Category: Run!

Poser

I don’t recall the exact date but I know that I started running in 2010. Or at least attempting to then. My first race was that fall. Since then I have run 13 half marathons and more than a few 5k’s and 10k’s. All that aside, more often than not, I still feel like a poser. Like I am only playing pretend with running. Instead of dressing up in my mother’s clothes like a little kid, I am putting on short shorts, sports bras and compression socks and just hoping I fit in. Oh and my ever present Garmin.

I was one of those people who said I would never run, hated it. Drove past people running and wondered what the hell they were thinking. Then a friend signed up for Team In Training. Seeing her go through training for a marathon and let’s be truthful, I didn’t like the way my clothes fit, I thought maybe I would try running. However I still didn’t start running until I purchased my first iPhone. I didn’t want to carry a phone and my ipod, I didn’t even think about water, #priorities. 🙂 Even that little beginning was walking. For a while I used those crazy rocker Sketchers shoes that were popular for a very short time. Yeah, that hurt my shins. Then that same friend pretty much bought my first pair of running shoes. I actually started running. But I felt awkward and out of place. I was torn between wanting to walk when cars drove past so they didn’t see me huffing and puffing and running faster so I looked less like a turtle when they passed. Then a few customers asked if that was me they had seen running past their house. Ummm, maybe? I would ask where they lived so I could make sure to run past their houses every time after that and walk when I was around the corner. 🙂 #poser

Then came races. Cue the doubts. Man, these people look fast. What was I thinking? Oh, look at all their pretty gear. I wonder what that does? Hmmm, those shoes look interesting. Hell, I ran in cotton shirts and tennis shorts for over a year. Plus side was big pockets. Oh and I put on weight. Grrrrr. That wasn’t the plan. Running was hit and miss, I’d run 6 days in a row and then take a month off, then throw in a random race. Training plan wasn’t even part of my vocabulary.

Then something changed. Running became less a way to burn some calories and more something I needed to do. Along the way, I picked up some speed and set a few PR’s. Hey, that’s kind of cool. My clothes changed, my accessories multiplied both by quantity and cost and can now fill a box in the trunk of my car. But there were times I still felt out of place, like I was waiting to be told I couldn’t hang with the cool kids. I would stalk online race times for every race I signed up for just to make sure I wasn’t going to be last.

There are still moments, hell entire runs, where I feel like a wannabe. Days when walking seems to be all I can do, or at least seems more efficient than the slow crawl, hobble thing I was doing other wise. When I think everyone passing is wondering if they are gonna have to help me to my car. Then there are the runs that start off hellishly but end on a note that leaves me feeling awesome and ready for more. There are still race mornings when I show up feeling outclassed and outnumbered but what happens between that starting gun and finish line can be pretty unifying.

My superpower? I change from "pretty girl" to "hot, panting, smelly wad of hair and sweat" in under 30 minutes. Wanna see?

In the last few weeks I have had more #poser moments than #runner. But those runner moments make it all worth it. And leave me feeling the deep thoughts. 🙂 Oh and coming in last at a race? #beentheredonethat and it’s no big deal. And I love my compression socks. Time to get my run on. Well, not right now, it’s dark out. 🙂

Ever feel like a #poser?

When was your last awesome running moment?

Training Win?

You know summer has arrived and it’s hot outside when you are the only person outside. I don’t just mean outside running, last week on a few of my runs I was the only person outside period. No one in their front yards, no one in backyards and no kids playing. And with the town/ state on water restriction, no lovely sprinklers to cool off with. I know hotter temps are coming so I figure I may as well get used to it. I love the heat but I am not adjusting as well this year. Maybe I’m getting older? 😬. Or three years working in a town that averages 30-40 degrees cooler a day is just confusing my system. Who knows, but I did complete my first week of training last week.

Monday–

Rest day. I wanted to run but the plan said rest. Still I packed my running stuff for after work. My stomach is usually a little iffy on Mondays (too many carbs on the weekend) and this day was no different. Since I needed to pick up a prescription after work and there was no way I could run then make it to the pharmacy, I decided to take the rest day. Halfway there it dawned on me that I could have changed at work, picked up the prescription then run in home town. Duh. I briefly considered changing in the Target bathroom but hell no, I’ve seen porta-a-potties cleaner than that place.

