Category: Training

25- Baby Steps

Last week was better.

Well, a mountain lion moved into one of the elementary schools but that’s far closer to normal than the previous week.

I was still coming up with any reason not to run. Too hot, too much wind. I ate too much, I didn’t eat enough. Don’t want to wash my hair, forgot my shoes. Yada, yada.

I knew I was in my head and spooked due to the previous week’s events but I couldn’t seem to shake myself loose.

I watched lots of Disney movies in the evenings in an effort to distract myself. And finally on Saturday, I ran.

I slept in but made myself run as soon as I got up. I headed across town to run the river path. Although the river bed made me nervous, I was reassured by the number of people out. I swear I have never seen so many walkers, runners, and cyclists out on the path before. It was kind of awesome. It was by no means crowded but the number of people was kind of nice. And everyone smiled as people passed.

As for the running, it was kind of rough, but really what can I expect considering how unmotivated I have been this year? But it was still a little over 4 miles.

I then somehow had a burst on inspiration and cleaned my car and overhauled my closet and dresser. Also forgot to eat until I was trying to figure out why I was so lightheaded. Oops.

Sunday, I headed out for a late morning run in my neighborhood. Forced myself to run in both locations this weekend. However I knew shortly after starting my run that it would be more of a walk. Apparently I am so out of shape that 2 days of running in over 80* temps was too much. Ha!

So 6ish miles for the week. Yep.

How was your week?

22/23 Headspace

Hello, again.

I have been struggling with motivation all year. In fact I am struggling with lots of things these days. I thought I was handling life since lockdown better- I mean I was a homebody before and I still got to go to work so in some ways not much changed.

But so much did. And that was before the job/office transfer.

I’m tired all the time, I come home after work and fall asleep. I sleep in on the weekends but still pass out for naps. I am having trouble sleeping and having trippy dreams when I do.

I’m not running, barely moving. Did I mention my new office is a 2 story with stairs and my daily steps are still crap? I know I feel better when I run but I can’t seem to make myself get out the door. There are times I change into my running clothes with the intention to run but end up napping instead. I set alarms to get up in the morning and am barely conscious as I hit snooze. I ran exactly twice in the last 2 weeks. One very hot 2.5 miler and a mashed up 5K-5Miler for Giants San Jose Virtual.

I am eating better than I was- both pre lock down and intense snacking in the beginning of lock down. That’s something, right?

Years ago, I used to get depressed around May- June. Well, I called it my dark place but I always linked it to graduation. Everyone would be posting about their plans post high school (small town life) and I was not happy in my job then. I worked with good people and made decent money for the time but that time of year would remind me that I could have tried harder or made different choices. I haven’t felt like that in years as I really do like my current job and coworkers so I don’t think I can blame my current ennui on that. 2016 would have been a different story but that’s not the point.

Actually, I don’t know what the point is. I also don’t know if it matters.

21- Goodbye

This week was an odd one.

Still dealing with the current events everywhere, got my butt back on the training wagon, oh and I said goodbye to my office of 13 months. Like I said it was odd.

But my favorite Mexican restaurant opened for dine in service and I’ve already been twice. So good and still social distancing. Plus supporting local.

I moved my 1st training run to Monday as that fit my schedule better. Actually I almost didn’t run. I didn’t change at work and headed home because we ran late. However, once I got home I said screw it, changed and ran out the door. I kept it slow and easy as it was my first real run in over a week and it was kind of awesome. 3.1 miles

I had a real life doctor’s appointment out of town on Tuesday. People!

Plan called for a rest/recovery day on Wednesday and I took it. I had started packing at work and was realizing how much of a hoarder I am. Yikes. My goal was to only need 3 boxes to get me to the other office. Oh, and I had to eat all the food I had stashed in the fridge.

Thursday was meant to be run right after work but as I was changing, I realized that I forgot my shoes. Doh! So I headed home. Grabbed my shoes and again ran out the door. This run was slower than Monday’s as it was around 90* but it was still ok. I was a little warm by the end though. Ha! 3ish miles

Friday was my last day at work, and it was bittersweet. I am sad to go but looking forward to the chance as well. My coworkers brought donuts and flowers for me. I will miss them. And my 3 box goal failed- it took 5, 3 boxes and 2 bags. I then dropped my stuff off at the new office so I wasn’t holding on to it all weekend and headed home for a much needed, hopefully chill 3 days off.

