Category: BibRave

Week 32:Upcoming Races-Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 4

Upcoming Races-

SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

I was fussy, cranky and tired this week. I had a few too many balls in the air at work at one point. Home town was in the middle of an almost 20 day streak of over 100* weather and I was sleeping poorly.

I like to sleep with the window open during the summer which is odd because I am also one of those people who tends to over react at every sound. Unfortunately this week, some creature decided to come visit the yard every night a little after midnight. And it was not a small creature. I tried to tell myself it was a family of deer. Which is likely was but I worry about the bigger felines. I digress…it was every single night. So eventually I would end closing the window but then it would feel super stuffy and sleep would still be crappy. Grrr.

Ok, training. This week called for a 5 mile run, 4 mile run, 7 mile long run and 4 Liift4 work outs.

So how did I do?

Monday- Liift4
I planned on running after work but work ran long and I was feeling cranky so I decided to push my run to Tuesday. Then while I was driving home I was feeling guilty for doing that only to arrive in run town and then home town to realize they were both completely socked in with smoke from fires. Combine that with the 3 digit temps and somehow my lazy choice was the smart choice.

Tuesday- 3.78 miles
Another hot day, it was around 95 when I started running and there was still a ton of smoke in the air. I decided to stick to the run/walk intervals I had programmed since I had also forgotten any way to carry water on my run. Short and easy miles, that was the plan. My legs had other plans and those running intervals were some of the fastest paces I’ve seen in years. Oops. I did keep it relatively short though.

Wednesday-Liift4
I am sure I did something else but I can’t remember what it was.

Thursday-3.5 miles
I had woken with a gnarly Charlie horse around 1:30 that morning and it never really went away. That said, I still wanted to attempt a run. Oh, my gawd, I was melting. I don’t know why. It was 93, so this was coolest run I had had in weeks. Or it should have been. It was so muggy at the lake path though. I had 3 decent, consistent miles and even though I was able to stop at my car for water, I could tell I was overheating. My leg also hadn’t loosened up at all so I finished 3 laps of the lake and called it. If the lake wasn’t so nasty I may have jumped in.

Friday- Rest
My tiredness and crankiness caught up to me. Could the animal outside at night just stop?! I told myself I was going to work out when I got home from work but I didn’t. I just zoned out watching Netflix’s Insatiable. That show is on crack, people.

Saturday- Liift4
I meant to do my long run. I laid out my clothes and charged my Aftershokz. I set my alarm- 5 of them. I slept through all of them. Grrrr. I thought about running my 8 miles (I also had the number of miles wrong) in the afternoon/ evening but although we finally break the streak of over 100* days it was still hot. Also, ended up taking the cat to the vet so that took up some of the afternoon.

Sunday-7.4 miles
My mother was planning on cleaning her tennis courts in the morning so I figured that would be good incentive to actually get my butt out of bed and run to the high school to meet her. 75* should have felt amazing after the last few weeks but it was more humid than I would have liked and I felt a little wilted.

Pace wise, I was doing fine for a long run but by mile 5 I was feeling hot. My mother was also feeling it on her end as she called me around that point saying she was done at the courts- it was too warm. I convinced her to wait for me in the shade instead of coming to get me and I tried to pick up the pace to the school. I am hoped for 8 to make for the run I shorted on Tuesday but 7 is just fine with me.

14.69 miles for the week. Much better than last week and almost all the miles the plan called for. So close!!

Now if the damn creature in the yard could just go away.

How was your week?

Week 30/ Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 2

Upcoming Races-

Vintners 5 Mile-7/28
SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

So close, so close! I almost hit every work out. But I didn’t. I tried rearranging to fit life, the heatwave and my leg and it just didn’t work.

The plan for the week was 4 Liift4 workouts and 3 runs. The runs were originally laid out as an easy 4, a 30 minute tempo and a long run of 6 miles. I knew I had a 5 mile race on Saturday so I figured that would be my tempo and I would just run another easy 4 to make up for the shortened long run. Well, that was the plan.

Monday- Liift4/ Fair Stupid mistake #1. Possibly 1 and 2. I should have done the Liift4 workout in the morning. I didn’t- I did it after the fair, finishing around 11. I wore flip flops to the fair- which might have been fine if it was just the fair but I also walked home. Everything below my left knee was pissed. The funnel cake was awesome though.

Tuesday- Liift4 I packed my gear to run but my leg was still pissed at me for the flip flops. In the end I decided another day of rest was best and met my mother for dinner instead. However that may have been a bad idea as I spent the rest of the night violently ill.🤢

Wednesday- 4 miles With the temps in hometown around 110, I opted to run in work town where it was a pleasant 66. I always feel super awkward running in work town for some reason but usually settle into it around 1.5 miles in- around when I hit the eucalyptus grove. I feeling good and running an easy pace but the 80% humidity was making my breathing sound like I was sprinting. That said, this was a rare time I powered up the hill back and felt like I could have done it again. I didn’t.

