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?

GREW From the Vines 5K- Recap

A top 20 finish! I got lost! Have I peaked your interest? 🙂

Having been feeling under the weather for a week, hearing the alarm go off on Saturday morning was rough. It was cold outside, I was tired and my bed was so warm. What was I thinking? Oh I know, it was my pride. I wanted to prove to myself that even feeling crappy all the time, I could still pull a 30 minute 5K in a race. Stupid, I know. Since it was a cold morning and I was fearing asthma issues, I layered up in clothing. Yes, I know it’s cold air I breathe in that causes my issues but I just felt like the layers helped me be mentally prepared. As I still wasn’t feeling great I told myself 31 minutes would be a good adjustment. Like that made a huge difference. Head games, much?It was a smaller local race so I headed out around 8:15 for a 9:00 start time. My mom and the puppy were with me as well. I knew what winery it was at and its general location. Driving out I never saw any signs that said Villa 46, we came up on another winery that I had a run a race at and I knew that we had gone to far. We turned around and headed back the other way, this time paying attention to the street numbers. We find what we are looking for but it says Villa Toscana… and we couldn’t pull in the main drive. Continuing on a little farther we found a delivery driveway with yet another name but same street numbers. We pulled in there and parked next to some trucks that had already parked. Seeing the number of cars parked and then seeing the page of pre-registered runners confirmed that this was going to be the smallest race I have ever run. Only 17 people pre-registered. I think we barely hit 20 by start time. After a little announcement, a race volunteer told us there would be kids guiding us at each turn so we wouldn’t get lost. He also mentioned staying inside the fence. Then we were off! The first mile started on a dirt road but it fairly flat and wide so it was easy to run on. The kids directed us right and we headed out towards the street. As we got to the street I saw an arrow pointing right again but it kind of looked like it was telling us to run on the uneven grass. That didn’t seem right and everyone was running on the street so I followed. Let me clarify that the grass was on the inside of the fence.

As we ran down the street, we passed the delivery driveway. Some people turned up it only to turn around and run back to the street. A volunteer was yelling something towards us but we couldn’t hear him. A group of us chatted, figured they told us to stay on the street and all kept running towards the main driveway. Turned in there, headed back across the start line and back to the first Y. This time the kids sent us left. Mile 1- 9:22. I was feeling good so I was very happy with that time.

Then mile 2 came. Going left this time sent us down into the vineyard. Gorgeous views but I have run trails up mountains that had better maintained paths than that. I should have worn my trail shoes. By now I had decided to try to pace a tall guy wearing red in front of me and a woman in front of him. Then the inclines started. Ok, all were less than 100 ft but all were short and steep and on loose ground riddled with divets. I know I have maintained an average base lately but I don’t have it in me to run hills right now. However, I can power walk them faster than I can run them. So that is what I did. I lost red shirt here but was able to pass the woman who was struggling with the climb too. From there it was another small climb and out on a grassy section. Mile 2- 10:54. Ouch.

Mile 3 led us around another set of vines and through the actual vines. Have you ever tried to run between vines? It’s hard! Then a little down hill section that I flew down before heading back to the first set of vines. This is where I passed a woman in blue, caught up to red shirt and passed him too. I could have sworn we were going right and up that hill again but the kids waved us left. Wait, what? We should be close to done not running the opposite way of the start line!

I was also way too damn hot. Capri’s and long sleeves were way too much for high 50’s. I passed a guy in white shirt before rounding a corner and another little incline. Red shirt caught back up. No! I sped up. Another trek between two vines and it was up the last biggest hill and back towards the start. I briefly checked my watch because I knew I had to be close to 30. 32:something, ugh.Then I noticed the mileage. 3.2 miles and I still had more to go. What?! Rounded a corner to the start and a woman waved me on through another gate and up the main drive way and finally to the finish. Finaltime- around 34:4? It took me a moment to stop my Garmin. Finalmileage- 3.44. My mileage was echoed by other runners watches as well. According to my mother I was the second woman across the finish line.

