Category: Run!

The Weight on my Shoes

Thursday’s run hurt.

My calves were tight and my arches were sore and achy. I think my PureFlow 4’s are dead. Which is not cool as they only have 146 miles on them. I think… I lost most of my shoe data when Nike updated their running app. Boo. But they felt dead on my run and since is my third pair of them, I am pretty familiar with the signs of a dead shoe.

So now what? I am not hugely fond of the 5’s I have been testing. Granted, I’ve only put 5 miles total on them. The toebox feels small- which I usually like- but the ankle area feels very floppy. I tried re-lacing them on my last run in them but they still felt off. No bloody heels though, so that was a plus.

So while I was running, ok well, taking lots of walk breaks, I was thinking. I’ve dropped thoughts about my weight recently- this still isn’t that post- but what if my weight is affecting my shoes?

Am I too large for my shoes?

I am honestly wondering this not trying to stir anything up. When I was heavier I ran in support shoes. Over the years as I both ran more and lost weight, my shoes kept getting lighter and with a smaller heel toe drop. And things were mostly fine. But now, I am heavier than I want to be by a decent amount. Let’s be real, I am closer to the weight I was when I first started running than I am to when I was at peak fitness 2 years ago. Could that be affecting my shoes?

I know the weight affects my form at times. Especially if I wear the wrong pair of shorts on a run. It could have all the markings of a great run but the wrong shorts right now will turn it to a crap storm real fast. Which then throws off my stride. So why couldn’t that be happening with my shoes?

Problem is that I don’t know how to test this little theory of mine. I mean I could by another pair of shoes but all this shoe buying is getting a little expensive. I am hesitant to return the PureFlow 5’s as I’ve only put 5 miles on them. It took me 20+ to break in the teal pair of 4’s that I had but then I put another 200ish miles on them. The last pair of normal running shoes-i.e more support- I owned was well over a year ago. I actually gave them to my mother to be gardening shoes. So that’s out as an option too.

Then on Saturday, I ran 8 miles in my Nike’s and my legs felt better than they have in weeks. They have even less to them than my Brooks. But, I was also in compression socks. Is it all in my head?!?!

I would love to say I as going to lose the weight and all would return to normal. But again, let’s be real, I’ve trying that for a year and failing in numerous ways. So now what?

Help me, blog land, you’re my only hope!!!

Seriously, what are your thoughts?

Mid Week Musings 11

I know it’s Thursday but it’s the halfway point of a short week that’s midweek right?

The fans are gone! The silence is glorious, it really is. Now we don’t have hot water as they start the repairs but small victories right? 😛

I drove home on auto pilot. Which I am sure happens to all of us at some point but I drove the scenic route home. A portion of which is essentially a speed limit free roller coaster of a road you drive for 14 miles. Not the road to go on autopilot on. Instead of watching the hairpins, I was contemplating life. I’m feel like I am sliding into a funk and I can’t seem to swerve away. I have a couple posts I am sitting on but not sure about sharing yet.

The Chimney Fire is 100% contained!! Woo hoo! Thank you firefighters!!! Though I will miss seeing you all around town. 😉

I was so small! Also thoughts for another post

I thought about driving to Ventura this weekend to run a 5K. Just because I really like the medal. But I decided that wasn’t exactly fiscally responsible. Boo. Then Timehop showed me pics from the Ventura half in 2014. Just rub it in Dino.

Instead of racing, it’s that time again- Avocado Margarita Festival!! The format has changed a bit so I am only volunteering for a few hours one day. What will I do with the rest of my time??? Well, run of course. 🙂

Someone found my blog last week by searching “gastroparesis pants”. I get that. I may not have talked about my asshat stomach in awhile but it’s still an asshat. I actually have my quarterly appointment with my gastro next week. I think I’ve run out of diets to try. Grr.

While I am looking forward to fall weather, the sun is setting so much quicker already. I will have to make the transition to the treadmill sooner than I would like if I want my runs to be longer than 4 miles. Or I need to get hella’ fast. Hmmm.

Oh- I won 25 bucks on a scratcher ticket! I’ve never done that before! I was stoked.

I am reading a book where the main character’s name is Fallon. Mind trip! It’s kind of odd.

Remember when I said I randomly gave myself bangs? Apparently I should have done it sooner- customers keep complimenting me. Which makes me wonder- did I look that bad before??!? I am also very blonde right now (summer sun!) and one customer told an employee that I look so much better au naturel and should stop dying my hair dark. Say what? You keep those thoughts to yourself! Haha, she doesn’t know I was looking at hair dye the other day. A purple shade was really speaking to me. 😛 Too bad work wouldn’t approve.