Tuesday-

This was supposed to be a 40 minute workout with pace intervals in the middle. The first kink in the plans was that Community BBQ nights started at the lake park where I like to do my speed work. Everywhere else is hilly or on busy streets. I avoid the park during the BBQ nights, no need to run around 100+ people having a party. I headed towards hometown knowing it was hot. It was 94 when I parked my car and that was with a pretty good wind. I reassessed the pace workout to an easy 40 min. I felt like I was crawling. I’ve noticed that it’s taking me longer to warm up during these hot runs. I usually walk for 5 minutes, the last few runs have been 10 minute walks. Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Ugh. 3.55 miles in 40 minutes.

Wednesday–

Yeah, short- hot panic fest. But we’ve talked about that already. 2.31 miles in 30 minutes.

Thursday-

I was supposed to have a meeting about a race so it was a planned rest day. The meeting was at the high school and my mother had tennis practice so we planned to meet for dinner after. However, the other party did not show up so after walking around the school wondering if I had the wrong meeting place, I waited for her in the front of the school in the shade. A nice janitor told me I shouldn’t have waited that long. 🙂 I told him I was now waiting for my mother and at least the shade was cooler than sitting in my car. But yes I was the one sitting out front like a sad puppy. Oh, high school- I don’t miss you. I mostly typed last Thursday’s blog post on my phone and took a cranky selfie. So it was moderately productive. Then I drowned my irritation in Mexican food. #sorryatkins

Friday-

I got to come in later than my new normal of 7:30 and I briefly considered running with that extra hour of sleep but nah, I hit snooze. Work was a usual crazy Friday and once off I headed home. I was tired, it had been a long week but for some reason that “motivational” quote popped into my head.

I made it home by 7, changed and was out the door 20 minutes later. Say what?! My stomach was cranky, partially due to the previous nights indulgence and the cookies on Friday, and I had been in high-heeled boots all day and I knew it was going to be less than pretty. But even with all that it was awesome. It was a good way to end the week and I was glad to see that there wasn’t any residual issues from Wednesday. 3.75 miles – 40 minutes.

Saturday-

Turns out running the previous night was a good thing. Saturday started with work followed by the usual errands. I try to do all my shopping on Saturday. Then the family headed down to SLO for an early Father’s Day Dinner at Olive Garden. I mean early, we were there by 4. I may have indulged in too many bread sticks. Oops, #sorryatkinsagain. It’s been 3 months since I’ve eaten pasta and I really don’t miss it. Luckily my usual go-to at Olive Garden is their Garlic Rosemary Chicken. So yummy. Dinner was followed up with frozen yogurt for desert. My poor stomach but it was all so yummy. 🙂 I pushed my long run to Sunday.

Sunday-

The plan called for a 50 minute long run. Ummm, that’s not long. I realize it’s only week 1 of 17 and most half marathon plans are 12 weeks but still. I wanted some structure to my summer runs so I picked 17 weeks. But, yeah, those 50 minutes kicked my ass. I actually headed out around 10am since I knew it was going to be hot. It was already in the 80’s. I huffed and puffed my way through 5 miles in 56 minutes. Yes miles 1 and 2 had times where I met up with my mom and the puppy and walked more but what was with the other 3? I have to figure out this heat thing or I am never breaking 2. I did like having the run done earlier though.

So, week one done. Bring on week 2. And maybe some speed? *sorry about the random picture sizes, I am having troubles figuring out Dropbox. 😦

How was your weekend? And Father’s Day?

How long do you usually train for a half marathon?

What do you consider a long run?

No Need To Panic

I consider myself a fairly calm person in emergency situations. This has also been tested a few times and been proven mostly true. Earthquakes, car accidents, electrical panels catching on fire, customers trying to beat up employees, etc, I stay calm. Even my first car accident when I was young and dumb, I stayed mostly calm. I calmly came to, assessed the damage ( I hit a wall) and tried to turn the car off and take the keys out of the ignition to cut the power. Too bad I wasn’t thinking about the fact that the car had to be in park to accomplish all that. 🙂 I was also calm when I saw my passenger lying on the ground. I knew he had to have gotten there on his own and he had. He got out and went and laid down. No, none of us had been drinking. I stayed fairly calm through all this but lost it when I called my mom- so mostly calm. That big earthquake that damaged town years ago? I was working when it rolled through, I told everyone to take cover and I went to turn off the large open gas range. We then evacuated, still calm. My point to all this is that I am not one who panics easily. So imagine my shock when I ran myself into a panic attack a couple years ago.

