I still haven’t figured out the weekly running thing. I didn’t realize how much one change in another area of life was going to affect my weekday running.
I did get on the bike on Tuesday but I only managed 4.2ish miles before I was running to the bathroom. I blamed it on my GI condition being an asshat but turns out it could have been food poisoning. I pick up lunch for my coworkers once a month and Tuesday we chose Panda. And on that Tuesday, half of us got sick. We’re on Panda strike now.
Oh and for extra fun, my dog treed a possum on Wednesday evening. In the cold and pouring rain. Picture me in my pajamas in the rain trying to catch a crazed dog and attempt to keep the possum up the tree. Sorry neighbors.
Thursday brought Thanksgiving and rain. No complaints by me, I gave up on snowy holidays long ago and just ask for clouds and rain now. Success! Except I was volunteering at a new local Turkey Trot and it was so cold! However that did not effect the turnout- it was a smash! It was also a fundraiser for the local homeless shelter so double win! Oh and the cutest Turkey Trot-er ever!
Then it was family time. With both parents having fun hospital trips in the last couple months, no one was feeling the effort of cooking a turkey dinner. And let’s be real, any attempts on my part would have ended up with my mother cooking it. So we flopped with the usual Christmas dinner and had Beef Stroganoff. Which meant I needed the stretchy pants. I don’t like turkey so I usually eat very little with traditional Thanksgiving fare.
Saturday brought some damn cold rain. I layered up to run outside but changed my mind when I took the dog out on a leash to go to the bathroom. I de-layered and headed to the gym instead. That one I pay for monthly but never use. It wasn’t horrible and I finished 4ish slow miles. Anyone else run 1-2 minutes slower on the treadmill?
Sunday was still raining but about 10-15 degrees warmer. I was probably overdressed for my 5 mile run but whatever. Parts of this run felt pretty good and part was a struggle thanks to the moisture in the air. Oh well.
9ish miles for the week. Not marvelous but better than last week!
I had to be social this week. So social. I can’t people anymore.
First up was a mixer on Thursday after work. Then Saturday morning got as a volunteer for an event at the homeless shelter. Ok, truth that one was the best one and I had no problems helping out. But the kicker was the charity fundraiser dinner on Saturday evening.
Peopling is hard. So hard I make up words.🤣
Monday 2.5 ish miles This is as my first run since the asthma attack fun of Surf City. My only goal was to keep my heat rate in the green and go for about 30 minutes. I felt like I was crawling but still spent half my time in Orange. 😒
Tuesday—- can’t remember what I did. Sure it was something though. Oh wait- I had an all day work meeting. How did I forget that?
Wednesday 3.2 miles. I had a crap day and just needed to run it out. Which I did by either hauling ass or walking text venting to a friend. Oddly enough my heart rate stayed lower which is funny considering my pace dropped into the 6’s and 7’s at some points. The things anger and a downhill can do for you. 🤣
Thursday- mixer and it was freezing. Got to tour some more homes though!
Friday- Ill. I woke up feeling super crappy. I blamed the massive swing in the previous day’s weather.
Saturday 8.2 miles I had the volunteer shift in the morning and the fundraiser that night so why not throw my long run into the middle?😂 Actually the run was kind of great- kept a chill pace and felt pretty good. Minus the 2 miles where I was trying to shake some foot pain. I changed my route due to an off leash dog and then my left foot had a disagreement with a bump in the side walk. Graceful, I am not.
Sunday- oops I meant to run, I meant to hit a trail. Then I started reorganizing my closet and dresser and that swallowed my day. Like it does every time I do it.
This week had its ups and downs in running and life, but like I said last week, I’m just going to keep rolling with it.
I had my week planned -when I was going to workout, how I was going to eat healthier, be less of a Slacker, yada yada. And well… yeah.
Cold wind kept me indoors on Monday which is silly as I hate wasting a non work day. But I also really hate a really cold wind. Then my stomach turned into an asshat on Tuesday and that lingered for a few days. That’s what I get for thinking I was having a good spell. Then there’s the random tiredness. Which actually isn’t so random. This was week 2 without soda and my new migraine medication can make me groggy. Not the greatest combo… or maybe it is, who knows. I did manage to finally clean my car this weekend so that in itself should make this week a win. Ha!
Monday- Transform 20 Well, I started the week slightly according to plan. Then it was off to that doctor’s appointment I made a month ago when I was so sick. Which didn’t really get me anywhere.
Saturday- 8.4 miles Long run Saturday. Despite the opinion of my Garmin, I actually felt pretty good this run. I kept things slow and easy and started with run/walk intervals but was able to ditch them around mile 4 and only walk occasionally. Which I thought was great considering how little running I’ve been doing but my Garmin judged me and told me I needed 3 days to recover post run. How rude!
