Category: Run!

And How Now?

For some reason I did not want to do any of my workouts last week. For some reason I was just feeling super lazy and super whiny. It was actually something that my boss said each day that got me to change and get in both workouts during the week. Which was a great thing because both runs were pretty damn good.

Saturday dawned and I was feeling the same lack of motivation. I so wanted to bail on everything. We had a prediction of rain for Sunday so I knew I should move my long run up a day. I’m all for a short run in the rain but nothing past 6 miles. My second half marathon was run in the rain and between that and a myriad of other issues it was a miserable race and I burst into tears at mile 11. So yeah, no long rainy runs for me. Bad memories.I finally headed out late afternoon but I had no expectations. I was going to run whatever I felt like doing whether that was 3 miles or the 12 on the schedule. I wanted to keep the pace super easy and just go with the flow. After a couple of miles I figured I would just do my easy 4.5 mile route and chance the rain the next day. But then I turned up the hill again instead of down. And then again and then up another hill. Followed by down and around and back up that first hill, then a few loops. Then up the hill again, then some loops of the school. Dizzy yet? I was tired and achy but felt pretty good otherwise so I just kept running. I actually felt like my form was pretty damn good. Usually by that point, I feel like I am starting slouch and need to remind myself to straighten up and pick up my feet. On Saturday, I felt like there was none of that. There were a few times I looked at my watch and saw my lap pace was in the mid 9 range. Woah Nelly, slow down! Each time I saw that I would take a walking break. Part of me was super stoked each time I saw that but I knew I should back it off. I felt pretty good but still had achy spots in my legs, particularly my left. After numerous loops, I finally called it when I hit 10 miles at the bottom of my driveway. Once again, I hadn’t felt like running but pulled off a pretty good run. Guess that was the theme of the week.

Other than the few times I saw that I was running too fast, I hadn’t paid much attention to my pace. I just kept what I felt was a comfortable pace and walked anytime I felt I needed to. So I was surprised to see that the 10 miles were completed in 1:47:53. Only 8 seconds slower than the previous week? And how now? Especially when the elevation is taken into consideration. The previous week’s run had an overall elevation gain of 85 ft over 10 miles. This week was 780 ft. Say what? It was in the high 50’s as opposed to 80’s so that could have been a factor. But otherwise I went out with the full intention of crawling a slow, shorter run. But I guess part of me just felt like running. Long run done! 🙂

That just left a 45-55 minute easy run for Sunday. But yeah, more about that next time.

How about it? Legs and head ever disagreed?

Do you like to run long in the rain?

Do you like pina coladas? Sorry couldn’t help it, that last question sounded like a personal ad.

Hope you’re having a great week!

Missed the Boat

I feel like all I have done since February started is rearrange days on my training plan. Which it says you can do but still, my little calendar is full of color from moving things around. This week was more moving around. I had a business mixer to attend on Thursday evening so I moved my 40-50 minute easy run to Wednesday after work. It was also only 30 minutes. However I am not at all irritated about that. Why? I ran outside after work!!! Woo hoo! While this was awesome, it also meant a shorter run since I was racing twilight. Or in this case the marine layer. I intentionally did not look at the humidity before I ran. I knew it was high- hello ocean- but I was hoping outta sight, outta mind would apply. While shopping in SLO on Monday I had picked up an obnoxious yellow long sleeve that I figured would work for the next few weeks when I run the work route. 85% of the route has wide shoulders or good sidewalks but the other 15% not so much. In fact the road into the state park gets pretty sketchy. I wanted to make sure I could be seen. I knew I didn’t have a lot of time so I just ran to the state park and back. I also abbreviated my warm up but you gotta do what you gotta do right?It was awesome! Short and sweet and I got to see the boats and view that I had missed since last year. Yeah, I was out of breath and had my asthma frog in my throat when I got back to my car but it rocked. The frog could have been due to the 90%+ humidity (I checked after) or the fact that this is the elevation profile of my route from work-That hill isn’t huge but it kicks my butt every time. Positive splits for the win! But 3:36? Haha, funny Garmin. I can’t wait to run it again! Moving my run actually worked in favor since my stomach was a jerk on Thursday. I wore a very forgiving dress but I swear I was waiting for someone at the mixer to ask me when I was due. 😦

What’s a route you love?

Seriously though, what constitutes a hill? Elevation or grade? When is a hill a hill?

