Tag: Big Sur

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 4

I designed my plan with flexibility. I know I like to be able to move my days around depending on how work goes or if my stomach is being a complete asshat.

That said, I didn’t plan on basically chucking the plan out the window in week 4. I am so behind on miles. Don’t freak out, don’t freak out.

I mentioned last week that I ended week 3 feeling broken thanks to a crappy treadmill and some shoe issues. People, getting out bed on Monday hurt. Walking around work hurt. What the hell????? Don’t freak out, don’t freak out.

The plan-haha

week 4

Life-

Monday- Rest Haha, I worked and I rested. I tried not to make any sudden movements and just get through the day. I had to put the thought of my pretty new shoes out my head.

Tuesday- PT Otherwise, more of the same.

Wednesday- 4 miles on the bike My lump on a log- ness was getting to me so I went for a very short ride on the bike just to test the legs out. I followed up with half of my PT exercises.

Thursday- 2 miles I’m feeling very anti treadmill right now but wanted to test the leg considering I had a race on Saturday. Oh crap. While I wish I hadn’t been running on super uneven sidewalks, the miles were ok. I always think I run differently at night due to the limited light. I love my Knuckle Lights but I still feel like I run a little off. That could also be that I don’t run enough in the dark to get used to it though.

Friday- Rest For doing next to nothing all week, I was super tired. That stupid cold/flu better not have caught up to me. I worked the early shift at work and headed home to try and get some sleep before the early morning of race day errr, well supported long run. 😋

Saturday- Mission 10 miler– race recap to come.

Sunday- 3.1 miles I finally put some miles in the Altra’s. I took it super easy as it was my first time in zero drop shoes but I surprisingly it took over 2 miles for me to feel any calf/achilles tightness. Mini spoiler- that happened within 1/4 mile the day before during the race. I also took it easy because I still wasn’t feeling well- another mini spoiler? All in all this was decent recovery run.

15.4 miles for the week. So basically, I ran a long run and skipped everything else. Only 9 miles short. Don’t freak out.

How was your week?<

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 3

If I had one word to describe this week, it would be ouch.

If I used more words, ouch would likely be followed by a couple of colorful expletives and then some more ouch.

Work was stressful and busy. I ran but it didn’t go well. I bought new running shoes, oh and I cut most of my hair off. Surprise!

The plan-

Week 3

Life-

Monday- PT/3 miles It was a day off from work and part of me really wanted to run the 6 miles of speed work that was on the plan for the week. Part of me was also really feeling the 15 miles I had put on them in the previous 2 days and wanted a rest day. I compromised and stuck with the plan and headed out for 3. I should have gone with the rest. My legs were not having it. Not even turning to my long run run/walk intervals helped. I probably shouldn’t have run the same day I had a PT appointment with traction. I ended up just walking it in.

Tuesday- Rest Insanely busy work day plus I was listening to my legs.

Wednesday- 2 miles Another busy day and mentally, I did not think I could handle the treadmill. I changed into my running clothes at work but was talking myself out of it the entire drive home. I was thisclose to bailing entirely but instead I parked my car and a headed out for a dark few miles. Things were a little stiff but I chalked it up to all the uneven sidewalks I have to run on at night and figure I run a little differently in the dark.

Thursday- 4 miles -400’s On the lake path, my typical 400 pace ranges from 7:55-8:15. On this night, due to some very poor treadmill math, I was running these 400’s around 9:45. And they were kicking my ass. I normally love 400’s. Not tonight. My legs and back were not agreeing with the treadmill at all. I called it at 4 miles because an ache in my upper left leg started to turn into pain. I hate treadmills. Particularly bouncy ones.

Friday- Rest/ PT exercisesI wore compression socks all days and my for the most part, I felt ok.

Saturday- 9 miles/ PT exercises I wanted 11, should have quit at 5. The plan was to run from home, do my 11 and finish at the high school where my mother was having tennis practice then she would give me a ride. I was super achy and stiff the first 2 miles but sometimes it can take until mile 4 for me to loosen up so I kept running. By mile 5, the aches had turned into straight up pain and I knew I was in trouble. So I took a shortcut and hobble-ran my way to the high school stopping occasionally to stretch as best as I could. Once home, I iced, and stretched and foam rolled as much as I could.

Sunday- Rest I did wander around SLO and do some shopping. My left leg is still not to happy but I was able to walk without pain. But certain muscles and bones are making their presence known if that makes sense. I stopped in at the Running Warehouse and made the leap into a new pair of shoes. I’m moving around too much in the Adidas right now no matter how many pairs of socks I wear. Fingers crossed these help.

18.19 miles for the week. 5 short of where I should be. But it’s early days and I am not going to freak out yet. No, I am not. If I repeat it enough, it’s true right?

How was your week?

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 2

This week had some rough patches.

I started the week with that pesky, painful shoulder pull. I couldn’t raise my left arm, getting dressed was awkward. Then a migraine came to visit for an extended period which is ironic considering I had an appointment with my neurologist to discuss my migraines. 😒 And as an aside– aren’t I too young to say I have a neurologist and a gastroenterologist I see on a regular basis? Then my stomach turned into it’s butthead self at the end of the week.

