Last week was the first of the big work trips and I was super nervous about it. I was driving down to San Diego on Friday and back on Saturday. I’d never driven that far by myself before. I was only freaking out a little. Ok, a fair amount.
I prepared plenty of podcasts to keep me alert- thanks Bibrave and This American Life- for some reason I can only seem to listen to podcast on long drives. But the drives went well if not tiring. As well as possible poor food choices. 😛
Monday- Yoga I wasn’t feeling too great so I passed on running after work and just headed home. I did complete a yoga video later in the evening though.
Tuesday- 4.47 miles/ yoga Haha, should have paid more attention to the GPS before I stopped my watch. I set out for a few miles and just tried to focus on how I was landing my left leg so my foot wouldn’t hurt. I ended up re-lacing my shoe twice but overall it was a pretty decent run.
Wednesday- Yoga I meant to run, it fit my schedule better but for some reason I can’t remember I didn’t.😛
Thursday- 2.25 miles I had a few things I needed to get done before the next day’s trip but I wanted to get a few miles on my legs. However my feet were so not on board. Now, both feet were hurting?! What? Even yoga sounded like a bad idea-just painful.
Friday- Drive/work I left my house around 5:45 in the morning and drove. Unlike the race trip to San Diego, I made good time and arrived around 12ish. Then we worked until after 6 and it was off to the hotel. Originally I had considered running in the hotel fitness center but I was so tired that I crashed pretty hard once I found the hotel and then ate dinner.
Saturday- Drive home This time I wasn’t so lucky and this drive took longer. I hit so much more traffic through the Burbank- Ventura area.
Sunday- 5 miles I was hoping that my feet would allow me to get a good 6-8 mile run but my lungs had other ideas. I had a freakin’ asthma attack in mile 3. I was in denial at first but soon had to admit that it was real and that I really did need my inhaler. And then again. I was toast. I tried to run again but it was just a farce. I slogged my way home and called it at 5.
11.7 miles for the week. Boo. I am so behind where I need to be for the year and I need to figure out what is going on with my feet.
This week was a little over the place. First week post merger, crazy busy and I had to spend time fighting with the IRS to prove that I was me. That was real fun. Identify theft is a never ending story. I was actually a little worried going into the appointment- the picture on my drivers license is over 15 years old, I swear it’s me! I also hit a possum and felt traumatized. 😢
All stress aside, this was a slightly more normal week running wise. Woo hoo! And I ending up buying myself the entire Fast and Furious collection so I had a couple of relaxing weekend evenings.😛
Monday- Rest I took all my gear to work but didn’t really account for the chaos of the first day post merger. Which was silly because this was not my first rodeo. Anyhow, the day was insanely busy and my boots did not cooperate with my feet at all. By the end of the day, I was done. I limped to my car and just went home.
Tuesday- 4 miles I ran from work, I just felt like it was a day for the eucalyptus grove. While I keep my pace easy for my work route I push the threshold in other ways. I often run without water and try to not use my inhaler. In a town that often has a heavy marine layer. It sounds crazy but I do it every couple of weeks as a workout of sorts for my lungs. I always have my inhaler with me if I need it but I like to try run the whole run without using it.
Wednesday- Rest– Once again, Wednesday is a black hole. I am sure I did something but I have no idea what.
Thursday- 2 runs, 2.6 miles each Grrr, I had to leave work early for my IRS appointment and had hoped I would have enough time to get in a 5 mile run before I had a tire rotation appointment. Yeah no. I squeezed in 2.6 which started sluggish and ended speedy- 8:50 pace for the .6. Then it was off the get my tires done. Once home, I managed to head out for another 2.6 in the evening. This were more evenly pace miles and I learned that the elementary school is a madhouse after 6. I was dodging cars right and left and lost track of how many times I stopped to avoid getting hit. Aaagh!!! Just get me home! 5.2 miles for the day.
Friday- Rest Oh I ate so much food! It was my 10 year anniversary at work (even with the new company) and my boss and coworkers brought me donuts and pizza!