Anyone race today? Or racing tomorrow?

That’s What She Said

Anytime I have a day off during the week I like to rearrange my running schedule so I can run that day. During the winter that means one less day on the treadmill and anytime I can straight home after work is a plus. Since I have a business mixer on Thursday, I figured running Monday and Wednesday would work better anyways. At least that was the plan. However when the alarm went off the next morning, the room was spinning. I paused to notice the accompanying pounding headache and went back to bed.

It never fails, once a year in spring, usually on a long run, I get a little too much sun and feel like crap for the next 24 hours. However it usually happens in late March, early April- not February. I had a feeling I was going to regret not wearing a hat on Sunday. So instead of running, I took my usual rest day and slept some more. Then I spent the day doing a little bit of shopping in SLO. I picked up some new toys-Tuesday was supposed to be the start of running outside instead of my easy treadmill run. The sun didn’t get the memo and never came out to play. Where was the cloud cover when I was doing my long run on Sunday? Work ran over and by that time I had zero desire to head to the gym. Particularly when I knew I had a tempo on plan as my other run for the week. I’ve been trying to only look at the current week of the training plan. That way I can con myself into following it- it doesn’t seem so intimidating that way. 🙂 If I had noticed that I had a tempo two weeks in a row, I would have chosen the hill repeats last week.

It said a 15 min warm up, 3 miles at tempo followed by a 15 min cool down. Yeah, I didn’t have that kind of time. I started my new medication at the beginning of February and it has been an interesting experiment so far. One of the things I’ve figured out is that I have to eat earlier, either that or don’t go to sleep. Or skip eating dinner but that’s not a better option. So I shortened my run. I had 45 minutes so -10 minute warm up, 1 mile tempo, 60 second recovery, 1 mile tempo, 60 second recovery, .5 mile tempo, cool down. Random, right?

Holy crap, it didn’t suck!! In fact, it kind of rocked. I was able to hit my paces and keep my breathing under control. Yes, I should have skipped the little recoveries but I still maintained for 2.5 miles. That half mile was faster but I didn’t push the lap button until after I’d slowed down. If I hadn’t been pressed for time I would have completed that last full mile and my full cool down.

Oddly enough, I noticed a few things while on the treadmill this time. Walking I felt fine, no real achiness and I was walking in straight line. Hitting the tempo paces felt good as well. No aches or pains and again running in a controlled, straight line. And when I slowed down to a 10:30-12:00 pace? I was all over the damn place. Things ached and twinged, and I was bouncing off the sides again. What gives?! I tried to focus on my form throughout the whole run and I didn’t feel like anything had changed. I am curious to see what happens on the treadmill next week.

It was nice to leave the gym feeling like I accomplished something for once. I was still a nasty mess but I felt like it was a good nasty. Usually I just feel disgusting and nasty. What is it about the gym that makes me feel so gross? Is it Daylight Savings time yet?

When was the last time you were surprised by a run?

Does your form change when your pace changes?

It’s almost Thursday!!!!

If this is February-

I am getting a little nervous for summer. It was 80 today. Really? On one hand I love it but on the other hand- man it was warm.

I had a big work meeting on Thursday and I was a little stressed about it and figured that combined with the driving to and from and back to work, I would not be in the mood to run on Thursday evening. So I moved my 45 min easy run to Wednesday. After Tuesday’s tempo, I knew it was going to be a little rough but man it was a slog. I was just not feeling it. I hit 42 minutes but it was only 3.5 miles. I straight up walked 1 mile of it. Yeah, it was ugly.

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Thursday was my dress meltdown and the big meeting. They were presenting the President’s Award to one of the Heritage winners so part of the meeting was fun. My coworker took 1st runner up- woo hoo! My former boss and I cracked jokes that since we hired him, we could be equally excited. It was also pretty cool that when they called out the Heritage winners to the front, there were 3 from my location. 🙂 3 out of 19- sweet!

Friday was girls night and yes, we saw 50 Shades of Grey. I was proud of myself for not getting kicked out of the theater. ML and I always sit next to each other so we can whisper things but she knew I was going to be a total smart ass so she put everyone else between us. 🙂 This was the worst behaved theater I have ever been in, it was ridiculous. Some people had had way too much to drink before the movie and kept drinking the whole way through. The woman in the row behind us made a phone call during the previews because her friends had not arrived. Said friends arrived 5-10 minutes into the movie, laughing and talking about how they couldn’t find their seats in the dark. Seriously?! I think I heard 3 wine glasses break and the women in the front couldn’t go to the bathroom without going in multiples while laughing and yelling at each other as they left. At the end all the men in the theater boo’d and I laughed out loud. But other than that and the fact that the Mexican place we went to for dinner made me sick- it was an amusing and fun night.

