Category: Slacker

Trail Tuesday!

I have to say that I am liking Mondays as rest days. Even when I didn’t do anything on Sunday to warrant it. 🙂With that being said, I was ready to do something on Tuesday. Just not too early. 🙂 The temperature dropping at night combined with a new set of flannel sheets makes it really hard getting out of bed in the morning. But eventually I managed it. I headed down to SLO for a little shopping and a good lunch. From there my mom and I headed for a trail that she has done before with my dad. This trail is at the top of the grade, and you just pull off the freeway and park. You literally have to climb a fence and gate to get to the path. The fence is more for livestock than people and the trail sites actually tell you to jump the fence so I’m not that much of a rebel. Still, I was spooked for 2 miles for some reason. I knew there were other cars parked so there must be people on the trail but it was over 2 miles before we saw anyone.

Now trail may be a misnomer. While the sites claim it’s 4.6 miles up with an elevation gain of 1200’+, the trail is actually a dirt road. A well maintained dirt road. Why so maintained? TV towers!! Can’t lose access to those right? 🙂 Also I forgot my Garmin. Fail!! According to my Nike+ app which is kind of working again, it was 4 miles up with just under 1200′ elevation gain. On the way up, there is a steep drop to the right as you wind up the hill. You can see 101 but eventually the cars turn into ants and then you can’t hear them at all. I won’t lie, something about the climb and the trees bordering the side, I was waiting for the something to jump out at us. I am not sure what I was expecting more- a very real mountain lion or some mythical evil creature. You know you watch too much Supernatural when you start cracking jokes about wendigos and Sasquatch’s. Then a woman rode up behind us on a bike. I shrieked like a little girl and jumped 3 feet in the air. Seriously Fallon?! Get it together! We power walked up and power walked down enjoying the views along the way and at the top. It was overcast and chilly but still had great views. From the top we could see all of SLO. This put into perspective just how high up we were. I could see all of the two most well-known peaks in SLO- Madonna and Bishop’s Peak. They looked so small! At one point on the way down I looked west and realized I could see the rock and stacks in work town too! Kind of awesome! I wasn’t feeling well, so we kept the pace easy and stopped to take pictures and I usually didn’t pause the Nike app because it’s kind of a pain. Even with that we still completed the 8 mile trek in 2 hours. That’s not too shabby! I would like to go back again and try running it next time. And maybe keep my cool a little more. 🙂 I also need to remember my Garmin for more accurate data. I am trying to figure out where the other .5 mile is. There was a point when the trail went 3 possible ways right near the end. Plus we lost the mountain biker for a while. She ended up passing us on the way down. She had to have taken one of the other 2 ways.

All in all, I’m happy with an 8 mile day. 🙂 Now if I could just get to the treadmill.

What about you?

Ever jump a fence? With or without permission?

Afraid of things that go bump in the woods?

A Week of Whine

Well, November is off to a roaring start. Please read that with the heavy sarcasm intended.

I started to feel a little under the weather last week so I took Saturday off. My stomach has decided to be a littlecrankier this week. I must have jinxed myself. Sunday’s planned 6 turned into a slower 3.5. However on the cooler side, I ran in pants and a short sleeve shirt. I couldn’t tell you the last time I did that, it was odd. But 3.5 is better than none, right?

And none is how the rest of this week has played out so far. I was looking forward to getting going on my training plan. Particularly now that I put my crazy plan out there in print. Since daylight savings means I will be treadmill running during the week I decided that Mondays would be rest days. The gym is always super busy on those days and since I would like to run trails every other weekend I figured Monday would make for a good rest day. Of course that’s the only day I felt good. Hindsight really is 20/20.

Tuesday and Wednesday were out due to my little bugger of a stomach. Today I was gung ho, the gym was going to happen. Then I got super dizzy at work, felt like I was running a fever and just felt wrong. I didn’t even want to eat, which is odd for me, because I love eating. I ended up going to lunch early and napped the entire time. Once off work, it was home bound for me. My poor gym bag has come into work everyday since Tuesday but never used. 😦 Well, I did pull out my long sleeve layer to use as a blanket while I napped but that doesn’t count.

