Category: Training

Week 4 Recap-Finding Calm

Just like that, we’re 4 weeks into the year. Dude, how.

The weather here is crazy. On one hand we finally had a break from the crazy rain, yay! Which made room for the hard freeze. I hit ice twice on Wednesday morning… I screamed like a little girl the first time while the rear end of my car fish tailed all over the road. We actually get freezing temps frequently out here but that was the fist time I’ve ever hit ice while driving. Yikes!

In better news, I found out last week that I get to keep my job. 🙂Which is great news and while it will help with some of my stress; right now I admit that I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. There are still so many unknowns about the merger as a whole. I know that this was a huge part of what is stressing me out so I hope I can start to dig myself out of the stress hole I keep crawling into. But it’s like quicksand, the more I dig, the more I sink. I did sleep a little better last week, so there’s that.

Monday- News day. I didn’t know I was getting the news about work and wasn’t feeling mentally prepared. I went home and ate pizza. 🍕🍕

Tuesday- Rest. I can’t remember what I did. Oops. I know I did my planks and push ups all week. Still can’t hold a plank up to a minute without falling on my face but I’ll get there. Maybe.

Wednesday- 3.1 miles. I love my Knuckle Lights. Seriously, they let me run in work town in the dark and I really needed that run. I called it a therapy run. I wanted to run down to the Eucalyptus grove but the path was blocked off. Boo. I made due with a 5k but that’s ok. It was enough. I watched a few moments of the sunset and just enjoyed the views.

Thursday- Rest I had to sit through a class on driving for the school district. I’m chaperoning a trip for my mother’s tennis team and I had to be re-certified. Mostly I spent the class thinking how I wanted to redo their entire PowerPoint.

Friday- Nothing 😛

Saturday- 8 ish miles I decided to try last Saturday’s run again, same route, same plan to end at the high school and catch a ride from my mother. I need to stop planning. I was 15 minutes late getting out the door because my Garmin wouldn’t turn on. What?! It had been fully charged on Wednesday. So I plugged it in and ran with Strava instead. I turned on the voice cues and auto pause so I didn’t have to fish my phone out of my belt at all the stop lights. It reminded me why I dislike autopause. It turns on too soon and takes too long to turn off. I also realized how much I like my 3/1’s on this run. Without my Garmin I was trying to estimate the 3/1’s by songs and it just wasn’t working. I like that the watch does all the thinking for me. Such a whiny problem I know but I missed my watch. This run just felt more tiring than I would have liked. I think it was mostly mental but I was just dragging for most of it. Almost getting hit by a car at the halfway point sure didn’t help matters. The guy never even saw me. He was too busy staring at his lap. I’m guessing he had just left the Wendy’s drive thru. Whatever, I was pissed. Grrrr.

Sunday- 3.6 miles I planned a nice, easy 4 mile recovery run. Yeah, plans. I set out with my mom planning to walk a bit and then run ahead and double back like we used to do. Half a mile in, my stomach let me know it was having none of that. I cramped… bad. Grrrr. The me of 2015/16 would have turned around and called it. Instead I slowed way down and it turned more into a wog, heavy on the walking but I got something done.

Weekly total- 14.8 That puts me exactly where I wanted to be for January and there’s still 2 days so that’s not so bad. Training for Santa Barbara and Livermore starts this coming week so I know my mileage will start to increase. I’ve also realized that I need to rework my training plan thanks to the landslides but more on that later.

It was an interesting week and this likely to be another interesting one too. Will I actually get in 5 workouts????? We shall see.

How was your week?

Is your weather crazy?

Share something fun!

Week 3 Recap- All Wet

For a person who chose the word Challenge as a guiding principle for the year, January is doing a great job of laughing at me. I’m chalking it up to job stress and hoping that learning way or the other in the next week or so will help some of the stress go away. Maybe, hopefully…oh who knows.

