Category: Slacker

Week 6 Recap- Really?

I know I picked a longer training cycle but how is week 6 over already? Picking a longer cycle seems to have been a good choice so far with work being crazy, my odd leg issues and other various issues popping up. The plan is detailed enough to give me guidance but flexible enough I can move things around. And things moved this week.

Monday- Rest

Ahh, glorious Monday Rest day. Coincidentally also Monday Pizza night. 😉🍕

Tuesday- 4 miles easy.

Like I mentioned in my last post, this run made me nervous. While my leg ached it didn’t outright hurt. I tried to focus on my form and make sure that my left leg was actually coming around and not just shuffling along. I pulled off a nice negative split for the run but gravity helped that along. 🙂

Wednesday- Rest

I have to start writing these recaps as the week progresses. I can’t even remember what I did other than work on Wednesday. I think pizza may have been involved. Oh, I got my CT results. Yeah, more on that next post.

Thursday- 7 miles long-ish run

I love half days. Granted, they mean working on a Saturday but those extra few hours on weekday rock. I decided to try and get my long run out of the way. With my leg still being achy, I had already decided that instead of the 10 that had been on the plan I was aiming for 7-8 miles. I headed to the lake path, while running multiple loops can be boring I would be near my car if my leg started hurting. It was warm but not too bad. There was one section of the lake that resembled the surface of the sun and I felt like I slowed in that section every time. I completed the first 5 miles by taking a .10 mile walk break after each mile to shake out my calf area. I noticed that walking wasn’t helping so for miles 6 & 7, I tried something different. I stopped my Garmin and started a new run. Instead of walking, I took a short 20-30 second pause if I needed to stretch. My running pace dropped by 20 seconds and overall it only added 2 minutes to my run vs the 5 minutes walking. Overall, I am not sure if I learned anything but it was an interesting experiment. 😏

Friday- Rest day

I lost the battle with the cookies.

Saturday- Active Rest day

The morning started with a drive out to Saturday work town. I headed home after work as my mom and I had plans to head to the fair for the afternoon. The fair comes once a year and runs almost 2 weeks. The town goes a little insane but it’s fun. I can usually hear the concerts out my window too, so bonus! I’m not huge on crowds so I generally only go once. I have to get my funnel cake and pretzel, it’s a fair tradition. 😄 We enjoyed our yummy fair food and took in all the sights. I will never ride a fair ride but I love taking pictures of them.

She’s real!!

I always try to go on a night where I wouldn’t mind hearing the concert a little better, too. This year that was supposed to be Alice Cooper and Motley Crue. Except they had plane issues so the concert was pushed back. From what I could hear from home- Alice Cooper started playing after 10 and Motley Crue around midnight. I wonder how many people stayed. I wore my Fitbit to the fair and we walked well over 5 miles. Plus that thing is notoriously short on steps. I feel zero guilt for that yummy fair food. Maybe for the purse I bought.

Sunday- 5.5 miles Speed work

Somehow I was up early for me and made it to the track by 10. I wanted to try to complete the speed work I had skipped by running long on Thursday. The plan called for a 30 minute warm and 8x 1:00 @10K pace with 1:00 recovery and then a 15 minute cool down for 1:10:00. As I type this I noticed 2 things- 1) that math does not add up at all and 2) I thought it was 10x repeats so I did 10, ugh. The 30 minute warm up turned into 35 and I rode the struggle bus the entire way. I could not get my legs moving and my lungs weren’t much better. I checked the temp during a water break and noticed the 65% humidity. Ok, I get the complaining lungs now. I really wanted to blow off the repeats but I figured I would at least start them and see how it went. Since I didn’t want to see 500 splits with an odd overall average pace I ended my first run after the warm up and started a new one. Honestly, I have no idea what my 10K pace should be but according to my PR 16 months ago it was around 9:00. Didn’t think I had a shot in hell of hitting that.

1. 8:01
2. 8:13
3. 8:02
4. 8:12
5. 8:15
6. 7:55
7. 8:19
8. 8:21
9. 8:23
10. 8:21Well, that was unexpected. No lie, I walked the recoveries. I recently read another blog of someone much faster and stronger than me and they said they walked their recoveries. I swear it was like birds singing when I read that. 😊 That being said, I have no idea how I hit those paces when I was feeling so rough. I felt like a nasty, sticky mess when done so my cool down only ended up being half a mile. I was done. But all in all, it turned out to be a good run. Plus I love the track.

