Category: Slacker

Different Kind of Marathon

After Tuesday’s run debacle, actually it was more of a phone debacle than a run debacle, I was anxious to get over it. After work on Thursday, I had planned on running there but the wind had picked up and I did not want cold ears. Seriously, why do my ears get cold so easily? I went to the park instead. Once there, I found that it was super busy. Well, there were cars everywhere but when I got on the path, there weren’t a lot of people.

I set out for three laps of the lake. With the construction still going on, I decided to walk that section every lap. I figured with my luck, I would trip over an orange cone. I tried to keep my pace as steady as possible while still focusing on my form. Why is that so hard? It was a pretty good run. I kind of looked forward to the little walk break each time it came around. I finished out my laps and checked my Garmin. My pace was faster than planned and I didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard. Sweet! If only it be like that all the time. 🙂 There was some big shindig going at the park, so as I was walking out all sweaty, I had to walk through groups of people all dressed up. Oops!

Hey, that's pretty good :) — Hey, that’s pretty good 🙂

At work on Friday we had a sandwich potluck. We were celebrating the arrival of a new coworker and anothers birthday. It was fun and a healthier option for a potluck. Well, not counting the onion dip, that was just tasty. Plus it wouldn’t be a Friday without my usual Friday breakfast- healthy food fail.

I had 8 miles on the schedule for today. I knew my mother and I were heading into SLO to go shopping early, so I figured I would be running them in the evening. That was until we were shopping and running errands until 7:00 pm. Does a marathon of shopping count? Yeah, I didn’t think so. We hit a few stores before lunch. Lunch was Firestone as usual. I enjoyed my usual kid’s burger with bacon wrapped in lettuce. I’m such a grown up. 🙂 But guess what this grown up did? She didn’t order any fries!!! I think that’s a first, they have awesome fries.

That is when things got a little busy. A Homegoods recently opened in SLO and we had been waiting to check it out. So had the rest of the county apparently. The place was packed. Plus the store isn’t really set up for carts but you need a cart to carry your haul! There is so much to look at, we were there for a while. 🙂 The line to check out was freaky long but actually moved pretty quickly. I behaved myself and spent under 40 bucks. From there, it was time for the Running Warehouse.

I did something that I have never done before. I returned a pair of shoes. I tried, I really did, to like the Adrenalines but I just couldn’t. They felt like bricks on my feet. Plus, they had so much cushioning that the first few times I wore them, I had troubles feeling the gas pedal. At the SLO Marathon, I think I counted more than 10 people wearing them. I wanted to grab them and ask why???? What was I missing? I haven’t even worn them in a month. I have been wearing my old pink Inspire’s even though they kind of hurt and my Waver Rider’s. I felt kind of weird returning them. The service was awesome as usual. The only questions asked were what didn’t I like about them. Then we discussed the replacement. Thankfully, he said what I had been thinking. My pronation is similar in minimum support shoes and moderate to max support shoes so I may as well go with what is comfortable. So here is my shiny new pair of… Wave Rider 17’s.

Yep, second pair. Now I just have to decide if I want to use these just for races (after breaking them in) or save them for when my current ones are worn out. I was leaning towards the race idea but then I remembered that my next 2 races are on the beach. They will get wet and dirty. But no, they’re too pretty!

So all that combined with the usual Saturday errands turned into a Saturday of no miles. 😦 But there’s tomorrow right?

How was your Saturday?

Anyone have a race?

Should I save the shoes or just break them in?

Should Have Said No

Happy Wednesday!

I finally completed my larger paper and turned it in on Monday. I usually run on Mondays and rest on Tuesdays but I swapped that this week due to the paper deadline. On Tuesday morning I left for work with my gear, totally planning on running after work. By the end of the day though, I had absolutely no desire to run. I don’t know if it was because it was my usual rest day, if I was finally unwinding from the paper drama or what. I told myself to get over it and just go. I changed at work and headed to the lake for the 4 miles that were on my schedule.

