Awkward recovery miles with a puppy

After Saturday’s painful PR, I took it easy on Sunday. Well kind of. I figured I could go and take Zoey for a walk. That way I could test how my calf felt but not be tempted to run. My parent’s yard is always in a constant state of revision and Sunday called for moving rocks. So I helped move a few bucketful before taking the puppy out. Strength training!

Matching's not important right? — Matching’s not important right?

After a day of playing in the yard while everyone was there (puppy nirvana), she was not having any part of a walk. We made it a little over a mile before turning around. She kept just sitting on the ground and looking at me, like- nope. The final straw was running into a family. A couple was out for a walk with a baby in a stroller and their son of around 4. The little boy stops and hides behind his dad, Zoey stops and hides behind me. The dad apologizes that the son is afraid of dogs, I apologize and say that Zoey is afraid of kids. This made us all laugh. Once the little boy realized Zoey was more freaked out by him, he relaxed. Zoey and I headed back towards the house, only to be rushed by a crazy dog thing about 3 blocks later.

Now, normally I think little dogs are cute, but this, I am not even sure what it was. It was the size of a small Chihuahua, had a ton of brown fur like a poodle and a head like a monkey. It came out from under a fence and charged us. It was so small that Zoey and I just stared at it trying to figure out what it was. As it got closer, I noticed it only had teeth on the right side of it’s mouth. Ummm, no thank you. We jogged away. A guy 2 houses down was laughing at us, so I get the feeling this dog does this a lot. The pup and I chilled a little in the grass at the school before heading home. Total puppy miles- 2.2 Puppy time- 43:18.

Today, I slept in a little before running some errands. Then I headed out for a short easy run. The first mile felt weird. Nothing really hurt but everything felt off. Not sure if it was due to Saturday’s leg issue or the fact that my new shorts are a little shorter than I originally thought. 🙂 I spent the next few miles taking it slow and paying attention to my form. I made sure to take walking breaks if I felt more than a niggle from my leg. I didn’t feel really normal until the end, and I picked up the pace just a bit for the last half mile.

I actually have a crazy week at work ahead, so I am thinking of taking a step back week. Only doing short easier runs this week. I really want this stupid leg thing to be a non-issue, so if I have to rest I would rather it be now than a month from now right before my half. So I may need to spend some time on the stationary bike in the near future. 😦

Official race times were posted yesterday and my official time was 55:40. 4 seconds faster than I had, sweet! Not so sweet was the worst race picture of me that I have seen to date. Not only did I look larger than usual, I am full on grimacing. Oh, yay.

I have really loved this 4 day weekend but where did the time go? I have to go back to work tomorrow? Boo 😦

Who else had today off?

How was everyone’s weekend?

Heart & Soles 2014 Race Recap

I was originally planning on running the Buzz 1/2 marathon today but scaled back to a 10K in SLO for a few reasons. Now, I am completely bummed because I just saw that Run Eat Repeat ran it and I could have tried to track her down, except I am slow, hehe.

Anyways, on to the race. After my great run on Wednesday, I was super pumped but I also knew I had pushed harder than planned, so I ended up taking Thursday and Friday as rest days. Friday was also a vacation day for me, so woo hoo! I made sure to spend some time stretching and working with my foam roller yesterday so this morning I felt pretty good and ready to go.

Heart and Soles is a series of races put on by the Cal Poly Triathlon team. It works as a fundraiser for them and the local food bank. The race takes place entirely on the college campus. They offer a 5K, 10K, and 15K and a kids race. I was a little concerned about hills as the campus is pretty much on the side of a big hill, but there weren’t any big ones thankfully. I really wanted to do the 15K but thought the 10K was a smarter choice. 😦 This turned out to be a good choice, because I would not have finished a 15K, at least not running. Maybe crawling.