Over all, not a bad training week. I think I’ve finally accepted that I have some limitations right now so I am going to do what I can and see what happens. Going forward I would like to add in cross training and I think the stationary bike is the best option right now, I just need to get my lazy butt to the gym. Any bets on how long that will take me?

How was your week? Do you like the track?

Ever been to a concert that started that late? Would you have stayed?

What’s your fair food indulgence?

Mid Week Musings-3

Woo hoo, it’s Wednesday! WordPress tells me this is the third time I’ve posted with my mid-week musings, so here we go.

D.E.R- Smart Choices-

As in Don’t Even Register. I’ve never DNS’d a race because I register super late. I figure I’d rather pay $20 more than lose the whole registration fee. My post back in May laid out my summer race schedule. It listed a 25K trail race on August 1. Which I really, really want to run. But let’s be real here, I haven’t been on a trail since April. I am not in any kind of shape for a 3200’+ elevation gain. And it’s by the beach. Hello humidity. While I was struggling through the last humid miles at Shoreline, I came to the conclusion that a humid 25K just might kill me. That struggle bus was fueling some dramatic thoughts apparently. So, I decided that a 12K with 1400′ climb would be fine, a little fun with a little difficulty too. Then there was my leg and let’s be real there too, it’s been bothering me for a while now. It’s not a new thing. It’s not like I’ve never done dumb things before (i.e. Ventura half on heavy-duty antibiotics, a 5K after an asthma filled 10k -September makes me stupid) but I am trying to be smart here. So from 25K to 12K to 0. Which makes me cranky since our area has 2 trail races a year and this was the last long distance option until Fall 2016. Waah! Or so I thought. 🙂 The one I ran in January is coming back in November. 7 days after the Big Sur Half. Yup, I’m still crazy. Just not running next weekend. 🙂

That leg though-

After hiding from the lightning and thunder on Sunday, and the oppressive humidity left behind on Monday, I was ready to try running. Seriously, I’ve never seen 95% humidity in home town and work was a lovely 100% when I arrived that morning, thanks Delores. On Tuesday, I changed and headed back to home to run. I met my mom at the river path which was cool because I was actually really nervous to run so I ended up walking the first mile with her. From then on I tried to run and just keep things easy. I focused on how my leg felt and worked on my turn-over. I know my left hip drops and I need to work on my form. And now with no races in August, I can work on my form, like back to re-form school for slacker runners. Oof, that was bad. 🙂 Anyways, the run was pretty good. My leg felt achy but not in pain. I paused for a stretch break after each mile and I made sure to stretch really well after my run and later. I also iced my leg for a bit. Now, let’s see what happens.

Yeah, so not a clothing model

A Fab Choice?

Back on July 4th I finally caved to one of those Facebook ads and signed up for a Fabletic’s outfit. They were offering an outfit for as low $15 so I figured why not. After their little questionnaire, the site suggested a few outfits. I didn’t buy any of those but finally chose one on another page. Shorts, tank and visor for less than $20 after taxes. I wore the shorts and tank on Tuesday’s run. Somehow, I’ve already misplaced the visor. 😦 I sized up for both pieces which worked well with the shirt as I think my normal size would have been too small. The waistband on the shorts feels super loose so a smaller size may have worked but damn they are short in the back. The material felt slightly heavy when on and I was less than enthused with the shorts on that first mile. They kept riding up. Grrr. Somehow running made all the irritation go away. 3 miles of running and both pieces were perfectly behaved. I even forgot the shirt was new, it fit so well. The second I started walking my cool down, the shorts went back to riding up. WTH?! So, overall I am not hugely impressed but not overly disappointed either. More of a meh. Why can’t Lulu be more affordable?

Tips for correcting form issues?

Ever tried Fabletics? Thoughts?

Week 5- Oops

And here it is. This past week did not go according to plan, not even close. After a good day and race on Sunday I was optimistic for this week. Or I was trying to be. In reality I was in a funk. No real reason for it, but I was feeling very woe is me this week. Like I said, not sure why. But let’s get to the training- or lack there of.

Monday- Rest

I was feeling a little sore post race so I figured a rest day was in order. Monday was also a vacation day for me and I usually love running on vacation days but thought rest was best.

