Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 1

Well crap, it’s real huh, now that it’s in writing. 😜

This week went almost exactly like I planned. Notice I said like I planned and not according to THE plan.

Plan-

Week 1

Life

Monday 5 miles / PT exercise- I couldn’t waste a perfectly good day off so I moved Wednesday’s 5 miles to Monday. It just made more sense. I also finally found the sluggish feeling I had been expecting to feel on Saturday’s and Sunday’s run. Then again it has also been a while since I’ve run 3 days in a row. Other than sluggish, it was a pretty solid 5 miles though. Could have done without the buzzard spectators though. Back off buddies.

Tuesday- Rest/ PT exercises. Nailed it. Work was crazy busy so that’s all I had the brain power for anyways.

Wednesday- 3.1 miles/ PT exercises Slow, sore, treadmill miles. Man, my back was so not happy so I was really glad I switched Monday and Wednesday around. I was also very surprised by how empty the gym was. I had been expecting to find a crowd but instead I was able to find both a parking spot close to the gym and a treadmill easily. What gives? That is highly unusual for January 3.

Thursday- Physical Therapy I had another session of lumbar traction, this time with increased tension. Is that what it’s called? While it felt good, I was super sore too. I took easy the rest of the day, doc’s orders.

Friday- Rest If only that word was an accurate representation of how Friday’s actually go. 🤣

Saturday- 8.3 miles/ PT exercises First long run of training! Just to play things smart and to be nice to my back, I was keeping to my intervals of run 1 minute, walk 1 minute. Also helped that my watch was set to that and I was too lazy to fix it. My pace was keeping pretty steady in the mid 11 range, which I was more than fine with and my plan was to pick it up for a fast finish. Everything was working great up until mile 6.5. Then I felt AND heard something pop on my back near my left shoulder-blade and came to a screeching halt. Literally. I was ripping off colorful words in multiple languages and probably sounded like I was screeching. Are you freakin’ kidding me? Now, this is unfortunately an injury that I am familiar with. This is the 5th time it’s happened, first time while running though. Usually, it leaves me with restricted mobility on my left side for 3-5 days, how the hell was I going to get back to my car let alone finish running??

I ran a pace that didn’t jostle me too much and stopped multiple times to stretch. Stretching would have gone better without my Orange Mud pack on, but I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get it back on it I took it off. I made it back to my car and stretched as best as I could before driving home. Grrrr.

Sunday- Rest. Damn shoulder. Running actually seemed to help it a bit because it didn’t seem as bad today as it was the last time this happened. Which oddly, was almost exactly a year ago. So I rested and worked on some deep stretching with my foam roller.

16.42 miles. Other than the damn shoulder, the miles are exactly how I thought this week was going to go, so yay for that! I had originally thought about making up Thursday’s run on Sunday but again, shoulder.

How was your week?

2017- The Shiny and The Dull

It’s that time again- time to recap the Shiny and the Dull of 2017.

Let’s get the Dull out of the way first.

So yeah, remember that post 12 months ago where I said I hated goals, that I considered them 4 letter words so I wasn’t making any? No? Well, here it is if you’re feeling really bored. I was going to make 2017 the year of Challenge. Ha! More like the year of complacency.

Instead of running all the miles in 2017, I didn’t even clear 650.

Did I find my old pace? Yeah, no.

I was turned down for 2 jobs I applied for.

Should we even mention the weight I put on? I’m less irritated about the number and more irritated about how uncomfortable I feel in my skin.

Had migraine issues, thyroid issues, leg issues, back issues, bed issues. Maybe I’m the issue?

Ok, enough with the dull.

Shiny!!!!!!

I ran 10 races, 8 13.1’s, one 5 miler and one 5K. If I had to pick a top 3, they would be –

Las Vegas! I went to Vegas! I ran a half and a 5K in one weekend. I finally met Kate in real life! We ran her first half together. I met Helly! I hung with Mai and other BibRave Pros! There were lights and miles and good times and it was awesome. Tiring but awesome. And I am a bad blogger because I don’t have the pictures.
Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1– My first Rock n Roll race and it was great one. I loved the course and the whole experience. I met Mai and Emily and made the We Run Social photo on race morning. And I met Chelsea! It was also my fastest race in a few years. Until…
City to Sea– Home town love. Yeah, I consider the entire county my home town. 5th time running this race and I still love it. Somehow pulled off my fastest race of the year too. Still don’t know where that came from.

Honorable mentions- Salinas Valley Half Marathon, SLO Ultra 5 Miler

I had the opportunity to work with BibRave again in 2017 and it is a great group of people. Plus I tested some pretty awesome products. I’d have even fewer miles if BibRave hadn’t pointed me in the direction of my Ultra Boost X’s. My running store doesn’t sell them so I wouldn’t have found them on my own. I’m on pair 2 now.

I was also given the chance to be an ambassador for Miles and Pace. If you’ve been around this blog for the last few years, you may have noticed that I am pretty attached to my Miles and Pace trucker hats so I was stoked. My current hat count is 4.

As for work, I have a Rock star crew, so can’t complain about that.

So 2017 did not go like I hoped but then again I maybe got a little too comfy in the comfy chair and rationalized my way into being a little too Slacker like. I mentioned on Twitter the other night that I have a tendency to get in my own way.