Saturday- 10 miles I woke up with a headache and I knew there was a cycling event on my running route so I decided to go back to sleep. The rain that came through on Friday kept the temps down so I headed out for my long run around 4. Oh man, the wind was nuts at some points. I felt like I was being blown backwards. My legs felt fine for this run and I didn’t really feel tired but I couldn’t ever really get my head in the game. My stomach started to cramp around mile 7 but considering what I had eaten over the past few days, I really couldn’t blame it. It wasn’t a bad run by any means, it was just meh. It did reinforce my opinion that I hate running west across the bridge. East- no problem, west? Yuck.
Sunday- Rest Well, crap, my calves were sore. The PureFlow’s seem to be working out but I forgot how long it took me to transition to a 4mm drop. Oops.
19.2 miles for the week. That missing .8 kind of bothers me but hey it’s 7 more miles than last week. I was super tired this week but finally figured when I am not going to be? Might as well just run. 😛
Disclaimer: I received an entry into Livermore Half 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!
All right, if you’ve been reading me whine for the past week you know I went into this race sick. I was questioning my sanity for running it and my ability to finish it. As was my mother. 😛
Race morning dawned after a less then stellar night of sleep but isn’t that to be expected before races? The forecast had changed to just overcast and low 40’s and while I was thankful for the lack of rain I knew that was going to feel cold to me. So I layered up. Seriously. Capri’s over compression socks, a tank with a long sleeve shirt over it, then my rain jacket. A Buff around my neck and another Buff around my head to cover my ears with my hat over that. My mom drove me to the start and dropped me off.
I made my way to the start line and suddenly panicked. I forgot my bib! Somehow I had forgotten to pin my bib on. It was still in the car. Thankfully my mother had decided that parking was a nightmare (we were in a dirt lot without specific spots which was very tricky in the dark) so she was just going to nap while I ran. I hauled butt back to the car to get my bib. Once that crisis was averted I headed back to the start line where I ended up meeting up with Laura from running4thereason.com, another Bibrave Pro. We chatted while waiting for the race to start. 10 minutes after 7 and we were off!
My plan was to run until I got tired, walk, then repeat until the finish line. I figured I would walk every hill and just do whatever my lungs wanted to do and just go from there.
Miles 1-3 10:24, 10:40, 10:22
The first 3 miles were through city streets and I was moving a hell of a lot faster than I thought I would be. Hmmm. I like low key city streets so I was enjoying the vibe and just letting my feet do what they wanted. I skipped the first aid station at mile 2 because it was just too crowded. The 5K was also running along side us for a bit so that was interesting. A couple other runners and I were cracking jokes that we were going to “get lost” and turn around with the 5K’ers. 😛 A little before mile 3 I came up behind the 2:30 pacers… um, what? I knew I was moving way faster then that so I couldn’t figure out how they had gotten that far ahead of me. Then I turned my headphones on and told myself to get over it.
The bridges moved when you ran over them! Miles 4-6 11:11, 11:29, 11:41
I loved these miles and hated them at the same time. Just past mile 4 we went from running the streets into a paved path in a park. Heaven. I want this path in my town now. Paved blacktop with nature on both sides, a little stream running thanks to all the rain? It was awesome. A downside was that the path narrowed so it was easy to get roadblocked so there was lots of bobbing and weaving going on in these miles. I ran in the dirt along the path a lot. But again, that’s one of my favorite things so this should have been my favorite part. What made it so rough was that just past mile 4 my stomach cramped, bad. Like, I need a bathroom now, bad. And of course, the next bathroom wasn’t until the aid station at mile 6ish. 😂😂 So instead of walking because I was tired, I walked when I cramped and ran when it eased, and repeat. That kind of messed with my head. Note to self- never eat Five Guys before a race ever again.