I did a good majority of my runs on the high school track that summer. I would run in the evenings after work. The football team was usually practicing but they never said I couldn’t be there so I would just run in the outside lane minding my own business. The track used to be my happy place and favorite place to run. I headed there one evening for an easy 5 mile run. The team was there as usual and my mother was as well, she was going walk laps while I ran. It was hot but no hotter than any other day. I remember feeling pretty good and keeping a good pace. 2 miles in I started to freak out. For no reason. First, I had trouble breathing. I knew it wasn’t an asthma attack but I could not catch my breath or calm myself down. Then I started crying, I mean full on sobs, again for no known reason. I had plenty of water and didn’t feel dehydrated. In fact my body felt fine other than the emotional freak out. I had no idea what was going on and it was scary but I could not calm down. But I’m wasn’t very smart, so I finished my run, thinking it would help calm me down. I hadn’t discovered the online running community yet so I did the only thing I could think of when I got home. Google. I read stories of people having similar experiences but no clues as to why it happened. I was nervous to run for a while but it never happened again so I put it out of my mind. Until Wednesday’s run.

Summer has definitely arrived and temps in home town have been in the high 90’s to 100 range. While I am loving it, I have been taking things a little slower. Wednesday was day 3 of my training plan and my second run. The plan called for a 30 minute easy run but I was aiming for 40. My weather app said that the temp at the lake was 81 so I headed there to run. It lied. It was more like 91. Still, I was fine with that, I had had 90 oz of water at work and had a full bottle for my run. I used plenty of sunblock and wore my hat, I felt good and ready to go. I walked my usual little warm up and started to run. Then stopped 20 yards later. Walked some more, then tried running again. Only to stop again. Repeat numerous times over the next mile and a half. My head was totally in the game but I could not get my body to do what I wanted it to do. It was like it was refusing to run. The more I tried to push, the more it pushed back. At mile 1.5, I felt it again. My breathing was becoming erratic and it wasn’t from exertion. Maybe it was because it happened before but this time I recognized that I was about to have a panic attack. For no reason, again. I knew I had plenty of water, wasn’t dehydrated and was still sweating so I don’t think the heat had anything to do with it. It hadn’t been a stressful day and my stomach has been feeling better lately. Then, trying to force myself to calm down was just making things worse. Being smarter now (just a little) I just walked back to the car and stayed in the shade while I got everything under control. What the hell?!

Once again, I have no idea what caused it. I didn’t feel like it was too hot, but maybe my run the day before was too hot? I always clear a minimum of 120 oz of water a day, so it’s not like I was dehydrated. Yes, work has been stressful but no more than usual. Sleep is the same as always so it couldn’t have been that. Grrrrr. Granted, it’s only happened twice but it’s still freaky. It doesn’t make sense. And now I am nervous for my next run. Grrrr.

Ever have a panic attack? Running or not?

Favorite place to run?

How much water do you drink on average?

Finally

Is Sunday already over? Boo. Weekends need to be 3 days long, they really do. EDIT- read this as if I posted Sunday evening- I was having internet issues- and then WordPress erased half of it- grrrr.

I finished the week out with a short 4 mile run on Sunday afternoon. I think I am finally ready for this lackadaisical approach to training to go away. Getting ready for City to the Sea starts tomorrow. I will probably stick to the 3x a week plan until mid July. By then we should be fully staffed and my hours can get a little shorter. Fingers crossed. But going forward I plan to have my runs be something of substance rather than just phoning it in. Speaking of substance, I had hoped that Sunday’s run would be between 6-8 miles but I held off too long. I headed out late afternoon when it was close to 90. Oops. I also didn’t have enough time as I had Sunday dinner to get to. Another reason I have been trying to rearrange my long run days. The run was warm but not too bad. I walked the first 10 minutes though, it took awhile to get my head and legs into it. 😬. After that I averaged a 10:30 pace which for the temp and it only being my second run in that warmth, I say is pretty good. Heat and slow pace aside, this run felt good. I was dripping in sweat by the end but smiling. It was the first run in a month where I was just happy to be running. Yay! And these might have helped too- I decided to buy another pair of 17’s. I know they are being phased out but I figured it made more sense than running in shoes that made my feet cranky. Yes, I still felt the odd little niggles but overall they felt like slippers on my feet. 😃 Truthfully, I didn’t even try them on the store, I just told them my size and paid. The Warehouse did let me know that they have about 100 in my size so I might be able to get another pair in a few months. If only I had unlimited funds and a place to store them, I would seriously stock up right now!! Orange wasn’t my first choice but it grew on me. I think I was obnoxiously bright when I ran today- In non running news- Friday was a sad day at work. My fish died!! I always greet him in the morning and my greeting turned into a shriek! I was sad and didn’t know what to do. 😢 Customers asked where he was throughout the day and we had to tell them the sad news. He had been a little under the weather for awhile but I was hoping he would pull through.

