Disclaimer: I received an entry into Oaktown Half 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.
Part of me wants to say it snuck up on me and the other part feels like I’ve been preparing forever.
This week has been all over the place. My plans changed pre race and I canceled my hotel. Then they changed again and I was booking a hotel on Thursday evening again. My bib was supposed to arrive this week but there was a shipping snafu. Now I am picking it up on race morning.
I’m just rolling with the punches here. Maybe. Maybe I’m just wobbly.
I am looking forward to running around Oakland again. Now, I know to be prepared for all the street art. I may keep my phone out the whole time. I’m also not sick this time so yay! (knock on wood) This is also a different course so I am looking forward to checking out the differences.
That said, I am unsure if I have a goal. I originally was aiming for a 2:12 with my training plan until I realized I was over reaching. A lot. I am not sure what to aim for now or if I even want to have a goal. I also don’t know what shoes to wear. Well, no- I do. It would be insanity to run in my new Ghost’s. They only have 5 miles on them.
I love getting toys and things for my dog. Seriously, she has way too many toys. And I love buying her new collars.
But she does not get walked enough. And we are both getting a little fluffy. Most of it is my bad but part of it is that finding a harness that doesn’t drive her crazy. She doesn’t play well with the just the leash- ok, well she’s not the best behaved on the leash.
I’m not sure about this…
Put a harness on her and she looks like she is being tortured. Seriously, the woe is me look is priceless. She’s tried on numerous harness’s at Petco- yeah, sorry about that- but no luck. And the one she does have? She runs when she sees it in your hands.
When it arrived, she was super excited like she is anytime I tell her I got her something. Then she saw it was a harness. Then I put it on her. Cue not happy face.
It was a few days before I got her outside with the harness- thanks 108 heatwave- and at first she was her usual sour puss self, Then it was like she realized she didn’t find it annoying and looked at me like “let’s go!”. So we went.
The next time I brought the harness out she actually looked excited and ran towards me and stood still while I put it on her. Say what???
Now, I am not saying it’s all sunshine and roses now. She still comes to a dead halt to sniff something and I have to literally drag her away. But she no longer reacts like she choking when I muscle her away from whatever “awesome” scent she is smelling.
Now, it’s been hot hot hot here, so full disclosure we haven’t been on that many walks in the short time we’ve had it. However I am looking forward to more. I really need to work on getting up in the morning and taking her, but well, me and mornings are not the best of friends. She actually came running into the room one morning last week and I think she wanted to go for a walk but I told her no. I’m sorry!
For reference- Zoey is around 65 pounds and wears the large.
I am looking forward to more walks with Zoey- maybe I’ll turn her into a runner someday.
Disclaimer: I received coaching from Endure Strong 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.
Lord knows, I could use some guidance. Left to my own devices I might just sleep all day and eat pizza. Which is counter productive to that lovely goal of breaking 2:00 in the half. That one I set ummmm, 5 years ago? However I’ve done nothing but get slower in the last 4 years.
Boo. Training plans and I don’t often get along. I’ve looked into online coaching but could never seem to take the plunge. So when the opportunity arose with Endure Strong through BibRave, I was more than a little intrigued. Throw in actual conversation with Jared Ward and I was in.
It all started with an email from Andrew- the main guy with Endure Strong– in which I was welcomed to the team and asked to create a Final Surge profile. Final Surge is the platform that Endure Strong uses to pick training plans, schedule runs, have group chats and reach out to the coaches.
Plans were organized by race distance, weekly miles and skill level. Being that I knew I was out of shape and carrying an extra 40 pounds (more on that sometime) I chose a beginner 16 week plan with a peak of 25 miles per week. Doesn’t sound like much but it was more than I was running. Plus the idea of 6 days a week kind of scared me. So much so that I kind of freaked out and emailed Andrew in a panic. I had just transferred into my position and had no idea how that transition was going to go.
A week in May where I moved a run.
The way my plan laid out, the days didn’t work me. It started with Mondays as a rest day and then 6 days of running- I needed it shifted up a day. Yes, Final Surge has a drag and drop capability but that would be tedious moving every single workout for 16 weeks. Andrew was able to make that happen and I calmed down a little. Whew.
Then it came time to run. It broke down with 3 easy, short runs, 2 speed work outs and a long run. Simple enough, right?
Morning wake up text
I was putting in the miles- mostly- and hitting the paces- mostly. Denial is a wonderful place. I was attending the bi-weekly training calls with Jared and the team and I was getting those green boxes in Final Surge.
Then the rosy glow faded a bit and I slammed into a wall of reality. Your workouts are set to specific zones. The zones are set in the account setup according to your goal race.. I picked a race time of 2:12 for Oaktown Half. See a problem?
That’s 20 minutes faster than my recent times. Over reaching much? I was paying for it- I was exhausted, hurting and flaming out in most runs. The good thing is you can adjust your zones. So I went in and reigned it in. Notice I am saying I.
Here’s where I was feeling dissatisfied. Yes, I reached out on the social wall and would get feed back from the other members and the coach but I was feeling a lack of direct feedback. I feel like a little more one on one would have been beneficial. The opening intro is all self driven- some interactions with someone smarter than me might have seen that I was over reaching. An occasional email or direct message from the coach checking in would have been appreciated.
I learned a few things while training with Endure Strong. I need some one on one time with coaching and it can’t all be me reaching out. To some extent I need a drill sergeant. I need someone to keep me accountable otherwise I either push to hard or not enough. I didn’t necessarily feel that here.