In other news, it is still dumping buckets here in CA. Which would be awesome if I could stay at home under a blanket with my cats all day. But I can’t so yeah. I miss my night runs, who knew I would ever say that?? My boss and I were supposed to attend a Chamber function after work on Friday night but the storms and wind were so bad that we both agreed it was smarted to just go home. Somehow there was a break in the weather that lasted right until I got off the freeway in home town- best idea ever!

I had troubles keeping my blood sugar regulated this week as well. If you’ve been following this blog since the beginning (if you have, thank you!) you know I had this problem a few years ago. It’s been a long time since I bottomed out like that so that was fun. It happened Thursday and Friday…what gives?! Last week ended up being more Slacker-ish then I would have liked.

Monday- Rest– Haha, I wasn’t this sore after my marathon. This is what happens when you run 13.1 miles under trained. 😛

Tuesday- 4.5 miles I had a vacation day from work so I was able to enjoy a longer run in the middle of the afternoon. I really do love those. My shins were a little sore but I ran it off within a mile or two. I enjoyed being back on the river path for the first time in months. Come on spring and time change, where are you??

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday- Rest. Yeah, that wasn’t planned but that’s what happened. I actually did some pushups and a plank all of those days but I am not sure those count. I packed my bag and while it actually left my car but I never changed into my running gear. Grrr.

Saturday- 7.65 miles Reality moment run. We had a break from the rain but it was still cold so I thought an afternoon long run sounded good. I planned 8 miles where I left my house, ran across town, ending at the high school and hitching a ride with my mother at the end of tennis practice. I don’t know where I went wrong. I swear I left my house with plenty of time. I felt like I was running a steady pace, the bridge mile faster like always. I was stopped at traffic lights but it didn’t seem like an inordinate amount of time. I did get distracted on the river trail. Water!!!! In all the time I’ve been running that path, there has never been water in the river let alone moving water; I had to stop and admire it for a moment. Or 2. Climbing the last big hill I got a text message from my mom asking where I was. Then I saw the time. What the hell?!! Not only was I not going to get in a leisurely 8 miles, I was still well over a 1.5 miles from the school and would have to haul ass just to get there and still be late. So I tried. I did…but there was no haul in my legs. I literally felt like I was running with a stick up my butt. TMI? I don’t know if it was because I was cold and my legs felt frozen, maybe I was tired, whatever, I could not move faster. With 1/2 miles to go I get another text. “Where are you”. Again my response is trying. Her answer is “meet us in front”. Oh great, so now I get to share my red face, huffing, out of breath, out of shape self who didn’t hit 8 miles with her AND whichever tennis players needed a ride home. Oh boy. 😞 They caught me at the streetlight. Yeah, reality check moment.

Sunday- Rest I woke to the power being out. Yay. I was hesitant to run because I wasn’t sure my water heater was 100% gas and the idea of cold run followed by a cold shower followed by a cold house… yeah, umm no. So I ran some errands then took a nap. I kept pushing my run back hoping the power would come back on. Then PG&E called and said that it wouldn’t be back on until Monday. What?!? So then it was hitting the store to find flashlights and ice for the freezer while wishing that I hadn’t gone food shopping on Saturday. Not that I buy much but still. All this to get close to my house to find the traffic lights back on…ummmm? So, power was back! I guess it could have been worse- my neighbors rented a hotel room and had just left to check in when the power came back.

Miles 12.1 Ouch, that’s sad. That’s like one good long run. That said, I am on track with the mileage target I set for January so I feel decent with starting training for Livermore and Santa Barbara Wine Country on the 30th. Also hopefully by then the rain will calm down and I may have an answer on the job front, fingers crossed. If low numbers get me through January while I face all its other Challenges, so be it.

How was your week?

Anyone else totally unprepared for power outages?

Weekly Recap 2- Of stress and rain

Yikes, last week was a little rough. I still can’t pinpoint exactly why but if you read my last post you know I was feeling massively out of sorts last week. The feeling only went away when I ran. Or tried to nap but that was rare. I started the week with a migraine and my stomach was being its asshat self. I also admit that my food choices were less than stellar. Boo.