A coworker thought this was amusing... and I had no running pictures. :( — A coworker thought this was amusing… and I had no running pictures. 😦

I am trying a whole mind over matter thing right now. Work has been crazy busy this week with the emphasis on crazy. I have never been one to believe in the “lunar effect” but the way people have been acting this week make me doubt my doubt. Driving home seeing the almost full moon yesterday was like a light bulb moment. Either that or I am grasping at straws. My boss is going on vacation so sick is not really an option. Oh and I have a 5k on Saturday. “Rested” legs are a good thing right? Oh well, at least it is for a good cause.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for listening to me whine. 🙂

Ok, how was your week?

Anyone racing this weekend?

Do you believe in the lunar effect?

Call me Crazy

Starting with the smiles-

Never be a naysayer! I said that I didn’t think there was any way that my location would win an award in the Halloween contest at work. I was wrong! We won the “Funniest Location” award. I think it helped that a customer put himself in our chalk outline while the executive was there checking us out. And that wasn’t the only customer who was willing to get down on the floor for a photo opportunity. Turns out the CSI theme was a hit. We get lunch catered in sometime soon as our prize. 🙂

Followed by coming clean-

Hello, my name is Fallon and this is Slacker Runner. Some may have seen the change when I comment on other blogs. Back when I started this blog I was aiming for a little anonymity. So I misspelled my name and blurred my race bibs. Then I got real. I mean, seriously, I was sharing race times, race dates and names of races, etc. Doesn’t take much more than that and there’s my name. Plus it wasn’t even spelled that different. I’ve been meaning to update this for a while but the Slacker in me won for a while. I finally followed through. There a few things I am going to update on the blog in future actually. Fun fact- Falyn came about years ago when I wanted to be a writer and was playing around with pen names. I have a few more stashed away. 🙂

And ending with the crazy-

Last night this happened-Woo hoo! I am stoked. I have wanted to run Surf City for a few years now but always had a reason why the timing wasn’t right. It’s still not right but I’m not going to wait anymore. I am looking forward a fun race. It will also be the biggest race I have run so far- 20,000 runners- that’s a lot of people! This will not be a goal race of 2015, my only goal is to cross the finish line.

Wise Oscar Wilde's words: life is now, stop waiting! — Can always count on pinterest for motivation

Which brings me to why it is still not the best timing. As of right now, I am running a 25K trail race with 3200′ elevation gain the weekend before. Insert sheepish face here!!!! Both of the races will be more like long runs than races. I am both nervous and super excited for them. And yes I understand the insanity of this undertaking. I think. I am currently working on adapting the half marathon training plan that I started yesterday.

Once getting through both of those, I plan to take a week off of running. Then it’s time to train for my goal race for Spring- SLO Marathon Half. Maybe I can break 2:00? I am kind of nervous about having plans like this so early. I rarely plan that far in advance! On the upside, this gives me the perfect incentive to keep working hard through the holidays. Which means I won’t start the new year feeling fluffy and in a training hole. Well, hopefully. 🙂 I have to follow through and get my butt to the treadmill.

Now onto you guys-

Ever sign up for something crazy? Got any training suggestions?

Ever run Surf City? Or SLO? Or back to back race weekends?

No, seriously, training ideas?

Runaway Chicken

With daylight savings fast approaching and being one of the few runners who does not look forward to it, I have tried to get as many miles in after work as possible. This can mean shorter than normal runs but I would rather run that than the treadmill sooner.

Tuesday I headed to the lake path on the chance that it was open like last week. Unlike last week, the signs were out. Waah. I stood for a few minutes and pondered. Then I became a lemming and followed the 20 people ignoring the signs. So bad I know but it was my last time at the path until spring. I only managed 2.5 miles before I thought it would be too dark to complete another lap. The path only has two lights- both near the playground.

from last week, when the signs were down

I was stretching out on the fitness bars when I saw a Chihuahua looking dog coming down the street. I waited a moment and didn’t see any owners. This corner of the path can be pretty busy car-wise so I decide to see if I could figure out where the dog lives. He was having none of that. His barking made me laugh. He didn’t sound mean, more like a petulant teenager. “Leave me alone, mind your own business, what are you looking at”. While I am trying to decide if I want to force it, I hear a rustling in the bushed across the street. I looked up to see a chicken walking away from a house and going towards the street. It’s making a jail break!