The race had 9:00 AM start so I didn’t have to leave until after 7:30. My race photographer (thanks mom!) and I headed out. Getting there was easy, finding parking was a little trickier, luckily runners tend to move in herds! Check in was fairly quick, picked up the bib and goody bag and headed back to the car since it was a bit cold. While not required, a Valentine’s themed costume contest was suggested. My mother had fun laughing at some of them, including the pace bikers. The 2 males were dressed in diapers and wings…and that’s it. Just like Cupid. One thing about a college race, I felt old. I won’t deny stalking last years race results to make sure I wasn’t the oldest one. As it was I was running solo in a couples race. Luckily it was mostly other solos as well. 🙂

All 3 races started at the same time so the start line was a little congested. A guy stopped to play with his girlfriends iPod, I went left to avoid them, and 2 people behind me ran into me and I into the first couple. Oops! Maybe that was when the problem started or I just hadn’t noticed because I just started running. A quarter mile into the race, my left lower calf was so damn tight it was painful. I figured I would run it out around mile 1. No such luck. I actually considered turning around at the 5K mark. But I kept going. I was so happy to hit the first 10K turnaround. The course had two out and backs. I kept running but the pain was turning into my couples partner for the race. I told myself if the pain ever got above a 4 to take a walk break. The first came at just shy of 3 miles. Mile 4 was the roughest, not only did I take a walk break, I stopped completely and tried to stretch it out. The end of this out and back had a little loop on a dirt path and my leg felt better there. After that if I could run on dirt by the side of the road I did. While we were in the Ag section this was possible but once we were back in the center of the school, it was all roads and sidewalk. 😦

I felt like mile 6 had the steepest section of road but my Garmin disagrees. It was a little past mile 5.5 that my leg finally loosened up. Seriously? Now? But there was no way I was sprinting to the finish, I was just trying to maintain. I hadn’t really been paying attention to my time because I was more focused on breathing through the pain. All in all, I took 4 walk moments plus that stretch. I was so thankful to see that finish line. I was done. Apparently it showed too, because my mom said I looked gimpy coming up to the line.

Once I caught my breath, I let my mother know how close I was to texting her that I was chucking it and walking the damn thing. Then I checked my Garmin, 55:44. I’m sorry, what?!!? I flippin’ PR’d on what may or may not have been my worst feeling race?! I checked Nike to verify (Yeah I used both), and it agreed. I was a little shocked. Once I processed that, I was super stoked, still hurting but excited!! I was brought a little back down to earth by the first 15K finisher crossing the finish line 4 minutes later.

Other than my stupid leg, it was a good race. With all three races starting at the same time, I was concerned that it might be easy to be confused by the route. But they had people at every corner and turn around who made things very clear. The finish line was clearly marked as well. All in all, I would run it again, maybe the 15 next year?

I stretched as best as I could before leaving the campus. After changing and eating a yummy lunch, we did a little shopping around town. I kept my compression socks on and hoped that the walking would help ease the tightness. It helped a little but most of the evening has been spent RICE’ing. Tomorrow will probably be a day off as well, I have to see how it feels in the morning. I am not sure what set it off, if it was tennis practice yesterday or maybe the fact that I sat cross-legged on the floor for most of last night. I just want it to go away.

And as per usual, I was unable to leave SLO without purchasing some new running gear, now if only my legs weren’t so pale!

How is everyone’s weekend so far?

Who else raced?

~A change in plans~

~A change in plans~

Today is my Friday and that makes me smile 🙂 I have the next 4 days off, woo hoo! The original plan was to run a half marathon on a local army base on Saturday. Packet pick up would have been tomorrow, so I took the day off. They were also giving tours of the course. However, with my ankle a little sore and getting the chance to be an Ambassador for the SLO Marathon, I adjusted my race schedule. My first half of the year will be March 23 and this weekend I will be racing a 10K at a nearby college instead. I will then spend the day enjoying SLO. But I still have tomorrow off. 🙂

Yesterday, I packed everything I needed to hit the gym after work. I was planning on 4 miles with some sort of speed drills thrown in. The weather was amazing throughout the day and I was dreading the treadmill. On a last minute whim, I decided to chance it. I didn’t have my Garmin, I didn’t have my running belt and I only had my Wave Riders. I had never run in them outside only on the treadmill plus one puppy walk. But I was running outside!

