Nothing! I have no scheduled races for the remainder of 2016 right now. That is so weird! After the last month of feeling stressed and sick, slightly injured and seriously bitchy, I knew what I was going to do post Golden Gate Half.
I was taking the week off. I didn’t even do that post marathon. Mostly because I had crazy high hopes that marathon training would bring me speedy fall half marathons…which didn’t happen. Actually I don’t think I’ve taken a solid week off all year long. Which is odd for this Slacker.
I had plans, I really did. I was going to get on the bike to keep the legs loose and blood moving. I was going to try more of my yoga app. I was thinking about busting out the kettle bell, maybe attempting a plank or 2. What happened?
Nothing. Not a damn thing.
Well, I gained 5 pounds but let’s not go there.
see those sad steps?!!😂
I slept… a lot. Turns out I really wasn’t feeling well. The week kind of passed in a foggy haze. I took Monday off as a vacation day to recover from the race and had Friday off due to the holiday. You’d think all that extra rest would have helped me feel better but no such luck.
Granted part of that fog may be due to drastically cutting back on my caffeine and sugar intake last week. I also finally had an appointment with a neurologist last week so maybe my daily headaches will be coming to an end? Fingers crossed?!?!? The appointment made me laugh though- at one point I had to do the “one foot in front of the other walk” down the hallway and I fell into into the wall. Ha!
A week off is enough though. I’m feeling equal parts twitchy and nervous. That first run back is always so hard. Combine that with the fact that I know it will be on a treadmill and boo. I also have that same old shoe conundrum again. My Hoka’s are ok but not great. They aggravate a weird soft spot in the bottom of my left foot. Also, by the end of the Harvest Half, I felt like my toes were bruised and bloody. They weren’t but they sure felt like it. I admit that I no longer look forward to shoe shopping. Now it just stresses me out. Grrr.
Disclaimer: I received a pair of Oofos 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!
Ok, so I have weird feet. I love the idea of flip flops but can never find a pair that I really like and I’ve tried options that range from 97¢ to $80. I actually still have that cheap pair and my mother has the expensive pair. 😛 When I had the opportunity to try Oofos, I thought sure why not? Plus at that point, I was deep into the pre marathon crazies and was only wearing flats, socks with running shoes or socks with Vans. My toes just wanted to be free!!!
They arrived the Friday before I left for the marathon. What a tease!! I put them on for like 5 seconds before packing them in my travel bag. I put them on right after my post marathon shower. Bliss. I felt bad for Ashley- I left the hotel wearing hot pink cut off compression socks, a maxi skirt and my shiny new Oofos. #stylefordays
How my car looks most days- shoes!
I’ve barely taken them off since. Seriously, I live in them. I wear them post run, I wear them on my commute to work, I wear them running errands, I’ve worn them to the beach. I’ve worn them with running clothes and normal clothes and I think they go nicely with all of my dresses. Pinstripes and Oofos? Why not? No I don’t have a picture. 😛 My mother has mentioned that she wants to steal them from me but she can’t because every time she sees me they are on my feet. 😃
no one needs to see my toes😛
Ok, so here’s the technical info-
OOfoam: Absorbs 37% more shock than other materials
Reduces stress on sore feet, knees and lower back
Cradles your arches
Biomechanically designed footbed allows natural motion
The Marsala color kind of matches my high school colors
Easy to clean- seriously- I grenaded a cup of ranch the other day and they were shiny in 10 seconds
Toe freedom!!!!
Did I mention they are awesome post run?
Cons-
Similar to most flip flops- I wish they came in half sizes. My left foot is bigger than my right foot. The right shoe fits perfectly, the left is slightly too small.
I find it to be a snug fit across the top of the foot. In the beginning I had to hold the shoe to put it on, now I can slip them on a little easier.
Yes, they are very sporty looking- depending on the person, that could be a pro or con so I will leave that up to you.
Friday was just as crazy as the rest of the week had been but it was ok, I had cookie Friday to get me through it. 🙂 Plus for once, I had plans after work, girls night! I met ML and A for dinner and a movie after work. Dinner was at a pub like restaurant, where I took no pictures. Oops! The burger was so good I was too busy eating it and catching up with them. Then it was on the movies, we saw Maze Runner. It was good and they did a decent job of sticking to the book. Granted I read it years ago, but they hit all the points I remembered. I also indulged in movie popcorn, maybe too much, but it was so worth it.