You know that saying about how you never regret a workout? That’s a lie. A big, fat lie. I should have just gone home. I kept telling myself that I have a 10K race in a week and a half in 6 weeks. I had already had a hit and miss week (more miss than hit) last week due to my Slacker-ness, so I needed to get out there. And it was only 4 miles, I could do that, right?

My lack of eagerness had not improved by the time that I reached the lake park. I parked, put in my headphones and put on my belt then started my Garmin and headed out. I made it 30 feet before I noticed that nothing was coming from the headphones. I tried to fix them while walking, also trying to dodge the construction that was suddenly cutting across the path. Couple hundred yards later after crossing one of the little bridges, I came to a complete halt. I could not get the headphones out of the headphone jack. And all my attempts to correct the problem just turned my headphone cords into a giant knot. I finally ripped the headphones out of the extender but still could not get the extender out of the phone, it was completely jammed. I managed to snap the back cover off but still no luck. By now I had been standing there for almost 10 minutes. 2 guys had run past but either chivalry really is dead or I looked scary mad. 😦 I shoved the tangled headphones into my belt and started walking, I figured I might as well move while fighting with my phone. ¼ of a mile later, I gave up. I shoved my phone and the case pieces in the belt and started running. By now I was super cranky and irritated and just wanted to quit. I told myself 1 lap was sad (only 1.2 miles) and I should at least do 2. I was already frustrated about potentially breaking my phone so why not?

So I dodged the construction again and kept running. Half way through the second lap around I had to backtrack because my pepper spray decided to leap from my belt. It was like it hopped and skidded away from me in slow motion. I was done, so very very done. Normally, I try to stop on .5 or full miles but I hit 2.25 and shut everything off and walked to my car. I then did a girl move and went crying to my daddy about my phone. This run did nothing but tick me off. I don’t know what it is was, but it was not my night. It put me so off, that I decided not to do my speed work tonight. I brought my stuff to work again but this time I am going with the nope.

It wasn’t my running, nothing hurt, I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted to post this last night but I held off since I was so stinkin’ cranky. I figured I needed to sit on it a bit. I didn’t want that irritation to spill over to my next run, so I headed home after work tonight. My gear can stay in my car for another day.

I submitted my final paper tonight, so life and running and blogging should return to it’s regular schedule. 🙂 Today wasn’t an exercise free day though. After submitting my paper, I randomly decided to do some late night yoga. Well, Jillian Michaels style yoga anyways. I only fell on my face a couple of times. 🙂

Has anyone else ever had one of those moments that led into a rough run?

How has your week been?

Who has a Memorial Day weekend Race?

Keep Left

My week of self imposed torture is almost done! I’ve missed running and reading all your posts. I did manage to read some posts, I tried to hit “like” on what I did read, but my comments were kind of sparse. Sorry 😦 Since this week has been so off and all over the place, this post is going to be a little different-

Things I’ve Learned this week-

*Procrastinating is not as cool as you think and working under pressure does not make things more exciting. And, yes I knew that before but have been forcibly reminded.

*I found something slower than a treadmill mile- and a typo

I found something g longer than a #treadmillmile – an #LAfreewaymile – help!

— SlackerRunner (@SlackerRunner) May 16, 2014

*Compression socks are awesome for your circulation on a long drive. However, if you are wearing said socks under skinny jeans and are stuck in traffic in a poorly ventilated car- watch out! I was so flippin’ hot and I couldn’t loosen my pant leg enough to get the socks off. But Pro Compression did retweet me!

Love my @PROCompression socks for #running and #recovery how about a 9 hours in a car? #roadtrip pic.twitter.com/aPqOg6805F

— SlackerRunner (@SlackerRunner) May 16, 2014

*When your GPS app is telling you to keep left, you should keep left! Instead of making it have to recalculate and circle around. If the app could talk, I think it would have had some choice things to say.

*No matter how clean the rooms are or how friendly the staff is, care facilities are depressing. Just straight up sad and I don’t do well with that. 😦

*Why yes, I do eat my feelings. And it’s usually pizza.

