Category: Run!

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 2

This week had some rough patches.

I started the week with that pesky, painful shoulder pull. I couldn’t raise my left arm, getting dressed was awkward. Then a migraine came to visit for an extended period which is ironic considering I had an appointment with my neurologist to discuss my migraines. 😒 And as an aside– aren’t I too young to say I have a neurologist and a gastroenterologist I see on a regular basis? Then my stomach turned into it’s butthead self at the end of the week.

Work is also a little busier than normal as we are one person down. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to manage any decent miles.

The plan-

week 2

Monday- Rest 9 hours at work took my shoulder knot ( I don’t know what to call it) to a whole other level and I could barely move by the end of the workday. Boo.

Tuesday- 1/2 my PT exercises. I knew I needed to do my exercises but they also hurt so I managed to get through 1/2 of them. With the help of my boss, I also rearranged everything on my desk so here’s hoping it helps with some of my constant aches and pains.

Wednesday- 3 miles I could finally lift my arm high enough to put on a sports bra so running was back on the table. 3 slow, treadmill miles that is. I felt like I ran them faster than my last treadmill run but according to the treadmill not so much. I also forgot to stop my watch when I stopped the treadmill so it left me some interesting numbers. 😜

Thursday- PT exercises Oops, I should have run. I changed to run. Running was on the schedule. Yet somehow it didn’t happen. That is not a good start to training. Nope.

Friday- Rest We’re running a little short these days so it was an open to close for me. I felt like I ran circles around the building though.

Saturday- 10 miles First double digits of training. The schedule called for 9 but I added 1 to partially make up for the miles I missed. I’m keeping my run/walk intervals for the first month of training while I get back into the higher mileage again. I never felt tired but my pace tanked for miles 7, 8 and 9. I felt like I was running the pace and putting out the same effort level but the numbers popping up were 30 seconds slower than the previous miles. The overall pace was perfectly fine for a long run but I just could not figure why I was moving slower but not feeling it. Maybe it was because my headphones died at mile 6?

Sunday- 5ish miles I wanted 7 so I could hit the overall mile total for the week but my legs were not having it. Not at all. My ankles were so damn sore. That’s a new one. I took more than few breaks. I knew pushing it to 7 would be stupid so I satisfied myself with 5.2.

18.38 miles for the week. Not what the plan had but considering how the week started, it ended pretty ok. Minus the leg pain but then again I did put more miles on my legs in a short period of time than I have recently so I only have myself to blame.

How was your week?

Rambling On 25

Happy Friday!

So that 2018 plan post is going to have to be next week. I had such big plans for it, wrote a great one in my head while on a run last week but can’t quite get it right in print.😛. Which is partly why I’ve been so quiet this week.

Another reason is that I’ve been freakin’ tired. Like in bed every night before 11:30 and dozing off in the chair well before that. For this night owl, that’s highly abnormal. But considering everybody and their brother I see has some kind of flu/ plague, I won’t complain about a little extra tiredness. Knocks on wood.

It took until Wednesday for me to be able to lift my left arm above neck level, so running has been a little absent. Kind of hard to run when you can’t put on a sports bra.😒

I think I like my bed but again, knocking on wood. Then again, I’m stuck with this one so I better learn to like it!

I have lots of miles to make up this weekend, but I also have a 3 day weekend to look forward too, so yay!

What are you doing this weekend?

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 1

Well crap, it’s real huh, now that it’s in writing. 😜

This week went almost exactly like I planned. Notice I said like I planned and not according to THE plan.

Plan-

Week 1

Life

Monday 5 miles / PT exercise- I couldn’t waste a perfectly good day off so I moved Wednesday’s 5 miles to Monday. It just made more sense. I also finally found the sluggish feeling I had been expecting to feel on Saturday’s and Sunday’s run. Then again it has also been a while since I’ve run 3 days in a row. Other than sluggish, it was a pretty solid 5 miles though. Could have done without the buzzard spectators though. Back off buddies.

Tuesday- Rest/ PT exercises. Nailed it. Work was crazy busy so that’s all I had the brain power for anyways.

Wednesday- 3.1 miles/ PT exercises Slow, sore, treadmill miles. Man, my back was so not happy so I was really glad I switched Monday and Wednesday around. I was also very surprised by how empty the gym was. I had been expecting to find a crowd but instead I was able to find both a parking spot close to the gym and a treadmill easily. What gives? That is highly unusual for January 3.

Thursday- Physical Therapy I had another session of lumbar traction, this time with increased tension. Is that what it’s called? While it felt good, I was super sore too. I took easy the rest of the day, doc’s orders.

Friday- Rest If only that word was an accurate representation of how Friday’s actually go. 🤣

Saturday- 8.3 miles/ PT exercises First long run of training! Just to play things smart and to be nice to my back, I was keeping to my intervals of run 1 minute, walk 1 minute. Also helped that my watch was set to that and I was too lazy to fix it. My pace was keeping pretty steady in the mid 11 range, which I was more than fine with and my plan was to pick it up for a fast finish. Everything was working great up until mile 6.5. Then I felt AND heard something pop on my back near my left shoulder-blade and came to a screeching halt. Literally. I was ripping off colorful words in multiple languages and probably sounded like I was screeching. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Now, this is unfortunately an injury that I am familiar with. This is the 5th time it’s happened, first time while running though. Usually, it leaves me with restricted mobility on my left side for 3-5 days, how the hell was I going to get back to my car let alone finish running??