So no, I did not hit the arbitrary time goal that I had set myself. But I felt good throughout the race, my lungs and my stomach behaved for the entire thing. And I passed people!!!! It has been so long since I have done that, it felt kind of awesome. Childish, I know, but still awesome. 🙂 The finish line was kind of gorgeous so we took enjoyed the scenery for a while before heading home. There was a man who ran the race with his chocolate lab so we let Zoey and her meet. Zoey was so excited to meet a dog that wanted to play and not attack her. The lab was small for the breed and super sweet. She put up with Zoey’s hyper level well. So it was a good morning all around! 🙂

Can you guess where we all got lost? The kids did a good job directing us which way to go. However there were no kids at the corner where we went on to the street. When we were supposed to stay inside the fence. Yeah. Oops. Poor listening skills aside, getting lost driving there as well, it was still a good race. I felt a little bad for the poor turn out. I hope they try it again next year. This time, I’ll wear my trail shoes. Oh and blogger fail, I didn’t go back down into the vineyard to get pictures of the course.

Ever get lost at a race? This makes my 3rd time.

Ever run a super tiny race?

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?

Adios October

How is it November already? I should not be writing an October recap yet. Oh and those Christmas commercials just need to stop!In keeping with my stepping back plan, October turned in fewer miles than before. Only 54.2 miles. I also ran zero races. That 54.2 miles were a mix of road and trails which is kind of cool. I also realize that my little 2.5-3 mile jaunts the last 2 weeks added to the decreased mileage. But I refused to give up the daylight until I absolutely had too, so I am ok with that. Overall, I would say that it was a good month of running. Yes I had some rough runs, but there were was an amazing one too. 🙂

October was kind of a giant stress mess and I maybe made a few poor food choices. I admit to stress eating especially since I was actively trying to run less. Couldn’t run the stress out so I ate yummy food. I took a day trip to LA for a doctor’s appointment at USC followed a week later by a day trip to Santa Barbara for notary renewal. I actually ate well both those days but both trips stressed me out. My stomach is still being a pain in the ass but I’ve adjusted, sort of. My doctor’s office called to set up a colonoscopy in December and I think I surprised them by how eager I was. 🙂 I just want answers.

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Friday was Halloween and I did good candy wise. I only ate a few of little boxes of Nerds. For work, we did a CSI theme for costumes. Complete with a duct tape body outline on the floor. However I have seen some pics on Facebook from co workers at other locations, so I know that there is no way we won the contest. It started pouring rain a few hours before I left which while great (rain!!!) meant I was even colder than I was before. I just wanted to go home and snuggle up in my chair. But my friend was having a Halloween party so I changed into my second costume of the day and headed out.

You know that part in Bridget Jones where she’s shows up dressed for a Tarts and Vicars party but didn’t get the memo that the dress code had changed? Ummm, yeah that happened. I had texted my friend a time or two to check about costumes, I was so not feeling the festive spirit. So I made an attempt. I had an old button up shirt of my grandpa’s that I have been hanging on to for years. It was pink, that plus a pair of boxers and my pink ProCompression socks gave me a lazy girl version of that scene from Risky Business. The shirt and shorts combo actually covered more than most of my running gear so other than being cold, I felt ok. That was until I walked in and was one of the very few adults in costume. Ummmm, boo. If it hadn’t been so wet and cold I would have just let it be but after about 20 minutes, I went and got my jeans from my car. I had to work the next day so I did not stay long before heading home.

I decided to check where I was mile wise with my 2014 goal of 750. My speed goals are not going to happen and with the last 2 months of cutting back I was wondering what kind of damage I had done. So I pulled out a calculator. Ok not really, I used the app on my computer. 721.7 miles ?!! What? How did that happen already? Woo hoo!!! I can do this!!

So long October, time for November. Time for hitting the treadmill 2x a week. 😦 But I do have a race next weekend!

How was your Halloween? Ever show up somewhere under dressed?

How are you doing on your 2014 goals?

Anyone else annoyed by the early Christmas commercials?