Miles- 7-9 11:31, 11:47, 13:02
Just past mile 6 and we were out of the park and back on the street. The bathroom line was like 20+ people long and the cramping had eased so I figured as long as I went slow I would probably be ok. My lungs were starting to protest and I was super congested. I admit I did something I have never done in view of others before- I spit. I did it more than once this race. I felt so bad but I had to! I also ripped off a few choice words when a police car leading a trail of cars on the other side of the road let off a single screeching chirp. I about jumped out of my skin. 2 people next to me also had some colorful words to share. Mile 9 saw the only 2 real hills of the race. I walked them. At the top of the first was a water station that also had a paramedic and a fire truck- it was a small hill! I got jammed up the water station. I went to throw my water cup in the trash and a woman put herself in front of me to eat her Gu and a woman came up right behind me to drink water. It was like a hug with random strangers and I couldn’t move. Let me out! It took me another 30’ish seconds to get myself out of the stranger sandwich and on my way. Grrr. We were leaving the road and entering another park with a paved path. Seriously, I wanted this one in my town too. My lungs were protesting as we hit the second hill, they were so not happy.
Miles 10-12 11:00, 11:51, 11:14
We were still in the park so I was running in the dirt every chance I got. I love dirt. Plus my legs appreciated the change in terrain. They were actually feeling pretty good considering how little elevation this course had. The 2:30 pacers had caught up to me and passed me, left me in the dust really. I started to feel discouraged but told myself to get over it, I was already doing better than I thought I would, there was no sense making myself sicker just to meet some arbitrary “sick” finish time. I just told myself to enjoy the scenery and try to calm my lungs down. Mile 11 brought us back into town through a smaller park before we were back on city streets for the last mile.
Mile 13 12:16
Holy asthma city. My lungs were done. Between my cold and my asthma, I was fighting an asthma attack. I walked so much of the last mile. I was wheezing and coughing and gasping and probably looked like a hot mess. Crowd support really picked up for the last mile and so many people were cheering. I heard “come on girl in orange run! You’re so close!” Don’t you see I’m trying!?!?!?! I rounded a corner and there it was- the finish line!
Finish 2:30:15
Haha, this pic makes me laugh now😂
I crossed the line and was handed my medal. I saw my mom fairly quickly outside the fence and went to say hi. She took one look at my face and said “you chose to do this”. Haha, thanks mom.😛 I then wandered down the finishers chute and collected my wine glass, chocolate milk and banana. I was also able to refill my water bottle. Once I stopped moving and was able to chill for a moment, my lungs calmed down a bit.
All in all this a great course. I liked all the scenery and the varied paths. I wish it had a few more hills. I think another hill or 2 may have helped me a bit, this course was fairly flat. So if flat is your jam, you could totally set a PR on this course. And hey I ended up hitting my arbitrary sick time anyways- who knew?!
This will likely not be very long. 😛 Not a lot happened last week unless you count coughing and sniffling. Unfortunately I have yet to see any ab gains from all the coughing. 😛 A girl can dream right?
Monday- Sick- I called in sick. Who am I??? I got up and attempted to get ready for work but when it took me 20+ minutes to attempt to brush my teeth I conceded defeat. I spent most of the day in bed. The only movement was to move to the comfy chair when the bed got old.
Tuesday/ Wednesday- Rest/sick- I made it to work both days but I was barely hanging on. I was still coughing all the damn time and I had the worst sinus pressure building. Grrrr. I slept poorly all week as I spent most nights coughing.
Thursday- 2 miles- With Livermore 3 days away, I figured I needed to do a test run. I still felt miserable but I also needed to be realistic. I bundled up like it was 30* outside ( it was 60) and headed out for short run. Yeah, I walked the first mile and ran/ walked the second. It wasn’t miserable but it wasn’t exactly pleasant either.
Friday- Rest- My ears went funny on the way to work. I was starting to seriously consider dropping from the half marathon to the 5K. Work tired me out, how was I supposed run 13 miles? Oh and the forecast still called for rain on race day.
Saturday- Road trip! I packed and headed on up to Livermore. Mom was along for the ride like usual and she let me know exactly what she thought of me running while sick. 😛 I was still debating about a 5k drop down. After an uneventful drive up and a stop to eat for lunch at Pieology we arrived at the expo to pick up my bib. After checking into the hotel we tried to do a little shopping at a nearby outlet mall but but we literally drove around the parking lot for 20 minutes with 100 other cars looking for a parking spot. No thanks. After dinner it was back to the hotel and an attempt to get an a decent night’s sleep. Fail.
Sunday- Livermore Half?– more to come on that.
