Category: Slacker

Racing to (Santa) Rosa

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Santa Rosa Marathon 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!

It’s race week, say what???

Not only is it race week, the weekend is upon us! That snuck up on me. Well, let’s be honest, the past few months have snuck up on me. And then dropped me like Kipchoge rounding the corner on Boylston.

At the mid point of the year I realized I was somehow behind on my miles from 2021, which is so not good. However, July and August improved as I attempted to tighten my belt and train for Santa Rosa. I felt like I needed redemption for 2021.

See, I know I am not fast. I know I’ve been walking more than running. But now I know the course- which is scenic and I really like- and my goal is to not cramp. The leg cramps from last year still color my view of the last few miles, ha! I really would like to run across the finish this year instead of hobble.

Also, somehow, Santa Rosa will my brother’s first road race! And the mountain hiker/climber that he is- he is aiming for sub 2 for his very first road half. I specify half because I still need to tell you about Saturday but that’s for another day.

All right, Santa Rosa, let’s do this!!

July Funk

July passed in a blur.

Partly because July is one of our busiest months at work and partly because I was kind of in a funk for most of the month. Ok, maybe that started in May.

I am still not sure why July was so funky for me. I mean, I know I was busy, I know I was stressed but I still couldn’t put my finger on why I was so moody. Yes, my birthday was also in July and it made me a little whiny. Ok, maybe a lot whiny. I didn’t even get the cake I wanted. Hmmm, maybe I am still whiny.

My running, while still not great, did increase compared to June. Not how it should have considering I have a half marathon at the end of August but it did increase.

I hit up some cool trails and finally got back to the top of Hazard Peak after almost a decade. Couldn’t see anything thanks to the Marine layer but I made it to the top! 🤣

I also ran a race, which I still need to recap. One of my favorite local races came back and I was so excited. My body disagreed but whatever. More about that later.

Speaking of funk, maybe it’s still here. It’s taken me 10 days to write this post. Oops. So here’s to August.

How was your July?

JUNE JUMPED

I feel like I stood on a cliff on June 3 and jumped. Then it was July. Anyone else?

Let’s see…

Training for Santa Rosa in not where it should be. Luckily it’s early stages still but it doesn’t fill me with confidence for July and August. I ran way less miles than I had originally planned. Or even thought I did. I felt like I had a better month than the numbers show. And the numbers show next to nothing. I set up the most basic of training outlines which mostly just highlights how many miles my long run should be each week and somehow, I am already off track. Crap.

Part of the lower miles was heat related- it was over 100 for a couple of weeks. I never managed an early run as I slept like crap for about 2 weeks too. There were a couple of nights of no sleep. Even my watch was like are you ok? The first night I actually hit 7 hours in June, it gave me a congratulations. Ha! That didn’t stick around though. Boo.

I also wasn’t feeling so great in June. My chest still hurts and normally by now, my allergies start to ease up. I can’t sleep or even find a good position to lay down when my chest feels inflamed. Went for my annual chest x-ray and it shows nothing. Which is good but also annoying.

I did manage to get in some good trail miles though. A couple of which I looked like Ranger Rick for. I am trying to work out more sun coverage for the longer time on my feet days. Can’t find a good hat with decent airflow that covers my face and my ears.

On the work front my boss quit. WTH dude. Don’t worry I said that to his face, no talking behind his back. Then after a couple weeks of thought and stress, I took the jump. And now I have a promotion and a new title. Yay? Now I just need to get my ducks in a row. Thankfully I have an amazing crew, so we will make it work. July is our busiest month though so this should be interesting. Actually it’s the busiest month for the whole city so double yay?

While July is shaping up to be busy, I also have some PTO coming. Not as much as originally planned but still some. I am torn between hiding in a dark room for those days and decompressing or getting out and doing something. May depend on the weather… and the gas prices. There is also a local race I may sign up for. I am not in 10k shape but I do love this race and haven’t run it in years. Oh, and I have a birthday.

Here’s to July- Fingers crossed?

22/7–Unsteady

I keep telling myself I am going to get back to getting these posts up on Monday so it’s less like I am 2 weeks behinds… But, so far, no luck. Also, do my titles make any sense?

Last week was a blur of stress and tiredness. I remember being tired (seems to be new normal) as well as an evening of gnarly dizzy spells. Work was crazy and a system crash didn’t help. I kind of just wanted to nap all weekend but I am really trying to not do that as well. Plus I wanted to get some miles in as I am still not running during the week.

I admit I ventured out to SLO for some shopping on Saturday and wasn’t sure I was going to have enough energy or time to get in some miles. After eating the best pizza I have had in months, hitting some stores and buying nothing I headed home. It was late and I was taking my parents to dinner but I managed to get out the door for a few miles. Just over 2.5 miles but I felt ok. Hot as it was a freak 80+ degrees that day but and hadn’t cooled yet but still good. Can’t say the same for the dinner with the parents later though. Not going to that restaurant again for a while.

As for Sunday, I had plans for my longest outing since COVID. Hmmm, maybe of the year, actually. I headed out to MDO to hit up a trail. I call it the Jurassic Park trail because something about the first 1/2 mile makes me think of Jurassic Park. Out and back without any of the trail offshoots is just over 5 miles. I was hoping this would feel fairly easy as it is fairly flat, only around 500 ft of elevation gain. And it felt good!! Yay! Plus I love all the sights and changes in vegetation along the trail.

So 7ish miles for the week. Still small but growing. I’m trying not to think about the fact I am registered for 2 half marathons in March at the moment, ha!

2021… Meh

2021 was…. Yeah.

I don’t think anyone got what they were expecting this year nor the number of curve balls thrown.

So, 2021 in bullets

Started the year with big goals- 50k. 😂😂😂
Broke the big toe on left foot running trails in January. Devil shoes.
Learned that I did not know how to swallow and went to speech therapy for 14ish weeks to relearn.
Went to Yosemite for the first time, when can I go back???

It was determined I do not in fact, have asthma. Who knew? Granted Paradoxical vocal cord dys-yadda yadda is much harder to say. Again, a benefit of speech therapy.
Diagnosed with multiple melanomas. All removed with clean margins but those are some very scary words. Think I’ve have a biopsy or excision every couple of months this year. Boo. Wear your sunblock!
Drove to Idaho/ Washington for first road race since March 2020. Coeur d’Alene is gorgeous. I’m jealous of that running path. Not of Spokane though, ha!

Turned a milestone birthday and still not sure how I feel about it or what I have to show for that many years. 🤨
Ran another live race in Santa Rosa that felt surprisingly great until it didn’t.
Ran one of my favorite trail races again and still smiled even when I wanted to fall down and cry, I was so tired. I’ll be back.

I ran more trails in my area but still have so many more to run. 2 of those pics are above.
Work is good, stressful but good. Not gonna lie, being customer facing 2 years into a pandemic has shown me a new level of stress.
I had a couple more trips planned for the year but well, life.
Broke the 2 little toes on my right foot in the beginning of December. Oops. I live up to my nickname of destructo girl, I really do.
I ran way less miles in 2021 than planned but any miles are good miles, right?

So yeah, 2021 was yeah. I’m not holding 2022 to anything.