Category: Run!

Week 29- Return

Ok, reentry to work was a little rough.

Monday and Tuesday were the last of my vacation days. They were hot ones. Not gonna lie, I was pretty lazy these days. I did finish a book so maybe not too lazy. Then it was back to work.

My body felt out of whack from sitting in my chair at work. I had a headache by the end of the day on Wednesday, Thursday and FRiday. Oh no, am I getting old?? I really do like my job, I just felt a little achy last week. 🙂

I got a little too flexible with the drag and drop feature of my training app. I had big visions of how the week was going to go. I really should just stick to the plan. I was also supposed to run a race on Saturday but that didn’t happen.

So instead of highlighting what I should have done, how about just what I did?

Monday- 2 miles
I was fried from Sunday’s trail run and anytime in the sun made me feel abnormally hot. I found a baggy race shirt, left the pack behind and made it out for a shuffled 2 mile run. T- shirts are hot! Who wears those?? Did I mention it was 100*?

Tuesday- 2 miles up/down, 6x 400 at 5K pace- 4ish miles
Still in the middle of a heat advisory, I took my sad self to the gym. I had originally hoped to run my long run on this day as it was the last day of my vacation but I knew that wasn’t happening on the treadmill. So I did Thursday’s intervals instead. The treadmill and my watch disagreed so even though the treadmill said I nailed my repeat paces, my watch had me a minute slower. Grrrr.

Wednesday- 2 miles
The temps dropped drastically so this was a breezy, cool 2 miles.

Thursday- Oops
Was planning on either my mile repeats or my long run but The Lion King called instead. And copious amounts of popcorn.

Friday- Nada
I have to start running in the morning. Even though I take my bag of gear inside every Friday, I don’t use it. By the time we close, I am just done. Especially this Friday.

Saturday- 10 miles
It was supposed to be cooler and I woke with a migraine so I pushed my run to the afternoon. It was 80 but there was a good breeze so it should have been fine. However I tried to throw my mile repeats into the workout instead of running a steady pace. Yeah, I flamed out. I finished the run but was off pace for both the 2 repeats I did and then the later “easy” miles. It was actually my second slowest 10 miles ever. ha! Thanks for that tidbit Smashrun.

Sunday- 4ish miles
I knew I was behind miles for the week and part of me planned on running twice this day. The other part won. I did run up and down a steep trail though. Ok, power hiked up and ran down but still. Again, I ran in the afternoon but it wasn’t too bad. The trail had its shady parts. Though I did kind of want to jump in the water at the end.

22.5/25 miles for the week. Still short but I am calling it good.

How was your week?

Week 27- Panic

This week was up and down and topsy turvy and that was before the earthquakes.

Yeah, Cali’s been moving around this week. On one hand the former wanna be geologist in me is excited by earthquakes. On the other, my town suffered a lot in the last big quake about 15 years ago. Downtown was leveled, a sulfur spring ruptured and numerous other buildings were condemned. And for some reason it took almost 10 years to cap that damn spring. Downtown was rebuilt but we had a giant hole blocked off in the library parking lot for years. A stinky one at that.

In other news, going back to work the day after the 4th of July was hard. It was like the Monday of Fridays. Anyone else not have a long weekend?

But only took a pic of the old Library

And then I played tourist in my town on Saturday and ventured out to the Lavender Festival.

Plan vs Reality

Monday- 1.5 miles/ 1.5 miles
I don’t recall much about this run other than I got it done. I didn’t even post about it to social media, ha! But I took a pic so I guess it really happened.😛

Tuesday- 2 mile up/down, 3x 1 mile repeats at 5K pace / 1.5 up/down, 3 miles of pain- yoga
I’ve been beginning to realize that I may over overstepped with the training paces on my training plan. Reality hammered that home with this run. Not only did I tank the paces prescribed, I ended with a possible injury. I knew I should have quit during the second repeat attempt but I am stupid. So stupid. I limped back to my car hence the shorter cool down.

Wednesday- 1.5 miles/ Nada
I limped around the office all day, that was fun. My stomach also decided to hate me so that was fun.

Thursday- July 4Th! 4 mile fartlek/ MM100
I thought about trying for at least an easy run but decided to be smart instead. Boo. I did attempt a very slow workout video.

