Week 32- Ragged

I was so glad that I didn’t have any races to worry about this week.

With all of the conversion craziness and trying to stay somewhat ready for Salinas Valley, I was beginning to feel a little run down. As much as I want to run all the miles to get my numbers back up, I also need to not break myself. And this was my thought process before the stomach flu tore it’s way through the office. So glad I’d already decided to keep things chill this week. 😛

Monday- 3.55 miles I had taken the day off as a vacation day post Salinas with the hope of getting some rest and catching up on some things I woefully behind on. Umm, not so much. But I did make it to the new trail in run town for a few miles up and down. The trail is great, the drive to the parking lot though is ridiculous.

Tuesday- Rest Sticking to any sort of post work schedule has been difficult.

Wednesday- Rest I am sure I did something but I don’t remember what it was. 😛

Thursday- 3.1 miles I had zero desire to run after work. None. The long days were catching up to me. But I changed and started driving towards home. I ended up at the River path and told myself a mile was better than nothing. I started out walking and had a hard time convincing myself to run but eventually I started. I expected the crappiest run ever however I ended up running the smoothest, most consistent miles since marathon training last year. I stopped once when I thought I heard a stray kitten. If you follow me on IG then you might know that I spent a few moments looking for it in the bushes before thinking that this might be a good way for creepers to lure people into the bushes. 😛 Ok, the exhaustion is making me delusional.

Friday- Rest Yay, it’s Friday! It was the first time I worked the late shift without opening too in months. I couldn’t remember what time to set my alarm for, ha!

Saturday- 4 miles After spending some time shopping in SLO, I hit up a path in work town that I haven’t been on since last year. I love it but there are parts that I don’t feel comfortable by myself in the evenings. This time it was the early afternoon and I took my mother along for the ride. 😛 The route is great and very scenic but about a mile from the car my left leg did that buckling in pain thing again. WTH?! I hadn’t felt it all week and I now I felt like it was going to knock me flat. Grrr.

Sunday- Rest I was still super tired and with my leg acting all wonky, I decided not to push it. There are races I would like to run in October and I can’t do that if my leg is still giving me fits. Stupid leg. Where’s my foam roller?

10.65 miles for the week. Not great but not too bad either. I stayed upright during the stomach flu epidemic and my leg didn’t start screaming until Saturday, so I was able to get in some decent short miles. Now if I could just figure out what is going on with my leg.

How was your week?

Any tips for odd leg pain in the groin area?😛

Random thoughts on the run?

Salinas Valley Half Marathon Recap

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Salinas Valley Half Marathon as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

The morning dawned dark and early. With the race starting at the Soledad Mission, I was up early and heading north. After getting a little turned around (all my fault- it was literally straight up the freeway) I arrived early enough to pick up my bib, debate what pack to use and use the port a potties. I had woken to a very angry stomach and had to use the facilities a few times before the race. Lovely. I headed to the start line to the beat of an ipod and an upbeat announcer. The weather had been predicted to start in the 70’s and be in the high 80’s by race end so I was very excited to see a heavy cloud cover that kept the temps about 10* cooler.

Miles 1-3- 10:01, 10:07, 11:04

The course started off nice and flat. Which I appreciated for about 1/2 a mile. My legs were already fussy so by mile 2, I was running in the dirt on the side of the road. If there’s dirt, I will find it. 🙂 My shoelaces on my right shoe came untied in mile 2 as well. I was moving surprisingly faster than I thought I was going to be though. Mile 3 saw my first walk break as well as my shoelaces coming untied again. What gives?! I was enjoying the scenery. We ran past crop fields of Cauliflower and Peas. I was taking pictures while running.

Miles 4-6- 10:44, 11:01, 10:45

Here’s my main gripe- the first water station wasn’t until mile 3.3. For a race in CA in August, I thought that was too far in. I carried a larger bottle of BeachBody with me but I still like water at each station. We started into a little rolling section of the course which was giving me slight downhills which was slightly helping my pace. This was cool because the walk breaks were becoming more regular. My legs were starting to get super stiff though. My brain may have seen the road as slightly rolling but legs were telling me it was flat. I needed a hill!