Tuesday- Rest

I woke up feeling pretty rough but managed to drag myself out to the high school. My mother had a morning tennis practice and asked for my help. All I wanted to do was sleep but I lasted for a little over an hour. I never really felt better so I wasted another vacation day by resting. I told myself I still had Wednesday and Thursday after work. I did get further on my craft swap project though. And I had a few helpers even if they were breaking the rules-

Wednesday- And…rest

Last week I was smart and made sure that the day I had blood work done was a rest day. This week that common sense escaped me. I had a CT scheduled for the morning but other than the fasting I had to do on Tuesday I didn’t think anything of it. I went to work right after and felt fine. It wasn’t until3ish that things went south. I suddenly felt the opposite of fine, I thought I was going to pass out. I spent the next hour sitting in the break room feeling very off. I don’t know what caused it but it meant no running that day. On the upside- my boss got me a great birthday gift-

Thursday- 3.5 miles

I was looking forward to this run. After 3 days off, I really needed to run. I changed after work and headed for the lake path. My warm up walk ran a little longer as I missed a call from my dad. It’s odd for him to call, so I made sure to call him back. I didn’t want to wait so I just walked while I called. Once that was done, I started running. My goal was to keep an easy pace so I was obsessively watching my watch to make sure I stayed around 10:30. I’d really like to get back to running without so many walk breaks so I know I need to slow things down. However that wasn’t my biggest problem. I hurt. Specifically, my left knee, calf and ankle. My calf was so tight, it hurt so badly. I stopped after the first running mile and just tried to stretch it out. I then attempted to run another mile. More pain. Both miles I ran were at a 10:30 pace but after completing the second running mile I decided I was done. I spent more time stretching before walking back to the car. Grr.

Friday- Rest

Started work early and since we weren’t open I wore my Sayonaras until we were. I don’t run in them since they are too big but I may start wearing them more to and from work and on the weekends. I need to figure out what is up with my leg. I put them back on after work to run errands. I was looking stylish. 🙂

Saturday- Rest- sense a pattern here?

My mother was throwing a little dinner party for my birthday that evening so I knew I had to run early. Except I woke up feeling poorly and my leg ached. We had hoped to go on an 8 mile hike on Sunday, so I skipped another run. 😦 The party ended up being super small but fun. My birthday is pretty much the only time I drink alcohol and I admit I was looking forward to sleeping really well that night. Life of the party right? It’s one of the reasons I rarely drink, I get super mellow and sleepy. Mother Nature had other ideas.

We had the mother of all thunder storms roll through in the last 24 hours. I don’t think I have ever seen so much lightning before. The house rattled all night long. So much for sleep. The power was going and coming back making that lovely surge sound every time. Kimi somehow knew each time a really big batch of thunder was going to roll through and would start crying in warning.

Sunday- Rest

Running or hiking in the rain I can do. Lightning? Not so much. There were reports of it hitting cars. Power was out all over the place, lines were down and the flood damage was all over town. And more rain was coming. We received more rain in the last day than the last few years. Which is amazing and needed but the land was too dry to absorb all that water. The town is kind of v-shaped so the water flooded down to the river bed but so much mud and gunk are strewn across town now. There’s still a flood warning in effect as I type this. Grrr.

Weekly miles- 3.5

So yeah, that was less than stellar. Luckily my goal race is in October so I have some time to figure things out. I’ve also rethought my next few races but more about that in another post. More rain is expected for tomorrow but hopefully I can get back on track this week. Fingers crossed.

How was your weekend?

Do you like thunder and lightning? There are very rare here.

Best thing you did this weekend?

Week 4- A Little Early

I am kind of liking these weekly recaps. I feel like they are helping keep me on track. Particularly this week, I ran the gamut of craving a run to feeling like doing nothing but stuffing food in my face. Yes, I am a stress eater. There were donuts involved this week. And those Sweet Potato Food Should Taste Good chips. Both so yummy but so not on the approved list of foods. 😦

I alternated between heels and flats all week but my legs are still pissed. I rarely get to sit while training and I am feeling it. I don’t think my legs ached this bad after my first half marathon. Then I just couldn’t sit down…or get up without help. 🙂 I normally stand the good majority of the day but would usually sit for about 2 hours through out the day. Now I just fall into the comfy chair exhausted on my lunch. Trainee #3 starts on Monday so I need to figure something out. Unfortunately running shoes are not an option.

Monday– Actual- 3.5 miles -12:13, 10:39, 10:13 and change

I had to do some rearranging this week, which meant a Monday run. Oof, that was hard. Monday running just seems harder. Plus I don’t think my legs appreciated running the day after my long run. I usually rest the following day. I tried to treat it like a recovery run and keep the pace easy but I was all over the place. I even wore compression socks since I knew I was sore. Truthfully, I wore them all day. I might have to do that more often until things calm down.