Thursday- Liift4 I wanted to run but it was another 110 degree day and a late afternoon doctor appointment in another town messed with my plan to run in work town again. Traffic getting home due to the Luke Bryan concert irritated me and I really wanted to run but the temps didn’t really cool until after 9 PM and not really even then. I don’t run at night let alone at night during the fair.

Friday- Rest The Liift4 leg workout was on the schedule but I remembered being extra sore last weekend afterwards. Which normally would be fine but with a trail race on Saturday and my leg still feeling funky, I decided to push the workout until after the race. Possibly mistake #3.

Saturday-Vintner’s 5 Mile Race Race recap to come complete with vines, dirt, rocks, barns and medal snafus. My Liift4 workout did not happen that evening.

Sunday- Rest Oh, what the??? Not only did I not do the Liift4 workout I missed, I did not run. Without going into too many details from Saturday, there are some lingering issues and anything weight bearing sounded and felt like it would do more harm than good. I wish I could say I made that choice easily but I kept telling myself that things were going to improve right up to 5PM. Nope. Crap.

So yeah, 9 miles for the week, 5 out 7 workouts. Which on the surface might not look so bad but I am a little for how it going to play out this week.

How was your week?

A Run by the Bay

Disclaimer: I received free entry to Monterey Bay Half Marathon 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!

In 2015 I ran a half marathon up in Monterey along the bay. Back then it was still called the Big Sur Half Marathon. By either name, it’s a gorgeous course.

It had ocean views, it had little rolling hills, it had a bike path, you ran down Cannery Row and through a tunnel! There was music playing throughout the course via bands or DJ’s, the aid stations were some of the best I had ever seen at the time. Actually, looking back- they still are.

Did I mention the elites? I literally ran passed Kara Goucher. Well, she was like an hour ahead of me and on her way to the finish line but she was still only a few feet from me.

When the opportunity popped up to run the race again with BibRave, I felt like a little kid. Pick me, pick me! Yay!!!!!

I am so looking forward to running Monterey Bay again. Both for the views and hoping for a better last half of the race. Last time I had some severe GI issues so miles 8-13 were a little rough, haha.

Also, if I miss my PR goal on San Jose, this a good second chance to try again. Not that I want to miss but it’s good to have a backup plan.

Want to join me??? Register here- https://bsim.info/MBHMbibrave
Use code BIBRAVE10 to save 10 on registration!

Ever run Monterey Bay?

Week 29/ Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 1

That was a mouthful. All right, when I said things were getting serious, I wasn’t exaggerating. So let’s do this-

Upcoming Races-

Vintners 5 Mile-7/28
SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

Still with me? Ok, that tired me out just typing that up. But I have a game plan. I really do.

Remember how I mentioned in my San Jose post that I wanted to get as close to a PR as possible? That is still my hope. So with that in mind, I know I need to change things up. Oh, so many things.

The real title of this post should be Shit Just Got Serious.

As my social handle suggests sometimes I lack motivation. In my “about” section I mention that it was a competition with my mom that got me into the best shape of my life. Well, outside of high school but we can never go back right? 🤣

So I put my money where my mouth is and joined a challenge group. Now I have a partner I don’t want to let down as well as getting my jiggly butt back into PR shape. So how did week 1 go?

*If you’re interested, I am using Hal Higdon’s H3 training plan.

Monday- AM- Liift4/ PM- 3.77 miles
Look who worked out in the morning??? 40 minutes of weights and a little bit of HIIT. Who am I?

However, I may have hydrated way too much during the after that because I kind of bottomed out right before my run. That and my run was extremely uncomfortable as I felt like I needed to pee the entire time. It was supposed to be 4 miles but I could not hold it any longer. I needed to be done and I needed a bathroom. Lesson learned- don’t consume almost 200 oz of water in 9 hours.

Tuesday- Liift 4
More weights. However I woke up with a headache so I snoozed for another hour so this workout was done after work.

Wednesday- 2.5 miles
It was a rest day from Liift4 and even though my next running day wasn’t supposed to be until Thursday but it seemed perfect to move it up so I didn’t have to double up. I didn’t feel sore and the plan only called for 3 miles so easy peasy right? Haha! My legs quickly let me know they were not on board, all the soreness I had been missing suddenly showed up. I could barely move and was just getting slower and slower. I figured I wasn’t doing myself any favors and called it at 2ish laps of the lake path.

Thursday- Liift4
I slept right through my alarm- first and second ones- so that meant my workout was pushed until after work. However, my family ended up texting me asking if I wanted to join them for dinner. I am never one to turn down free food. 😛 Instead of being my usual Slacker self, that meant I was doing a shoulder workout at 9:30 at night. But I got it done.

