The SF Marathon Week 16 Training

July 18, 2016July 18, 2016 Fallon @ Slacker Runner17 Comments

I just had to look up what week I was in, it’s all starting to blur. 😛

The head games have multiplied…the race is so close and unfortunately my last few weeks of running have not been confidence building. More like the exact opposite. I felt pretty damn good after my 20 miler a few weeks ago. I haven’t since. I’m trying to tell myself that it’s all part of training but I hurt and I am tired and I just… I don’t know.

Monday- Rest. I had a few vacation days from work and it was so nice to have no alarm to set. I really wanted to sleep in but I woke up a little before 8. Grr. However, I must have slept soundly- I woke up with a dead arm. Guess I hadn’t moved from the first position I fell asleep in.

Tuesday- 7.12 miles. Birthday miles!!! Another day off too. I was torn what to run today. I know some people like to run their birthday but let’s be real, there was no way I was running 35 miles or kilometers. 35 minutes seemed too short and 3.5 miles seemed like a cop out. So instead I ran the day. It slow and hot but it was fun. I ran to the high school where my mother was having tennis practice. I then dragged her along to a local burger place to get my free burger!!! The little things excite me.

Wednesday- Rest. Back to work. They bought me donuts!

Thursday- 3.75 miles. Talk about slow! I think all the over indulging of the past few days caught up with me, I did not feel well. Plus, I decided that until the marathon, I should probably wear flats. I forgot how sore that would make me. Ouch!

Friday- Rest. I still felt off, I think I found my sugar intake limit. Rough. A new toy came in the mail though.

Saturday- Rest. Sensing a pattern here? After feeling poorly for 2 days, I chose sleep over running. After a few errands, I just had a low key evening. Plus, I was sucked into streaming Stranger Things on Netflix. So good.

Sunday- 13.1 miles. Dress rehearsal. My last long run of training. Plan ( what plan) called for 12, I wanted 16. Yes, I know that’s stupid. I was also testing a few things out this run. When I was shopping in Santa Barbara last weekend, I picked up a new Lululemon skirt for race day. I also recently ordered a new hydration vest as well. I’ve never been a huge fan of them but I need to be able to carry more water than just my handheld. So this long run was a test of all that.

Good lord, it was rough. It took my legs 4.5 miles to warm up. My lungs wanted no part in running. I probably should have tested the hose on the hydration pack before running. I choked twice. My new skirt rode up in very uncomfortable ways and yet also migrated down. That shouldn’t be possible?! I just kept moving forward. I hit 13.1 and called it for the day. Called my mom for a pick up as I was 4 miles from home and went for Chipotle. I really need to stop eating when I’m stressed.

24 miles for the week. Bring on taper. Even though part of me is excited for no long run next week, I feel like I haven’t done enough to prepare. The voices in my head are getting louder. But, this is the best week to quiet them. It’s fair time!!!!! It’s time for my yearly indulgence in a funnel cake. Hopefully, I’ve detoxed enough from birthday cake/ donuts to enjoy it. I look forward to a funnel cake and pretzel all year long until fair time. 😛

So here’s to week 17- another week in flats, even fewer miles and a funnel cake at the end.

How was your week? Do anything fun?

Do you have a dress rehearsal run?

What’s your favorite fair food?

The SF Marathon Training Week 14

July 6, 2016July 5, 2016 Fallon @ Slacker Runner15 Comments

14. 14 down, only 4 more to go!

So yeah. Week 14. Ummmm, ouch? Week 13 was awesome- I mean, I ran 20 miles and kind of like it? What could go wrong? Ha Ha.

Monday- Rest. I felt pretty good actually, my legs- shins included- felt fine all day. Part of me wanted to run but I figured that would be silly or worse injury provoking, so I scheduled in 2 rest days.

Tuesday- Rest. Once again my legs felt pretty good but I had a plan man, and I was sticking to it. It made sense. At least I thought it did.

Wednesday- Rest. Hello freight train. Body wise I felt ok, but I was suddenly exhausted. I felt like I could sleep for days. That said, I was still planning on running after work. However my family texted and asked if I wanted to meet everyone for dinner. I first said no- I needed to run. They ended up convincing me. So instead of running, I enjoyed too much food at dinner.

Thursday-6 miles. Seriously I wish someone had filmed the first 3ish mile of this run. I want to know if it looked as hilarious as it felt. I had another half day at work so I was naively hopeful that I could get the weekends 10-12 miler in early. I don’t have a route that length in work town so I headed home. I walked my usual 5 minute warm up and then started running. Or tried to. My legs were not functioning as a team. Nothing hurt but I could not level out. I felt like one leg was going forward while the other was swinging to the side. I felt like a newborn giraffe trying to walk. Mile 1 was 98% walking, mile 2 wasn’t much better. The final 4 miles were all in the 12 minute range but I finally started to feel a little more normal by mile 6. I knew I wasn’t doing any more than that though. This run did put me over 100 miles for June though.

Friday- Rest. I should have tried to run. It would have been the smart thing to do. But, yeah, I didn’t.

