Things I’ve learned

So, my first ever two week vacation is coming to an end. Man, it’s been such a riot. Haha, 😛

But I have made a few observations over the days-

That insomnia I thought I was over? Ummm, not so much. I was wide awake every night until at least 1 AM and then I tossed and turned.

Diet soda has zero effect on my sleep. Normal non vacation days, I average 2 sodas a day- yes, usually 32 oz, I know, I know- and was in bed asleep by midnight. These past vacation days, I only had one soda a day and couldn’t sleep.

If I have nowhere to be, I have absolutely no problems staying in bed until 9. I think the odds of me ever being a morning runner outside of races are pretty non-existent.

However, 3:00 pm running? That’s kind of awesome. How does that become a regular thing? Oh, wait, it can’t.

Running in light to moderate rain is fun, pouring not so much. Either that or I am a big wuss like that.

Only owning running shoes, flip flops and heals is problematic when they are predicting a serious rainy season in our neck of the woods. I almost broke my ass wearing heeled boots during Sunday’s first storm. I had sudden paranoid visions of breaking an ankle.

This made me a hypocrite. Why? Because I finally broke down and bought a pair of these- I said I never would.

While I haven’t managed to quit sugar while on vacation, I have managed to cut back. Can it last through the holidays? Even the cake from the other day tasted odd. 😦

I was a very naive betty when I figured the prep for the colonoscopy would be easy peasy. Not true, nuff said.

I have strong customer service opinions. I had some business that had to be done before returning to work so I went to the local location. I was less than impressed. 😦

Somehow I messed up the mileage count on my shoes. It’s about 50 miles off. Which on a shoe I usually only get 300 miles out of is a lot. 😦

The moon looks really cool on a wet rainy night- if you are outside to see it at 11, that is.

Movie popcorn doesn’t even have to be that good for me to consume too much of it. Luckily, I bought a small and shared it. Oh, but the movie was really good!

Taking the puppy on jog-walks is fun now. She does so much better than she used to.

The flexibility is nice- knew I wouldn’t have a lot of time to run today, so I switched my 7 miles to Friday. They were wet and dreary but otherwise good!Running errands- literally- is interesting. Part of my run yesterday involved dropping my car off for an oil change and then running home. Took the puppy for the walk back to get it.

All in all, the time off was good. I feel like I accomplished some good running, got some errands done and failed at Christmas shopping. Oops. I’m still not the biggest fan of vacations but that’s ok. That said, I have another few days off in January/ February. I thought a little rest might be a good idea after back to back races. 🙂 Going forward, maybe I should work on saving some money so when I take my forced 2 weeks next year, I can actually go somewhere. Maybe follow through with the R n R Vegas plans. Hmmm.

What about you?

Do you love vacations? I like long weekends.

Anyone else see Mockingjay?

Tired Legs- Step 1

I finally pulled it off! My head cold may have set me back a bit but I woke up Monday with a plan. I decided I may as well make the most of this last week of vacation running wise. So I headed out for a long run in the afternoon.

I was still feeling a little yucky so I was planning on taking it slow and walking whenever I needed too. I wanted to run between 5-8 and then get the puppy and run/ jog with her for another 2-4. Ok, maybe I was overly ambitious but I was going to run loops around my neighborhood so if I needed to bail I could.

Great start to Tuesday's run before the storm came back- — Great start to Tuesday’s run before the storm came back-

It wasn’t exactly cold but it wasn’t warm either. We have been enjoying some lingering rain systems here which is great because we desperately need it but hard because it’s so not the norm. I figured I would be ok in shorts and I decided to test out the new long-sleeved top that I has picked up. I knew I had to make myself keep it on though. 🙂 I figured I would get hot soon and I did around mile 3. I kept an easy pace and took some walk breaks. I felt tired but pretty good. I have been running the same 5 mile route lately so I know where all the splits should be. I noticed that my Garmin was lagging a bit, guess it didn’t appreciate the cloud cover. The mileage geek in me had to re-map my route after my run since it seemed off. Oh, and while I may have felt warmer on top, my legs stayed a little cold. I had a minor chafing issue? What gives, it wasn’t 100º and that is usually the only time I have issues with my legs- ugh!

Puppies don't do selfies or pose very well — Puppies don’t do selfies or pose very well

It took me a little longer (1:15:58) to complete 7 miles than I thought so I had to hustle to get the puppy. My mom had her ready so I grabbed her and off we went. Due to the rain and setting sun we only managed a little over 3 miles. We were slower than the day before but that was all me and not the dog. 🙂 When we turned around to head back she looked sad that we weren’t going farther. 😦 But long run officially done!!

