I need a vacation. On a beach. Swinging in a hammock.
Have I said that before?
Our little county boasted the hottest point of the country on Tuesday- 108. Say what? No, just no. The break room air is on the fritz so it’s a balmy 84* in there. 🤣
I think something about the heat- work town broke 100 a few times- made this week seem super long. Either that or I was just feeling a little cranky. I tried to just ignore it and move it but I was just blech. I’m still not feeling great either and 2 more employees were down sick as well so maybe there’s just something going round.
Squeezing in 29 before Vegas is looking less likely. Not only am I just tired but in truth my budget doesn’t really want to include a hotel right now. Entry fee? Fine. Hotel cost- not so much. My race account is looking a little sad. Plus I want to have money to have fun in Las Vegas.
Vegas! It’s almost here! How is that possible? I’m not ready yet! How do you mentally prepare for Las Vegas? Help!😛
Heck, Halloween snuck up on me. How is almost November?
Anyone else notice I skipped right past 41? I went from week 40 right to 42 last week. Oops. Apparently I forgot how to count, oops. 😛
All right let’s get to another episode of Confessions of a Chaotic Runner. Though I tried to ignore it and live in denial, by Thursday I knew I had a problem. When I had to put a customer on hold and pass the phone to coworker and excuse myself to run the restroom, there was probably something wrong. Problem is, I am so used to my stomach being an asshat on the daily due to my GI disorder that it was easy to lie myself about it being something else. I didn’t want to admit I had the weird bug going round. By Friday, I was coughing, bleary eyed, and just walking from my desk to the copier was exhausting. But I was still planning on a long run! Runners are crazy. My coworker told me I looked like her 5 year old- running a fever and ill but trying to convince her to take me to McDonald’s. Hmmm…accurate.
Monday- 3 miles Fairly, steady paced twilight miles. That will be the last venture into the actual river portion of the trail in the dark though. The most horrific, blood curdling scream rent the air just 1/2 mile from my car. WTH? What way do I go? I took the shortest path back to the street only to discover the source of the scream was a child throwing a tantrum at having to leave the park. Lady- hire your kid out for horror flicks.
Tuesday- Rest I am sure I did something else but I can’t remember what it was. Oh yes, the stomach troubles really started but I ignored them.
Wednesday- 2.3 miles Short easy miles as I was back at the lake and I will not run into twilight there due to previous creepy situations. But I got to enjoy a pretty good sunset.
Thursday- Rest I was feeling poorly but still refusing to admit that I was sick. I did let the registration window for a potential #29 close though- Ventura- so I wasn’t being completely stupid.
Friday- Sick I was still in denial. I took running clothes to work. Halfway through the day I finally admitted that I shouldn’t even be at work let alone running. But I forced myself to get through the day.
Saturday- Rest Other than running some errands, not a whole lot happened. I kept talking about running like it was going to happen but even I knew that would have been stupid.
Sunday- 5.25 milesNot sure if I would call that a long run but it’s the longest run I pulled off this week. I set an alarm for the morning but at some point in the night I must have turned it off. 😒 I still felt touch and go all day but I decided to attempt a run in the early afternoon. I maybe should have chosen a route with less hills. I wish it had been a little cooler than 80. I sat down on a wall at mile 4 because I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish the last mile. But I kind of had to as I had to get home. 😛
10.55 miles for the week. Kind of crappy but considering half the week was spent fighting some crappy stomach bug, I’ll take it with little complaint. I’ll save that for another week.
How is it only Thursday? I feel like it should already be Sunday.
Maybe it’s just been one of those weeks.
I went to a long overdue eye appointment this week. Holy crap, I can see again! I didn’t realize how much I was squinting until I didn’t have to anymore. I can see clearly now the squint is gone, hehe. And good lord, my eye sight is bad. 🤓
Lately, I’ve been on a Battlestar Galactica kick. It’s my newest binge. I watched it years ago but now thanks to Hulu, I’m rediscovering it all over again. It holds up. The commercials are about to drive me batty though. The commercial free version is looking better.
I had this idea to make Las Vegas half marathon #30… except I am one short. So half #29 anyone? Any ideas?
I just went on a book buying spree on Thrift Books. Did I need 4 new books? Nah…but I love their prices! Downside is they are coming from 4 different warehouses so now I just have to wait. Wonder which one will show up first.
On the upshot, I’ve been dizzy spell free so far this week- knock on wood- and gotten in 2 runs. Let’s keep it going.
I was feeling pretty good after last week’s race- my quads were a little sore but the residual excitement of running a good race made that seem like nothing. I was looking forward to jumping right back on the training band wagon. My only concern was that I knew I was drastically cutting back on my thyroid medication so I wasn’t sure how that was going to hit me. I was choosing to be optimistic though.
Monday- 3 miles I had the day off of work and maybe my mind had written a bigger check than my legs could cash. I slept late in the morning and headed out for a run in the afternoon. I was hoping for 5 miles. My legs were so not on board. It’s when I really knew my quads were feeling the race. I cracked a joke on Twitter that if there was record for taking breaks in a 3 mile run I just broke it. 😛
Tuesday- Chaos errr, I mean rest. I didn’t get off work until well past 6. I don’t really think I sat down. I took the bare minimum required lunch. It wasn’t that it was super busy but we were down a person so things got a little hectic.
