Tag: birthday

Heating Up

My plan of running all the miles, road or trail was thwarted by the weather this past weekend. Who ordered the above 110 degrees for 3 days in a row??? Not me. And yes, it’s actually kind of typical here for those temps in the summer. The part that made the weekend hard was that it was still hot at night too. At least by our standards, we usually drop into the low 60’s at night when it’s that hot.

I finally made it out for some miles on Sunday by running away to the coast. I headed for MDO like usual but found a completely new trail to me. Yay! It was kind of like entering a whole new world.

The trees and mountains were just so different from the other trails. It’s not the longest but still awesome. I’ve already thought of ways to add on to it as well for future adventures.

As Monday was my actual birthday, I had taken the day off of work in case I was moody, haha. It was freakin’ hot so no running occurred, boo. But I did indulge in my annual birthday tradition of eating too much at Sylvestor’s. Yum. Then I may have taken a long nap er, food coma.

Tuesday was back to work and I was looking forward to running after- I had new shoes to try out! The never ending shoe saga continues. And still continues… less than 3 miles in the Hoka’s and I swear everything hurt. My heel, then my arch, quads, then my shins. Then the back of my knee, then my butt. What the hell???? I know I should have tried them again but was too spooked, back in the box they went and shipped back. Yikes!

How many runs do you give a pair of shoes before you throw in the towel?

How’s your weather?

Funk

I’ve been in a weird place the last few months.

Both in running and life. Or maybe it’s mostly life but spilling over into running? Hmmm. Who knows.

I have a birthday coming up in a few days and I’m not sure how I feel about it. I keep joking that I’m going to wear all black and mope about it. I growl anytime someone brings it up. Which maybe isn’t so nice.

I just feel…. off. Not quite sure how to describe it.

My job is great, my coworkers awesome. My running may be measly and pathetic these days but I have 41 half marathons and 2 full marathons under my belt and not really all that many people can say that. Personal life may not be where I thought I would be at this point but is anyone’s really ever? And it’s not like it’s bad or anything, just quiet. And I like quiet. For the most part. I had some weird health concerns this year, so maybe that’s adding to it? Oh and the ultrasound came back clean so yay!

I started the week with a good run hoping that would set on the right path. Not that I know what that would be exactly. The week was as crazy busy as I thought it was going to be. I forgot what day it was half the time. Which can also be a good thing if it works in your favor. And I have another 3 day weekend to look forward to as I don’t work on Monday.

Not sure where I’m going with this maybe I just needed to vent? I’ll be back in a better mood next time, promise.

28-Older

I took a hard turn into Funk Town last week. It was a long stop over. I may still be there.

I don’t know if it’s work being crazy busy, the impending birthday, my lack of running, lack of motivation or current events that is getting to me or all of the above. Throw in some back pain and I had every excuse in the book for last week. Not that I needed any, I just wallowed.

I may be a mediocre runner but boy am I a good wallower. I think I spelled that wrong. Or it’s not a word.

In case you haven’t guessed by now, I did not run last week. Or work out at all. Well unless you count lifting heavy boxes at work. You can’t count climbing the stairs because they still kick my ass. I should probably start making myself use the upstairs bathroom. Also, I know my back pain is partially due to my switch back to a stand up desk. I don’t have it quite right yet. I have a stool for sitting and I do but I miss my desk chair, ha!

Last week wasn’t all crazy. I may have done a little indulgent online shopping. Maybe. Did I order myself a pair of running shoes just because they would look good with jeans? Maybe.

I had a slice of very indulgent cake.

I found masks that I could talk with and not inhale and wear for 8-9 hours. Thanks Athleta. I may have to buy more. Prior to that, my best one was from Miles and Pace but I can’t wear the camo to work. Boo.

I watched a very weird, dark tv show- Fortitude. Finished season 1 and still not sure how I feel about it. Taking a moment before season 2. I also still need to replace my DVD player so I can stop paying to rent movies I already own on Amazon. I am sure they love it though.

I ate good food. Maybe too much. Sunday was my birthday and I admit I was feeling a little food drunk. I also could have just been feeling the 105* weekend though. Maybe a combo of both.

Oh and if you read my last post, I caught the giant spider. At least I am telling myself it was the same spider.

I wonder, do my running shoes miss me?

How was your week?

Week 28- Of Birthdays and Dirt

This week was a little all over the place.

Also I didn’t mean to only post one blog post last week, the week flew by oddly fast.

I only worked 2 days before starting my first real vacation of the year. It was also my birthday so a few more indulgences may have occurred than normal. My stomach chose to remind me of it’s asshat ways on a few occasions and I also had a fun migraine try to join the birthday party.