*Running into a headwind doesn’t always suck. For example, when its 90º+ outside. I still walked a lot but thank you wind. Was it too hot to run? Possibly but after 3 days off, I really wanted to run. Saturday’s original goal was 6 but that wasn’t happening. 3.5 instead.

*Visor’s really do make a difference. Took a run break from the research today and realized I forgot my visor 1/2 mile in. I thought I would be ok as it was 10º cooler than yesterday. So not true. I was hot and sweaty and sweat was dripping in my eyes. I don’t think that has ever happened before. I did an uncomfortable 4 and called it.

*Finding said visor and dunking it water before taking the puppy out for a puppy jog-awesome! I was so much cooler. The puppy also had a really good walk/jog. She loves to roll in grass. I think this needs to be our weekend tradition.

I have 2 deadlines, one Monday and one Wednesday, and then freedom! Haha. I am sure something else will come up 🙂

How was your weekend?

Anyone race?

Am I the only procrastinator?

Simple Saturday

I have probably mentioned a lot that I have been super tired lately. I even took an unplanned nap after Run or Dye last weekend. It seems like all I do lately is go to the doctor. So there has been a little change in plans. I had planned on running my third half of the year on May 31^stbut have decided that it would probably be smarter to step back to the 10K. Especially considering that I have 2 papers due in the next two weeks and should really spend some time on those. See, I am a Slacker! I feel bummed missing the half but I decided to use the time to work on training better and to work on my form. I am signed up for a half in July that I am super excited for. NikeC is going to run it too! Woo hoo for race buddies!

The half in July is part of the same event that I ran a 10K in last July. In fact Rock to the Pier was my first race recap on this blog, awww, nostalgia. They also have a Rock’n Around the Pier half and that is what I am running this year. 90% of the race is on the beach and I can’t wait. This year also has a little added excitement to it. Due to the tides, the race starts at 6:30 but high tide is expected to start rolling in before 8:30ish. So, the website warns that the half marathoners will get wet and may have to navigate some rocks at some point. It also states that if runners don’t hit the turnaround point (10K) by the 1:20:00 mark, they will be bussed back to the finish line. Yikes! I’m still looking forward to it though. 🙂

So small but yummy... and dangerous — So small but yummy… and dangerous

Friday was a usual scheduled rest day, and unfortunately the cookies were victorious. Seriously, no will power. Did I mention they are from a french bakery? However it has been a week since I had candy. The only time I have a problem with candy is the beginning of the year. My favorite candy is SweetTarts and I especially love the small ones. For Valentines day and Easter they make special bags of hearts and bunnies. It’s a problem every year. I only eat the red, orange and purple so I usually delude myself until thinking its ok. It’s not. Thankfully, Easter candy is all gone and I’m not really a chocolate person so I am in the clear until next year. 🙂 Maybe by then I will have the strength to resist.

Today was a work day for me so no sleeping in for me. The drive was pretty, no fog in sight and I kind of wished I had a real camera. I passed classic cars going east for a car show and hordes of bikers going north for the Criterium. Plus Saturday work town was gearing up for the AMGEN tour next week. Everyone had a bike, I’m jealous! I have been looking into borrowing one but no luck yet. That’s ok, I still have time. Once off work, I headed home.

The weather was mid 70’s and breezy, so I headed out for an early afternoon run. I read a quote on Twitter the other day and for some reason it was a light bulb moment. I can’t remember who tweeted, I can’t even remember who originally said it (but it was some famous runner) or even the exact wording- blogger fail! But it said something like this-“if you don’t take your easy runs easy enough, it will make your hard runs easy”. Or in my case- races. Easy means eeeasssy; which I already knew but sometimes reading it from someone more talented helps.