Miles 7-9- 12:47, 11:59, 10:48

A hill! My legs were thankful, the rest of me not so much. I walked all of it. No shame, I knew this was going to be a slower race so there was no point in making my heart rate go crazy. 🙂 That climb started in 7 into 8 and partly into 9. Honestly it wasn’t even a big one, I just took it easy. The sun had also come out and temp instantly jumped 10*. Yikes! Water! I was still taking in the sights of the course and enjoying the music stations along the course. Then in mile 9, I got a little downhill to enjoy.

Miles 10-12- 11:58, 11:49, 11:36

The sun was shining in full force which made the scenery awesome but did no favors for my pace. I started rocking out. Literally. We came upon a hill the race calls the “Beast of Eden” and I ran up it playing an air guitar the whole way. It was also the only hill I ran up. 😛 I then sang and played an air guitar or drums for the next 3 miles. I gave thumbs up to race photographers (which actually turned out to be a terrible picture). There was a strawberry station at mile 10.2 and while they looked amazing, my stomach was starting to cramp up and I passed on them in fear of a repeat of the morning.

Mile 13- 11:42

Ok, I was done. I felt like this mile took 20 minutes. The finish line was never getting closer. I was hot, thirsty and tired. We ran past the buses to take us back to the start and man they looked tempting. I was walking so much. We turned left but still no finish line. Just an uphill. Waah. I was walking towards the last little turn to the finish and the announcer called me out! Seriously! Just make it obvious when I start running. Thanks dude.

Finish 2:28:44

Considering how I thought this race was going to go, hell yeah! If the sun had stayed away, I think I may have been about 5 minutes speedier. It warmed up really fast once the sun came out and I wish there had been another water station or 2. I drank water at every station and had my bottle. Once across the finish line, I downed a chocolate milk and a bottle of water. Normally drinking that much that fast would have me feeling very ill but I felt fine. Like I said, it was kind of warm those last miles.

Overall, I really enjoyed the race. It was kind of nice to go into a race mostly relaxed and barely even glance at my watch. I enjoyed the backroads, and the crop signs and Steinbeck were an added touch, The only thing I would change is more water stations.

Half marathon #27 done. 😀

Week 31-Of Concerts and Poor Sleep

Upcoming Races-

Salinas Valley Half Marathon

Every time I think I have a handle on things, wham, curve ball. That’s life right? I don’t have a big opener this week so let’s get right to it!

Monday- 2.3 miles I think I got about an hour of sleep Sunday night. I was super tired after work but what else is new. I headed to the lake path because I wanted to at least get my new trail shoes dirty. That was the upside to the run. The downside was the 93* temp and the crazy high heart rate. I was practically crawling and couldn’t get it down so I made it a short one.

Tuesday- Rest Work ran late and I didn’t make it home until after 7.

Wednesday- AFI!!! One of my favorite bands came to town and I wasn’t missing that. The concert was awesome. It was a late night but it was awesome.

Thursday- 2.3 miles. I’m sensing a pattern here. Not sure if it’s a good one. 😛 I was so tired after work I was thisclose to just skipping my run. But I made myself change and headed for the river route. I ended up sticking entirely to the paved portions and keeping it short but it didn’t suck. I was glad I squeezed in a few miles. That was until I went to brush my teeth later and my left leg buckled… and then did it again. Something hurt right where the leg and hip connect. Umm, not cool.

Friday- Rest All the crappy sleep and long hours are catching up to me and I was a little slap happy at work. One coworker thought it was hilarious and the other said she was just going to back away slowly. My leg was still not happy but there wasn’t any more buckling.

Saturday- Salinas Valley Half Marathon That was an early morning. Race recap to come. 🙂

Sunday- Rest Serious rest. I slept in until almost 10. Well, kind of, I woke up a few times but refused to get out of bed. I thought about running in the afternoon but I took a long nap instead. Like passed out on the ground for almost 2 hours. Woke up, moved to a chair and fell asleep again. I decided to listen to what my body was shouting.

