Total 755.27
Happy New Year!!
Category: Run!
2015- The Shiny and the Dull
Alrighty then, since my last post covered most of the dull, it’s time for the shiny!
2015 saw- 14 races with quite a few shiny moments.
My first 25K– Mom ran it too!
I finally ran Surf City. I watched as NikeC ran this race years ago and it inspired me to run my first half marathon in 2011. It was nice coming full circle.
Wine Country saw one of the best half marathons I’ve run in a long time. Fitting that Wine Country was also that first half marathon years ago.
Fastest mile– Holy crap, somehow in a year of stomach issues and less than stellar training, I threw down a 7:48?!
New PR!!! Similar sentiments to above 🙂 I ran a 27:10 at the Central Coast Challenge Cancer. Say what?!
Part of a team- HOB Fun Run saw the biggest bunch of matching shirts. 🙂
Kara Goucher! The beach! Big Sur Half Marathon had one of the prettiest courses and I saw elites! Ok, they looked like a blur as they zoomed past me but it was still awesome. 🙂 Oh and I actually paid for a race photo!
Race I was most proud of-
SLO Half marathon. 2:15:06 The one where I ate asphalt.
No where near the finish time I had hoped for but by the far the strongest race run both mentally and physically. Combine the fall at mile 5 with the horrible GI issues from mile 7-finish and it was a rough race. However I stayed focused and positive and I have no regrets about any part of how I ran this race. I was also lucky enough to be a SLO Marathon ambassador for the second year in a row. I do love this race.
Best Bling-
Oh this was a hard one. I think it’s a 3 way tie- a surfboard, a barn and an otter. Oh wait, 4- stained glass has to be included too!
What was your Shiny?
Happy New Year’s Eve!!!
2016- Breaking Free
It’s that time of year! Social media is filling up with goals and resolutions for 2016. For runners, that often shows as mileage goals, pace goals, race goals, etc. Along with all the other things we want to accomplish in the year to come. So without further ado- here are my goals for 2016-
No need to refresh your screen, there’s nothing there. I’m not setting goals for 2016.
There I said it. I’ve had this post half written for months, talked about it with my mother, talked about it with my boss. But clicking publish? Sharing it with a community who thrives on goals? A community that uses hashtags like #goaldigger? That was harder than I thought. So let’s break it down.
I set goals in 2014 and 2015. 2014 was about 50/50 for goal completion. 2015? I didn’t compete a single goal. Not one. 2015 was a stressful year, and worrying about hitting some arbitrary mileage/pace goal wasn’t helpful in calming me down. Feeling like I “should” run just to add to my total was harshing my running joy. That’s just one example. 2015 also had it’s share of shiny and that will be up in my next post.
Now, this is isn’t to say that I don’t want to improve. I do. I will continue to search for the training plan that works for me. I will do my speed work and my long runs. I will enjoy my easy runs more. I will still track my mileage and the paces I hit. Just not for some random number total I pick because I think it looks good. I want to become a better runner, but in a more natural, linear progression kind of way. Because I enjoy running enough to do it often and not just because I should get in that extra 3-4 miles. I will still recap my training and running, I like sharing with you all and I look forward to the feedback. Between this blog and Timehop, I am able to look back at the way things have changed for me over the past few years. I still like looking at all the numbers; I just need a break from the pressure of feeling like I don’t measure up. I used to care less about how I measured up with everyone else and I need to get back there. Back to basics, I was there in 2013, can I find that calm again?
2014 started a ball of stress that grew and grew in 2015. I felt like a boulder being rolled down a hill picking up mud along the way. Some of the stressors are things that I am not currently in the position to change, others I can. Starting with how I react to it. I did a piss poor job in 2015. Going forward, I want to focus on calming the hell down. And turning to food less, but that’s another story.
I want to try to focus on finding the shiny in things in life. Running should be one of those things. Now I realize that most of my runs will be hard and tiring and there will still be days I want to quit but I used to enjoy the hard or rough days. I haven’t in a long time. I need to change my mindset and in order to do that “goals” and I are taking a break. Goal has become a four letter word in my book, it’s joined the ranks of “potential”. I dislike that word and try to never use it but that’s not the point here.
