all week!

15.5 miles for the week and actually 3 running days.  Now if I could just cross train.  😛  The miles went up and in some ways it was a better week then last week.   Have to look on the shiny side right???    Now if I can just keep the momentum going and not backslide.   Which may be hard, I admit I am struggling with all this rain.    There is still more to come.   I think I can, I think I can.

How was your week?

What did you do this weekend?

 

 

Rambling On 3

I really like these brain clearing posts.  Or maybe I’ve just been so scattered lately that they help me loosen some knots in my brain.    😛

Happy Friday!!!

I was supposed to run a half marathon this weekend but the Slacker in me forgot to take into account the extra time needed to get every runner security clearance to run on a army base.  Slacker fail.    But then with all the rain that is predicted to fall over the next 5 days maybe that was a good thing?

My road to work is open and it is freaking awesome.    It’s still under construction in the mornings and there are little mountains of dirt everywhere- they removed 20,000 tons of rock and dirt from the hillside!!- but it’s open!!  That was the longest month.  That longer drive was really getting to me.

So Monday was interesting.  I was on the street side of the building when I heard a loud noise outside.  We all looked outside to see what was going on.  A truck had just driven over a big dip in the street and looked to be dragging something under it.  Had it lost part of its engine?    It slowed then blew through the intersection without stopping.  By now we are all staring out the windows, then my coworker looked out the door and it all became clear.  Dude has slammed into her parked car, tore it up and continued driving!   He was dragging pieces of her car!  WTF dude?!

I went for a run on Tuesday.  Wasn’t the best but I mean come on…look at this…just awesome.


I redesigned my blog.   Still working out a few kinks.  But be honest, how do you read this?  Phone? Laptop?  WordPress app?  Bloglovin?

I’ve had to reassess my training for a few reasons.  More on that in my weekly recap but I think finally admitting it has lessen my stress level a bit.

It’s a 3 day weekend, woo hoo!!!!   Is it sad that I am looking forward to sleep the most?  Then running?

Do you have a 3 day weekend?  What are you doing?

How do you read blogs?

Ever observe something crazy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 6- Ouch- Fail

Training for:

  • Livermore 13.1 -March 26
  • Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13

Did anyone else have an odd week last week?   Did it seem freaky long and just off for no real reason?    Everyone at work seemed to feel it too.  I know there was a full moon on Friday but still the whole week was just odd.

Monday- Rest-  Last week saw a wealth of knowledge drop on us at work- all merger related.  It started today with a meeting with the new CEO.     It was a good meeting but I was kind of fried by the end of the day, I can’t remember what I did when I got home.  😞


Tuesday- Gym Fail- Work was a little busy but overall the rain and the highway closure is keeping us a little slower.  I changed after work and planned on heading home for some #bibchat and hitting the gym for intervals.  What the hell? Traffic was ridiculous.  It was raining but nothing like it has been lately but I didn’t get back to home town until almost 7.    So much for #bibchat.  Ok, gym time.  Every single treadmill was taken.  What?!  I admit I gave up.  I bailed.  I headed home and ordered a pizza.


Wednesday- 4 miles– After the previous day’s snafu, I decided to do another baby tempo at work.  Except when I set out I realized I has somehow lost my inhaler the night before.  For crying out loud.  Ok, so no speed work.  The marine layer was heavy so running without my inhaler was probably asking for trouble but I really needed to run.   I kept it nice and easy but even with the slower pace, my breathing still sounded like I was sprinting, ha.    The marine layer holds light pretty well so I pushed further into the state park and was able to make it to the Natural History Museum before I had to turn back.  I love running though the eucalyptus grove.

Thursday- Ouch–  I woke up to some not so good pain in my left leg.  And not the typical shin variety pain.  I took my running clothes to work but when it didn’t get better throughout the day I conceded defeat and decided to make it a rest day.

