Category: Slacker

The Jury’s Still Out

Before I get to the boring medical stuff, how’s this for a roadblock-

   
   
That thing is huge!   And was standing 2 weeks ago.   Wonder when that came down.

Why do I hope for answers from a doctors appointment when those have been so rare in the past?  Particularly from this doctor.  The only time I have ever seen him show any kind of emotion or urgency was when I was attacked by a dog a few years ago.   Anyways, after a scheduling headache last week, I was able to see my doctor on Monday.    He ordered a chest x-ray and some blood work and gave me a snazzy new inhaler to try.   Instead of a rescue inhaler, it’s a daily use inhaler.   Boo, I’m so over medications.  My medicine drawer is looking a little crowded.   But, I would like to run without gasping for air.  Also, a rush at work shouldn’t leave me feeling winded.    So hopefully these tests will shine at least a little light on what’s been going on.

  
That being said, I had a pretty good run on Tuesday.   I took the Nike Free RN’s for another little test spin.   I set out to run super slow.  I was hoping I could maintain a slow, easy pace without any walk breaks.  I was running from work so I was a little concerned about the humidity but I was hoping a nice and sloooow pace would keep my breathing under control.     This route is not conducive to a slow start though-

  
I kept my pace calm and just kept trucking.  I was feeling ok and enjoying the sunset on the ocean.   I was also debating if I wanted to run 3 or 4 miles.  I had gotten out of work a little later so the sun was setting quickly.   I had remembered my flashlight though and I had my blinky lights on my belt.    I love the turn around point for the 4 mile route but thought 3 might be the better idea as the return to my car is always slower.   I was feeling sluggish but ok and was going to push for 4 when the roadblock pictured up top put a stop to that.    Boo.  I never quite realized how damn big the trees in the eucalyptus grove were before.  I’m glad I wasn’t running when it came down!

I made it back to my car just before total darkness fell.  One bonus about starting so slow?  I negative split this route for the first time ever!  #findtheshiny right?

How has your week been going?

Ever run into a roadblock like that?

 

 

 

 

Week 7 Training Recap

Upcoming Races– SLO Marathon- Half

Focus– Recovery

This will be a quick recap.   This week shaped up a little fluffier than planned.   Not a lot of exercise but eating like I ran a marathon.  Or 2.   Oddly, I was fine during race weekend and even Disneyland.  It wasn’t until Tuesday that I went off the rails.  A post race week combined with hormones = #eatallthethings.

Monday- Disneyland!!  According to my Up band, we walked around 7 miles that day.  Not too bad.   My legs held up pretty well, I didn’t really feel sore from Surf City but there were moments my mother left me in the dust.  Mostly going up, walking up to Super Hero HQ was a little rough.😁

Tuesday- Rest My chest was hurting pretty badly on Tuesday.  I had the day off and thought about riding the bike or going for a short run but decided to pass on it.  Instead I caught up on all the laundry from the weekend and worked on some computer issues that I had been having.   The computer is fixed but I want to throw my printer out the window.

kind of where I was this week
 

Wednesday- Rest  Back at work and I had a meeting a few towns south in the morning.  I kind of feel like I spent the day driving all over the county, so it was a planned rest day.   Plus my chest was still sore.

Thursday- 12 miles stationary   I had packed my running gear and was looking to try for a short run after work.   I still felt a little bruised but nothing like the past few days.    However a dense marine layer rolled in around closing time so I took it as as a sign to not push my lungs.   I headed home for the bike instead.

Friday- Rest   Like always. 😛

Saturday- Shoes!  With spring races on the horizon and big plans for the summer, I need to figure out my shoe situation.   While my Pure Flow’s aren’t making me bleed anymore, they are not making my feet happy either.   My left foot in particular.    With that in mind, I headed down to SLO for a little bit of shopping and ended up at the Running Warehouse.     Uh oh.   It was busy but someone was able to help me fairly quickly.  I’m horrible because I don’t remember his name!  After explaining all the issues I had been having lately, he brought out 3 pairs of shoes for me to try- New Balance Vazee Pace, Saucony Kinvara 6 and the Pure Flow 5’s.

The New Balance felt great when I was sitting but horrible once I stood up and walked around.   The Kinvara’s were super snug.   I didn’t want to go up a size because I regret it every time I do.  The newer Pure Flow’s were odd.  They are firmer than they used to be.  I didn’t feel any pinching in the heel and the arch support felt ok but the tongue was ridiculous!  It’s harder now so it felt like a piece of plastic digging into my ankle.  What is with that?!   Based on what I liked and didn’t like, he then brought out a pair of Brooks Launch 3’s.    They felt the best out everything but they still felt like a lot of shoe.   I’ve really liked the lower heel- toe drop of the Pure Flow 4’s and the smaller foot print of the toe box.    He then brought out a pair of Nike’s- the Free Run Distance.  Say what?  