Apparently I took all my screenshots in May??
Now- I fully admit that is partly on me. I could have reached out directly more often. While the interaction of the social wall was great, I knew I needed more and I could have tried harder. It just felt a little one sided.
Time in zones for the last 30 days
However, I did like the plan itself. Except for the 6 day part- my body and my brain can’t handle 6 days a week. At least not now. #goals The amount of easy running and structured running was a good mix- I am not great at that by myself. If you are looking for a little direction and a great plan, under $40 a month is a steal. There are also the biweekly calls with Jared and you can send your questions in advance or ask them while the call is taking place.
Final Surge has a few quirks but that’s on the Final Surge end. I loved the morning texts and emails with my run for the day- I never had to memorize anything too far ahead.
Endure Strong is a great option for those with a little more self motivation then myself. However I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn this about myself. I also believe that I finally built a decent base- not the goal of my plan but still a good thing. If the bones are good, I can continue to build on that. My race is still 9 days away so I have another few weeks of the training plan to go- wish me luck!
7/20 Vintners 5 Mile or Rock to Pier 10K (not looking good)
10/ 6 RnR San Jose (Thanks BibRave!)
I started the week with some drag and dropping of my training plan on Final Surge. I appreciate this feature with my training plan but the last few weeks, the ease of changing has enabled my inner Slacker to be even more Slacker like. I had a work function on Thursday and I knew I had to make adjustments for that.
I’ve also fallen into the bad habit of reading other blogs, but not commenting- I’m sorry! I’ve also stalled out in the book I am reading and the book I am listening to. May I should have called this post “Stall” since I kind of feel like that describes my running too the past few weeks.
Plan vs Reality
Monday 2.5 miles w/ strides/ 2.5 miles w/strides I had originally thought about moving my hardest workout of the week to Monday but I was still dealing with migraine fog so I am glad I didn’t. I headed to the lake path for a few easy miles with 6 strides… or 7, I kind of lost count. My mom was out there too, she decide to join me and do a few laps of the lake herself.
Tuesday 1.5 miles/ 1.5 miles I am really beginning to love these easy days. I am starting to realize that not every run has to be long to be worthwhile. Any movement is good movement. Sometimes I forget this.
Wednesday- 1.5 up/down, 2x 2mile repeats/ 1.4 up/down, 2x 2 mile repeats I was scared of this workout. I didn’t think I could do it. I have also been starting to realize that I may have over reached with my goal for Oaktown Half and may need to adjust my pace settings. My goal for this workout was for each repeat to be at 10k pace- 9:32-9:49. I’m not there yet. But I tried- the miles ranged from 9:58 – 10:21. And they were hard. So hard. Oh did I mention it was almost 90 and I forgot water too?
Thursday- 1.5 miles/ Mixer I had a feeling I wouldn’t run today due the mixer for work and that proved true.
Friday- 1.5 miles/ lazy I originally planned on doubling up for this run and running 3 miles to make up for Thursday. Work was a little crazy and I ended up staying til close. I have a feeling I will likely do that most times I open- I feel guilty leaving before closing. Then I was just kind of done.
Saturday- 9 miles/ 3.1 miles I was supposed to run my long run for the week but the snooze button was too tempting. So instead I headed out for a very easy 3 miler in the heat of the day. 95*- so much fun.
Sunday- Rest/ 5.5 miles Once again, I was too friendly with the snooze button. Even as I was lying in bed, I knew I was just screwing myself over and only had myself to blame. Then as the day progressed and the temp rose, I was tempted to just bail on the run. However, after an internal argument, I made myself go for a run. Just run and see what happened. Well, it was 90* so what I got was a sluggish 5.5 miles. However that was better than being lazy.
So 18.4 /21.5 miles for the week and more red than green on my training calendar. Also a good amount of irritation with myself.
It’s summer in California and that means one thing- me being stupid and running in the heat of the day.
Disclaimer: I received aCoolNet UV+ Headband from Buff 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!
Could you have guessed that by my track record?
Why I do this so consistently, I don’t know. Maybe I really am a glutton for punishment. However, knowing my proclivity for stupidity, I look for anything to keep me cool while showing off aforementioned stupidity.
Shade is never guaranteed where I run, neither is available water. Don’t get me started on my town’s lack of facilities. So I always run with my pack and water. I layer on sunscreen and wear a trucker hat as well. New to my arsenal is the CoolNet UV Headband from Buff. Dude, where have you been all my life???
I’ve had it for about a month and it’s rarely not on my head if I am running, even when it’s hidden under my hat. I don’t understand how adding an extra layer of material keeps my head cooler but it does. And well, science was never my best subject.😛 An added bonus is that is keeps the sweat from dripping down into my eyes. Yes! I’ve become such a sweater in the last year or so.
Ok, so how does it work?
From the website
I’m still not 100% sure what some of those words mean, I won’t lie. All I know is that it works. My head feels cooler and it stops the sweat. Bonus is that it fits my small head without sliding off! I can also verify that it resists odors as I maybe don’t wash mine as often as I should. Oops. But on the bright side, it handled the washing machine like a champ!
You can barely see it under my hat. And this post officially has too many selfies.😂
Plus, it’s super affordable compared to other headbands out there and they have various patterns and styles. But if that wasn’t enough, how about a discount? Go to this link and sign up for their newsletter to save 15%.
Slacker Runner 