Tag: changes

Week 37- Hobble, Hobble, Ouch

Upcoming Races-

Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1???
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 5K
Rock N Roll Las Vegas 13.1!!!!!

As much fun as last week’s trail race was, it took me much longer to recover from it than I had thought I would need. I was walking funny for days. I ended up taking an extra rest day last week and only running 3 days. But there was a very unhappy twinge from my left shin area that I’ve learned that ignoring it can lead to bad things. Another day off was the better option.

Monday- 2.3 miles Ha! I could barely walk straight but I was hoping that I could try to run it out. I managed 2 laps of the lake but it was more a hobble-walk-tiny jog. I still felt so stiff and sore, my legs just weren’t working right.

Tuesday- Rest And flats again to work. Still had trouble getting on and off my stool. 😛

Wednesday- Rest I was moving better so I planned on trying a run after work. I even changed. Once in my car, I had one of my OCD moments where I forgot something very important so I jumped out of the car and ran back to check. Pain shot up my lower left leg. Enough to make me doubt the intelligence of a run. I debated it on the drive back to home town. I ultimately decided to play it safe and decided not to run.

Thursday- 3.1 miles I was definitely moving better and the odd leg pain hadn’t reappeared so I set out for an easy run after work. I was back to following doc’s orders of taking it easy so I went back to 1 minute run/ 1 minute walk. I was sluggish but overall I felt ok. I just kept it nice and easy. I also had a vanity moment where I tried to save a good hair day while running but it drove me nuts and only lasted a mile. 😛

Friday- Rest This day was odd as we said goodbye to my boss after 3 years. So now, we’ll see what happens next.

Saturday- 8ish miles I planned on running my long run on Sunday so I decided to sleep in and catch up on some things. I ended up spending the day shopping in SLO with my mother. Not exactly catching up on rest but fun. Once I got home I randomly decided there was just enough time left in the day to get in my long run. So I changed and took my car across town.

I was under hydrated and not properly fueled but this was surprisingly one of my best long runs in months. I stuck to my 1 run/ 1 walk intervals and just trucked on. I was probably running too fast as my pace wasn’t too far off my typical long runs. It all felt pretty good though. The only irritations were accidentally hitting the lap button halfway through and then completely stopping the watch when some girls shrieked in the riverbed. Turns out they were just trying to carry a piece of driftwood out and dropped it. Well, they freaked me out!

Sunday- Rest I thought about running. I did. My leg was a little ache-y. I was a little tired. I took the parents to the movies. When my dad mentions in passing that he wants to see a movie in the actual theater, I will make it happen. We saw American Assassin. Then I was in a popcorn coma and ended up taking a nap. Oops!

13.7 miles for the week. I miss the miles of that missed run but I know my leg was a little angry after the race. So, maybe don’t run mountains after 2 months of lackluster training months? Haha. 🤣

How was your week? Do anything fun?

Longest it’s taken you to recover from a shorter race?

Week 14- Somewhat Normal

Upcoming Races:

Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13
Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

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. 😛

How was your week?

Anyone race this weekend?

Watch any movies lately?

March is Marchin’

March being over already feels like an April Fool’s joke. It cannot be time for a monthly recap yet!

But it is, so here we go!

Miles- 83.1

Races- Wine Country Half

Highest mileage moth of the year so far even if it’s not quite where I had hoped it would be at the beginning of the month. Had I hit my weekend long run like planned, I would have been closer to 95. Which is so close to 100!! But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Did anyone else grow up with that expression? I never understood the point. I mean I do but why say it?

Anyways, moving on. This was still a damn good month. I stuck to my training plan fairly well considering I started the month with some crazy tightness and hamstring issues. March also saw me run a pretty great race , for me, so yay! I survived a work inspection and filled in at another location. My stomach was its’ asshat self but I tried to not let it disrupt training too much. I managed to some mile paces that I haven’t seen in months. I can’t hold them for very long yet, but even just seeing low 9’s and mid 8’s on my watch is kind of awesome! Now to work on maintaining them.

That means continuing to stick to my training as closely as I can. SLO is now less than 30 days away and I am looking forward to race weekend. A little vacation time, hanging out with runners and running an awesome race. There’s a local 5K I want to run the weekend after next. Firehouse 5K, it kicks my butt every year, but it’s such a fun race. I usually hurt for the following week so I am glad that it falls a little sooner this year. 🙂 All that said, I am glad that I already decided to make SLO a fun race as opposed to a goal race. At last week’s appointment with my gastro, we decided that the most recent prescription changes were not working. So I have a shiny new diet to follow. More on the specifics later, but I had to say goodbye to a lot of things for the next few months. So very many things. I am still figuring things out, so right now all I know is that the last few days have been some hungry, tired days.

I had a scheduling conflict today so I moved my easy run of the week to Monday. Woof, that was hard. Not sure if it was because it was a Monday, or because my side still hurt a bit or if it was the dietary changes but it was hard. So much harder than easy should feel. I was also testing out my new shoes. While I love getting new shoes, the break in period is always interesting. While I think I am going to really like them, I had unusual aches and niggles throughout the run. I stopped every mile or so to stretch out. I am not really concerned by this because it has happened every time I have broken in a new shoe style. It usually takes a week or so of alternating shoes to fully adjust. But that is one reason I bought them a month before SLO.

How long do you usually take to break in new shoes?

What is your March highlight?

What are you looking forward to in April?