Disclaimer: I received an entry into Rock n Roll San Jose 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!
How is it race weekend already? It just can’t be.
Don’t get me wrong, I am excited but I am also in denial because I don’t feel ready. I missed a few runs and few miles along the way with this training plan. I did well with the first 8 weeks of cross training then stumbled for 3 weeks. This week has been strong again but is it enough? I’ve been feeling poorly for 2 weeks now and stressed at work. I haven’t run a half marathon since June and this is the longest race break I’ve had in years.
Ok, that sounds like I am freaking out. Maybe I am. Which is why I am reassessing that big goal I laid out in my first San Jose post. And that finishing time goal I claimed on Athlinks. I didn’t run enough flat. I have a lingering right leg issue. Work has become crazy (lost 2 employees in the last 3 weeks). I am not canceling my PR goal just pushing it back a few weeks.
A bear!
So new plan- do what my legs and lungs want to do. Take in the sights of San Jose- all I have seen before is the airport. I am sure the city has more offer than that and what better way to see it than by running with a few thousand other people?
I love Rock n Roll races and what better way to shake the cobwebs loose than with some miles and good music along the way. And for once the race doesn’t start at the crack of dawn. Great news for a Slacker. 😛
So, here’s to a 4 day weekend (did I mention I took Friday off?) to decompress and run it all out.
After my last post, this recap may be a little boring. But I was so excited about my 20 miler that I just had to share it. Thanks for all your thoughts! So let’s see how the rest of week 13 went.
Monday- 4 miles. Home town was a comfortable 106 so I sucked it up and ran in work town. I love the views there but feel so awkward. I don’t know why I am so concerned for customers to see me. I kept the pace nice and easy but it took me 3 miles to warm up. My last mile felt the best which was funny as it was all uphill.
Tuesday- Rest. I’m somewhat sticking to a day on followed by a day off running plan as it seems to keep my shins less aggravated. Plus a rest day meant that I could participate in BibChat- my first as a BibRave Pro! 😃 😃 I’m looking forward to learning more and participating with BibRave.
Wednesday- 4 miles. I’m sensing a pattern here. I got off work early since I had to work Saturday. Home town was still an oven so I headed to a new path in work town. It kind of rocked. I still felt super uncomfortable but I am going to work on pushing those limits.
Thursday-Rest. I actually wanted to try a few miles to break in my new shoes but it didn’t happen. I had an eye appointment at the end of the day and the dilation messes with my eyes. I already have issues with too much brightness, even sunglasses weren’t enough protection post appointment. I stayed in a dark room until they calmed down. It wasn’t entirely a waste though. I spent some time working on the blog. The SLO milestone was still there- oops. And now I have a discount page!
Friday- Rest day. I worked the late shift so I tried to sleep a little later in preparation for the weekend’s plans. Wishful thinking, right?
Saturday- Rest. Again, seriously? This was intentional. I knew I was planning a huge (for me) long run on Sunday so I was hoping to rest my legs. I worked in the morning but things went well so we were able to get out on time. I ran a few errands, rested the remainder of the day and hydrated like it was my job. I also probably ate all the wrong things, oops.
Sunday- 20 miles. Hell yeah!! I am still riding high on this one. I actually did it, woo hoo! You can read all about that here.
28 miles for the week. Could have been better but could have been worse too. This week’s focus was on the long run and I would say mission accomplished. Now if I could just stop talking about it. 😛 Sorry!
Food wise, things have been a little rough. I would say I am around 40/60 right now. My nighttime snacking has gotten a little out of control. Oops. I really need to get a handle on that. I say as I eat a cinnamon bear…or 3.
Focus– Keep calm and don’t freak out about the weird leg pain 😝😓
By Monday morning, my left leg was feeling better so I was hopeful that was the end of my weird leg pain. I was optimistic about returning to running as usual. However if you read my Prepping for SLO post, you know I was suffering what must have been the taper crazies. Except as I write this, I realize that I didn’t taper. My mileage stayed the same. Oops.
Monday- 4 miles I headed out after work for what I hoped would a nice, easy run testing my new shoes for the first time, Skechers GoRun Ride. I kept it pretty easy and my legs felt ok. My shins were a little achy but overall it was a good run. The shoes felt pretty good but I wasn’t going to push it. 4 mile test run and then I put the shoes away for the rest of the week.
Tuesday- 5 miles More easy paced miles. I had only planned on running 3-4 miles but I felt pretty good so I kept going. I ran a slightly different route than usual and it ended with a pretty sweet downhill. I’ve noticed that it takes me a good 2-3 miles to warm up now so most of my runs feel better at the end. I actually negative split this run. I also got to run past the creepiest ice cream truck ever. First of all, I didn’t even know they still existed. Also you could see where they had painted over the old logo on the truck. Apparently, in its former life it was an electrician’s truck. Ummm, no thank you.
Wednesday- Rest Pizza night and it was pretty yummy.
Thursday- 3 miles My leg felt fine all week and that lasted until around 4 PM Thursday. I was standing at my boss’s desk talking to her and I felt the same muscle/ tendon/whatever shift again. Seriously?! Cue a dull ache and some limping. Grrr.
I caved and headed to the lake. With my leg being off, I figured flat and easy access to my car would be a good thing. I ran headphone free and with my pepper spray and paid extra attention. Which was also a good thing as there were some new additions to the path-
Friday- Rest Stupid leg. I wore heals today as my legs usually feel better in them than flats. I also sat a lot.
Saturday- SLO Expo day!! I wasn’t running but I knew the expo would be a bit of walking, so I made sure to wear actual running shoes instead of flip flops. My leg/hip felt a little better but again I was planning on moving as little as possible. The expo was laid out different than previous years and seemed smaller. But let’s talk about the really important part. SLO Ambassador meetup!!