Saturday morning started with work. While I love that the weather is finally below triple digits, I could do with out the fog increase that has accompanied the cooler weather, particularly on my commute. At one point, I could barely see 2 car lengths ahead of me. Ugh. After work, I decided to use Saturday as a rest day and just ran some errands. My legs are a little tired from the extra 6 hours or so of standing per day but it’s still awesome. I decided that it had been too long since I had rearranged the bedroom furniture so that was how I spent my Saturday evening.
She sure thought it was fun
With my new plan to step back on running, I am aiming for 3 days a week, 15-20 miles. This week I had hoped for 15, a 3, a 5 and a 7 mile run. Instead it was 3.5, 4.5 and 4.3. I started the second set of medication that my doctor prescribed last night and woke with a pounding headache. I don’t have time for that! I had plans to go toSLO with my mom and get some shopping done plus that 7 mile run.
Purty, right?
We were heading to SLO because back in July, I bought her a pair of running shoes at The Running Warehouse. They were supposed to be a very early Christmas present but after a month, she decided that she hated them because the tongue never stayed in place. So that was the first stop of the morning. Probably should have checked the times because they didn’t open until 10. Oops. I told her that she had to do all the talking. 🙂 Luckily the service was great as usual. She didn’t have a second choice, so I took partial store credit and picked up a new pair of Wave Rider’s with the other part. The new version comes out in a month so this way I have a back up when I need a new pair. Plus who knows if I will like the new version. I hated the Wave Inspire update.
And then I sat down.
Then it was lunch and some more shopping. I wanted to stop at Banana Republic, I have an interview on Tuesday, so I felt I needed a new dress. My head was still pounding and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to get in any running. Once home, I put my stuff away and then took a 25 minute power nap. I had very little desire run at that point but my head felt a little better, so I headed out. I kept it super easy and walked whenever I needed. Considering how I felt for the most of the day, I’d say it was damn good run. I even had the energy to take the last hill (slowly) and hit 4.3 miles instead of the other way, 3.8. I’d call that a win. 🙂 So mileage for the week- 12.3.
A few of my friends have May-June birthdays, and a few of their friends do too. So it was decided to get a group together to do a hike followed by brunch. The hike chosen was Bishop’s Peak in SLO. This would be followed by brunch at a fancy shmancy hotel a few towns over- in our dirty hiking clothes. 🙂 So, bright and early Sunday Morning, we all met up and jumped in the car and headed down.
Going upinto the forest we goThere were people climbing the backside of the rockface
I have hiked this peak before and there are 3 different ways to go up for about the first mile. From there they all converge into a narrow, rocky dirt track and switchback the rest of the way up to the top. The trail head we chose is located in a residential area and parking was easy. It starts of with an easy dirt road before it starts to get harder. There were 7 of us out there and we just kept an easy pace going up. It was fun getting to catch up and talk as we made our way up. By about halfway we had split into a group of 4 and then a group of 3 a couple hundred yards back. It was fun taking it a little easier too, I tend to be a little crazy on trails, so this time I was able to enjoy the view. And what a view it was- seriously, I took over 100 pictures!
Let me take a selfie
It really was great getting to talk to everyone. Bix and I were even able to reminisce about our loathing of switch backs (Firehouse 5K). About halfway up, at a particular tricky part, we cracked a joke that we should be singing “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, but we couldn’t remember the words. Which was probably a good thing. 🙂 But we made it to the top! And I was crazy enough to climb up the last few rocks, too. After taking the obligatory top of the mountain pictures, it was all down hill from there.
Made it to the top!Smaller rock to conquerI’m the only crazy one going up these rocks
Going down, we separated into a group of 5 and and a group of 2. D and ML and I got involved in a Supernatural discussion, more accurately our love of Dean. 🙂 More and more people were hiking their way up as well; quite a few made comments about our shirts, apparently we thought alike when we dressed that morning.
The shirt crewMe and BixM and ML, a little blurry but I still like it
The way the trail wraps around, you can usually hear people long before you see them. About 2/3 down, we realized it had been a long time since we heard from the other 2 so we stopped and waited for them to catch up. It turns out they had gotten a little lost. Trail buddy fail!!!! We all met up again and then we had to step it up to get to the car, we had a reservation at 11! This is also where I couldn’t help it anymore and I ran. I love running downhill on trails, I really do. 2 miles up and 2 miles down and we were back at the start.
going downanother selfie, D is more talented than I am
Then it was quick change time. Even though we had discussed going in our hiking clothes, 5 of us brought a change of clothes. So with the use of plenty of wet wipes (so handy!), we were changing in the car by the roadside. My apologies if I inadvertently flashed anyone. Then we were in the car and headed to brunch. The place was packed, we had to park on a side street. But as one of us pointed out, we had just hiked Bishops’ Peak, we could handle a few blocks.