17.7 miles for the week. A run on Sunday would have put me over 20 but like I said my body was trying to tell me something. I know that part of my tiredness is stemming from work and part is coming from my bed. My bed has decided to die in the last month or so. I swear it went from fine to crap overnight. Sleeping has been rough. But a new bed is not exactly in the cards right now. Grrr.

How was your week?

Ever have an odd pain come out of nowhere?

Last concert you saw?

Running for Salinas

It’s race weekend!

Man, that one came up fast! Well, actually, how is it August? 😛

It’s time to head on up to Salinas and meander my way through back roads enjoying the sites of crops, check another Mission off the list, and enjoy half marathon #27 in Steinbeck country.

My training has been ummm, a little absent this month. With work going through a conversion, I tried but my running took a hit. As did my sleeping.

So with that in mind, I have zero goals for this weekend other than to have a good time. I plan to just go out there and enjoy the views and the course. I know I will be slower than normal and that’s fine. More time to enjoy the course, right? I here there’s a great BBQ at the finish- I think I’ll finish just around the time a BBQ craving hits. 😛

I am hoping this odd heat wave with mugginess breaks though. The weather stalking has commenced and right now it’s looking like a warm morning. I will be drinking lots of water.

What are you do this weekend?

Week 30- Goodbye July

Upcoming Races-

Salinas Valley Half Marathon

This was a calmer week at work thankfully. I’m still feeling a little ragged around the edges but I think we’re pulling it together. Have I mentioned my coworkers are rock stars?

The hours were a little more normal and I was able to get in a few more miles than week 29. Not a lot but a few. 😛

Monday- 2.5 miles. I packed all my running gear planning to run in work town after work but then work kicked my ass. I was so tired I decided to just go home. Something on the drive home made me change my mind and I changed super fast at home and ran out the door. I was able to get in a short 2.5 miles in my birthday shoes. 😀

Tuesday- Rest. I made my first #bibchat in weeks! Sweet!

Wednesday- Fair!! I took all my running gear to work but realized I had left my pack and inhaler in my garage after Monday’s run. Womp womp. So sudden change of plans- my mother and I hit up the fair after work. Funnel cake for the win.😀

Thursday- migraine from hell. By the end of work, I could barely see straight. I thought about running to see if it helped but I was also concerned it would make it worse. Combine that with the insane traffic I was fearing I would face going home and I just decided to head home. Why insane traffic? Garth Brooks. He performed at our little fair- 2 concerts in a row- and getting home was a little tricky.

Friday- Rest The headache was still lingering plus with working open to close, I was just exhausted. I haven’t been sleeping well this month.

Saturday- 10 miles Despite how tired I was, I forced myself out of bed on Saturday morning to get in my long run. Well, I did hit snooze when the alarm went off at 7. I knew I wasn’t going to be setting any speed records so a little bit warmer wouldn’t be horrible. It actually ended up being my slowest 10 miler ever, there was a lot of walking the last 3.5 miles. Ok, mostly walking. But this run was just meant to be time on my feet and not to worry about pace. I think I accomplished that. 😛 Then I spent the rest of the day trying to relax. I randomly went and saw Spiderman in the evening…not bad.

Sunday- Rest. So not the plan. I planned on sleeping in, running some errands, doing some chores and then braving the heat for a few miles. Everything was going according to plan right up to the laundry. I went to grab the first load out of the dryer and noticed a funny smell. It smelled like burnt plastic. And everything I had just washed and dried stunk of it. Did I mention the washer was full of freshly washed sheets? So then I spent the afternoon trying to line dry everything without a line. Lay it on something, point a fan at it, come back in 20 minutes and rotate. Everything that had been washed had to be rewashed. Yay. That was fun. It felt like a workout but it wasn’t running. 3 loads of laundry dried by 2 fans.

12.5 miles for the week. Like I said, not a huge improvement over last week but a step in the right direction.

How was your weekend?

Had any appliance issues lately?

Last movie you saw?