Category: Run!

Week 53 – Goodbye December

And just like that, another week, another month and another year has come and gone.   Busy 7 days!

Last week was interesting to say the least.     I ran!!  Some at least.  However, sleep was not my friend and by the end of the week it was all I could just to get through the day.  The long days.  But let’s back up.

Monday- 4.5 miles A day off work means I have to run right?  It’s like a rule, right?  I waited until what I hoped was the warmest part of the day and headed out.  The whole flu thing turned me into a big baby in the cold.  😛  Man, was I slow.  But I ran!!!    I thought I would feel miserable after such a lackluster month of December but other being slow, I felt pretty good.  I think I was just excited to be running.


And then Monday night.  Everything was normal until I tried to go to sleep and failed.  I tossed and turned and paced.  Covers on, covers off, sitting up, laying down, 2 pillows, 1 pillow, no pillows.  I felt like my heart was racing and I could not fall asleep.  I even texted my boss at 2:30 AM to let her know I may not be on time to work because of this.   Don’t worry, I didn’t wake her- I know she puts her phone on do not disturb but I figured this way she would see it first thing in the morning.   I was also hoping that taking that little stressor away would help me sleep.  Yeah, not really.  I dozed a bit between 2:30 and 4 but that was it.  90 minutes of crap sleep.  Sounds like a recipe for success, right?   I was up and oddly energized so off to work I went for a very busy Tuesday.

Tuesday night– more of the same.   What the hell?!  This was a slight improvement in that I think I managed around 3 hours of sleep.   Oh yay.  All right, Wednesday, let’s do this.

Wednesday night– about 4 hours of sleep.  Ok now, this is getting ridiculous.  By Thursday, the cumulative fatigue was adding up and I was fading.    Combine a day where we down 2 people at work, a vital piece of equipment broke and we were so busy that I didn’t get to lunch until after 3:30 and I was fried.   I had brought my running gear with me to go for a run but I barely had enough energy in me to just drive home after work.  There was no running that night.

Friday- Rest  Yeah, Thursday night saw about 5 hours of sleep and I worked open to close.  That same piece of equipment was still broken 1/2 the day and we were still down 2 people, it was a much calmer day though and we all made it through.  Woo hoo!  From there I only had one more work shift to get through.

Saturday- Rest   I wanted to run, I really did.   I worked in the morning- maybe my last Saturday shift?!?!- and while I had actually slept the night before, the damage of the sleepless week had caught up to me.  I was so damn tired.  My New Year’s Eve was spent chillin’ in my chair watching Netflix.   Party animal right?  😛

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That brought my December mileage to a stellar 14.74 miles.   I think that may be the lowest month since I started tracking years ago.    Oops.     That also brought my 2016 mileage total to 851 miles.  Highest number yet!


Sunday- 5 miles  My Smashrun politely told me that this was my longest run in a month.   I’m trying a new strategy with my long runs and while this wasn’t exactly long I figured why not?  I recently bought a book on Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run method and thought why not?   So I tried intervals of 3:00 run and 1:00 walk for this run.  I was still slow but I wasn’t miserable.  I also noticed that I had more energy at the top of the last hill.   Now, let me clear, I’ve been running for 6 years and I have never run this hill, just walking up it kicks my ass, I felt a little less tired this time though.   Granted it could have been a fluke.  I’m still not sold but I’m giving it a try.

9.5 miles for the week.    Not great but it’s a start right?  I have plans for 2017 so time to stop Slacking!  Ok, well not completely.  😛

How was your New Years?

How was your week?

Can you function on little sleep?

Happy 2017!

 

 

2016- Shiny and Dull

It’s that time of year again- time for the Slacker’s recap of the Shiny and the Dull for the year.