Celebratory toastSo very yummy
Brunch was awesome. The company was amazing and the food was great. The service could have used some help and when the heck did brunch get so expensive? Then again, I don’t think I have been to brunch since the last century, so that could be part of it. We all ate too much and enjoyed our champagne and mimosas. I don’t really drink, so I’m usually the DD, but this time it was nice that someone else was. It’s still not my thing but it was fun. Overall, it was an awesome day.
I did have my Garmin with me on the hike. I didn’t care about pace but I had wanted the elevation profile. Well, this blonde had some problems. #1 was auto pause. I do not like that feature, I think that it was what tripped me up with my time at the SLO Marathon. During the hike, it paused when we were going through a cattle fence and never started up again. It took me almost 1/2 a mile to notice. Urgh. Bix had the great idea that I should just start it over at the top, so at least it would be accurate on the way down, and then I could double it. So I did that, but we stopped about a 1/3 of the way down so I paused it. Why? I don’t know but I forgot to restart it and didn’t figure it out until it buzzed with the power save warning. Ugh!!! So yeah, that didn’t work, but we went from around 350 to almost 1500 and back.
But like I said it was an awesome day and I can’t wait to do it again!
In my March Recap, I likened March to a truck that had run me over. Well, April is a freight train barreling through. I have been trying to stay upbeat, particularly when I post but I am not sure if it worked. 🙂
Work has been crazy busy since the beginning of March and it’s likely to stay that way through late August. I did not think it would affect me as much as it has. But I am tired, so very, very tired. But again, I tried not to say much because, 1- who wants to read a Debby Downer all the time, and 2- my boss reads this blog. (Hi awesome boss!) I think with work being crazy and then trying to stay trained for 3 half marathons (plus 5k’s) in 3 months may have been a little more than this Slacker was ready for. I still love my job, I’m just a little worn out and somehow when I was planning my race schedule, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. My next few weeks look like this-
This weekend– work/ long run* April 19– Firehouse 5K -may be a 5K but there’s a 500 ft elevation in less than 1/2 a mile April 25-27– SLO Marathon weekend- half May 3– Run or Dye May 10– work
My last post mentioned an irksome migraine, and it hasn’t really left. This is not horribly unusual; I average a lingering one around once a year. 😦 Between that and being overly tired, I got a little emotional driving home on Friday. There may have been some loud, off-key singing involved as well. 🙂 Maybe a little Let It Go.
Saturday was a work day and I was trying to psych myself up for the 10 mile run that I needed to do. Meanwhile, both of my co-workers were lecturing me that I needed to take of myself. After work, I headed home for the usual lunch and errands. It was while I was in Target with my mother that I had to face facts. I jokingly mentioned that a nap sounded like a great idea. She looked at me, paused and then said that it was a good idea. Ummm, what?
Pinterest
My mother is not the type to suggest that. Growing up, one of the things we argued about most was my inherent laziness. If there are hours in the day then there are hours you could and should be doing something. The name of my blog came from her; one day I said I didn’t feel like running, she called me a slacker. So for her to say I needed a nap meant I must look like a train wreck. Ha!
Even then I still thought about trying to get in my run. I was telling myself I could start with 5 miles and see how it went. Finally common sense prevailed and my planned *2 hours of running turned into 2 hours of napping.
This will be the finish line in 2 weeks
I was still feeling a little rough today, so I took it easy again. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good day. I headed down to SLO for some more hardwood shopping with my mom, seriously, how long does it take to make a choice? The choice was finally made, so now I just get to look forward to helping her rip out the carpeting in the near future. My brother gets to install the hardwood. 🙂 So that’s coming up in a few weeks too.
I ate some yummy food, didn’t buy too much and finally managed to get this shot-This is the local landmark that inspired this years medals for the SLO Marathon and 1/2. I can’t wait to earn this crossing the finish line. 🙂
Tomorrow, depending on how I feel, I will get back to running. If I am still tired, I may rest another day. I would rather feel rested and slightly under trained for the half than exhausted and sore. Work is likely to be just as busy in the coming weeks, we will down a person, so I am thinking of dropping my training back to 3 days a week. I need to think on it a little more though.
Slacker Runner 