📸: Ashley
It was great getting to catch up with everyone I met last year as well as meeting the new ambassadors. Our jackets are super nice if a little big. 😏 I’ve been feeling super fluffy lately and not liking pictures of myself but I had to share this one. Check out that photobomb!
Sunday -SLO Marathon 13.1 I didn’t fall!!! Other than that, the details will be in the recap on Wednesday. 🙂
Overall, it was a varied week. Running was ok but my weird leg thing kept lingering. Thursday ached the most and Friday was uncomfortable. Apparently I forgot how to do math since 25 miles is on the higher end for me. Oops. Speaking of mileage, let’s talk about April–
Hot damn, I think that’s my second highest mileage month ever. Maybe third. Wait, no, I just checked- this April was my highest mileage month ever. I really thought I had had a higher one. Guess there all no limits to the denial I was living in. Higher mileage aside, April was a stressful, emotional month. All of that meant poor sleep; combine that with all the running and I am so tired. I relied on a little too much coffee and soda to keep me going. Going into May, my mileage should keep increasing but I am hoping for some better sleep and less reliance on caffeine, fingers crossed.
I’ve never been one to believe in the “taper crazies”. Hell, I love taper. An excuse to run less and eat more? Sign me up! 😝 Yes, I know that’s not how it works but let a Slacker lie to herself ok?
I wasn’t really planning on tapering for SLO. I did one speed workout this training cycle. One. Once I realized how few long runs I had actually done over the years, my focus turned to getting in the distance and time on my feet. While I have done much better since that little epiphany, it still could have been better.
My plan for SLO was to treat it more like an epic long run. Enjoy the race, enjoy my pace, take in the view, smile at the awesome crowds and maybe, just maybe take a decent race picture for once. And now?
I had my weird hip/ IT thing on Friday’s long run. That led to limping on Saturday and resting all weekend. This week’s runs have been so-so. Tuesday’s was actually pretty good. But outside of that- my shins ache at random moments. My calves feel tight. Today it hurt my big toe to drive, seriously?! There’s a tickle in my throat that feels like it wants to turn into something more. Bring on the Airborne!! I haven’t slept well in about a month.
Grrr. I love this race, I do not want to stress about it. As of right now, I honestly have no idea what my finishing time might be. I feel unprepared for the hills. My fault, I should have sought out more hills. The hill I use for hill repeats has been a construction zone for the last few months. No excuses. I should have found another one. After last year I feel like I have unfinished business with this race.
Maybe that is influencing how I am feeling this week? I have no idea. So now, I need to calm down. I need to make sure I am sleeping better (or trying to), I need to ensure I m still keeping my carb count low to moderate and I need to not stress. I have been looking forward to this weekend for months. There are so many people that I am looking forward to seeing again. I enjoy looking around the expo, and really this is my favorite finish line.
More cowbell!!
Actually, I think venting about it for a few hundred words helped. Bring it on SLO, let’s do this. Now if only I could figure out what I am wearing. 😝
Last post I shared that I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to be an Ambassador for the SLO Marathon again. Which is freakin’ awesome and I am looking forward to not only the race but all the awesome runners I get to see again. As with most ambassadorships, it comes with some challenges along the way. The first one was dropped last week- to share our resolutions/ goals for the 2016 race. Hmmm, there’s that word again.
I’ve spent some time thinking about it for the last week. How do I share a goal but stay true to my year of being goal free? Well, I am still goal free. That said, I feel like I have unfinished business with the SLO half. Let’s recap.
In 2014 I was looking forward to running a race that I had been trying to run for years but never made it happen. It was also my first ambassadorship so I was super stoked on that. I was excited on race morning but mentally I just wasn’t there. It wasn’t my fitness level, it wasn’t the hills; it was all in my head. Mentally, I blew up around mile 8. I finished the race in 2:10:32 which wasn’t bad but I felt like my legs had more in them, I just couldn’t stop the mind games. Not sure if you can tell by my smirk/smile but I was very irritated with myself post race.
I swear I was trying to smile not smirk
The Ambassadors!!!!
2015 rolled around and I was able to train with a custom McMillan training plan. The race fell in the middle of all my stomach issues so I knew breaking 2:00 was unlikely but I felt strong and ready to go. Even though I had felt sick prior to race start, I felt great for the first 5 miles. I was beginning to entertain thoughts of a new PR. Then I went down, hard. As clumsy as I am on a daily basis, I had never fallen while running before. There’s a first time for everything right? Thanks to some helpful runners I was back on my feet quickly and running on. Maybe it was a delayed reaction from the fall or just my stupid stomach but mile 7 started with my stomach cramping in a very bad way. I pretty much walked the entire mile taking deep, slow breathes. Mile 8 saw another first for me- a port a potty stop. Despite all that, I was still mentally on point. I had reassessed that a PR wasn’t going to happen but even with all that drama I knew I could still beat the previous year’s time. But my stomach fought back and miles 11-13 were all survival mode. I was also cursing that there are no porta-potties at mile 12. Cuz who needs one with only 1 mile left?! I crossed the finish line in 2:15:06 and I was damn proud of that. It may not have been the time I was hoping for but for everything that day threw at me, I stayed strong and positive the entire race.
Half smile/ half grimace
raceSLO Ambassadors!!
So while I have no plans of setting a goal for SLO 2016, I do see it as a redemption race. Both years I felt like I had more to give and I would like to see that happen this year. I love the course- hills and all- and I can’t wait to see what I can do this year. 🙂
What about you? Do you have a race that haunts you?
