Category: Run!

Week 48- Rambling On 46

Upcoming Races
Holiday Half 12/9 (Thanks Bibrave!)

Still no running going on over here, if anything things got way worse. It’s been a few years since I was this sick and it sucks. I miss running. So let’s do a little ramble and catch up on the last week.

It was another week where I packed my gym bag with running gear but it never left my car. Boo. Wednesday had some of the prefect rainy day weather that we rarely get. Yet I was attending an all day, soul sucking notary seminar. And it was also the day I was the sickest yet. I felt so bad for the others at the seminar- I just tried to sit in the back and not disrupt anyone too much. Driving home was rough, the rain, my eyes were swollen and I kept sneezing and coughing. Ugh.

I think I mentioned that we were being audited at work. The auditor ended up only staying a day- so either we’re really awesome or super screwed. 😛 Won’t know which for a bit longer though. I was sick and not firing on all cylinders that day though.

Good news, when I left work on Friday, I was starting vacation! I don’t have to be back until December 13. Woo hoo! Now if I could just kick this cold.

I wish I had more pictures for this but I upgraded my phone over the weekend and while -yay, new phone!- I lost everything from the last 2 months. Boo. It’s supposedly backed up to icloud but no one seems to know how to get the pictures back so that’s cool.

Hmmm, this ramble turned into more of whine/ rant. Oops. See, I really need to run!

How was your week?

Jingle All the Way

Disclaimer: I received an entry to Oakland Running Festival 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!

I’ve been running since 2010 but somehow I’ve never run a race in December. Not even a 5K. How did that happen? It was time to change that.

Holiday Half, start your engines! I’ve actually looked into the Holiday Half in previous years but couldn’t make it fit my schedule. Well this year thanks to some vacation plans that have changed numerous times I now can!

The race offers holiday themed medals for the half as well as a larger, cooler medal for the Snowflake Challenge. The challenge nets you a third medal when you run the 5K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday. There should even be snow at the start line! Yeah, it may not be real but we don’t see it much round these parts of California.

As well as being festively themed- did you see that race shirt?-Holiday Half is in Pomona which is home to the Pomona Raceway. It’s the oldest venue on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and we get to run on the track! Woo hoo!! I grew up around racing as my dad always watched it. He and my brother still go to races, I understand none of it but it still reminds me of childhood you know?

Now, my only problem is the realization that I have zero Christmas related running gear. I don’t even own anything red. How am I going to show my holiday festive-ness? I will have to work on this.

Want to join me on December 9? Use code HHBR10 to save 10%!
Any ideas on how to be festive?

Week 47- Rambling On 45

Upcoming Races
Holiday Half 12/9 ( more to come on this)

So, another week was lost to whatever the hell bug I am fighting. I completed 1 at home workout and ran a pretty good virtual Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving. So instead of dragging on and on about a crappy training week and how sick I am, let’s catch up via a Rambling On. It’s been a while.

I wish I could blame it all on the sickness but I have already watched a ridiculous amount of cheesy Christmas movies. And there are more on tap. Also, they have an app this year- so you can check off the cheesiness and not miss a single one! Yes, I downloaded it. 😛

Work has finally calmed down a little; I feel like I am wading in the water now not drowning. That said, we are being audited this week and I have to take my notary renewal seminar so fingers crossed I don’t go back under again. I seem to stress easier these days. I just keep telling myself I am almost to vacation, almost to vacation. Also, wish me luck for staying awake during the seminar. I have troubles with that- every single time.😒

I miss running. This time change and I aren’t getting along. Combine that with this stupid cold/flu and I haven’t made it out for a run after work since before the time change. I hate going to the gym. I just do. I pay monthly but honestly couldn’t tell you the last time that I was there. I recently checked out online treadmill prices and while there was one or two that I could afford, I have nowhere to put one. So that is a pipe dream that I can only dream about.

As much as I am fighting the beginning of December and therefor the end of 2018, all the trees are up. The big tree is up at home, the work tree is up at work. Work still needs more fine tuning- I don’t know if I am feeling inspired enough to wrap the garlands around the beams this year. That’s just a lot of work. I wasn’t feeling the decorations on my little tree this year though. Luckily my mother has kept everything from childhood so I was able to pull some and create a themed tree. Why haven’t I done this sooner????