Thanks for letting me ramble!

Share something random?

Ever dye your hair? Would you have said that?

What are you reading?

Week 36 Training Recap

Training for:

City to the Sea 13.1
Harvest Marathon 13.1
Golden Gate Half

I said these training recaps were going to be shorter starting this week but I may have misspoke. Last week ran me over like a truck…which then backed up. So most of my posting plans were ignored in favor of sanity. I did get most of my planned running in but the bike was ignored in favor of sleep and/or staring at the TV trying to decompress while binging on Netflix. I’ve now started season 8 of Bones. It’s a 😛

So long story short- I walked into work on Monday and was greeted by a flood. Ok, deep breath in and go! Only a few rooms were flooded but we were literally sinking into the carpet. Ok then. Figured out it was the water heater and a plumber came out and fixed that. We put up some normal fans while waiting for the restoration crew. One fan damn near grenaded as I was running to wall to get it unplugged. The restoration crew finally showed up and I thought that meant things were looking up. Yeah, no. 5 high power industrial drying fans had to run 24/7. All week long. By Thursday, I thought I was going to lose my mind. On Friday I partially did. I started giggling at something an employee said- that wasn’t funny- and couldn’t stop. Then I started crying. I had no idea that sound could affect me that much.

Monday- 2.7 miles Can’t blame the shortness on the flood this time. I decided to break in my new shoes and knew by 1.5 miles in that I was going to have problems. 2.7 was when I decided I wasn’t going to make it back to my car without becoming bloody. I turned off my watch and took off my right shoe and sock. I stretched and walked back to my car half barefoot. Grrrr.

Tuesday- Rest Day

Wednesday- Rest Day I wanted to run but was feeling funky and decided it wasn’t worth it just to make August’s mileage look a little better.

Thursday- 4 miles Ouch, ouch. My calves were so damn tight and my brain was on the fritz. It was day 4 of the fan drama and I really wanted to just run out all the stress but it didn’t work. My legs were sore and my calves would not loosen up. I lost count of how many times I stopped to stretch it out.

Friday- Day from hell. Work was so busy, the fans almost broke me and I didn’t get home until 8. I started crying on the way home. Why?!?!

Saturday- Rest I had made plans to run with Heather and Ashley but on Friday I knew that wasn’t going to happen. As much as I wanted to run with them, I was fried. So instead I did something I rarely do- nothing. I slept in (that part’s not rare😛) but did nothing. I sat out on the deck for most of the afternoon and just chilled. I caught on some reading- Runner’s World and I finished a book. I also listened to some music. Turns out my calming music is Lifehouse- ha! That said, it was kind of nice. And it was so needed after the week of noise.

Sunday- 11 miles. Oof. My plan for my long run this weekend was 12. The fact that I made it to 11 is victory enough. I dragged my feet getting out of bed but did make it out the door before 9. I was achy and tired and it never went away. I was done by mile 3 but I told myself it would get better. Plus I was meeting my mom at the halfway point so she could walk and I had to keep running to get to the meet up point. I was so slow, I was taking walking breaks right and left; my pace was all over the place. I just kept slowing down, I decided I was done at 11. 11 brought me back to the car right as my mother was finishing her walk. I took it as a sign that 11 was good enough. 😛 I was toast.

17.7 miles for the week. Not great but not horrible. At least I held steady from the previous week. That’s a plus right?

Looking to this week, I would like to figure what is causing all the achiness. However, I am not setting any definite plans as I know the fans are still running now. Right now, my only hope is that they will go away on Tuesday. Fingers crossed!! The earlier the better.

How was your week? Have a good Labor Day?

Ever had a pipe break?

Thanks for sticking through another long post!

Adieu August

Recovery month, baby!

I admit I was hoping for more miles but it is what is, right? Plus, considering I was afraid I would come off the marathon and never want to run again, I should count this as a win right?

I managed to pull off one 10 miler- double digits!!!- and one speed work session. I had some decent weeks and a very small, little 4 miler week. Considering the amount of smoke in the air from all the fires close by, my mileage was pretty consistent.

I ran zero races. Which made me super envious of all the cool pictures and recaps I saw online. 😛. So I compensated by taking lots of scenery pictures.

Work got a little crazy but I think I need to realize that it always will be. That said, this week kicked my ass. 2 rooms flooded and we’ve been working with industrial blower fans running all day, every day. I think the constant noise is making my brain liquefy. I really wanted to hit at least 50 miles for the month but after an abbreviated run on Monday- hello blisters- my last chance to fit in miles was Wednesday. By the end of the day, I felt fried, even the idea of changing into my running gear was exhausting. In the end I decided hitting an arbitrary number wasn’t worth it, all I wanted to do was hide in a dark and quiet corner. So I did and 44.14 was it for August.