Work is also a little busier than normal as we are one person down. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to manage any decent miles.

The plan-

week 2

Monday- Rest 9 hours at work took my shoulder knot ( I don’t know what to call it) to a whole other level and I could barely move by the end of the workday. Boo.

Tuesday- 1/2 my PT exercises. I knew I needed to do my exercises but they also hurt so I managed to get through 1/2 of them. With the help of my boss, I also rearranged everything on my desk so here’s hoping it helps with some of my constant aches and pains.

Wednesday- 3 miles I could finally lift my arm high enough to put on a sports bra so running was back on the table. 3 slow, treadmill miles that is. I felt like I ran them faster than my last treadmill run but according to the treadmill not so much. I also forgot to stop my watch when I stopped the treadmill so it left me some interesting numbers. 😜

Thursday- PT exercises Oops, I should have run. I changed to run. Running was on the schedule. Yet somehow it didn’t happen. That is not a good start to training. Nope.

Friday- Rest We’re running a little short these days so it was an open to close for me. I felt like I ran circles around the building though.

Saturday- 10 miles First double digits of training. The schedule called for 9 but I added 1 to partially make up for the miles I missed. I’m keeping my run/walk intervals for the first month of training while I get back into the higher mileage again. I never felt tired but my pace tanked for miles 7, 8 and 9. I felt like I was running the pace and putting out the same effort level but the numbers popping up were 30 seconds slower than the previous miles. The overall pace was perfectly fine for a long run but I just could not figure why I was moving slower but not feeling it. Maybe it was because my headphones died at mile 6?

Sunday- 5ish miles I wanted 7 so I could hit the overall mile total for the week but my legs were not having it. Not at all. My ankles were so damn sore. That’s a new one. I took more than few breaks. I knew pushing it to 7 would be stupid so I satisfied myself with 5.2.

18.38 miles for the week. Not what the plan had but considering how the week started, it ended pretty ok. Minus the leg pain but then again I did put more miles on my legs in a short period of time than I have recently so I only have myself to blame.

How was your week?

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?

Hello Off Season

I took 5 days off after Big Sur. 5 days in a row of intentionally not running. Say what? I figured a week would let all of my little aches and pains and funkiness heal. I don’t know if anything was actually leading towards an injury but I figured a little intentional rest wouldn’t hurt. Intentional rest is odd. Normally if I have 3-4 days off in a row, I start to feel like a lazy, guilty sloth-like creature. And I usually whine about it here. 😃

I wanted to run a few times but I told myself a week and I was sticking to it. It was kind of weird going straight home after work every day. Coworkers asked is if I was changing to run and I said no. How odd. A week turned into a work week- 5 days counts right? I headed out for a short, easy run on Saturday. To make sure I wasn’t tempted to go crazy, I took the puppy with me. It’s been a long time since I stole her for a puppy jog so I figured why not? She did really well. The only time I was concerned is when we were swarmed by vultures. But, really I was concerned about both of us too. Seriously creepy. I may not run by that house again for a while. 😞 They were still there the next day!

So that 3 miles run plus a 7 mile bike ride on Monday trying to shake out the achiness from Big Sur was all the exercise I got in last week. Oops. Failure at the first week of the #holidaysweat. Hmmm, that timing didn’t work out so well. I wanted to run on Sunday but woke upp feeling like I was getting a chest cold. Breathing is still uncomfortable. Grrr. But I would rather feel crappy this week when I have multiple commitments after work which conflict with the gym. Then hopefully, I will feel great next week when I can run whenever I want because I’m on vacation!!!! Woo hoo!

Making Big Sur my last race was not my original plan. I had planned on running a 25k trail race at Montana de Oro to cap off the year but realistically I was not prepared in any way shape or form for that. Luckily I hadn’t registered yet; I knew it might be a long shot after Big Sur. Also it ended up raining that morning so bonus! I’d really be sick if I had run in that. I ran 13 races this year, 7 were 13.1 or longer. I’m good with that. 😄 That said, I may throw in a turkey trot on Thanksgiving because, well, it’s a turkey trot.

As for off season, I am still reading books and plans and looking for a better way to train that I know I can sustain. All these weird, crazy thoughts are in my head right now, so I am taking the time to sift through them. I am also currently reading Ultra Marathon Man by Dean Karnazes. It is not helping to temper the crazy thoughts at all. I need to figure out something soonish though as I am leaning towards running Surf City again and that is the first Sunday in February.

And this week? I have social plans! Holy crap, who am I? I am meeting friends on Tuesday and Friday. Wednesday?! I have tickets to Riverdance!!!! Total nerd moment but I am so excited. Even better- I won the tickets! Woo hoo!

Oh and I randomly decided to quit soda today. Sort of.*

How was your weekend?

Thoughts on Riverdance?

Bets on how long til I cave with the soda? *Disclaimer- I am allowing myself to have it if I eat out- but no more soda at work.