Friday- 1.5 miles/ Nada
My leg felt better until the end of the day but I was just fried and didn’t run. I really need to figure out how to run in the morning. Especially when I work open to close.

Saturday- 9 miles/ 9 miles
I actually got up early for this! Except nasty humidity rolled in so I actually think it was hotter than my last 2 long runs in the afternoon heat. Oh and I got fried. So much for sunblock. I also think it was the slowest 9 miles I’ve ever run. I had a freakin’ panic attack around mile 3. I started noticing the symptoms just before crossing the bridge. Which could have been partly fueled by the previous nights tremor. I’m not a big fan of bridges, at least not being on them, so why I chose today of all days to run across it for the first time in months, I have no idea. I refused to let the panic attack win and just slowed way down anytime I felt the usual symptoms. I also explored a side path off one street in an effort to distract myself.

Sunday- Rest/ Rest
I thought about trying to make up some of the 7 miles I missed throughout the week but ended up napping instead. Oh and I started Stranger Things 3.

15.3 miles out of 22.5 for the week. My leg is still not right so I am holding out optimism for the week to come. Plus I went in and adjusted the paces zones in my training plan so now they should at least be achievable.

How was your week? Have a good 4th of July?

What Up Wednesday

Hold on, we’re halfway there!

Name that song. Also it only applies if you don’t have a long weekend ahead.🤔

Let’s try something new.

Qoute I am pondering a lot these past 2 weeks.

Zac Brown Band

Extra cheese factor since it’s actually a song lyric.

Speaking of songs, these 2 have been getting me up hills and through hot runs in the last week.

Yes, I know my music taste is random. I almost added a Chainsmokers song- well I consider it a Bebe Rexha song but still.

Also have you seen this video?

I want to be that dog.😀

Happy Hump Day!

Cooling Off

It’s summer in California and that means one thing- me being stupid and running in the heat of the day.

Disclaimer: I received a CoolNet 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%.

How do you stay cool?

Week 25- Whimper

I so wanted the headline to say Nailed It. In fact, after the first 4 days of the week that title was looking pretty good.

The week started with such promise, almost nailed a super challenging tempo, I was hitting the miles, making healthy eating choices, etc, etc. Then my good friend migraine came to visit. He was very uninvited and stayed way too long.

Due to some other plans after work during the week, I had to shuffle some things around in the training plan.

Plan vs Actual

Monday- 1 mile up/down, 5 mile tempo/ Nailed It! Maybe
I was super nervous about this run. I am still not a fan of tempos. Blame it on Hanson’s or maybe I just got too comfortable being a Slacker all these years. I almost bailed but then I told myself to get over it and just run. Oh holy head wind. There were points in this run that I was being pushed backwards. I actually like headwinds but this was ridiculous. 2 of my 5 miles were on pace, 1 was damn close and 2 were 30 seconds slower. So, not exactly what I was supposed to do but it made me feel good about it.

Tuesday- 1.5 miles/ 1.56 miles + yoga
Oh, yeah I was feeing yesterday’s miles. I kept things super slow and easy. Then I did a yoga video when I was home.

Wednesday- 1.5 miles/ 1.6 miles
The schedule flip put 2 easy days back to back but I think I needed. My legs were still feeling the speed workout. That said this was a peppy 1.6 miles.

Thursday- 2 miles up/down, 4x 800 at 5K pace/ Nailed it! Well, almost
Another run I wasn’t exactly feeling. However I just went out and ran. I took the wrong freeway onramp so I ended up doing these repeats in home town on the streets. 3 of my repeats were on pace and was 1 was a minute slower. Oops. The slower one was the second one and at that moment I didn’t think I was going to finish the workout. But I did.

Friday- 1.5 miles/ Nothing
This day was crazy at work and I felt the beginnings of headache move in around 4 and grow worse over the last few hours. I decided to skip the run hoping rest would make it go away.

Saturday- 8 miles/ Migraine
The migraine was in full force when my alarm went off, I went back to bed. I made it out for a few errands but wound up taking a seriously long nap.

Sunday- Rest/ Migraine
Funny how a migraine doesn’t feel very restful.

13.4 miles for the week. Not even close to what was planned.

How was your week?