Saturday saw a family tradition when we went to see Jurassic World. I really liked it, my brother was meh about it. My mother liked it even though she made fun of parts of it too. This also meant I decimated a movie popcorn but I was ok with that. I also realized that I can no longer tolerate candy. I was on such a sugar high, I felt ill. Score one for Atkins. I also had a similar revelation to pizza last week, boo.

I am finally eager to get back to training. I really would like to break 2:00 in a half this year. In order to do that, I have to put the work in first. This also means that I am reconsidering my July race. I keep going back and forth about what to do. But that’s for another post. I may need your help. 🙂 I also misplaced my training so I am trying an app this time.

How was your weekend?

What are you training for? Do you train during the summer or just run?

Ever had a fish? How do you take care of them?!

Call it Craos

Tomorrow is Friday!!!! Woo hoo!!!

Lately, I have been so tired and stressed, I have troubles putting words together. Or maybe it’s the blonde coming through, I don’t know. But I have made my co-workers laugh so then it’s ok right? The first moment was few weeks ago when I was trying say one of their names. Instead I stumbled over all 3 of them and somehow combined them all into “Renini”. 3 names into 1 just makes things easier right? Then since we have been borrowing people from other locations while we work on hiring, we have had people who are surprised by how quickly we can go from calm to crazy busy. I was trying to say welcome to the crazy but accidentally combined it with chaos. So craos. Hmm, that one kind of works- change approved. 🙂 But today was the real winner. I noticed that 2 of my coworkers were wearing similar skirts and looked nice. I said I felt left out since I missed the skirt memo as the 3 of them were wearing skirts and I was wearing pants. They all just stared at me for a moment or two. Not only was employee 3 wearing pants but I was wearing a dress! Wow.

I have lost my mind ... Thanks Pinterest.

After Sunday’s race, I was pumped to run this week. I packed my gym bag every night and took it to work. Monday went off track though. Not only did Monday show more crazy CA weather, I hurt myself. Home town hit 105 and work town only made it to 59. That’s a 46º difference. Now work may be 45 minutes away by car but it’s actually less than 30 miles. What the frak?! Ugh, I wasn’t sure where to run. I’ve been feeling some odd left foot pain since I tried the Inspires. It hasn’t gone away with the new Riders. It doesn’t happen all the time but I have been trying to figure it out. I wasn’t sure if the new shoes started/ contributed to it or not. I had also picked up some store-bought insoles for the boots I wear most frequently, so maybe that was part of it. Monday I had the bright idea to take the left one out…but not the right one. Maybe that aggravated what happened later or it was when I lifted a heavy bag I shouldn’t have been lifting. But by the end of the day, I felt like my neck and shoulders were tingling and there was a band of pressure on the back of my head at the top of my spine. I felt off, not quite dizzy but not normal. It was odd. Between that and the heat, I decided to rest instead. Which worked out since my mother needed a ride from tennis practice as her car died on Sunday. 😦Tuesday turned into another rest day as I woke up feeling like I had pinched or pulled something in my neck. Grrr. Wednesday it felt a little better so I was hoping for a short easy run. Cue the crazy weather again. Work town was sunny but with high humidity. Then we find out that home town is under a thunder/ lightning storm warning and there was hail. Then the emergency broadcast system broke in and said that people in my home town should take cover. What?! It cleared up by the time I was off so I headed to run town hoping that the storm hadn’t moved south. The temp was nice in the low 70’s but the humidity level matched. Ugh. The air felt stale and stagnant. Kind of like the way the little remaining lake water looks. I struggled through 3.5 miles but was just glad to be out running. Today I took next week’s half day. I had been looking forward to running early but was feeling rough. I indulged in pizza last night for the first time in 3 weeks and my system was not happy with that many carbs. I decided to head home to rest a bit first. Arrived home to 94º. Don’t get me wrong, I love the warmth, I just haven’t adjusted yet. I decided to read some blogs as inspiration to get out the door, I fell asleep instead. Once I woke up, the last thing I wanted to do was run, but it’s become too easy to bail so I forced myself out the door. I knew it was going to be a slow, warm slog and I was ok with that. A little over 4 miles later and I was done. It was slow, it was rough but I was glad I had done it. 🙂

And now it sounds like the Army base up the road is playing war games and the house is shaking, so bring on more craos!! Also, I do realize that I have been freakishly tired lately and will be making a doctor’s appointment to see about that. But tomorrow is Friday, so woo hoo! I am picking up bagels on the way to thank everyone for their hard work, hopefully I don’t eat too many…that would be bad.

What do you think? Does Craos need an “h”?

How was your week? What’s your weather like?

Have any weekend plans?