Saturday- 5 miles. I wanted more but after working in the morning, running in the 80’s was kicking my ass. When did I turn into such a baby? Once again, I was running while limping. Again nothing hurt, but my stride was all over the place. Miles 4 and 5 felt better but were still so slow. I hobbled/ ran until I hit 5 miles and called it. My ankles and shins were pretty sore that night. I iced and rolled.

Sunday- 10 miles. I was aiming for 13 but knew I was also meeting Heather and Ashley the next day for a run. I wasn’t sure my legs were up to 3 days in a row so I dropped my mileage back to 10. I didn’t even think I was going to finish that. Miles 1-3 were more awkward gait running. It takes me 3-4 miles to warm up, so I just kept going. Once again, I hauled ass across the bridge and saw a 9:37 split- oops. My legs were not happy. I met up with my mother a little before mile 7. I ended up walking all of mile 7 with her. While I do take walk breaks, I don’t think I would have walked a whole mile by myself at that point. But I was tired of running weirdly. I think it helped. The last 3 miles felt the best out of everything- part of me wanted to keep running. 😛

I was sore, bordering on pain by the end of the day though. I foam rolled, stretched and iced. I also “recovered” while eating lots of popcorn watching Tarzan. 😛

There’s a reason I’ve been taking a day between each run and I just got stupid this week. Now my ice pack is my best friend again. Grrr. This is not how I was hoping to be feeling 4 weeks out from San Francisco. I choosing to stay positive and not freak out. Think happy thoughts right? Oh, did I mention I have a half marathon in 3 days? On the beach. #findtheshiny I can do it.

How was your week?

How long does it take you to warm up? I think I am realizing why all my short runs were rough all these years. I was warming up when I was stopping. Oops.

Seen any movies lately?

Friday, Finally

April 8, 2016April 7, 2016 Fallon @ Slacker Runner20 Comments

Friday– oh you are so pretty.

It’s been a coffee and soda kind of week. This week has me like-

Tuesday for example- You know it’s going to be a rough day when you drop your brand new foundation bottle on the floor. The glass bottle. On a tile floor. I felt like I watched it in slow motion as it shattered. Yeah, that was fun.

Considering how stressed and ~~hormonal~~ crappy I’ve felt this week, I haven’t gone completely crazy with the food. But it’s cookie Friday and it’s the new bakery. I can’t decide if that is going to an uh-oh or a good thing.

Running has only been so so this week but I got it done. My right ankle is a little achy. Not cool. I think another pair of shoes and I need to break up. This is getting ridiculous. Odd aches aside, I’ve had some great scenery to enjoy.⬆️

I have a 5K on Saturday. I haven’t run a race in 2 months. I think I forgot how. I haven’t raced a 5k since September. I’m gonna hurt. Did I mention it’s up a mountain? And the forecast calls for rain? Rain on the mountain. Yay. Now I am glad it’s only 3 miles. But, in all honesty I love this race. This will be my 4th time running it. I need to remind myself of that when I can’t walk on Sunday. Or Monday. Maybe Tuesday.

How was your week?

Ever had the day where you should have just stayed in bed?

Bets on my ability to not eat all the cookies?

Mid Week Musings-3

July 22, 2015July 22, 2015 Fallon @ Slacker Runner19 Comments

Woo hoo, it’s Wednesday! WordPress tells me this is the third time I’ve posted with my mid-week musings, so here we go.

D.E.R- Smart Choices-

As in Don’t Even Register. I’ve never DNS’d a race because I register super late. I figure I’d rather pay $20 more than lose the whole registration fee. My post back in May laid out my summer race schedule. It listed a 25K trail race on August 1. Which I really, really want to run. But let’s be real here, I haven’t been on a trail since April. I am not in any kind of shape for a 3200’+ elevation gain. And it’s by the beach. Hello humidity. While I was struggling through the last humid miles at Shoreline, I came to the conclusion that a humid 25K just might kill me. That struggle bus was fueling some dramatic thoughts apparently. So, I decided that a 12K with 1400′ climb would be fine, a little fun with a little difficulty too. Then there was my leg and let’s be real there too, it’s been bothering me for a while now. It’s not a new thing. It’s not like I’ve never done dumb things before (i.e. Ventura half on heavy-duty antibiotics, a 5K after an asthma filled 10k -September makes me stupid) but I am trying to be smart here. So from 25K to 12K to 0. Which makes me cranky since our area has 2 trail races a year and this was the last long distance option until Fall 2016. Waah! Or so I thought. 🙂 The one I ran in January is coming back in November. 7 days after the Big Sur Half. Yup, I’m still crazy. Just not running next weekend. 🙂

That leg though-

After hiding from the lightning and thunder on Sunday, and the oppressive humidity left behind on Monday, I was ready to try running. Seriously, I’ve never seen 95% humidity in home town and work was a lovely 100% when I arrived that morning, thanks Delores. On Tuesday, I changed and headed back to home to run. I met my mom at the river path which was cool because I was actually really nervous to run so I ended up walking the first mile with her. From then on I tried to run and just keep things easy. I focused on how my leg felt and worked on my turn-over. I know my left hip drops and I need to work on my form. And now with no races in August, I can work on my form, like back to re-form school for slacker runners. Oof, that was bad. 🙂 Anyways, the run was pretty good. My leg felt achy but not in pain. I paused for a stretch break after each mile and I made sure to stretch really well after my run and later. I also iced my leg for a bit. Now, let’s see what happens.