As for 2018? Time to Sound the Alarm.

Week 52-And a cold

And just like 52 weeks have gone by and bring 2017 to close.

And the calendar did me a solid and worked out perfectly… unlike last year.

I had my second PT appointment and this time they had me try lumbar traction. Then all laughed at the expression of fear on my face as they described it. It really wasn’t that bad.

Last week was a little rough, I felt a little ragged around the edges. I was looking forward to the 3 day weekend- not for the New Year’s parties but more for the opportunity to sleep. Truth- I just barely managed to stay awake through midnight on New Year’s Eve but I still managed to miss the ball drop on TV. Oops.

Monday- Christmas And I was about as active as a lump on a log.

Tuesday- Rest/ PT Exercises I knew work was likely to be busy after the 3 day weekend and oh boy was I right.

Wednesday- Missed Run Work was exhausting and I was tired and cranky so instead of running I just headed home. Which might have been fate telling me something- maybe that’s dramatic but barely moments after picking my mom up to go to dinner, we were driving down the street to see flames literally shooting out of the top of an apartment building. Then it hit the power lines. I pulled over while my mom called 911 and jumped out and stood with the homeowner, we asked if anyone else was inside or if there were any pets. I then just got my car out of the way and stayed out of the way while we waited for the fire department and PD to show up. It was definitely not how I thought the night was going to go.

Thursday- Rest/PT exercises Work this week just kicked my butt. Plus I was denial that I was sick. If I ignored the sore throat and the coughing, that meant they weren’t real right? Despite the fact I’d fallen asleep in my chair almost every night. I missed a dinner with old high school friends because I didn’t want to get anyone sick, so I wasn’t being completely stupid.

Friday- Rest More of the same. This time I missed a dinner with a coworker who was leaving another location. Boo. Also fell asleep in my chair again.

Saturday- 3.1 miles After sleeping in, I headed out for what I figured was going to be an afternoon slog. Except I was moving way faster than I should have been for only having run once last week and being sick this week. Legs what are you doing? I had no business seeing miles in the 10 minute range and my lungs let me know so I ended up take a break to sit on a wall at one point.

Sunday- 4 miles Once again I headed out expecting a slow run and once again my legs and lungs were at war. My legs just wanted to go! But my lungs were not quite on board. It was better than the day before though. Other than a little wheezing, this 4 miles felt pretty good.

7.1 miles for the week. Better than last week. Still super low but I’m not mad. The last week of the year always throws me a curve ball and this was no exception.

How was your week?

Rambling On 24

Last ramble of 2017.

I totally just zoned out on the page…oops!

Every year I tell myself to take the week after Christmas off because things always seem to go completely screwy at work and I end up feeling a little ragged. This week was no different. Someone remind me of this next year. Please.

I am behind on my 2017 wrap up post…but if it is still 2017 can you really be behind??? Hmmm.🤔

This week has been weird, sick dogs- Zoey went to the vet, sick coworkers, houses literally on fire- not mine. Like I said before, a screwy week.

Anyone racing on New Years? How about a Polar Plunge? I have both options available actually but I don’t think either are likely. A jump in the ocean doesn’t seem like the best idea for the sore throat and cough that I currently denying exist. Nope, don’t have time for that.

However, the 3 day weekend sounds very nice.😀

Share your random.

Week 51- Christmas Slacking

In more ways than one. 😛😛

Last week was a little chaotic. Work was super busy, I was running behind on all things Christmas and I received some not great news about that job interview I had a few weeks ago. I admit I fell into a cranky funk for a few days but I climbed out of the hole and perked up. I think….maybe I should get a second opinion on that.

Monday- Christmas shopping. With barely anything to wrap- this was necessary. Crossed some things off my list but not much.

Tuesday- Cookie baking! And eating a few too many. Also planned. Well, maybe not how many I ate. Oh and my PT exercises.

Wednesday- Missed run. My replacement bed was delivered and once again, Pops was there for the delivery. Instead of running I headed home to take the family out to dinner.

Thursday- 3.3 milesOn the treadmill!!! Holy crap, who am I? And it wasn’t miserable! I warmed up with plenty of walking as the treadmill always makes me achy and then I worked on focusing on my cadence. Both to see if I could improve my average number and if it would help with the on again, off again shin pain. Partial success to both! What was not cool was that Monsters Inside Me was once again on the TV in front of me. Why?!?!?!

Friday-Work My hopes for a calm day were not granted.

Saturday- Missed run. I had planned on a 6 mile run longish run for the week and scheduled my day accordingly. However that schedule had me running in the afternoon because I wanted to sleep in. Which was all fine until my brother decided to take my mother and I to the movies and dinner. Instead I enjoyed yummy food and walked out of theater with a strange fascination with Adam Driver. Someone send help. 😛

Sunday- Christmas Eve Try as I might, I could not get the motivation up to go for a run. So other than some errands- why did I not grocery shop before Christmas Eve?????- I spent the day with family relaxing and lounging.

So yeah, 3.3 miles for the week. I’m not going to say ouch because I chose to miss those 2 runs. I chose dinner and the movies and family time over the runs and I’m ok with that.

How was your week?

How was your Christmas?