Category: BibRave

Keeping Track

Disclaimer: I am promoting Athlinks 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!

We runner love our numbers. At least I know I do. 😁

When I first started running, I would scrapbook every bib with race dates and finish times. But let’s be real, I soon ran out of steam with that one and now that scrapbook languishes at the bottom of a hope chest in the closet.

I have pages dedicated to race times and links to recaps on the this blog (look up) but sometimes I fall behind on keeping them up to date. Then there was the time a couple months back when I accidentally deleted the entire page that listed all my races prior to 2014. Ack!!! What do I do?!

Tah dah- Athlinks!!

Athlinks works like a database and pulls all your race results together and keeps them in one place for you. At least that was what it did when I signed up years ago.

It’s so much cooler now! Yes, it still tracks all your races and it’s super easy to claim them- well as long you don’t have a common name, which I don’t 😋. Now you can follow your friends and they can follow you. Anytime you run a race with them, they become your rivals. I don’t how much of a rival I am as everyone I follow and vice versa is faster than me but it’s fun!

mission add

Another cool feature is that you can add upcoming races so those friendly rivals 😀 know what your upcoming races are. Who knows, they might be running the race with you. And if that race doesn’t immediately pop up, it’s super easy to add it. For example, my race this Saturday is on the small side and didn’t pop up when I searched. So I added it. I added all the distances- 13.1, 10 mile, 5k and then I added myself to the starting list for the 10 miler. It took less than 3 minutes. Easy, peasy.

PRS — haha, remember the hot mess 25k????

There’s even a Statistics tab that keeps track of all your PR’s for you. My 10K PR is not accurate since I set it at a super tiny race but it’s close enough and since I’ve slowed down, I can still use it as incentive to make that number drop! Also, I somehow forgot my marathon finish time. I thought I was slower than that so seeing it there is kind of awesome… and again, incentive to make that number drop. 😋

Now, I have run some super tiny races (I mean how else did I first OA female one??-tiny) , so not all of my races report times and data so Athlinks doesn’t have those. Heck, some of those races didn’t even have timing clocks or bibs but the majority of my races are available. So, I look forward to adding to my stats over time.

You can set your profile to private if you want and still take advantage of all the awesome tracking capabilities that Athlinks has. Public or private- either way it’s awesome!

Do you use Athlinks?

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 3

If I had one word to describe this week, it would be ouch.

If I used more words, ouch would likely be followed by a couple of colorful expletives and then some more ouch.

Work was stressful and busy. I ran but it didn’t go well. I bought new running shoes, oh and I cut most of my hair off. Surprise!

The plan-

Week 3

Life-

Monday- PT/3 miles It was a day off from work and part of me really wanted to run the 6 miles of speed work that was on the plan for the week. Part of me was also really feeling the 15 miles I had put on them in the previous 2 days and wanted a rest day. I compromised and stuck with the plan and headed out for 3. I should have gone with the rest. My legs were not having it. Not even turning to my long run run/walk intervals helped. I probably shouldn’t have run the same day I had a PT appointment with traction. I ended up just walking it in.

Tuesday- Rest Insanely busy work day plus I was listening to my legs.

Wednesday- 2 miles Another busy day and mentally, I did not think I could handle the treadmill. I changed into my running clothes at work but was talking myself out of it the entire drive home. I was thisclose to bailing entirely but instead I parked my car and a headed out for a dark few miles. Things were a little stiff but I chalked it up to all the uneven sidewalks I have to run on at night and figure I run a little differently in the dark.

Thursday- 4 miles -400’s On the lake path, my typical 400 pace ranges from 7:55-8:15. On this night, due to some very poor treadmill math, I was running these 400’s around 9:45. And they were kicking my ass. I normally love 400’s. Not tonight. My legs and back were not agreeing with the treadmill at all. I called it at 4 miles because an ache in my upper left leg started to turn into pain. I hate treadmills. Particularly bouncy ones.

Friday- Rest/ PT exercisesI wore compression socks all days and my for the most part, I felt ok.

Saturday- 9 miles/ PT exercises I wanted 11, should have quit at 5. The plan was to run from home, do my 11 and finish at the high school where my mother was having tennis practice then she would give me a ride. I was super achy and stiff the first 2 miles but sometimes it can take until mile 4 for me to loosen up so I kept running. By mile 5, the aches had turned into straight up pain and I knew I was in trouble. So I took a shortcut and hobble-ran my way to the high school stopping occasionally to stretch as best as I could. Once home, I iced, and stretched and foam rolled as much as I could.