Friday- Liift4
Once again, I hit snooze one too many times plus I had an early morning lab appointment. So after a long day of work, some slacking in the evening, I was again completing the workout after 10PM. Part of that was also due to some animal drama outside though.

Saturday- Rest
I thought about getting my long run in. I thought about going to the fair. Did I mention the Fair is in town? It’s chaos, just chaos. In the end, I did neither. I had the beginnings of a bad headache that I really didn’t want to turn into a migraine. So got my errands done, hydrated and just tried to rest.

Sunday- 6.2 miles
My fight to stave off the migraine failed. My alarm went off to get up and run and any movement made me either want to cry or hurl. I set the alarm for another hour and hoped for the best. Nope. Another hour and repeat. Nope. Finally I gave up and decided to push my run to the evening hoping the temps would drop enough- we’re under a heat advisory for the next week.

I headed out a little after 5 when the temps dropped to around 90. I knew I was going to be moving slower than normal and I was ok with that. That turned out to be true and it was hot but it was actually a decent run.

12.7 miles of the 13 on the plan. All Liift4 workouts completed. My training plan starts out on the lower mileage side and I am fine with that as I incorporate cross training in for the first time in years. Only time will tell if this pans out.

How was your week?

Watermelon? Yes, please!

Disclaimer: I received Watermelon Gatorade Endurance and Mango Energy Gels 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!

Fueling and I have a bit of a rocky relationship. I have a tendency to run with just water. Want to know a little secret? I ran Big Sur on zero fuel. I realized a few days before that the pack of gummies I shove in my pack every race day but never touch was actually expired. Oops! I don’t eat breakfast before races either. Part of it is because I am always concerned about my stomach acting up and part of it is that it has never seemed to hinder me.

Yet, that doesn’t mean I wasn’t missing something. So, occasionally I try to step outside my tiny box and try new things.

Enter Gatorade Endurance Formula and Endurance Energy Gels.

Ok, though- in truth- on the rare occasion that I ran with pumped up hydration- it was good ol’ Gatorade- the orange flavor is my jam. Mix a bottle with some water and that would be my “last minute” race prep. The Endurance version was new to me though and the flavor even newer. Just in time for the heat of summer, Gatorade is introducing a tasty Watermelon flavor to the Endurance line.

And tasty it is. I was actually super concerned about the taste, I Love watermelon but hate watermelon “flavored” things. No worries here! I love the taste! It does not taste like it is watermelon flavored, it just tastes like watermelon! I was hard pressed not to drink it all at once. Also, I generally run with luke warm water so I was curious what it would taste like when ice cold. The answer? Even better. I had a migraine while at work recently and I was trying to hydrate well. I had the Gatorade Endurance Formula with me at work so I figured why not? Ice cold Watermelon Gatorade Endurance was kind of amazing.

So what makes Gatorade Endurance different?

I love the taste and it makes me actually want to drink more while running. Which is great as summer has made its presence known and it’s over 95* most days in home town. That’s half my struggle right there- making myself drink the hydration when I know I should.

How about the Gels?

gel desc

I am not a huge fan of gels. I normally can’t choke them down even with water which is why they have never been my fuel of choice. That is so not the case here! In fact on first taste, I wondered if I even managed to taste any it was so subtle and smooth. In fact I had, it was just so easy and the new Mango flavor was tasty, I just couldn’t believe it. I didn’t even need to drink water after it. Who knew??

As for energy- I haven’t run a real long run since San Diego. So I used the gels more as a pre-run boost. Which considering how tired I’ve been lately was probably a good idea. At first I didn’t think it was making any difference, then I noticed I was holding a 10 minute flat pace on 100* runs on my running portions without trying. These days, that’s fast for me but we’ll leave that for another post. Hey now, maybe there’s something to this fuel thing? I am looking forward to trying it on my long runs.

Ok, so some potential downsides-

If you mix the Endurance Formula powder with super cold water it tends to clump. I’ve noticed this with most drink mixes though, it’s probably why I drink mostly barely cold or room temp water.
I wish the scoop was a little smaller for smaller mouthed bottles. I made a little bit of a mess when I forgot my soft flasks and had to use a plastic water bottle one day.
Right now they are both only available to buy online or at a few specialty retailers. Ok- this actually isn’t a drawback for me- I live in tiny town, USA, so would be ordering online anyways but this could be a factor for someone else.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I like the new Watermelon flavor from the Gatorade Endurance line and I am going to continue to work on my fueling with the Mango Energy Gels- I have big race goals this fall.

How do you hydrate?

Want to hear more thoughts on the new Gatorade Endurance Formula?

Lindsey – Karen – Lissa – Katy – Jessica – Kevin – Amy – Jenn – Vanessa – Ang