Let’s get the dull out of the way so we can move on to shinier things.  We all need shiny right?  So without further adieu, the Dull of 2016-

  • I lost both grandmother’s this year.   While one was kind of expected, the other was a total blind side.   Either way, both sucked.   I don’t handle loss well.  I don’t adult well in that way.
  • My identity was stolen.   That was fun.
  • 3 debit cards were hacked.  All at different times. Separate issue from above.
  • My credit card was also hacked.   And who the hell spends that much money at Whole Foods??!!?!
  • I added 10 pounds to the 10 pounds from 2015 I needed to lose.  Probably from a combination of my litany of meds and my reliance on chips and pizza as comfort food.  Like I said, I don’t adult well.
  • I officially DNS’ed my first 2 races-  Rock n Roll LA and Spooner’s Cove Trail Run.  Grrr.

Ok, ok, enough Dull.  Bring on the Shiny!!!!!!!


I started 2016 by kicking goals to the curb.  I do not regret that decision.   As far as I am concerned goals can get taken out with the trash.  They work for some people but they do not work for me.  I did not miss them this year and I will not miss them in 2017 but, oops, spoilers.  😛  So why did my goal free year work for me?

I ran 12 races this year.  6 half marathons, 1 8 mile race, 2 10k’s, 2 5k’s and a little something else😉😉.    Fewer races than previous years but I tried to approach this year differently.

As of the time this post goes up, I have run 850 miles in 2016.   100 more than my highest previous year.     Woo hoo!  Do I wish it was higher?  Sure.   Had I not had such a lackluster November and December I might have come close to that ever elusive (for me) 1000 mile mark.   One day I will get there, until then I can dream right?

I had the opportunity to join Bibrave.   Join a group of  runners where we can talk about running and races all the time??? Sweet!  I’ve also been able to meet some of them in real life except I’m fired because I now realize I’ve never taken pictures.  Boo.  I’ve had the opportunity to try some really great products too.    Which is awesome because I use a lotof them on a daily basis now.

I road tripped to 3 races- Huntington Beach for one and San Francisco for two.  I went to Disneyland twice.   This from the person who used to never go anywhere.  Woah there!

And that little something else race?

I TRAINED for and RAN a freakin’ marathon!!  This from the Slacker who said she would never run a marathon.  Not only was the distance daunting but I couldn’t imagine that I would ever stick to the training.  I am not the type to voluntarily get up early and run 20 miles on my own.  And yet I did and I was smiling at the end.  Ok, smirking.img_7233

Even more surprising was the marathon itself.  If you followed along during training, you know I was a hot mess in July leading up to San Francisco.  When I left for race weekend, I was seriously considering dropping to the half, I was still thinking that when I picked up my bib.   Then race morning dawned and I was cool as a cucumber.  I had no doubt I was going to finish… and I did.  Without hitting a wall.  Who am I????  Granted I was slower than I wanted to be and went over 5 hours but you guys I ran a marathon!   And somehow looked like that after 25+ miles.

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2016 had a mix of the shiny and dull.  I let myself get mired in the dull a little too often.  It’s something I need to work on.  Overall, there were some really Shiny moments in there though.  As for 2017?  More on that to come.

How was your 2016?

Name your Shiny?

Name your Dull?

 

Week 52- Christmas

Is anyone else loving the Apple commercials with Frankenstein’s monster as much as I am?  Random, I know, but I can’t help but smile but when I watch them.

While last week seemed to be prolific in writing- I wrote 4 posts!- it was less so in running.  No lies, I did nothing that even remotely resembled exercise.  I meant to but it just never happened.   Oh well.    I made through a full week of work, that counts for something right? 😛

I caught up on everything I missed while I was gone from work for 2 weeks.  I don’t really know anything more than I did before in regards to the merger but I am choosing to remain as optimistic and open about it as I can.    I did some last minute Christmas shopping.   I tried to help my mom with some last minute Christmas shopping.  It kind of failed.   We tried, though right?