I am still working on my form so today was going to be an easy day. I determined that I had to warm up before trying to focus on my legs. I tried to do it from the beginning and just felt like I was running with a limp. So I went back to the old way with a short walk for a warm up. Once I felt warmed up, I went back to working on actively using my right leg. It’s harder than it sounds. 😦 I felt like there was an army drill sergeant in my head- right, right, right. I’m not even sure I am doing anything, other than I am sore in new ways. And oddly enough, the first 3 miles were a bit faster than I thought. Focusing on my legs meant I focused less on pace and somehow that made it seem easier? At least until mile 4, I hit that last hill and felt tired for the first time, I walked a bit. I finished 4.5 miles and stretched. I was a little hot but nothing a little water couldn’t fix.

After that I took Zoey for a walk. I haven’t taken her for a puppy jog in a while. She didn’t bark at any cars, well except for a Directv van, guess she was mad at them for some reason. 🙂 She was feeling pretty lazy though, she kept lying down on the first mile. She’d trot along and then just plop down on the ground. After we turned around, I took her to the school so she could play in the grass. She was very excited and wanted off the leash but that wasn’t happening. Then we headed for home. She was a very good puppy. 🙂

All in all, it was a pretty good Saturday! Now I really should do some research.

How was your Saturday?

Does anyone know what quote I am talking about?

Anyone have a race?

Such a Slacker

I feel like I was just posting the Run or Dye recap then I blinked and now it’s Thursday. 4 days without a post, total Slacker! I really did mean to post but this week ran away from me, so here we are. On the upside, tomorrow is Friday!!!

On Sunday, I enjoyed an overly warm uncomfortable run. 4.5 miles in 48:08-ouch. I won’t say it was hot, because it was only mid 80’s. It actually nice outside, until you started running that is. 3/4 of a mile down the road, I realized I had misplaced my water bottle. How does a person do that? I pushed on to complete the 4.5 miles but took so many crawl breaks. I felt nasty sweaty at the end but I was done. I also found my water bottle. On top of the dryer in the garage. Oops.

Monday was a pretty good day at work. To keep things lively and stay upbeat on a busy day, a coworker and I had a little transaction battle. It was a close one but I lost. 😦 I don’t usually do that many anymore so it kept me moving. After work I met my mom and the puppy at the lake for a few miles. It was a nice little warm up, I walked a little over 1/2 a mile with them before running. The first mile was slower due to the walking but my legs felt pretty good so I decided to do a little speed work. I managed to pull in a decent progression run for the night.

I was a little sore on Tuesday so I kept it as my usual day. I knew Wednesday was going to be a busy day so I had thought of switching days but decided against it. I lucked out actually because since I work on Saturday I had the chance to leave early on Wednesday. I had a doctor’s appointment in the later afternoon but I thought I could squeeze in a run. I headed to the lake aiming for 3.5 easy miles. I wanted to run an average pace of 10:00-10:15. I also wanted to concentrate on my form.

I noticed awhile back that I relied heavily on my left leg. All of my issues are usually on my left side. I wanted to work on my form but didn’t want to try anything new before the SLO 1/2. I figured that would be a bad idea. 🙂 So after my first mile, which was a little fast, I focused on my right leg and its turnover. Apparently I can’t do two things at once. I couldn’t maintain my planned pace and focus on my form. I ended up being faster than planned. What was weird was that it felt easy. Too bad that doesn’t happen all the time. If that pace could become my easy run that would be sweet, but that’s likely farther out.

And I found this branch in my shoe... — And I found this branch in my shoe…

After my doctor’s appointment, I headed to a tennis meeting with my mother. She likes to drag me along when she can. She always ropes me into filling out the draw forms for her. Wow, 7 team coaches trying to get their players seeded? There were a few times I though there was going to be a throw down. I just kept my head down and kept writing, trying not to laugh out loud.

I’ve been feeling super run down and tired lately and that translated into a rough morning today. It took me a little longer to get going. I figured if I was so tired that I was texting my boss for an extra 45 minutes then I was not running tonight. Boo. Well, more time for an update then! Tomorrow’s a planned rest day, so fingers crossed, I can also avoid the temptation of cookie Friday. Especially since I ate a donut yesterday. Ok, 2 donuts. But they were so good. 🙂

How has your week been?

Any temptations you’ve avoided or embraced?

Happy Friday!!