This is my in pain grimace- why do my grimaces look more like smiles?

I worked on Saturday, so I knew I would be eating a later lunch than usual. This was also apparent when I set out for my run. The training plan called a 45-55 minute run and fairly shortly, I knew it was going to be closer to 45. My stride felt off and everything ached. I was at the top of a hill, 1/2 mile from home when I wanted to curse out loud. The outside of my right knee and the area a couple of inches up started screaming. Are you freakin’ kidding me?! My right leg never hurts, my left one is the problem child. It felt like something was about to rip. I instantly stopped and just started stretching on the side of the road. A few minutes later I decided to see how it felt, I ran home and concentrated on my form just keeping an easy pace. I felt a little tight but made it home. I walked up half of my driveway backwards and spent extra time stretching and rolling with my foam roller and stick.

Yesterday’s pain made me nervous for today’s long run. The plan called for 10-12 and yeah, 12 wasn’t happening. I headed to the lake path, thinking that flat and outside would be best. It was also easy access to my car if I needed it. I was a little worried I would get bored lapping the lake so many times but I have run 10 miles on both a treadmill and the track before so it had to be better than those. Right? I headed out around 2:00, thinking that I should take it slower and might need more time. So for the second time in 2 days, I ran too soon after lunch, for me at least. According to McMillan, my long run pace should be between 10:34-11:54. I was aiming for 11:15-11:30, I was afraid it was going to hurt and I did not want to push. My knee felt ok but my left hamstring is still sore from last week’s strength training fail. I walked my warm up as usual and then picked up the pace.

When miles 2, 3, and 4 clocked in at 10:04, 10:10, and 10:11, I was a little ticked. It didn’t feel hard but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sustain it with the way I felt and the temp being around 80. My mom had joined me today and was walking the path and I ran into her on lap 4. I took that opportunity to extend my walking break. Since the park was so busy, I walked the playground section every lap- easier to dodge the little people and their parents. 🙂 Even with that longer break, mile 5 was 10:36. 6-10, the heat was getting to me and I finally slowed down a bit. Those miles clocked in between 10:41-10:50. Except for 8, that was 11:12. I admit I almost quit after 8 miles just because I was tired and hot and irritated that I just could not control my pace. I had a conversation with myself and decided that I wasn’t hurting and should just start acclimating to the heat now since it’s only going to get hotter. So I finished my 10. 10 miles is a little more than 8 laps so the last .5 mile was me running back and forth between 2 of the exercise stations because I didn’t want to do another lap. 🙂 Plus by then my mom was waiting for me.

I am a little concerned by all the achiness that I have been feeling lately. It’s one of reasons I passed on my long run last weekend. I am hoping it’s just the treadmill. Normally I dropped to running 3x a week during winter so only one run would be on the treadmill. I run differently on the treadmill and I remember being a little achy last year but not like this. I am kicking that thing to the curb in 20 days. But for now, I am pretty sure I can get in a 30-35 minute run outside after work. I can do my easy run that way and just use the treadmill for my speed work of the week until Daylight Savings time. The work route is all hill so I could still get in hill repeats too, the workout might just be a little shorter.

How was your weekend? Who raced?

Anyone else go to the movies?

Anyone else run differently on the treadmill?

Nonexistent Bridges

Ever have one of those days where it’s all just off? Nothing wrong, nothing bad happens but it’s still off? I think I have had one of those days brewing for a while. And it was set off by a dress this morning. Disclaimer- this is longish and disjointed.

If you’ve read “My Story” page you know my mother and I set about getting healthy and losing weight back in 2012. If not, skip it as I really need to update it- which is why I’m not linking it. That was the first time I ever really dedicated myself to getting fit; granted it was the competitor in me that kept me going in the beginning. Growing up I was a stick, like seriously, turn sideways and you lost me. However it was the wrong decade for that to be in fashion, so I remember a lot of digs about my lack of curves. One year, our team tennis skirts were handmade by some lady. She measured us in public on the tennis court saying the dimensions out loud. Yeah, that was fun. One girl laughed and another responded by saying that everyone else would be a normal size while I was measured. Whatever. I ate like a bottomless pit so that apparently redeemed me when we went to Carl’s Jr after every away match. Oh and lunch everyday was fries and Dr. Pepper. Occasionally a malt. Does anyone remember those? I only ever saw them in the school. I’m not a fan of chocolate ice cream but man those were good.