I’ve tried on numerous pairs of Nike’s over the years and hated every single one.  Which is odd since all my tennis shoes were Nike’s.   I was predisposed to hate this pair, then I put it on.   Holy crap, it felt like a slipper.   Snug but not tight and with a 4mm drop.   Now, it felt great in the store but running could be a different story.  But it was the best fit and I ended up leaving with my first pair of Nike running shoes.

Oh and I had dvr’ed the marathon trials and watched them that night.  How awesome was that?  Shalane and Amy were amazing and the perfect example of #runningrelationshipgoals.  

Sunday- 6 miles  First run in a week and it was rough.   I was hoping that all the extra rest would have helped my lungs but not so much.     My training plan called for a 90 minute progression run but I had mentally changed that to an easy 8 since I wasn’t feeling great since the race and hadn’t run.   I started out the run in my new shoes but knew I might end up looping back to the house if they didn’t work.  Usually I try to break in my shoes with 3-4 mile runs.  My warm up walk was a little longer than usual and felt pretty good but running was hard.  I was huffing and puffing a mile in.   I wasn’t wheezing, it just felt like it was harder to get in a decent amount of air.  I ran slowly and took regular walk breaks.  I called it at 6, I didn’t have another 2 in me today.   The shoes felt pretty good.  I started the run with some soreness and twinging in my left knee but that’s been there since Thursday.  It actually got better by the end of the run.    They held up well today but I am cautious to see how they do once I run in them more.

So this week ended up being on the lazier side of recovery with only 2 workouts.   But I am ok with that as I needed a wake up call to make me go to the doctor and Surf City was that call.  My appointment is Monday and I am really hoping that it is something that can fixed fairly quickly.   Fingers crossed!  I am trying not to plan to far ahead into next week until I hear what he has to say.

How was your week?

Ever had to change your mind about a brand of shoes?

Did you watch the trials?

 

 

Slacker does Disney

Sorry, couldn’t help myself.  🙂

Ok, I hadn’t been to Disneyland since Disneyland Grad Nite my senior year of high school.  People, that was last century!!  I’ve been trying to go for a couple of years now but never made it work.   My birthday, mom’s birthday, random day in March, nothing seemed to work out.  Then last year, it occurred to me- Surf City!  Disneyland is like 5 minutes from Huntington Beach.  Ok, more like 30.   But then that was in the middle of their not so little measles outbreak.  Yeah, umm no thank you.   Cut to this year.

We were torn between going to Disneyland on Sunday after the race or Monday.  I was concerned with how sore I would feel- Disneyland is a lot of walking.    Then my little lung issue put a kibosh on a Sunday trip.    After lounging around the hotel on Sunday, we headed to Disneyland bright and early on Monday.  Yay!   So while this is not running related, how about a little recap of my little adventure?

  

Favorite Ride-

More like experience but Star Tours rocked.  I remember loving it years ago, but the addition of Star Wars made my inner nerd so very happy.   We even managed to ride it twice.  Which was sweet because there was more than one story line!!!  The second time was also the longest wait in line of the day but that’s ok, we had some visitors while in line-  

Other Rides-

Throughout the day we managed to ride the Matterhorn (2x), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (story there),  Hyperspace Mountain, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, the teacups, Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and Indiana Jones.    Indiana Jones is still one of my favorites, the sharp turns and drops are awesome.    Haunted Mansion as an adult is only meh, kind of cheesy.  And Pirates of the Caribbean?!  Where did that come from?  I don’t think I had ever been on that ride before because I remembered nothing!  And considering I ended up drenched, I would have remembered that!  Oh and there’s a random restaurant inside the ride?  How do you get reservations there?

   
  

   
Fun Story-

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.  Yeah, normally this is a pretty speedy coaster (for Disneyland) and our first ride had started normally.   Halfway through, the coaster had just started to go up a hill when it just stopped.  There was a pre-recorded message about a slow train ahead on the tracks so we thought it may have been part of the ride.  Nope!  Soon another voice came on the speakers announcing that all the trains had stopped due to technical difficulties and that we needed to stay in our seats until we were evacuated.  What?!  Eventually some cast members came out and instructed us to stay in our sits as the coaster had to be anchored before we could get off.   Apparently the coaster could roll if it wasn’t tied down.  Then the fire department showed up.   Meanwhile the couple sitting behind me and my mother were throwing a fit about their lunch plans and trying to get off before the fire department showed up.  One of the cast members threatened to get security.   Truthfully, I was trying not to laugh.  Once off we were escorted through the tunnels on foot.

   

  
  Bummer-

Due to the building of Star Wars land and some scheduled refurbishments, there were quite a few rides closed.  Splash Mountain, Autopia, Jungle Cruise, Mark Twain’s Riverboat, the pirate ship and some other attractions were all closed.   Boo.   😦  Also, we were in line for Hyperspace Mountain again when it too was shut down.    Also it turned out to be a school holiday so the place was very crowded.    And hot- who predicted temps in the 80’s in February?!