Yeah, so not a clothing model

A Fab Choice?

Back on July 4th I finally caved to one of those Facebook ads and signed up for a Fabletic’s outfit. They were offering an outfit for as low $15 so I figured why not. After their little questionnaire, the site suggested a few outfits. I didn’t buy any of those but finally chose one on another page. Shorts, tank and visor for less than $20 after taxes. I wore the shorts and tank on Tuesday’s run. Somehow, I’ve already misplaced the visor. 😦 I sized up for both pieces which worked well with the shirt as I think my normal size would have been too small. The waistband on the shorts feels super loose so a smaller size may have worked but damn they are short in the back. The material felt slightly heavy when on and I was less than enthused with the shorts on that first mile. They kept riding up. Grrr. Somehow running made all the irritation go away. 3 miles of running and both pieces were perfectly behaved. I even forgot the shirt was new, it fit so well. The second I started walking my cool down, the shorts went back to riding up. WTH?! So, overall I am not hugely impressed but not overly disappointed either. More of a meh. Why can’t Lulu be more affordable?

Tips for correcting form issues?

Ever tried Fabletics? Thoughts?

So This is Tight

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 Fallon @ Slacker Runner25 Comments

I’m currently riding the line between denial and hypochondria.

I’ve been running for almost 5 years now, reading running magazines about the same amount of time, and running blogs for about 2. I have probably read a hundred or so posts about people feeling tight and achy. Achy, I understood. Tight? I would sympathize with the runner but honestly, I had no real idea of what tight was. I can no longer claim that ignorance.I felt pretty good after my long run on Saturday but I know I didn’t stretch enough right after as I headed off to the movies fairly soon. I was able to put my feet up while there and I stretched and rolled that night but Sunday was rough. My hamstrings felt so tight and my left ankle was hurting. I was torn between heading out for my easy run and taking another rest day. The number hog in me really wanted the 5 miles, my ankle did not. This week was scheduled as a recovery week- I could take an extra day off if I felt I needed it. I finally decided to move that extra day to last week and I took Sunday off. I spent the evening with an ice pack on my ankle. I headed out on Tuesday for the easy 3 from work again. I thought it would be better to push my speed work to the second run of the week. Special me forgot to use my inhaler before setting out, so I had to take a break 1.5 mile in. Ugh, butphoto op right? Heading back turned into a pain fest. My calves were so tight, my Achilles’s were (was?) hurting and my left hamstring was pissed. No! I made it back to my car and stretched before heading home and then stretching more and rolling.

And this is in my new book- I knew I hated that damn swinging pony tail!

I am beginning to worry. I have a race in 2 weeks and SLO in 58 days. Wednesday was a normal rest day and I made sure to roll and stretch really well. I also completed week 1- workout 1 of my new Strength for Runners book. I had a tempo/ mile repeats on tap for tonight and decided that would just be stupid. I can feel my hamstring throughout the day every day. Not necessarily pain but it’s not happy. I have a pretty good pain tolerance though so I could be misjudging that as well.I headed to the lake tonight for some more easy miles. I knew I was going to run out of daylight so I figured I may only get in 2 miles or so. The plan was to run until something hurt or until I could no longer see out of my sunglasses. I figured that would be a good way to measure the darkness. 😛 I felt achy at the start but felt better as I warmed up. I pushed on for 3.25 miles. I probably should have skipped the last lap of the lake. It was pretty dark. I stopped my watch .25 from my car and walked it back. More stretching and rolling followed tonight.I am less worried about my ankle than I am the tightness. I roll my ankles on a pretty much daily basis so I am used to that. This tightness needs to go away. Sometimes I feel like a sharp pull and I fear I might hear a snap. I can’t decide which side to swing to- denial that it might be something or hypochondria and I am making a mountain out of a mole hill. I know I sometimes have issues with my left leg. Could this be more of the same? And sadly even the comfy chair has betrayed me. All tv watching, blogging, reading and attempts at crocheting this past week have happened while sitting on the floor. Oddly enough, cross-legged on the floor is only comfortable position.

I haven’t actually registered for the half in two weeks. I want to run it because it’s a race I love and this would be my 5th year running it. I just can’t decide what to do. I also feel super lazy that I have now skipped one easy run, shortened another and turned a 6 mile speed run into a 3 mile easy run. This weekend calls for a 90 minute progression run and it makes me nervous.

So, thoughts? Is it all in my head?

Have any other stretching or rolling ideas? I have a foam roller, a stick and a tennis ball.

Would you run the half in 2 weeks?