Sunday- Rest I did wander around SLO and do some shopping. My left leg is still not to happy but I was able to walk without pain. But certain muscles and bones are making their presence known if that makes sense. I stopped in at the Running Warehouse and made the leap into a new pair of shoes. I’m moving around too much in the Adidas right now no matter how many pairs of socks I wear. Fingers crossed these help.

18.19 miles for the week. 5 short of where I should be. But it’s early days and I am not going to freak out yet. No, I am not. If I repeat it enough, it’s true right?

How was your week?

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 1

Well crap, it’s real huh, now that it’s in writing. 😜

This week went almost exactly like I planned. Notice I said like I planned and not according to THE plan.

Plan-

Week 1

Life

Monday 5 miles / PT exercise- I couldn’t waste a perfectly good day off so I moved Wednesday’s 5 miles to Monday. It just made more sense. I also finally found the sluggish feeling I had been expecting to feel on Saturday’s and Sunday’s run. Then again it has also been a while since I’ve run 3 days in a row. Other than sluggish, it was a pretty solid 5 miles though. Could have done without the buzzard spectators though. Back off buddies.

Tuesday- Rest/ PT exercises. Nailed it. Work was crazy busy so that’s all I had the brain power for anyways.

Wednesday- 3.1 miles/ PT exercises Slow, sore, treadmill miles. Man, my back was so not happy so I was really glad I switched Monday and Wednesday around. I was also very surprised by how empty the gym was. I had been expecting to find a crowd but instead I was able to find both a parking spot close to the gym and a treadmill easily. What gives? That is highly unusual for January 3.

Thursday- Physical Therapy I had another session of lumbar traction, this time with increased tension. Is that what it’s called? While it felt good, I was super sore too. I took easy the rest of the day, doc’s orders.

Friday- Rest If only that word was an accurate representation of how Friday’s actually go. 🤣

Saturday- 8.3 miles/ PT exercises First long run of training! Just to play things smart and to be nice to my back, I was keeping to my intervals of run 1 minute, walk 1 minute. Also helped that my watch was set to that and I was too lazy to fix it. My pace was keeping pretty steady in the mid 11 range, which I was more than fine with and my plan was to pick it up for a fast finish. Everything was working great up until mile 6.5. Then I felt AND heard something pop on my back near my left shoulder-blade and came to a screeching halt. Literally. I was ripping off colorful words in multiple languages and probably sounded like I was screeching. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Now, this is unfortunately an injury that I am familiar with. This is the 5th time it’s happened, first time while running though. Usually, it leaves me with restricted mobility on my left side for 3-5 days, how the hell was I going to get back to my car let alone finish running??

I ran a pace that didn’t jostle me too much and stopped multiple times to stretch. Stretching would have gone better without my Orange Mud pack on, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it back on it I took it off. I made it back to my car and stretched as best as I could before driving home. Grrrr.

Sunday- Rest. Damn shoulder. Running actually seemed to help it a bit because it didn’t seem as bad today as it was the last time this happened. Which oddly, was almost exactly a year ago. So I rested and worked on some deep stretching with my foam roller.

16.42 miles. Other than the damn shoulder, the miles are exactly how I thought this week was going to go, so yay for that! I had originally thought about making up Thursday’s run on Sunday but again, shoulder.

How was your week?

2017- The Shiny and The Dull

It’s that time again- time to recap the Shiny and the Dull of 2017.

Let’s get the Dull out of the way first.

So yeah, remember that post 12 months ago where I said I hated goals, that I considered them 4 letter words so I wasn’t making any? No? Well, here it is if you’re feeling really bored. I was going to make 2017 the year of Challenge. Ha! More like the year of complacency.

Instead of running all the miles in 2017, I didn’t even clear 650.

Did I find my old pace? Yeah, no.

I was turned down for 2 jobs I applied for.

Should we even mention the weight I put on? I’m less irritated about the number and more irritated about how uncomfortable I feel in my skin.

Had migraine issues, thyroid issues, leg issues, back issues, bed issues. Maybe I’m the issue?

Ok, enough with the dull.

Shiny!!!!!!

I ran 10 races, 8 13.1’s, one 5 miler and one 5K. If I had to pick a top 3, they would be –

Las Vegas! I went to Vegas! I ran a half and a 5K in one weekend. I finally met Kate in real life! We ran her first half together. I met Helly! I hung with Mai and other BibRave Pros! There were lights and miles and good times and it was awesome. Tiring but awesome. And I am a bad blogger because I don’t have the pictures.
Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1– My first Rock n Roll race and it was great one. I loved the course and the whole experience. I met Mai and Emily and made the We Run Social photo on race morning. And I met Chelsea! It was also my fastest race in a few years. Until…
City to Sea– Home town love. Yeah, I consider the entire county my home town. 5th time running this race and I still love it. Somehow pulled off my fastest race of the year too. Still don’t know where that came from.