Friday, I kind of felt like my day turned into a bad country song.  It’s not even that the day was bad, it was just a rough start to the morning.  Then I was delivering chocolates and cards to a few of our customers and realized that my old boots really need to be retired.  That same puddle I parked in rewarded me with wet feet for the rest of the day.  Then the end of the work day turned classic.   You know those scenes in movies when cars drive by and drench the person and you think that doesn’t happen in real life?  It so does!  One lingering employee caught the action and we just stared at each other in disbelief.  Well, she was in her nice dry car laughing and I was in a new puddle by my car.😔


Christmas eve dawned and it was freaking cold!  I was hoping to get in a short run before Christmas Eve dinner and movie but instead I helped my brother do some very last minute Christmas shopping.    Family had a very low key Christmas, comfy clothes, yummy food and movies for the weekend.   This year’s viewing choices were Sully, Star Trek Beyond and a Netflix series called Travelers.  Just the way we like it.   It’s been a sad year family wise, so it was kind of an odd Christmas too but that happens sometimes too right?

How was your Christmas?  or weekend?

Did you run? 

Best gift?

 

Shaking It Up

Disclaimer: I received Generation UCan Protein Powder to review 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 looking for a good protein powder for about 6 months now.   With all of my dietary restrictions I fall back on smoothies for lunch quite often however just fruit and veggies isn’t always filling.   Sometimes I’m hangry within an hour and end up binge snacking on chips and fruit snacks which is never good.   I’ve been looking for a protein powder to add some healthy bulk to my smoothies.  If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen my posts about my orders from The Feed.  I’ve tried numerous samples of various brands from them and also tried numerous samples of the bigger brands that seem to have a cult like following with no luck.

People, there are some bad tasting powders out there!   Like running to the sink to spit it out no way I could choke this stuff down bad.  And this is coming from someone who has had to drink some truly nasty medicine over the years for my litany of tests for my stomach condition.   I thought I could choke down anything as long as I had a straw.  Not true.


When the opportunity arose to try Generation UCAN’s protein powder, I figured why not.  I had heard great things about both their hydration mix and their SuperStarch drink mix, which I still want to try since I fuel horribly for runs but that’s another story.

Now, one thing about the powder is that it is whey based, so dairy based.    If dairy is a problem for you, you may want to keep that in mind.   Technically, dairy is one of my 5 million restrictions.  😛     So why would I do that do myself?    I can tolerate dairy in moderation which I’ve learned means I can handle it in one meal a day.  Whey protein for the win!  Whereas I’ve learned soy and nuts are not my friends.

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Ok, but what about the important part, how does it taste and did it keep me full?  I received both Vanilla Cream and Chocolate to try.   I won’t lie, I was a little scared to try the vanilla- I had a previous experience with another vanilla protein powder that tasted like dirt no matter what I mixed it with.    Thankfully, I did not need to be concerned.   I blended the Vanilla Cream with some Kefir, spinach, pineapple and peaches.    The first couple sips were a stronger vanilla taste than I had expected but it was pretty good.   Better yet- no snacking!   Next day, the smoothie was even better and still no snacking.  Yay!  My stomach was also happy.


Now for the chocolate.   I like the taste of the chocolate but I haven’t found the right smoothie mix for it yet.    I love pineapple in my smoothies but I wasn’t the biggest fan of pineapple and chocolate.    Granted the strawberry kefir could have been throwing it off too.    I like smoothies because I admit that I don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables on their own but blending them up is a good way for me to stay on track.    By itself it is fine but it is going to take some more experimenting to figure a good smoothie mix for me.    While the taste combo of pineapple and chocolate may have been a little off, all the pluses of no hangry-ness and no stomach crankiness held.    Sweet!


After months of searching, I finally found a powder I want to reorder!  Surprisingly though, I think I am reordering the Vanilla Cream- it really grew on me!   I hope my NutriBullet is prepared for the workout it’s going to get next year.  😛

I also have a discount if you want to try it-BIBRAVE – 15% off all UCAN products.  I know I will be using it.  😉

What do you put in your smoothies?

Any special ingredients?