Anyways, let’s get to the workouts! Or what resembled working out. 😛

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday- ~~Stress~~– Rest In all seriousness, I foam rolled and stretched every one of these nights. Between all the rain and the longer commute, job stress and just life, I was freaking out. I knew I was only running one evening during the week due to my weekend running plans so I kept pushing it back due to the weather. I really needed to run.

Thursday- 3 miles Oh thank goodness, a break from the rain and I ran. I was planning on running at home but knew that the longer drive home zaps my energy and willpower. I changed into my running clothes after work and made the last minute decision to run from work as I was walking out the door. I always treated my work route as off limits in the dark but I decided to chance it. It was just what I needed. It was slow but also oddly the fastest 3 miler I’ve done in months. Considering I was dodging branches, I’ll take it! The smell of the eucalyptus trees and the sun setting on the ocean was just what I needed. For a blissful few moments, my brain was quiet for the first time all week.

Friday- Rest Jacked up my back again while getting ready for work, it hurt just to move. So I spent the day deciding how crazy I was. Which also probably contributed to my stress level this week.

Saturday- Road trip! Up early on the road heading towards Carlsbad. My back was super sore but not outright painful. Guess I am crazy. Bonus to this trip was that my uncle recently moved to that area- so added perks were staying with family and no hotel fees! Even if the grounds of his new house made me feel like I am doing something wrong with my life.

And the fact that I typed grounds, it’s not big but still. I went to bed early and just tried to get a decent night’s sleep.

Sunday- Carlsbad Half Marathon. I only ran 14 miles in December, what was I thinking?! But more on that next time. 😛

16.2 miles for the week. I kept my work week miles low as I knew what was coming in Sunday. I may be a little crazy but I have been trying to up my weekly mileage in a sane way. But still, doesn’t everyone jump their long runs from 7 to 13? Looking to this week, I am hoping to be a little calmer. Rain is still coming and my road is still closed, man I miss it, but I’m hoping that I will deal with it better this week. Fingers crossed!

How was your week?

Share something random!

2017- The Year Of

It’s that time of year where social media is full of reflections on the previous year (mine is here!) and goals or resolutions for the new year to come. This is not that post.

I don’t do goals. Goals are a 4 letter word in my book, literally and figuratively. When I first joined the blogging world and Instagram, I followed along, all the cool kids were doing it- why not me? I tried, I did. 95% of the goals I set for 3 years were spectacular failures. The more I tried, the more I failed and the more I stressed. It was a vicious cycle.

The problem is that I don’t like goals. They rate up there with the word “potential”. I hate that word. 90% of the time potential is always followed by the word “but”. I’ve told employees over the years that I will never use it in their performance review and so far I never have. But I’ve gotten sidetracked.

Goals don’t work as incentive for me. They work for some people and that’s great, they’re just not my jam. Fessing up to a goal free 2016 took a lot last year, I was afraid of the reaction. That said, I think a goal free 2016 went quite well- most miles run in a year and I ran a freakin’ marathon. 😀😀 Yeah, I’m still on that.

So that brings me to 2017. I may not have goals, but I do have a word.

2017 is all about the challenge. I want to challenge myself, not just in running but in multiple ways in life. 2017 is shaping up to be an interesting year in a variety of ways but instead of letting it push me along, I want to do my best to be driving the bus not just a passenger.

This is primarily a running blog so lets talk about running. In 2017, I want to Challenge myself with some speed. I have never been fast but I used to be speedier than I am now. I’m not putting a number on it, I’m not even putting a finishing time on it. One race finish does dictate speed. I let myself use my health issues as an excuse for far too long, I was too lazy to put in the work, whatever the reason was, it’s time to put in the work and see what I can do.

Right now I only have a few half marathons on the race schedule, Livermore and Destination Races Santa Barbara being the key ones. I do have the crazy desire to run another marathon but the only one that really intrigued me was Revel MT. Charleston. However, it’s April 29 and I just don’t think there’s any way that I will be ready to run it. Plus, it’s in Nevada and well, that’s a drive. 😛 So instead, it looks like I stick with my 1 half a month schedule February to summer and then reassess for a fall marathon. While I am Challenging myself this year, I don’t relish the idea of 20 milers in the CA summer heat. 😛 I’ll do it if I have to; it just doesn’t sound fun.