So now I don’t know if I should chase the dog or the chicken! Or do I leave them both and just go back to my car? A group of people was coming my way and a nice older man told me that the dog wanders on its own all the time. He also agreed that it wasn’t the friendliest. So I asked him about the chicken. While we were chatting the chicken came back down around the house. It walked to a gate in the fence and tried to squeeze in. Then it tried to climb the bush running along the fence. It wasn’t escaping, it was locked out! Once again, it followed the path around the fence, I think there must have been another gate back there. The man tried to open the gate but couldn’t get it open. I was beginning to feel bad for the chicken, all it wanted to do was go home. It knew exactly what door to go to but couldn’t open it. So the nice man and I went door knockin’. We found someone who lived in the same house but didn’t own the chickens. He called the owner before heading out to try to catch it.

Apparently the chickens roam during the day before going back inside the fence. I run this path 2x a week and have never seen or heard the chickens before. Plus it’s a residential area. After handling that, the man and I parted ways. So I probably could have finished another lap but I wouldn’t have had the runaway chicken experience. 🙂 Last evening at the path completed. I work this Saturday, so I was able to get off a little early on Wednesday. I headed back to town hoping for at least 6 miles but dreaming of more. Ha! I completed 6 but it was so damn hard. Nothing hurt, I just had zero energy. It was also 87º… on October 29. Ugh, where is fall. I hit 4 stop lights between mile 2.5 to 3.5. Then my stomach informed me that 4 miles would have been a better idea at mile 3.75. I was 2 miles from my car. There was a bench just past mile 4 and I took a break. I think I sat for about 10 minutes before finally heading off to finish my run. 6 miles done and I managed to keep my overall average pace at 11:45. Considering how I felt though, I will call that a win!

What was not a win was the bloody toe I found when taking off my socks. Boo.

What’s the strangest animal situation you’ve ever run into?

Did you know chickens were so good with direction? I had no idea.

Anyone racing this weekend?

Water and Gatorade, then go left

I said that a lot on Sunday!

First things though thanks for letting me know I’m not the only one! The comments on my last post were awesome, thanks guys! 🙂

I was still riding that runner’s high from Thursday when I went for a run on Saturday. While it was nowhere near the epicness of Thursday, it was still pretty good. My planned 3.8 turned into 4.5. Oops. 🙂 The weather started out overcast and chilly but I quickly warmed up. I’m still slower but I think I’ve finally, really accepted it. I just took my time and enjoyed my run. Going longer was only an oops because I had a meeting to go to with my mother. I ended up just throwing a sweater over my running gear. The only reason I felt ok doing this was because we were headed for a volunteer check in for the Harvest Marathon. I have wanted to run the half at this race for the last two years but it’s proximity to City to the Sea usually has me feeling burnt out. So instead I volunteer. My mother and her tennis teams have to work 2 stations so I hang out with them. The race has a 5K, half marathon and a full marathon. The half and the full are run on back roads through vineyards and orchards as well as farms and homes. Last year the teams were split between 2 water stations. This year we had one of the water stations from last year and a course monitor point at the 12ish mile turn around point. It was an early morning. Being up that early and not racing seemed like a crime. Have I mentioned that I love sleeping? However stopping for donuts along the way made everything better. Didn’t you know that donuts have magical healing powers? My boss said that the other day, I thought it was awesome. 🙂 We arrived at our aid station- mile 8.7 of the marathon- a little before sunrise. Fall has finally arrived, so it was damn cold, after setting up the station I jumped back in the car until it was almost time for the first runner. This is a small race put on by the high school and the funds go back into the high school athletic program. It is Boston certified but draws a smaller crowd. There were 97 finishers for for the full and 283 for the half. As for the Boston qualifying part- it has an elevation gain of 1600 feet. The aid station was at the top of a long slow climb followed by an immediate left and more climbing. I felt so bad every time a runner asked if this was the last hill. 😦All the runners were so nice. Most of them thanked the team for the water and for being up early on a Sunday. Our station had water and Gatorade which was an improvement over last year when we just had water. The port-a-potty was a huge hit too. Apparently one guy couldn’t handle the line of one and did his business behind the port-a-potty. Really?! There was no line! One runner did yell at me for the lack of race food provided and a woman from the orchard asked me if we were cleaning up after “the parade”. When I said yes, her response was that she wasn’t going to yell at me yet then. Ummm, thank you?On the whole, it was a good morning. It’s fun to cheer other runners on. Especially for a race that has no crowd support for the majority of the miles. The people who run this race rock. Now I am torn for next year- do I finally run it or do I keep volunteering? Getting teenagers to voluntarily get up at the crack of dawn is like pulling teeth so my mother will probably need help again. 🙂