Tuesday was another rainy one- woo hoo! In keeping with my plan to get used to running on tired legs, I headed out for a run. I have never run the day after a longer run so I wasn’t too sure how it was going to go. My pace was actually better than I thought it would be but wow, my ankles were kind of tired. That was the only part of me that was really achy. There were clouds rolling in and ridiculous wind- I damn near lost my hat3x- so I called it at 5 instead of 6. I am kind of digging this 5 mile route. Too bad I am about to only get it on the weekends.

So 3 days in a row meant Wednesday was a rest day for me. I don’t want to push it too much. Plus that worked out well because my mother had her end of season tennis banquet and I help her a little with that. Oh and if we are counting- I have now watched 4 cheesy Christmas movies- love it!

How’s your weather? Do you like running in the wind?

Am I the only one watching an excess amount of holiday movies right now?

Happy Wednesday!

Night Night November

Where did November go?! Today should not be the first day of December- I’m not ready! But, time marches on so here is my November Recap.

Miles- 55.1
Race- GREW From the Vines 5KHikes- 2 East Cuesta and Cerro Alto So November was kind of a toss-up. I started the month feeling a little under the weather, so only logged 3.4 miles the first week. I also figured that meant I finally wouldn’t be sick on vacation. The following week I started my training plan but the first 2 weeks were fairly easy. Last week was supposed to step up the mileage and it coincided with my first week of vacation. I tried really hard to stick to the plan but the stupid head cold of Thanksgiving came back with a vengeance Saturday and Sunday. Saturday wasn’t wasted because I did enjoy some shopping with my mother. I was a little confused- where were all the people who were supposed to be out and about? I may have treated myself to a new running outfit. Both pieces are by Reebok and the pants are super warm. The top is long-sleeved and the exact style of an original clearance rack cheapie I picked up almost 2 years ago. I have worn that light pink one so many times, my mother can no longer stand the sight of it. 🙂 Sunday dawned gray and rainy, and I had been up coughing most of the night. Between my asthma and GERD, every time I get a little cold I develop a hacking cough. Geez, I have issues, nice. I knew there was no way a long run was happening but I thought I could handle a good puppy walk. Except the puppy didn’t want to walk, she wanted to run. I finally just decided to jog with her. Every so often she would look my way like – “see, I can run with you”. It was a pretty good run. I also bundled up before heading out. I tested out the new pants and wore multiple layers on top plus an ear warmer over my ears. My bottom half was the warmest part of me, though. It only rained on us for a short while. Those 4 puppy miles brought my November total to 55.1 miles. Not what I had hoped for but better than October (by a mile)! Another bonus about November? I hit my yearly goal of 750 miles!!! Miles to date for 2014- 776.8!!

Woo hoo! Time to move on to December. I have one last week of forced vacation 😦 and then it’s back to work for me. There is Christmas to prepare for, both of my parents have birthdays this week plus the plethora of Christmas/ end of the year parties are starting. I also have my colonoscopy to look forward to in a couple of weeks. All that being said, it’s time to step up the mileage.. and see if I can really follow through! Oh and it’s time to watch a bunch of silly made for tv Christmas movies. 🙂

How was your November? Are you ready for December?

Any Reindeer runs in your future or are you done racing for 2014?

Sticking to a Plan

I am really trying to stick to my plan. I want to go into 2015 and my spring races without feeling like I have to start from scratch after the holidays. That said, a big part of my plan is flexibility. So when my stomach was a butt head on Saturday, I ran 5 instead of 8. However, I still followed through with my back to back days and did the 6 mile Cerro Alto hike.

Tuesday, I ended up getting a way later start than planned and was only able to get in 5 miles before dusk. However, they felt pretty damn good. They weren’t the speediest but they felt solid. After a pretty great 5, I was eager to get running again on Wednesday. But I was questioning if I should. Vacation is hard, part of me wants to run all the miles but the more sensible part really wanted to stick my schedule and get comfortable with it. I never did find a nearby turkey trot but was planning on doing a couple of miles with my mother. Also, I knew that I would be spending Saturday or Sunday shopping so I started rearranging my running days in my head. I started thinking I could squeeze 6 out of Thanksgiving and then run 8-10 on Friday. With that in mind, I took Wednesday as a rest day since I know my body is not a fan of running 4 days in a row.

Oh such plans. Thanksgiving morning rolled in and I woke with a sore throat and a headache and scratchy eyes. I spent the day half in pajamas and half in running gear under a blanket on the couch. I was cold and it was a balmy 75º in my neck of the woods. My family had a very low key Thanksgiving. We hung out and watched movies- Into the Storm, Lone Survivor, and Heaven is For Real. Interesting choices, right? Luckily, we never really go overboard on Thanksgiving so I didn’t feel too guilty. 🙂 In fact, minor sickness aside, it was a pretty great day.