Weekly miles- 15.1. Guess that tells you what I ran. 😛
It was a long week of not doing a lot but I feel exhausted. I am really hoping to be on the upward swing of this thing. I miss sleep, I miss running, I miss what little breathing capacity I had before. Ha!
This week coming is going to be interesting. It’s merger week, so there is lots of overtime happening and some things are up in the air. It’s going to be a very play it by ear week but I am hoping to get my mileage back up. There was a trail race I was thinking about on Saturday but I can’t commit due to the up in air work schedule so I’m taking as a sign that I should probably not run up a mountain a week after a race.
This was a blink and you missed it week but it wasn’t without its own headaches. That said it wasn’t a bad week it was just odd. Well unless you count me finding out that someone has already filed a tax return using my social. 😒
Monday- Nada– I had big plans to run but it was cold and windy and I just couldn’t make myself get out the door. I usually love having Mondays off so I can get in a good run but the cold front rolling in just made me a big baby. My toes have been so damn cold!
Tuesday- Rest-The work day was straight chaos. With the power issues last Friday and this being the first day back after a 3 day weekend, things were nuts. I wore a pair of old faithful boots but by the end of the day my feet hurt so bad that I wanted to cry. My shoes turned on me!
Wednesday- 2.7 miles- I headed out for my usual post work route run. Except I hadn’t taken into account the cold and the wind. I wasn’t dressed right with just capris and a long sleeve. The winds were in excess of 20 mph and they almost took my Buff off my head twice. My wool Buff that I recently accidentally dried. I hit the spot where I take the sunset pics and decided it was too cold and turned around to head for the car.
Funny moment on the way back- if I am coming up on an intersection the same time as a vehicle or two and don’t want to play the “no you go, no you go” game, I stop before and stretch or fake tie my shoe. This time one of those cars was a cop car and I guess they thought I looked shady. I got the stink eye for a moment when I straightened back up. 😛 Nothing to see here, move along. Even though when I damn near had an asthma attack 2 blocks later on a street corner I was wishing they could come back.
Thursday- 5 miles. Blood work test fail #1. Doctor said that I did not need to fast for a glucose test. He even wrote it on the work order. I took time off work in the afternoon and headed back to home town for the testing. He was wrong, the lab refused to do the testing. Grrr. Now what? I went running! I dressed a little smarter this time but could have used another layer. I’ve determined that as long as we have rain in the forecast, speed is not likely because my lungs just can’t handle the moisture in the air. No sooner do I accept that than Strava informs me that I broke my previous record for 400m and wasn’t even trying…
Friday- Rest Glucose test fail #2. And then success. I tried to get the process started in work town before work but was unable to, the line was insane. Luckily my boss is awesome so once everyone got to work I went back to the lab and got the process started. And then went back and forth for the next 3+ hours. I didn’t finish the glucose testing until 1:30. By then I was hangry and already bruising. My lunch was around 2 and I went through a drive thru intending to treat myself to some french fries but I ended up being lured by a picture of giant burger so I ordered that and some fries. Instead of feeling stuffed after eating it, I still felt oddly empty. It was very odd. I was so hungry all day.
Saturday- Rest. I crashed hard the night before around 9:30 which is odd for me. Normally I am up late reading and catching up on tv on Friday nights. I slept for 12 hours! It wasn’t un-interrupted but that’s a little ridiculous! Even when I did get up and get going I had zero energy. After doing a few errands I ended up taking a long nap. I had planned on running both Saturday and Sunday but decided that my body was trying to tell me something.
Sunday- Rest Yeah, this was just a total lack of motivation on my part. I kept telling myself to change and get out the door for 10 miles but I couldn’t actually do it. It was cold and my toes were frozen in my slippers in my house and no matter how much I berated myself I couldn’t make myself run. I just kept pushing it back later and later. #longrunfail
7.7 miles for the week. I’m not going to say ouch because missing my long run was entirely up to me. Was a case of the blah’s worthy of missing a long run? Maybe, maybe not. Only time will tell. I do know I am over the cold weather. Timehop keeps showing me pics from last year and I was running in shorts and a tank. I miss those days. This weird cold front and crazy wind, rain just needs to take a break. I’m not saying it’s entirely responsible for my lagging motivation but it’s part of it.