I have added a Captain America and Harry Potter and have a Tardis ornament coming. Best tree ever!

How was your week?
How was your Thanksgiving?
Have you decorated yet?

Week 46: Well, I Tried?

Upcoming Races-

*Oakland Turkey Trot- (Thank you BibRave!) 11/22

Last week was a little up and down. Not gonna lie, I am a little stressed. Ok, maybe more than a little. I feel a little under water but lazy at the same time. How does that work?

The time change is adding to that as I have yet to run after work since the change. November and December are traditionally my lowest mileage months. However I just signed up for something in December that means I need to get my tush in gear. More on that soon.

So what did I do last week? No, wait, what did I do?

Monday- 5K
I love days off during the week. I was a little concerned how this run was going to go as it was my first run in over a week. Oops. It was surprisingly pretty decent. There was a little bit of smoke in the air but it wasn’t bad and my run felt decent;y paced.

Tuesday-Shaun T workout
As much as I love 3 day weekends, the Tuesday back is chaos. This was no exception. I managed an at home workout and oh boy did it kick my ass. I was toast.

Wednesday-Sick
Ok, so maybe the reason the previous nights workout felt so hard was because I wasn’t feeling well. I actually went home early from work. Say what? I was still in denial though. I was blaming my stomach.

Thursday- Sick
Ok, maybe I really was sick. Once again, I went home early from work. Damn it.

Friday- Liift4 workout- mostly
I still felt crappy but I made it through the full day of work. I was feeling super sloth like so I attempted Liift4 once I was home. I just went really slow and modified the hell out of the HIIT work. I felt like I sweated some of the funk out.

Saturday- 5 miles
I had originally wanted a real long run but with slightly smoky skies and a lingering feeling of crappiness I decided not to push it. I headed out in the late afternoon and even though the weather apps all said it was good to run, the skies seemed smokier than that. However my lungs felt great. What?? This was actually a pretty awesome 5 mile run. I finished it by dancing out the last 1/4 mile in public. The only downside to this run was that I somehow paused my Garmin in the beginning so I under recorded by 1/4 mile. Boo.

Sunday- Shopping
Shopping counts as cardio right? I planned on finishing the day with a hike but ran out of daylight. Womp womp. However I did pick up some shiny new kicks, so all was not lost, right?

So that’s like 8.1 miles for the week and 2 cross training workouts? Better than the previous week and could have been worse since I was sick but it was still kind of crappy.

How was your week?
Are you Turkey Trotting this week? I have the Oakland Turkey Trot (virtual)!

Third Try’s the Charm?

You could say that Surf City was my spring board into half marathons.

It wasn’t my first half marathon, not even close. It wasn’t even my first travel race. However it was the first time I spectated an event that didn’t involve working any water stations. Prior to Surf City 2011, I had volunteered numerous times at water stations for the local fun run and even the Master Elites didn’t inspire me to run. They also never wanted my water but that’s not the point.

I drove NikeC down to Huntington Beach to run Surf City back in 2011. I remember standing on a corner with her aunt and now uncle and watching all the runners run past feeling a little lazy. I thought to myself- I can do this. So I started training (sort of) for my first half and ran a local one a few months later.

It took me years to get myself back to Surf City. I ran it for the first time in 2015 and then again in 2016. Now, full disclosure, I love Surf City but it doesn’t love me. The course is fairly flat and the humidity runs pretty high. To some that is PR ready and the first two times I ran it, I attempted to run it fast and my lungs pitched a fit by mile 8ish. This has always colored my view of the later miles which bites because you run along PCH and the beach is right next to you!

Which is why I am looking forward to going back in 2019! Time to live it up!

So this time, I plan to have no plan. Well, that’s not true. I still remember the really good breakfast place we all went to after NikeC’s race years ago so I want to run the race leisurely, enjoy the party atmosphere, the beach and then walk all over until I find it again! #goals

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Ever run Surf City?