Friday- More ouch– My leg still hurt.  It was isolated to the inside of my left ankle and I was starting to freak out a little.   I also figured I knew what did it.   While I loved running the trails through the eucalyptus grove on Wednesday, I shouldn’t have done it in my Nike’s.   While I love my Nike’s for speed work, they are not big on traction, they have very smooth bottoms and the trails were pretty slick and muddy from all the rain.  But I was having fun in the moment.


Saturday- More of the same–    Good thing I decided it was too muddy to that run that 10k!  I opted for active rest and wandered around SLO doing some shopping and consoling myself with some amazing pizza.  I may have spent too much money at Lululemon. 😛  The clearance rack was just too tempting.


Sunday- 9 miles  I had rested for 3 days, what was my ankle going to do???   I knew I was going to be slow and that was fine.   I was stiff for the first few miles which is typical but I made sure to focus on my ankle and walk anytime I felt more than a twinge.   Overall I felt ok.  I picked up the pace a bit across the bridge per usual and indulged with a little river watching when I made it down to the river bed.   Everything was going ok until a little past mile 6.  Then things went south real fast.  I was hustling to cross an intersection before a car and I suddenly felt ill.   I had to pause for a breather rather than be sick and even when I got going I had to walk a lot.   I felt very crappy for the last 3 miles, it was all I could to finish.   If I could have bailed sooner I would have but it’s not like I was getting to the car any other way.   My lungs were abnormally pissed too.  They were angrier then they had been on Wednesday but I had found my inhaler so what gives?    I wasn’t quite right the rest of the evening either which is why this post is a day late.

13 miles for the week.   Once again, I missed workouts.  Grrr.     Between merger stuff, crazy rain, and my weird dizzy, nausea spells, I feel like I’ve turned into a giant flake.  My lab work should be done next week but knowing my luck it won’t show anything.   I’m not even sure what I should keep my fingers crossed for?    This year is Challenging in me in different ways than I planned.  I broke down crying in a meeting with my boss last week.  Get it together!

Anyways, moving on to a shiny new week.  One good thing— my road is open again!!!!!  30 less miles a day!!!  It’s the little things right?

How was your week?

Ever bailed on a workout when you were in workout clothes already?

Tell me something shiny!

 

Rambling On 2

The rain is back!  Which wouldn’t be so bad if it hadn’t come with some freaky fog this time.  There was one time last week where I was on the highway in a row of 4 cars and it was raining pretty hard .  All of us were keeping a respectable distance from each other.  Then the rain slowed and the fog rolled in.  Rolled in like a horror flick.   Ever seen that movie “The Mist”? Where the creatures come out of the fog and attack?   Soon enough all 4 cars were as close to each as we could get and still safely drive.  Do not break formation!  Break formation and you get eaten!    I could barely see the car in front of me let alone the car in front of it but they apparently decided they could not be the lead car anymore.  They pulled over, let the 3 of us pass and then got behind us.  Tag out!    It was a stressful but amusing commute.  😛

I want to do all the things!  They just announced that Alabama is going to be playing at a semi local concert venue and I have always wanted to see Alabama in concert.   Well, again.  I think I saw them when I was like 3 years old but I don’t remember.     It’s the same day as a race.  Eek!   And I want to run all the races!  But that means hotels and gas!  I should start buying a lottery ticket once a week.

I am trying to quit Diet Coke again.  Some days are great, some not so much.  I have cut way back though.   Now if only I could say that about pizza.  😛

I’ve officially lost count of how many times I’ve been fingerprinted.   Thanks to work, I’ve been fingerprinted every couple of years.  Today I was fingerprinted again but this time for the school district so I can chaperone an overnight tournament for my mom’s tennis team.

I am debating a 10k race this weekend.  Part of why I want to run it is because I think half of it will be on trails.   However part of my hesitation is because it is supposed to rain all week.   Trails = yay!  Mud bath = umm, not so much.  I admit I like dirt but not mud.  I can’t decide.

How has your week been?

Share something random!