I ran a pace that didn’t jostle me too much and stopped multiple times to stretch. Stretching would have gone better without my Orange Mud pack on, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it back on it I took it off. I made it back to my car and stretched as best as I could before driving home. Grrrr.

Sunday- Rest. Damn shoulder. Running actually seemed to help it a bit because it didn’t seem as bad today as it was the last time this happened. Which oddly, was almost exactly a year ago. So I rested and worked on some deep stretching with my foam roller.

16.42 miles. Other than the damn shoulder, the miles are exactly how I thought this week was going to go, so yay for that! I had originally thought about making up Thursday’s run on Sunday but again, shoulder.

How was your week?

2017- The Shiny and The Dull

It’s that time again- time to recap the Shiny and the Dull of 2017.

Let’s get the Dull out of the way first.

So yeah, remember that post 12 months ago where I said I hated goals, that I considered them 4 letter words so I wasn’t making any? No? Well, here it is if you’re feeling really bored. I was going to make 2017 the year of Challenge. Ha! More like the year of complacency.

Instead of running all the miles in 2017, I didn’t even clear 650.

Did I find my old pace? Yeah, no.

I was turned down for 2 jobs I applied for.

Should we even mention the weight I put on? I’m less irritated about the number and more irritated about how uncomfortable I feel in my skin.

Had migraine issues, thyroid issues, leg issues, back issues, bed issues. Maybe I’m the issue?

Ok, enough with the dull.

Shiny!!!!!!

I ran 10 races, 8 13.1’s, one 5 miler and one 5K. If I had to pick a top 3, they would be –

Las Vegas! I went to Vegas! I ran a half and a 5K in one weekend. I finally met Kate in real life! We ran her first half together. I met Helly! I hung with Mai and other BibRave Pros! There were lights and miles and good times and it was awesome. Tiring but awesome. And I am a bad blogger because I don’t have the pictures.
Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1– My first Rock n Roll race and it was great one. I loved the course and the whole experience. I met Mai and Emily and made the We Run Social photo on race morning. And I met Chelsea! It was also my fastest race in a few years. Until…
City to Sea– Home town love. Yeah, I consider the entire county my home town. 5th time running this race and I still love it. Somehow pulled off my fastest race of the year too. Still don’t know where that came from.

Honorable mentions- Salinas Valley Half Marathon, SLO Ultra 5 Miler

I had the opportunity to work with BibRave again in 2017 and it is a great group of people. Plus I tested some pretty awesome products. I’d have even fewer miles if BibRave hadn’t pointed me in the direction of my Ultra Boost X’s. My running store doesn’t sell them so I wouldn’t have found them on my own. I’m on pair 2 now.

I was also given the chance to be an ambassador for Miles and Pace. If you’ve been around this blog for the last few years, you may have noticed that I am pretty attached to my Miles and Pace trucker hats so I was stoked. My current hat count is 4.

As for work, I have a Rock star crew, so can’t complain about that.

So 2017 did not go like I hoped but then again I maybe got a little too comfy in the comfy chair and rationalized my way into being a little too Slacker like. I mentioned on Twitter the other night that I have a tendency to get in my own way.

As for 2018? Time to Sound the Alarm.

Week 52-And a cold

And just like 52 weeks have gone by and bring 2017 to close.

And the calendar did me a solid and worked out perfectly… unlike last year.

I had my second PT appointment and this time they had me try lumbar traction. Then all laughed at the expression of fear on my face as they described it. It really wasn’t that bad.

Last week was a little rough, I felt a little ragged around the edges. I was looking forward to the 3 day weekend- not for the New Year’s parties but more for the opportunity to sleep. Truth- I just barely managed to stay awake through midnight on New Year’s Eve but I still managed to miss the ball drop on TV. Oops.

Monday- Christmas And I was about as active as a lump on a log.

Tuesday- Rest/ PT Exercises I knew work was likely to be busy after the 3 day weekend and oh boy was I right.

Wednesday- Missed Run Work was exhausting and I was tired and cranky so instead of running I just headed home. Which might have been fate telling me something- maybe that’s dramatic but barely moments after picking my mom up to go to dinner, we were driving down the street to see flames literally shooting out of the top of an apartment building. Then it hit the power lines. I pulled over while my mom called 911 and jumped out and stood with the homeowner, we asked if anyone else was inside or if there were any pets. I then just got my car out of the way and stayed out of the way while we waited for the fire department and PD to show up. It was definitely not how I thought the night was going to go.

Thursday- Rest/PT exercises Work this week just kicked my butt. Plus I was denial that I was sick. If I ignored the sore throat and the coughing, that meant they weren’t real right? Despite the fact I’d fallen asleep in my chair almost every night. I missed a dinner with old high school friends because I didn’t want to get anyone sick, so I wasn’t being completely stupid.

Friday- Rest More of the same. This time I missed a dinner with a coworker who was leaving another location. Boo. Also fell asleep in my chair again.

Saturday- 3.1 miles After sleeping in, I headed out for what I figured was going to be an afternoon slog. Except I was moving way faster than I should have been for only having run once last week and being sick this week. Legs what are you doing? I had no business seeing miles in the 10 minute range and my lungs let me know so I ended up take a break to sit on a wall at one point.

Sunday- 4 miles Once again I headed out expecting a slow run and once again my legs and lungs were at war. My legs just wanted to go! But my lungs were not quite on board. It was better than the day before though. Other than a little wheezing, this 4 miles felt pretty good.

7.1 miles for the week. Better than last week. Still super low but I’m not mad. The last week of the year always throws me a curve ball and this was no exception.

How was your week?