Saturday dawned with a very rare occurrence- I was the only person in my house. Score! I slept in and went for a mid morning long run. I had pushed the run up from Sunday due to predicted heat wave coming. 70 felt great at the beginning of my run but toasted me by the end. And I only ran 5 miles– hah! They were pretty steady paced though and I had the chance to run the river path after a few months.

Then it was a weekend of relaxing and laundry and possibly watching too many Marvel movies. My favorite restaurant may be open but I’m not going to go crazy and do all the things- I still chilled at home.

11.3 miles for the week. Small but I hit all the key points of my training plan. Onward and upward!

How was your week?

20- Zombie

After last week, I was feeling much more enthusiastic and ready to run. I was getting back on track, yes.

Monday wasn’t too crazy at work and I was looking forward to my post work run. I started to feel a little weird but chalked to up to eating less than normal that day. Changed and headed to my running spot. 1/4 mile in, I almost passed out. There was a bench a little further and I sat there for 10+ minutes trying to figure it out. I threw in the towel and turned around. Just under 3/4 of a mile and then I went home and napped. At 6 in the afternoon.

Tuesday through Thursday was more of the same. I know that high stress periods can get me rundown which if I ignore turns into full blown sick. Not only do I now have time for that, this is also not the best time to be sick. I napped a lot those evenings after work. Hell, I napped a lot last week.

Fridays have been interesting since the lockdown. Technically our hours are shorter but we also don’t start wrapping up until the last customer is done. Which is fine but it’s hard to get a handle on Fridays.

I had planned on running on Saturday but another nap won out. Oops. I did enjoy lunch in the park though before that.

The plan was to sleep in on Sunday and then go for an afternoon run. The first part of that happened… but then I picked up a book. And decided to read the whole thing. Oops. So, I guess I worked out my brain?

So yeah, that was a lackluster week in so many ways. However, I figure I needed it as a big change is coming soon and I need to be firing on an all cylinders. Combine that with the current states of affairs and I may need to reassess my running goals for this year.

How was your week?

19- Tide

I think I finally found some calm last week.

It wasn’t all sunshine and roses but the stress level decreased, I slept a little better and things were generally calmer. I am still sitting on some news before sharing it here but I was able to share it with the people who needed to know. Ok, that sounded more ominous than I meant it to.

And last week was full of creature encounters. We had a lizard get in the building at work and it took us 3 days to catch it and release it. A spider was lurking above my bed. A bat or a bird flew into my bedroom window in the middle of the night.

Anyways.

I was feeling spunky on Monday so I headed out for a few miles. I returned to the river path and while I stuck to the paved path, it was glorious. I so missed that route. I was equal parts impressed and embarrassed when an 8 year blew past me. He was on his way down the hill and I was going up. I didn’t feel any better when he blew past me when we were going the opposite directions either. Ha!! I did wonder why he was by himself though. While I loved the air and route of my run, my legs informed me that I should have rested after the previous day’s trail adventures. 3+ish miles.

Tuesday saw me listening to my protesting calves and sore foot and resting.

I was eager to run on Wednesday but my stomach had other plans. My rule of thumb is that if I am still getting sick 30 minutes before closing, running isn’t happening.

So of course, Thursday was the hottest day of the year so far. 95 degrees. I am slow as it is these days, so I was not ashamed of any walking. I ran when I wanted to and walked when I wanted to. I did keep it short though- 2 miles.

Work things were happening on Friday and I was looking forward to a relaxing weekend.

Saturday and I promised my mother for Mother’s Day we could try the beach for a run as long as it wasn’t crowded. Yay for clouds! She walked and I ran. I knew the humidity was going to do a number on my lungs so I told her I was only going to do 3 miles. Then I figured the pier had to be less than 2 miles from the dog beach where we started and I wanted to get to the pier. I was very wrong. The pier was 5k from the dog beach, ha! So my 3 mile run turned into 6 plus. I also have the habit of never checking the tide so I was racing the high tide. Some places I came to a crawl as I had to go over rocks. My shoes and socks were so drenched that I took them off after 5 miles and did the last bit barefoot.

As I had already cleared more miles this week than so many of the past weeks, I wasn’t stressing a run on Sunday. Instead, I finally cleaned my car. Oh boy, it needed it. And tires but that’s another story.

So just under 12 miles for the week. It’s sad that that is an improvement but it is what it is. Gotta keep moving forward.

How was your week?