Dirty Girl Hike & Brunch

A few of my friends have May-June birthdays, and a few of their friends do too. So it was decided to get a group together to do a hike followed by brunch. The hike chosen was Bishop’s Peak in SLO. This would be followed by brunch at a fancy shmancy hotel a few towns over- in our dirty hiking clothes. 🙂 So, bright and early Sunday Morning, we all met up and jumped in the car and headed down.

There were people climbing the backside of the rockface

I have hiked this peak before and there are 3 different ways to go up for about the first mile. From there they all converge into a narrow, rocky dirt track and switchback the rest of the way up to the top. The trail head we chose is located in a residential area and parking was easy. It starts of with an easy dirt road before it starts to get harder. There were 7 of us out there and we just kept an easy pace going up. It was fun getting to catch up and talk as we made our way up. By about halfway we had split into a group of 4 and then a group of 3 a couple hundred yards back. It was fun taking it a little easier too, I tend to be a little crazy on trails, so this time I was able to enjoy the view. And what a view it was- seriously, I took over 100 pictures!

It really was great getting to talk to everyone. Bix and I were even able to reminisce about our loathing of switch backs (Firehouse 5K). About halfway up, at a particular tricky part, we cracked a joke that we should be singing “The Climb” by Miley Cyrus, but we couldn’t remember the words. Which was probably a good thing. 🙂 But we made it to the top! And I was crazy enough to climb up the last few rocks, too. After taking the obligatory top of the mountain pictures, it was all down hill from there.

I'm the only crazy one going up these rocks — I’m the only crazy one going up these rocks

Going down, we separated into a group of 5 and and a group of 2. D and ML and I got involved in a Supernatural discussion, more accurately our love of Dean. 🙂 More and more people were hiking their way up as well; quite a few made comments about our shirts, apparently we thought alike when we dressed that morning.

M and ML, a little blurry but I still like it

The way the trail wraps around, you can usually hear people long before you see them. About 2/3 down, we realized it had been a long time since we heard from the other 2 so we stopped and waited for them to catch up. It turns out they had gotten a little lost. Trail buddy fail!!!! We all met up again and then we had to step it up to get to the car, we had a reservation at 11! This is also where I couldn’t help it anymore and I ran. I love running downhill on trails, I really do. 2 miles up and 2 miles down and we were back at the start.

another selfie, D is more talented than I am

Then it was quick change time. Even though we had discussed going in our hiking clothes, 5 of us brought a change of clothes. So with the use of plenty of wet wipes (so handy!), we were changing in the car by the roadside. My apologies if I inadvertently flashed anyone. Then we were in the car and headed to brunch. The place was packed, we had to park on a side street. But as one of us pointed out, we had just hiked Bishops’ Peak, we could handle a few blocks.

Brunch was awesome. The company was amazing and the food was great. The service could have used some help and when the heck did brunch get so expensive? Then again, I don’t think I have been to brunch since the last century, so that could be part of it. We all ate too much and enjoyed our champagne and mimosas. I don’t really drink, so I’m usually the DD, but this time it was nice that someone else was. It’s still not my thing but it was fun. Overall, it was an awesome day.

I did have my Garmin with me on the hike. I didn’t care about pace but I had wanted the elevation profile. Well, this blonde had some problems. #1 was auto pause. I do not like that feature, I think that it was what tripped me up with my time at the SLO Marathon. During the hike, it paused when we were going through a cattle fence and never started up again. It took me almost 1/2 a mile to notice. Urgh. Bix had the great idea that I should just start it over at the top, so at least it would be accurate on the way down, and then I could double it. So I did that, but we stopped about a 1/3 of the way down so I paused it. Why? I don’t know but I forgot to restart it and didn’t figure it out until it buzzed with the power save warning. Ugh!!! So yeah, that didn’t work, but we went from around 350 to almost 1500 and back.

But like I said it was an awesome day and I can’t wait to do it again!

How was your weekend?

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?

It all catches up

Happy Hump Day!

This is going to be a short and sweet check in, my slacker-ness finally caught up with me. My running may have become more consistent over the past year but I am still a huge procrastinator. I have a fairly big paper and a little paper due at the beginning of next week and I put it off until the last minute. I gave myself a word minium to hit before I would allow myself to write a post or read other blogs. 😦 So I may be a little behind this week.

I took Monday as a rest day in favor of working on my paper, it didn’t work. I managed 200 measly words. I am having the worst case of writers block. I had to take my car in for an oil change and some service light issues on Tuesday, so I was hoping that the dealer had Wifi so I could continue researching. They didn’t. I did however get 600 words written on the notepad on my iPad. I also completely changed my subject, so new research time! I wanted to post last night but I was stuck trying to download the 1910 census. Did you know you can do that? It takes forever but it can be done. Talk about a time trip.

I did manage to get to the lake path for a short run last night. We are in the middle of a heat wave here, so I was a little concerned about the warmth but luckily there was a nice breeze. My home town is supposed to hit triple digits and my cute little oceanside work town hit 90 yesterday. And it’s only May. I may actually have to use my gym membership this summer. 😦 My mom and the puppy met up with me at the lake as well. She was tired due to the reno that they are doing so she said she was only going to walk 2 laps. That was fine by me because I was aiming for 3 laps for 3.5 miles. We actually finished around the same time. I tried to focus on my form again and make sure that I was using my right leg more. I was kind of tired though and even with the breeze it was a little warmer than I would have liked, so the last mile I kind of stopped caring about my form.

Afterwards we went to a local burger place for dinner. I actually ordered a salad, it was super yummy. Then it was home for more research and writing. Yippiee! Oh well, I will get it done and return to normal posting and running- I may have to take another rest day to write. Boo!

Anyone else ignore deadlines?

How is your week treating you? How’s the weather?

Fallon @ Slacker Runner
May 14, 2014

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