Tuesday- Rest

I had blood work planned for the morning. This was part of why I switched up my running days. I didn’t think they were going take a lot but I figured I better err on the side of caution. Ugh, I hate needles. I got to the lab at 7:04, they opened at 7. I was the 15th person in line. Seriously?! I was actually late to work.

Wednesday- Speed work- sort of

The plan called for a 25 min warm up followed by 3 minutes at HMP, 1 minute easy jog x5, then 16 min cool down. Sounds easy enough but I just wasn’t feeling it. As I drove north, I was trying to decide what to run and where to run it. My mom called and she wondered if I would head out with her. No speedwork-yay! So we headed out for a short 3 mile jaunt. That turned into 4+ for me with some random intervals. I was planning on taking it easy but then I decided to just run whatever I felt like. So I ended up up with really random speed intervals while I looped around and occasionally met back up with my mom but it was fun. 🙂

Thursday- Rest

Hmmm, I am sure I did something interesting this day but I can’t remember anything so I guess not? I know I posted this.

Friday- Rest

I was at work by 7:30. I am on vacation Monday and Tuesday so I wanted to make sure I did everything I needed to do before leaving. I was out a little after 5:30 and I though about running a few miles but I did all my weekend errands instead. One less stress this weekend right?

Saturday- Rest – more than likely.

I am torn between running or walking a couple miles as a shakeout for tomorrow or resting. My legs are still super sore and I can’t decide which one would be the smarter choice. I also need to decide exactly what shirt I am running in tomorrow. And I am procrastinating packing my change of clothes while I type this. For some reason, I am can’t decide what I am going to want to put on after tomorrow’s race. #decisionsdecisions Whatever it is, it needs to be comfy enough to get me through a day of walking and shopping. Ok, maybe hobbling and shopping. 🙂 I had helping making a new playlist though-

Sunday- Shoreline Half..and my birthday 🙂

To be continued…

Happy Saturday!!!

What do you like to do after a race?

How was your week?

Do you stand or sit at work?

Suddenly Shoreline

You know you’re a runner when you find out that a local race you’ve run the last 2 years on your birthday weekend is a week later this year and you’re bummed out. 2 years ago I ran the Rock to the Pier 10K the day before my birthday. Last year, I stepped up to the half marathon that was now on my birthday. The 10K rocked, the half marathon kicked my ass. Both were still awesome. There’s something about running a race on/near your birthday that is kind of awesome. Well except for seeing the new age on your bib, that usually stings a bit. 🙂

I was still planning on running Rock’n Around the Pier this year but I just wasn’t feeling very into it. The race has 12+ miles on the beach. Add the sand and the inevitable humidity and I was preparing for a rough time. Throw in a lazier than planned June and I was starting to dread it. Plus, last year I ran it with NikeC, that’s not in the cards this year. So I decided to do the smart thing, I figured I would run the 10K instead. It would mean the loss of bling, but it’s not all about the medals. Right?

2 weeks ago, I got an email. California has a half marathon series every year, and you can earn an extra medal at the end of the year at one of the Series end races for a variety of challenge. Pretty cool but the odds of me running any of the end races are kind of small. The emails let you know of upcoming halfs in the series though. The race at the top of this email was Shoreline Half. In Ventura. On my actual birthday. Could I, should I? Nah, no, that would be crazy.

Call me crazy. I registered. I found a sweet discount online and committed. I also adjusted my training. I had been aiming to hit 4 days a week and up my mileage but I stuck with 3 days and upped my long runs. So my last 3 weeks looked like this-

14 miles overall- 5+ long
16 miles overall- 8 long
18 miles overall- 10 long

Dang, that looks sad. But after 2 Slacker months, I wasn’t trying to break myself by being in a hurry. Plus this race is strictly for fun. For more reasons than just not hurting myself. I am not getting a hotel, I am driving down on race morning with my mom and S (one of her tennis players- she tends to adopt them). So hello to my first ever 3AM wake up call for a race. And hello to packet pickup on race morning. Cuz that won’t be stressful at all. 🙂 The race is flat, which most people would love but I find flat to be my nemesis. Oh and it’s on the boardwalk…along the beach. Hello humidity. #sorrylungs

You know you're a runner when... you are looking forward to a girls weekend that includes a half-marathon!

So am I crazy? Well, that remains to be seen. 🙂 I am hoping for a fun, pretty race. Some shiny new bling and then a day spent shopping and eating around Santa Barbara. Hello Lululemon and Lorna Jane- please take my money. 🙂

So, seriously, am I crazy?

Ever registered for a race at the last minute? I have but not this late for a half.

Do you run on your birthday?