I don’t do the whole shop at night or at the crack of dawn thing, so I slept in on Friday. I still felt a little off but better than Thursday. After a small lunch and a couple of errands, I headed out for a few miles. 5 miles seem to have become my new go-to. With just trying to complete both races in January before focusing on speed for SLO, there is no speed work built into my plan right now. Plus, my stomach doesn’t really like it these days. So any speed work that happens is just based on how I feel that day. That said, I have been trying to work on a fast finish to most of my runs. Usually by the end of races and runs, I am done, I can never kick it in to the end. I figure my stomach should be able to handle that.

I will say it’s a lot easier on the treadmill. Turn the speed up and just hang on. Out on the road, I have to focus more. All I’m aiming for is a speedy last half mile before cool down. That’s not too long, right? I felt like I pulled it off the last couple of runs. My fast pace alert was vibrating my Garmin on Tuesday’s run but I never actually looked at it. But then it just averaged in with the rest of the mile. Urgh. So even though I was tired today, I used the lap buttons. The last half mile comes right after hill that always kicks my butt. I have never run it. It’s short but steep and just makes me tired. I hit the lap button as soon as I got to the top and started running. Oh,man that was hard. I felt slower than Tuesday, which made sense, and like there was no way I could maintain anything for a half mile. I hit 5 miles, pushed the lap button and stopped the Garmin. It wasn’t until I synced my Garmin with my phone that I figured out why it felt so hard. I did what?!

Holy crap! I realize that it wasn’t even a mile but still sweet! Also not the pace I was looking for, haha! I was aiming for the mid to high 8’s but I’ll take it! Probably couldn’t pull it off again or maintain it for a full mile, but it’s still kind of cool. 🙂

How was your Thanksgiving?

Anyone join the crush of crazy shopping? Any good deals?

Sunday Summit- Cerro Alto

Since the 25k is all trail, I gave myself some wiggle room in my training plan. I can sub a climbing hike in as one of the longer runs. So with that in mind, my mom and I headed out early Sunday morning to hike Cerro Alto. We had last done Cerro Alto in January of 2013 and I remember it being a climb but pretty easy. Either my memory is seriously faulty or I am completely out of shape, that climb kicked my ass. Maybe my legs were tired from the previous day’s 5 miles or I was just tired but man that uphill seemed to go on forever! In reality the hike we chose was 3 miles up to the top of the mountain and 3 miles down. According to my Garmin, we gained 1700 in elevation. However my Garmin crapped out for a 1/4 mile on the way up and 1/4 mile on the way down, so who knows. The trail is measured fairly well and we have done it before so I know it should come in around 5.9 miles. I never could tell where exactly it was that my watch had troubles, I was paying more attention to where I was putting my feet but I know it was after the 1.7 mark, because it was dead on until then. My mom and I kept pace together and power walked/ hiked up. I honestly don’t think I could have gone any faster though. In the end we got to the top in 58 minutes. Which we were both kind of butt hurt about. But looking at last years time, I noticed that we were 10 minutes faster, so woo hoo! Did I mention that my mom wants to run the 25K too? Well, hopefully. After hanging out at the top a bit- and of course taking pictures- we headed back down. The views were amazing, and the skies were clear but the top is super windy. You get cold really fast. No one really spends too much time at the top, as opposed to Valencia Peak where people often eat lunch at the top before heading back down. Coming down is where things got sketchy. We were looking to increase our pace and get a good idea of what we could maintain for the 25K. About 1/4 of a mile down, the trail narrows and gets rocky and even more uneven. You really have to watch where you put your feet. At some point my mother stepped wrong coming off a rock. Not sure exactly how it happened, but she went to walk ahead, froze and let out a 4 letter word. Uh oh. Stretching out and shaking it out didn’t help. Every other step down the mountain was accompanied by pain and some colorful language. I felt bad that I couldn’t do anything to help but also bad because listening to her was kind of funny. She later agreed that she probably sounded interesting to anyone else on the trail. But hey, at least we weren’t the 3 college age girls stopping to crack open beers at the mile 1 marker at 11 in the morning. Nothing wrong with the beer but get to the top first! Or better yet, get to the top and then back down first. Every mountain we’ve hiked so far has had memorials on it. And the news frequently has stories about hikers having to be rescued from the local mountain trails. Even with my mom being in pain, we were able to get back down the mountain in about 45 minutes. Not too bad considering she was limping. In fact, that was the only thing marring a great hike! Unfortunately, she couldn’t rest just yet. She and I then moved on to SLO to do some shopping while waiting to meet my dad and brother at Olive Garden for dinner. I was treating my parents for an early birthday dinner. Their birthdays are only 2 days apart in December. I told her to make sure to RICE once home and take it easy the next couple of days.