I also may have gotten a little creative with my training plan. First by liberally rearranging things and then taking some creativity with certain runs. Then came the heat advisory. Hey, when life gives you lemons, right?

Monday- 2 miles up/down, 4x 800 at 5k pace/ Nailed it
Speedwork on a Monday is a little different. I headed to the lake so I didn’t have intersections to worry about. Why haven’t I done this before? For once it was nice to nail the pace for all of the 800’s. Could I have run faster? Yes, but maintaining it was not likely.

Tuesday- 1.5 miles/ 1.5 miles
Easy, not so breezy miles.

Wednesday- 1.5 miles/ 4ish mile trail run
First day of vacation and my rearranged week was already taking hits. Instead of my long run, I headed down to SLO for some shopping and ended the day by hitting a trail. Have absolutely no complaints about time spent in the dirt with ocean views.

Thursday -10 miles/ sick
I started to get sick on Wednesday evening and it was downhill from there. Unless a
2.5 hour naps counts as training, I did nothing.

Friday- .5 mile warmup, 6 mile tempo/ 5.5 ish meltdown
Birthday!! I admit I slept in a bit- it was my birthday, why not? It was still early my standards but it wasn’t enough. I managed 1 mile at tempo pace before I spectacularly blew up. It was 80* with 50% humidity and I was not handling it. At all. I all but crawled the next few miles and cut the run short by a mile.

Then it was time for a cold shower and off to birthday lunch.

Saturday- 10 miles redux/ migraine city
A migraine moved in Friday and took up residence. I tried my best to deal with it in my usual ways but ending up taking one of the heavy duty pain pills in the evening. My neurologist will be so proud. It did level my vision so yay!

Sunday- How many times can I type 10 miles?/ 8+ mile trail run
Still in the midst of a heat advisory, I figured heading south would be my best bet for the run. I had my mom and S along for the ride- I love this trail but it has given me some creepy vibes in the past. This way they could hike and I could run and at least they would only be few miles behind me. I underestimated the heat. By mile 4 I was feeling it. I don’t think I’ve ever been so sweaty in my life, it was gross and it was hard. So hard. I relished the break I got at the top while I waited for them to catch up. I was so looking forward to the run down but the heat had gotten to me, the return down was more of a jog/walk and a lament as to where all the shade had gone.

So 23.83 miles for the week. Plan called for 26.5, oops. Still, it could be worse and I can’t complain about any week where I get to run on the trails twice.

How was your week?

Week 28-Of Birthdays and Bears

Anyone notice that I went from week 26 straight to 28 last week? No? Good.

Oops. 😛

Even with the posts to refer back to, it’s inevitable I goof every year.

Ok, last week. What happened? Oh right, I was in a funk most of the week and it was my birthday. Great timing there. No real reason why, just feeling funky, my goal was dig my way out and not inflict it on anyone else.

Monday- Rest Maybe? I don’t know, I don’t remember anything special. Blame the funk.

Tuesday- Rest I had good intentions of running but I had a late afternoon neurologist appointment and I didn’t leave the Dr’s office until almost 6. I was still 3 towns south of home and traffic was not my friend. Combine that with the 100+ temp when I finally made it home and things just didn’t pan out.

Wednesday- 4.26 miles It was 86 degrees when I started running that evening but it felt ok. I was super tired and kept bartering with myself. Just run 1 mile. Ok, how about 2? Then it was you can turn around at the 5K mark. In the end I ran the majority of my original river path route. I make some adjustments these days due to increased homeless activity in the river bed. I do realize I am running by myself.

Thursday- 3.5 miles Birthday miles! I was meeting my family for a late dinner at a local burger joint so I was planning on squeezing in some miles at the lake path. I almost bailed on the first lap. The heat has created an algae bloom on the lake and certain sections are ummm, a little ripe. In the end I just tried not to breath in those sections. 😛

Then it was off to calorie heaven.

Friday- Nada Like most Fridays.

Saturday- Birthday shopping. I spent some time bumming around SLO with my mom doing some shopping. Did I mention that I have awesome coworkers and they gave me a gift certificate to the Running Warehouse for my birthday???? New shoes! I also ate way too much food.

Sunday- 5 miles Had a rough start to the morning due to the over indulgence the day before. It also felt way warmer than it should have for only being 80. I had hoped for 6 but my stomach and internal temp just wasn’t having it. I stuck with a slow 5 and was cool with that.

I was not cool with finding out after my run that there had been a bear sighting in the area less than 12 hours before. A BEAR! Apparently it strolled right up to a doorbell camera.

I ended the week by going to see Skyscraper.

So, 12.8 miles for week. Not great but less crap-tastic than last week.

And now it’s time to get serious in so many ways.

How was your week? Last movie you saw?