Senior Year, please ignore the tennis ball on the side

Then came the combination of growing up, a slowing metabolism, less physical activity, oh and let’s not forget Taco Bell. Managers ate for free. 9 years of free food, however I wanted to make it, 5 days a week, more than one meal. Yeah, you can guess how that went. My stomach was a jerk even back then, so I wore the guys uniform pants which made it easier to live in denial as well. Oddly though, I don’t remember ever really thinking about the 60+ pounds that I had put on. Like I said- uniform denial.

Then I started working with my current employers. I had to wear real clothes! Which meant shopping and realizing that maybe I could lose a few. I naively hoped that no longer having access to tons of free food would take care of that. Ha! I didn’t take into account that while my new job wasn’t exactly sedentary it was a drastic cut back from 10 hours of standing, walking, cleaning, lifting 40 lb boxes every day. I was also suddenly introduced to baked goods. Who knew brownies tasted so good? I had a new coworker who was an amazing baker. To this day, she still makes my favorite chocolate chip cookies. A couple years of half-assed, yo yo dieting followed, that included another 20 lbs gained then lost. I started running. Nothing seemed to click until late summer 2012.

Second Wine Country 1/2 - 30lbs over goal? — Second Wine Country 1/2 – 30lbs over goal?

I don’t know if it was the slight competition with my mother or if I was finally just over it. By making healthier choices and upping the exercise, we both succeeded this time, I hit goal weight in January 2013. Sweet! Truthfully, I think I felt the best that year, health wise, stomach wise, running wise and just comfortable in my skin. Let me be clear that my goal weight was not some ridiculous insane number -I lost 40 lbs.

The pops again! — FYI- Pops is wearing the same jacket as the above picture

I kept it off for all of 2013 but put on 5 around Christmas. Not a huge surprise, no big deal, I’ll just lose it again. Right? I upped my running in the beginning of 2014 but the weight would just not leave. I admit that part of the problem was a new “what the hell” attitude. For example- ” I just ran 10 miles, I can totally have that pizza”. Seriously faulty logic. An odd note- I never liked pizza until I lost the weight. I only ever ate it as a last resort, now I love it. Weird right?

Then June came along, and my stomach threw its temper tantrum. And it’s been a looooooong tantrum. More reinforcement for the faulty logic- if everything makes me sick, guess I should eat whatever right? Now on good days, I am up 10 lbs, on bad days up 15. Yes, I can fluctuate more than 5lbs on ~~an hourly~~ a daily basis. Stupid stomach.

I think it's weird how somedays I feel skinny and somedays I feel like a busted can of biscuits. — source

It pisses me off but I can’t seem to get out of my own way. I’ve cut back on sugar, soda, and pizza. I’ve upped the fruits and vegetables. I have a stand up desk. I quit cookie Friday. Like cold turkey- none on Fridays. Barring the flu incident in January, my running has been more consistent 3-4x a week. And still the scale doesn’t move. Oddly enough, my gastro told me I looked skinny at my last appointment. We bickered about it for a bit. Muscle does not weigh more than fat- a pound is a pound. And trust me, this is not muscle.

A dress made me cry this morning. I had an important meeting at work- all the managers and executives- and I had planned my outfit for a week. Then I put it on this morning. I wore it not too long ago. The weight is different this time. It’s all in my bottom half and things don’t fit right. I wonder if it’s part of what is slowing me down running wise. Then I wonder if that is just an excuse I am telling myself. Maybe I just won’t get faster. And round and round we go. Then there are days like last Friday where something sets me off and I eat too many donuts. More bridges to nowhere. It’s not even the number on the scale really. It’s how I feel.

In fact, I am not sure where this post is going. Maybe I just needed to vent, maybe I am looking for advice, maybe commiseration. I’ve been thinking about writing this for a while but never followed through. Maybe this is my way of burning bridges that lead nowhere- a trip down memory lane and some venting.

So…thoughts? Did I even make sense?

And a light-hearted one- Ever disliked a food for most of your life then suddenly love it?