Nerd Moment-

Super Hero HQ was nerd-vana for me.  Well, that and Star Wars Launch Bay.   Seriously awesome.  And I finally found myself a trucker hat.  I’ve wanted one for running but could never find one I liked.

The take home-

We saved all the stores for last as we didn’t want to have to carry anything.  I am not a huge Mickey or Minnie fan (sorry!) nor am I fond of the princesses.  My favorite Disney cartoon is Lilo and Stitch.   I remember seeing it in the theater when it came out years ago.  I was a little over 20 and I went with my best friends-at that time they were all guys.  All 4 of us were sniffling by the end, I still get teary eyed watching it today.  So I wanted a Stitch stuffed animal.  I finally found one in the very last store.   I swear I picked it up, hugged it and proceeded to carry it around the store like a 5 year old.  #noshame

  

Fail-

Everyone was gathering to watch the parade in the afternoon but we chose to skip it and go try Big Thunder Mountain Railroad again.    While this ride was successful, we missed something big.  Peyton Manning was in the freakin’ parade!!!  Seriously?!

All in all it was a fun and tiring day.  Maybe someday I will finally make it to California Adventure.    🙂

Ever been to Disneyland?

Favorite ride?

Favorite Disney character?  Who is Mr. Toad?

 

 

Ramblin’ On

I seem to like to ramble in the middle of the week.  34 days into the year and I am in a funk.

Minus the 6 day sick streak in January, I have been hitting the workouts I set for myself each week.   January was a solid start to regaining my base.   I started cross training more often, you could even call it consistent now.  🙂   Then this week.  I have yet to run this week.  I just can’t seem to get motivated.

 

Kimi is unimpressed by my lack of motivation

Maybe it’s taper crazies?  Not that I really needed to taper but I have had some phantoms pains too.   Maybe it’s that the last week or so of runs have been ugly and rough.  I am not expecting them to be all sunshine and daisies but an 11:00 minute pace was kicking my ass last Sunday.  That doesn’t bode well for Sunday’s race.

Maybe it’s that work has been all Mondays for the last week?   Which is odd because even though we are running short handed, our crew is small but mighty.  However, I feel like I am forgetting some huge important detail.    I hate that feeling.    Maybe it will come to me during the race on Sunday.   🙂

I need to snap out of this.  I started this post on Tuesday night but deleted it- it sounded way too whiny and pissy.   But some venting does help.    And there is #shiny still.  Like I said, the crew at work right now is awesome.    I have a fun weekend planned with 20,000 other crazies like me.  Besides the race festivities on Saturday and Sunday, I have some other fun things in the works for this weekend that I am looking forward to sharing with you.

So tell me- is it taper crazies or am I just cranky?

Mid Week Musings 7

Maybe I should rename these mid week rambles?  At least this one is actually going up mid-week and not on Thursday or Friday.   🙂

How is January almost over?  Seriously I need more time!

Everyone’s posting their race schedules for the year and I’m over here like I should have bought a Powerball ticket.   😅  My race account is looking pretty sad.   While I am wishing for the impossible- how about more vacation time too?

I’ve been given the opportunity to come back as a SLO Marathon ambassador for 2016!  Woo hoo!!!  More on that soon!

I’m not a football fan but Denver making it to the Super Bowl is making me nostalgic.   Growing up we had one of those huge satellite dishes.  You know the ones that had to move in order to watch a different station?   Anyways, for whatever reasons we only got Denver stations.   The Broncos and the Rockies were the sports teams popular in our house.  Combine that with the Broncos being my grandfather’s favorite football team and I am feeling the urge to rock some blue and orange at Surf City.  #nostalgicfan

Last Wednesday’s weird, sick feeling makes more sense now.   My last visit with my gastro resulted in a new medication to try.   New to me and him- he had never prescribed it before.  I was the guinea pig.  Oh boy.  Other than any possible warnings about driving or sleepiness, I try to avoid reading the potential side effects of a new medication.   I like to avoid any chance to think myself into a side effect and just give it a week or 2.   But I have been having some issues and felt kind of off so I read all the documentation yesterday.   I could check off more than a few boxes on the list.  The most interesting one though?  “Feeling drunk”  What?!    Once I made sure I read that right, some things from the last 2 weeks made a little more sense.  Yeah- bye bye pills.

Last week I shared that my local pizza place knows me by name.  Friday night I picked up a pizza on the way home and they told me I am their #1 customer.  Ummmm, yay?  I only ate pizza once last week by the way.

Another episode of Z Nation got me through a treadmill run tonight.  A very slow treadmill run but it’s the miles that count right?   I’ve found the only way I can run on the treadmill without any weird aches is to either run very slow or very fast.  Tonight was a slow one.  I felt kind of awkward watching a zombie show while running though.

Lastly, I’m sure most of you have heard about the dog that bandit-ed a half marathon but my mother made sure to share it to my Facebook feed today.   With a comment that the dog is faster than me.  Which is true.  I still love the story though.   ☺

Hit me with your random!

Are you watching the Super Bowl?

Anyone else remember those satellite dishes?