I want to apply Challenge to more aspects of my life as well. There are so many ways that I need to expand my horizons and step outside my comfort zone but I’m saving those thoughts for later date. The water hasn’t quite boiled yet.

So, 2017- Year of Challenge…

Let’s do this.

–Slacker

Week 53 – Goodbye December

And just like that, another week, another month and another year has come and gone. Busy 7 days!

Last week was interesting to say the least. I ran!! Some at least. However, sleep was not my friend and by the end of the week it was all I could just to get through the day. The long days. But let’s back up.

Monday- 4.5 miles A day off work means I have to run right? It’s like a rule, right? I waited until what I hoped was the warmest part of the day and headed out. The whole flu thing turned me into a big baby in the cold. 😛 Man, was I slow. But I ran!!! I thought I would feel miserable after such a lackluster month of December but other being slow, I felt pretty good. I think I was just excited to be running.

And then Monday night. Everything was normal until I tried to go to sleep and failed. I tossed and turned and paced. Covers on, covers off, sitting up, laying down, 2 pillows, 1 pillow, no pillows. I felt like my heart was racing and I could not fall asleep. I even texted my boss at 2:30 AM to let her know I may not be on time to work because of this. Don’t worry, I didn’t wake her- I know she puts her phone on do not disturb but I figured this way she would see it first thing in the morning. I was also hoping that taking that little stressor away would help me sleep. Yeah, not really. I dozed a bit between 2:30 and 4 but that was it. 90 minutes of crap sleep. Sounds like a recipe for success, right? I was up and oddly energized so off to work I went for a very busy Tuesday.

Tuesday night– more of the same. What the hell?! This was a slight improvement in that I think I managed around 3 hours of sleep. Oh yay. All right, Wednesday, let’s do this.

Wednesday night– about 4 hours of sleep. Ok now, this is getting ridiculous. By Thursday, the cumulative fatigue was adding up and I was fading. Combine a day where we down 2 people at work, a vital piece of equipment broke and we were so busy that I didn’t get to lunch until after 3:30 and I was fried. I had brought my running gear with me to go for a run but I barely had enough energy in me to just drive home after work. There was no running that night.

Friday- Rest Yeah, Thursday night saw about 5 hours of sleep and I worked open to close. That same piece of equipment was still broken 1/2 the day and we were still down 2 people, it was a much calmer day though and we all made it through. Woo hoo! From there I only had one more work shift to get through.

Saturday- Rest I wanted to run, I really did. I worked in the morning- maybe my last Saturday shift?!?!- and while I had actually slept the night before, the damage of the sleepless week had caught up to me. I was so damn tired. My New Year’s Eve was spent chillin’ in my chair watching Netflix. Party animal right? 😛

That brought my December mileage to a stellar 14.74 miles. I think that may be the lowest month since I started tracking years ago. Oops. That also brought my 2016 mileage total to 851 miles. Highest number yet!

Sunday- 5 miles My Smashrun politely told me that this was my longest run in a month. I’m trying a new strategy with my long runs and while this wasn’t exactly long I figured why not? I recently bought a book on Galloway’s Run-Walk-Run method and thought why not? So I tried intervals of 3:00 run and 1:00 walk for this run. I was still slow but I wasn’t miserable. I also noticed that I had more energy at the top of the last hill. Now, let me clear, I’ve been running for 6 years and I have never run this hill, just walking up it kicks my ass, I felt a little less tired this time though. Granted it could have been a fluke. I’m still not sold but I’m giving it a try.

9.5 miles for the week. Not great but it’s a start right? I have plans for 2017 so time to stop Slacking! Ok, well not completely. 😛

How was your New Years?

How was your week?

Can you function on little sleep?

Happy 2017!