I checked the sunset time and knew I could get in 3 miles. Maybe 3.5 if I pushed it. I had an armband, so I shoved my phone in it and was off. Seriously, I have never changed that fast and I was walking up the block before everyone else was in their cars. I had a 3 mile route planned, out and back. The first 1.5 miles are slightly downhill so in this route I am usually quicker going out than coming back. The first mile felt a little rough, I was breathing heavier than usual. I took that as a sign that 3.5 would not be happening. That is until Nike chimed in at mile 1- 9:00. Holy crap, that’s race pace not training!

Change in plans, now I wanted to run 4 and hold that pace. Mile 2 came in at 8:57, then the turn around. Here I did stop for a few pics, also to lose the sweatshirt I had started out in. I ran past so many photo opportunities but I wanted to hold pace and beat the setting sun. Then it was back the way I came, uphill. I always walk a part of mile 3 as the road in the state park gets super narrow. The return route has a blind corner on a downhill for cars, so I slow down to pay more attention to the cars. I figure it’s easier to jump out of the way when I am not huffing and puffing. 🙂

The sun set just past mile 3. The last bit of uphill was hard and I knew I was slowing. I hit my car and was only at 3.8 so I ran around the block again. Luckily I hit 4 and stopped Nike before walking a cool down. Which was cool because I was not running around the block and the police station again. Figured that would look a little odd. 🙂

I was so pumped after this run. I had no idea I could do that in a training run. I think racing the sun was a huge part of that. That pace would not have happened at the gym. Nor would it have been so pretty. Plus I could smell the ocean and the eucalyptus while running. I may have to try that again next week.

On an annoying note, today my favorite boots decided to lose a bottom. I almost took a header while walking across the tile floor. Now I am trying to decide if they are worth repairing or if they should be retired like a pair of running shoes. They probably have a similar amount of miles on them. 🙂

Now I just need to decide how to spend my four days off. Is it bad that I kind of want to have an Austen marathon? Jane Austen, that is. Or maybe I can get my friend to actually go to the movies. Hmmmm. And somehow, I agreed to help my mother with tennis practice tomorrow. One thing I know, I will be sleeping later tomorrow morning. 🙂

Anyone have big plans for Valentine’s day?

Who’s racing this weekend?

Sadness and Cookies

Thank goodness it’s almost Wednesday.

Monday started on a sour note, coming in to work we learned that our fish- Mo Betta- had joined the great guppy in sky. He had been sick for a few weeks and we tried so many things but in the end nothing worked. I admit I refused to even look in the fish bowl (punch bowl) I let the others deal with that. We were all in a little funk after that. Have I mentioned the awesome customers? One felt bad for us and showed up a few hours later with a gift. Say hello to this little guy-

Confusion abounded while we tried to figure out what to do with him. A coworker refused to use the “death bowl” again and all we had were vases. Luckily that same coworker had a large glass jar thing. So that is currently his home, his name is also a work in progress. Wish us luck that he stays feisty.

It’s also that lovely time of year that tempts all healthy eating plans. Yup, these were delivered yesterday as well-

Girl Scout cookies!!! So much for no gluten. Not that I am allergic to gluten but it seems to be the easier way to manage this Low-FODMAP thing my doctor has me on since December. At least 85% of the time, I told him I’m not giving up pizza or a hamburger once a week 🙂 He rolled his eyes. And continuing on the healthy kick, I put spinach and kale in my smoothie tonight. Spinach!!! I hate spinach, have ever since I was a kid, can’t even stand the smell of it. I managed to drink the whole thing so woo hoo! 🙂

Today was rough for some reason. I was dragging all morning. I took yesterday as a rest day since I was still a little sore from Sunday’s run. So I wasn’t tired from a hard workout. Work turned a little crazy by the end of the day, too. I originally had plans to go to the movies tonight with a friend but that fell through. So I headed to the gym after work.