Wednesday- 2.25 miles Ran a little late getting off work again. I really need to get more reflective gear and figure out how to put my blinking lights on my Orange Mud packs now that I don’t run with a belt. Ok, I also need to find them. I am pretty sure they are in my car somewhere. 😛
Thursday- 3.5 miles ish I think? I accidentally paused my GPS a block into my run and didn’t notice it for about 4-5 blocks. Then my Garmin tried to die around 2.5 so I stopped and saved it before starting it again and running on. I ran in work town so I had plenty of light but damn that last uphill takes a lot out of me.
Friday- Nah Open to close. And a moment of oddness. I was feeling super tired by weeks end but I was chalking to up to the medication change. Then as I was walking from my desk to a cabinet I had a moment where the whole world spun and tilted. Apparently it was fairly obvious because a coworker yelled out “grab the counter”. WTH? I stayed upright but it was touch and go there for a moment.
Saturday- Rest The Pioneer Day Parade was happening in town so I knew my long run was not happening in the morning. Trying to dodge the parade crowds and rerouted traffic just sounded like a recipe for disaster so I was more than happy to turn off my alarm and sleep in obscenely late.
Sunday- Fail I set my alarm for an early morning run but things were not ok when I woke up. My stomach was horrible but that I could have rolled with. My stomach is jacked up 85% of the time. What I couldn’t roll with was the dizzy spells that had come back accompanied by nausea. I thought about trying to run anyways but decided that would be stupid and just crawled back into bed. I was hoping I would feel well enough to try for a few miles in the afternoon before my little brother’s birthday dinner but it didn’t happen. Instead I watched an obscene amount of Battlestar.
So just shy of 9? Over 9? I have no idea. Either way, the week started out fine and ended with a whiny- I just want to run! Grrrr. The dizziness is odd, not sure if I am coming down with something or if is the change in medication. Hopefully the mostly sitting in a dark room today took care of it.
What do you do when need to run a long run and need the motivation to get up early? Sign up for a race!
Let’s count the things that did not go like planned-
Had stomach issues on Saturday but hoped they would go away by race morning.
It didn’t, it was even worse. To the point where I had a complete change in wardrobe plans. If I could have run in a dress I would have. I needed the least amount of pressure possible.
Ran in a skirt I haven’t worn in 2 years, probably qualified as something new on race day. Ditto to the Camelbak I decided to use.
I was late leaving the house, then spent too much time at a Chevron station using the facilities due to above mentioned GI issue.
Lost one of the zip ties for the timing chip. Found it again after tearing apart car.
Strolled up to the start with 3 minutes to spare.
Ran the race on Zero calories.
With my back issues, I was thinking this would be slower than long run pace. My parents were meeting me at the finish line- I told them over a 2:30 finish.
And yet-
Miles 1-4 9:38, 9:39, 9:44, 9:58
The race starts off downhill so I figured the first few miles would be my fastest but I had been thinking high 10’s. Mile 1 clocked in and I remember thinking “what the hell legs? We can’t maintain that”. Then mile 2 took freakin’ forever. I’ve run this course 5 times and I couldn’t figure why the hell it was taking so long so I finally looked at my watch. Mile 2.86. Oh I missed the mile marker, good to know I am not crazy. I was trying to not look at my watch but I knew my legs were still running a pace they had no business running. My friend Bix came up behind a little after mile 3. We chatted a bit before she pulled ahead a little after mile 4. I had to crash soon right?
Miles 5-8 10:20, 10:44, 11:13, 9:34
Mile 5 starts a long slow climb which I like as it loosens up any leg tightness I may have. I also took my first walk break as my back gave a tiny twinge. Mile 6 saw lots of walking as those stupid stomach issues came rearing back. Are you kidding me?!?! The last aid station at mile 4 and the next one wasn’t until past mile 7. I also was suddenly surrounded by people. What the hell? It was the 2:15 pace group. Wait, I was in front of the 2:15 pace group for 6 miles? What year is this? 2015? 😛 They pulled ahead but I kept them in my sights until the bigger hill on mile 7- more walking thanks to a cranky back. I wasn’t worried as I knew there was a downhill coming and I love downhills. As you can see by that mile 8 up there.
The Garmin makes it look scary😂 Miles 9-11 10:48, 12:34, 10:26
Catching up to the pace group was short lived. I lost them on the Bob Jones Trail. I was slowing down but what else do you expect when your longest run in 2 months has been 8 miles? I ran on the dirt on the side of the trail hoping it would lessen some of the pavement pounding but by mile 10- the biggest hill- my back was very not happy. I walked a lot and it shows in my mile time. I tried to stretch it out as I walked. Mile 11 was pretty good actually but I felt like I was crawling.
Miles 12-13.1 10:51, 11:40
Come on back, I’m so close! 2 miles to go! Run til I feel a twinge, walk it out, repeat. Ran alongside a woman for a bit, we commiserated over pains. She was having Plantar issues. She pulled ahead. Finally I hit mile 13 and all I had left was the longest .1 ever. Seriously- I swear this .1 is longer than any other race I have other run.
Finish- 2:18:59
How, now? Under trained, messed up back, hot mess of a morning and I finish my fastest race in 2 years? In fact, my fastest race since City to the Sea 2015? How does that even make sense? I just decided to let my legs and back fight it out. I took my head out of the equation.
Slacker Runner 