Honorable mentions- Salinas Valley Half Marathon, SLO Ultra 5 Miler

I had the opportunity to work with BibRave again in 2017 and it is a great group of people. Plus I tested some pretty awesome products. I’d have even fewer miles if BibRave hadn’t pointed me in the direction of my Ultra Boost X’s. My running store doesn’t sell them so I wouldn’t have found them on my own. I’m on pair 2 now.

I was also given the chance to be an ambassador for Miles and Pace. If you’ve been around this blog for the last few years, you may have noticed that I am pretty attached to my Miles and Pace trucker hats so I was stoked. My current hat count is 4.

As for work, I have a Rock star crew, so can’t complain about that.

So 2017 did not go like I hoped but then again I maybe got a little too comfy in the comfy chair and rationalized my way into being a little too Slacker like. I mentioned on Twitter the other night that I have a tendency to get in my own way.

As for 2018? Time to Sound the Alarm.

Stepping it Up

Disclaimer: The WEAV Run app is currently free but I will be receiving a lifetime subscription in January 2018 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!

Google average running cadence and any number of sites and sources come back with 180 average steps per minute. Dig a little deeper and some will say 180 and above is usually elite runners and most everyday runners average between 160-170 steps per minute. Either way you dice it- I fall short. I usually average in the low 140’s, my two fastest half marathons this year didn’t even hit an average of 160. Ouch.

Knowing that it’s something I need to work on, Weav Run seemed right up my alley. Weav Run is a newer app on the market that is designed to use music to motivate your running tempo. Want to run 175 steps per minute? Weav Run can get you there. Weav Run has 2 options for setting the tempo- detecting the tempo based on your movement or letting you choose your own.

Weav Run works with the individual music files in order to give the runner the best listening experience possible. So instead of speeding up the entire song and getting that helium sounding effect, aspects of the background speed up while the lyrics remain pretty close to what you hear on the radio. It’s like your feet are the DJ.

The set up questions were more in depth than I anticipated- where do I keep my phone?- but took hardly anytime. Pushed a couple buttons and I was set to run. But I was kind of injured, boo. So, I adapted and hopped on the bike. I used the “I Know My Tempo” option, set it at 150 steps per minute and figured I would test it out that way. For once, my cadence on the bike was even! It also helped me really familiarize myself with the app.

But how was running?

I say my right leg is the troublemaker but what I really mean is that my right leg is the dead leg. The lazy leg, the leg that never seems to want to do any work. As a result I over compensate with my left and end up hurting. All previous attempts to focus on my form and bringing my leg around have ended in failure. I would succeed for a short time but end up with a headache from having to focus so hard. So I usually gave up.

With Weav Run, I didn’t even have to try, somehow my right leg just wanted to join the party. Something about the beat and the music working together and flipped a switch in my brain and both legs were on board and working together. I powered up a couple of hills in ways I never have- I felt kind of bad ass. 😛 Now, this isn’t saying it was all perfect- I have 2 left feet and no rhythm so I’d usually get off step at some point and have to work my way back but it’s awesome when I’m on point.

Since Vegas- I’ve been running less, a little sick and the air has been filled with smoke but the paces of my runs using Weav Run have all averaged about 30-45 seconds faster than they should be given my current state of fitness. And that’s with the walk breaks I’m still taking. Consider me a Believer. Which by the way is a song on the Weav playlist.

So-are there downsides?

I take walk breaks- it’s how I run these days. While the app adjusts to my pace and cadence pretty well, sometimes it has issues. When I slow down, it seems like only half of it slows down with with me and the other half is too fast. It eventually evens out but it’s kind of an odd 20 seconds or so.
The technology is new and while it is great that Weav Run is working directly with artists and music labels, the library currently only has 25 tracks.
This is a both a plus and a possible downside- As a BibRavePro, we were able to test some of the tracks that are coming in the future (you will be happy🙂) but all those tracks mean the app needs a little more space on your phone. As I write this, the app is using 2.25 GB on my phone. I have plenty of space on my phone but it something to keep in mind.
It’s currently only iPhone- ios compatible.

I look forward to many more runs with Weav Run and oddly more bike rides. I rode the bike more since downloading the app than I have in months. 😛

What are you waiting for? Go download Weav Run!

Want to read more? Check it out-

Brenda– Lindsey– Meridith