Which brings us to September. I am partially excited and partially in denial. Excited because I haves races coming up! First one isn’t until the end of September but it’s one of my favorite races and I am looking forward to it. That being said, how the hell is it September?!?!?! That is just ridiculous. Seriously, wasn’t it just March? Why is time moving so fast? I can’t keep up! Then today, my Instagram feed was full of Pumpkin Spice Lattes- slow your roll people!

How was your August?

Any plans for September?

What are you looking forward to ?

Week 35 Recap

Training for: City to the Sea 13.1
Harvest Marathon 13.1
Golden Gate Half

Yikes, that’s the first time I’ve typed that all out. And it doesn’t include the HOB Fun Run and I may throw a couple more 5K’s in there. Yes, I may be a little crazy. It’ll be fun right?

Going forward, I think I am going to change up the way I post these training recaps. I will still have a weekly one but I am thinking they will be shorter. I miss posting more often and trying to cram everything into one post makes for a lot of words. Who wants to read that??😛 That said, this one might be lengthy.

Monday- 4 miles In an effort to mitigate the smoky air intake, I decided to run at work. Marine layer- why not? I always forgot how much I love the middle portion of this route. Ocean! Eucalyptus trees, dirt! I just wish this section was longer. Smoke and marine layer aside, this was actually a remarkably steady paced run for me- 11:32, 11:31, 11:50, 10:46. The run 5, walk 2 is kind of working out post marathon. Miles 1 and 2 are all downhill while 3 and 4 are uphill. 4 is the steepest but mile 3 is usually the slowest as I hit a section of super slippery dirt in the eucalyptus grove. I really should run this route more often.

Tuesday- Rest day, pizza day!

Wednesday- 3.8 miles Baby speed work session- woo hoo! My legs felt pretty good after that. I also started my new-ish (reverted) posting as I posted all about that run here.

Thursday- Rest I really wanted to run but I figured that would probably be stupid. I want to work back up to a 4 day a week running schedule but the last few weeks were very lacking. I figured a 3 day week first would be a better step. I took a late half day for working Saturday 2 weeks ago. I figured I would get on the bike once I got home but instead it was one of those days where time just seemed to fly and hardly anything I planned was completed.

Friday- Rest Day I work the late shift a few weeks in a row and nothing really happens outside of work. An employee also left so we are back in that pattern of waiting to hire and running short while the interviews take place. Busy days! I also found out that I am no longer exempt- I had to clock in and out for the first time in years. I am still not sure how I feel about that.

Saturday- 10 miles Double digits, woo hoo!! The temp wasn’t supposed to be too warm and I was feeling tired after a crazy work week so I planned on running a little later but I hadn’t planned on waking up to an almost dead phone. For some reason it hadn’t charged overnight. Grrr. I headed out the door around 9:30. Oops. I wanted to run 10 but had a a variety of ways to shorten it if I just wasn’t feeling it. School is back in session and my mother was having a tennis practice so my plan was to run there and then we would go to lunch.

I was feeling a little sluggish starting out but not horrible so I just kept going. I did welcome each stop light break though. Per usual, I booked it across the bridge and that was my fastest mile- 9:18. Oops. From then on it was into mountain lion sighting territory. Yikes!! I kept my pepper spray in my hand while I was running through the river bed section. Which is silly as the cat was spotted up by the neighborhoods. There were a surprising number of people out for a run or walk at that time. I wondered if the mountain lion issue had everyone out running later then normal. I even ran into NikeC! It was nice chatting with her for a bit. My pace was surprisingly consistent. If you’ve been around this blog for a while- you know pace consistency is not my thing. I finished my run with an average pace of 11:00. Who am I? I am usually way slower than that on long runs. Hell, Monday’s run was slower than that. I never really felt like I was pushing and I took walk breaks anytime I needed a moment. I was kind of stoked when I saw my splits later. 😃

Sunday- 7 miles bike I had some errands that took me to SLO for the day. New glasses!!! I hit my daily step total which is rare and then finished up with some cross training.

So 4 days of exercise, 17.8 miles run, much better than the previous 3. One of these days I will do more than just think about strength training. 😛

In other news, I ate less pizza and watched a ton of Bones last week. Seriously people, I just started season 6! I may need an intervention! In sad news, my car hit 100,000 miles- boo.

How was your week?

What are you watching now?