I told myself I would do an easy 4 miles to wake myself up and get me going for the rest of the week. Once I got going, I felt pretty good. I have been foam rolling often and I found a new (to me) yoga/stretching routine that seems to helping to. Things never really hurt, just sometimes I feel a lingering soreness. My easy 4 turned into an easy 5 for the night. 5 miles- 50:53. Oddly enough there was a guy running on a treadmill near me who would throw boxing jabs while running. That was interesting. 🙂 I made sure to foam roll tonight as well, plus my newest torture device-

In other news, Run or Dye is coming to town in May. I am on the fence about how I feel about these runs. Having never done one, I can only speculate. I am already stressing over the logistics of not staining my car seats or my shoes. But I have always promised C that we would run a race in tutu’s and this seems like the perfect opportunity. We actually have quite the team growing, C’s husband and NikeC and ME and more, so it should be a fun day. And colorful.

How is everyone’s week so far?

Any thoughts on color runs?

Any helpful betta fish hints?

A Long Not So Slow Run

The weather man was actually right and we had a very rainy Saturday. Not complaining because we need it but it did push my long run back until today. Saturday was spent building a cabinet for my mother for her garage. Every time my pops goes out of town, I get a “honey do” list. The cabinet was one of those MDF things you buy in pieces. Some very colorful language ensued, I hurt my ankle, pinched a finger and realized that wood glue peels off your fingers just like Elmer’s did back in grade school. 🙂 But it was built and muscled into place (weighed 200 lbs!), well mostly. One door is out of whack. 😦 That counts as a workout right?

I don’t know why I tell myself I am going to run in the morning, I never follow through. It is too cold and my bed is so cozy. After a little lie in this morning, a late breakfast (or early lunch) and some errands, I headed out for my run. The rain had held all day but I dressed for it just in case. Full pants, tank and and long sleeved layer on top. All topped with an ear warmer. I was also wearing the ankle compression socks. Ankle is a misnomer, they were more like crew, they went halfway up my leg. It reminded me of when I played tennis in high school. For some reason we thought we were cool wearing crew boys socks with our skirts. Ha!

I was a little overdressed in the beginning but I forced myself to keep everything on, I knew I would be cold eventually. Plus there was some more wind today than usual. I had plans to get the puppy and take her for a walk, so I was only going to run 8. The first 4 at a steady pace, last 4 at a much slower pace. I started out ok and the first 4 went as planned. Then it got a little tricky.

I was trying to take some pictures for the blog so occasionally I would stop and pause the Garmin and Nike and take a pic or 2. Start them back up and keep going. At the last shot I didn’t pause the Garmin so time kept running. Oops. Nike had paused fine and restarted fine. Half a mile later, I noticed they were .30 miles different. The Garmin was ahead but the pace on Nike seemed right so I just kept going. The last few miles seemed hard, harder than a 10:30 should have been, which is what I thought I was running. At the end, the Garmin showed 8.32 and Nike 8.02. I must have had my Wheaties this morning, mile 8 was 8:47. Say what?!

Thinking both devices had serious issues, I Google mapped it. It showed 8.46. Well crap. Since I know the time on the Nike was accurate for time actually ran, I took that time and randomly chose 8.2 miles. That is not the pace I was trying to maintain for a long slow run but I am stoked that I held it. I later logged into Nike and was able to see where the signal drop happened. I have never had a problem there before so I’m not sure what happened 😦

I then headed for the puppy and what I thought would be a nice stroll. Except she was ready to go and wanted to run the whole way, I had to hold her back at times. Plus she still randomly likes to just plop flat on the ground and I almost trip over her. Another 2.7 miles in 38 minutes. And I was done. And cold, the temperature had dropped a bit.

I later went to dinner with my mother. This time I was wearing the full length compression socks under my jeans for recovery. So far I like them but I am going to need a few more times wearing them to decide. I must say that I thought they would be tighter. Or at least feel snugger. But then I wear knee socks or derby socks almost every day during winter and spring so maybe I’m just used to it? Who knows.

First week of the reboot plan successfully completed and I feel pretty good. I am hoping to maintain that through next week finishing with a 10K on Saturday. 🙂 I was originally supposed to be running a half marathon but with my ankle being sore, I decided to try and be smart and not push it. My first half of the year is still set for March and I will run SLO in April.

How was everyone’s weekend?

I know I need to just use 1 device but it’s so hard! Anyone else use 2?

Tiny bit of business-

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