Don’t get me wrong, there is absolutely nothing wrong with having goals. I just need a break from them. Call it a trial separation. Maybe this won’t work, maybe it will. Either way, it’s something I need to do. The journey to an improved Slacker starts now but goals are not invited on this road trip.
So, are you still with me or have I scared you all off?
A Little Cheer
I’ve spent a lot of time in cars this past week or so. Also some time in hospitals. It gave me way too much time to think about life and things, as well as pass more than a few accidents and just observe life.
So my wish for you is that you all enjoy the next few days with your families. Have fun making memories, eating yummy food and just slowing down.
Merry Christmas!!!
Surf City Week 2-Christmas Lights & Sirens
I ran at night!! You guys- I went out in the dark and the cold and ran at night!! 😄😄😃😃
But before we get to that, here’s a brief recap of last week’s slacker-ness err, training.
Monday– Rest
Tuesday– Work holiday party
Wednesday– Treadmill 5K
Thursday– 2.70 miles – OUTSIDE!
Friday– Rest
Saturday-Unexpected emergency road trip
Sunday– Rest- tired, stressed and way behind
So, yeah still not awesome but that’s ok. Sometimes life rears it’s horns and you change your plans. I’m still playing catch up. But let’s talk about the exciting thing-
I ran at night! It was slow and short but it was kind of awesome. 😃😃 I had been considering attempting a night run for a while now. I’m a big baby when it comes to running in the dark. You never know what’s out there, right? But, I figured realistically I had a better shot of running at night than I did in the early mornings. One- I like my bed and sleeping until the last moment. Two-less likely to have a run in with a creature of some sort. Or at least that’s what I tell myself.
I packed 2 sets of clothes- one for an outdoor run and one for the gym if I chickened out. I don’t own any night gear and I didn’t want to buy anything because what if this was a one and done? I’m not sure what I was thinking though- I had purple pants, a coral shirt, black and yellow jacket, a coral headband and mismatched gloves. Maybe I hoped the tacky-ness would be extra visible? 😜 I had reflective strips on my arms and an ancient, tiny flashlight. My jacket was supposed to be reflective- spoiler- it’s not.
I parked under a light at a local business and headed for my route. I chose one of the busier streets in town but I chose it for it’s sidewalks, uneven as they are, a few streetlights and the sea of Christmas lights. I started out slow and I was presently surprised at how much light the Christmas lights gave off. The temp was in the mid 40’s and the jacket was too much. I stopped half a mile in to tie it around my waist.
The dark is funny- I felt like I was hauling but in reality I was putting along at an 11 minute pace. I laughed out loud when my Garmin buzzed at mile 1. I don’t usually run on the sidewalk on this street, if I run this street I am in the bike lane. I knew the sidewalk was uneven but dang! I stumbled a few times and there were a few times the sidewalk disappeared entirely. Hello!
My plan was to keep it short, sweet and uneventful and it was working out to be that way. Until just shy of 2 miles. I was coming up on an intersection and heard what sounded like a school fire alarm. I stopped and tried to figure out where it was coming from. I finally pinpointed it to an older apartment building down the side street. I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t smell smoke and everything else seemed quiet. I finally took my cue from the people playing ping pong in their side yard. They didn’t seem alarmed at all, so I thought maybe this happens all the time at 6:30? I ran on down the street. I hit my planned turn around and headed back the way I came. As I came back to the siren intersection, I didn’t hear anything so I was relieved. Only to discover a fire truck now parked outside the apartment building! What?!?! Last time I trust people hanging out in their yard!
The route is short, so I was back at my car around 2.7 miles and part of that was already overlapping. So this would route would work more as a shakeout/ easy run than anything else. Plus, once the Christmas lights come down it could turn a lot darker. That said it was kind of awesome and it pushed my boundaries a little. I can’t wait to try it again. 😊 With a better flash light.
I had good intentions of running this past weekend but late night phone calls are rarely a good thing. My mom and I ended up heading down to LA for a family emergency. It wasn’t the best of days.
Sunday brought the realization of just how behind I am with Christmas shopping. And laundry. Seriously, I did 4 loads. So, like I said before- not the best training week. But again, I am ok with it. This week should be interesting as I have to head back to LA again. This time for myself though, I have another appointment at USC for my stomach. Nice timing right?
But it’s Christmas week!!! Are you ready?
Do you like running in morning dark or night dark?
Slacker Runner 