Sunday-4 miles I headed out for some nice and easy recovery miles. I won’t lie- even though I kept the pace slower than Saturday’s long run, there were parts that were the very opposite of easy. I kept pace and ran all but one of the hills though. Still, I wish it had felt a little better.
12.4 miles for the week and only 1 Transform 20 workout. Which means I will be restarting week 2 come Monday as I was barely hanging on as it was. I am hoping to get in 2 short-ish runs before race days so fingers crossed!
This may be the latest I’ve ever finished a race recap.
I’ve been talking about half marathon #30 since October but never made it work, finally I stopped talking and just signed up for a race the same day my training plan called for 19 miles. I figured 13 supported miles with other runners followed by 6 solo miles was better than 19 lonely miles.
Tent City is in it’s first year and that generally makes me leery of races. It offered a full, half, 10k, 5k and None run. Packet pick up was a sure sign that it was a first time, small town race- a folding table next to an open van with the shirts and numbers. Did I mention it was in front of a creepy abandoned building?😜
Ok, maybe not so abandoned. The race was a fundraiser for the Printery Foundation which is working to restore the Printery building which is over 100 years old. But until then I think it looks kind of haunted. Call the Winchester brothers. Did I mention this was also the start line? In the dark.
The race started at the crack of dawn in the cold and dark. Seriously, the sun hadn’t risen and it was 34*. Dude, what??? I had my fleece vest from the week before and debated wearing it, I mean 13 miles…I’d warm up right??? I stayed in the car until the last possible moment before heading to the start line to find a port-a-pottie. Luckily I had thought ahead and brought a Knuckle Light with me as the bathrooms were completely dark. I was so cold. Luckily, the announcer said a few words, the National Anthem was sung and we were off.
Miles 1-3 10:16, 10:46, 12:04 I wasn’t planning on racing this- it was more a training run so I was going to happy with anything around 2:24-2:30 overall. The first mile looped us around numerous downtown city blocks before heading out onto the highway out of town. I was kind of surprised when I figured out what highway we were on, we were running on the closed shoulder while the lanes were open. We crossed a bridge and I was wondering where the first mile marker was. Checked my watch and saw that we were past a mile so I figured I missed it. But I never saw mile 2 or mile 3… ok, so there are no mile markers. Ummm? I was feeling an odd tingling in my backside during mile 3- it was more that I felt like the zipper to the pocket on my pants was super cold- almost too cold but I ignored it and it went away. Probably shouldn’t have.
Miles 4-7 11:37, 10:43, 12:22, 11:52 I was slowing for no apparent reason but the reality is that I actually had no idea. I was trying not to pay attention to my watch as this was a training run. I had to look at it occasionally as the lack of mile markers was actually frustrating. I wanted some idea of where I was. Plus the course was an out and back so I knew the turn around had to come at some point but it seemed too far out. I was enjoying the scenery of the back road we were now on but once again, it wasn’t the best road for runners. We now had an entire lane to ourselves but drivers tend to treat this road like a speedway and they weren’t slowing even with the cones. They were down to one lane and buzzing around us upwards of 40mph.
Miles 8-11 11:56, 12:07, 12:20, 12:27 The turn around! Yay! And I had finally realized that I was moving slower than I thought I was. What was going on? Wait, I can’t feel my butt! Or my quads and thighs really. What the hell? How long had I been numb? Seriously? Like I smacked myself in the butt and couldn’t feel it. So I tried it again, same thing. I couldn’t really feel the effort my legs were putting in or lack thereof. 🤣 It wasn’t that cold- wth? My fleece vest had kind of frosted over though, haha. There was a person out there in a tank! Apparently I have zero tolerance for the cold these days.
Miles 12-13 11:58, 11:37 Back to the highway and my backside was finally starting to warm up. But only in patches, haha and those sections were just itching. Oh for crying out loud. As we came back into town, I could see the finish line at the park (different than the start) but instead of going straight to it we had to go around the block the long way.
Finish-2:33:51
Yes, that’s fidget spinner for a medal
Not horribly off my long run pace goal and I learned that I really need to practice running in cold weather. Nah. After getting my medal, it was time to join the party in the park. There was yoga, food tents, beer tents, cupcake tents, local businesses and one of those tables with computers that prints your results. I’ve never had one of those! It was barely 9AM, there was no way I was drinking a beer but I wasn’t passing up a free cupcake. 😀
For a first time race, they did a decent job, they have room for improvement but it’s a race I would run again. Just move the dang start time back. And maybe put up a few more road blocks.
Or the one where I almost got mowed down by a car.
Even before that though, this week wasn’t going so well. Between the less than helpful test results, a busy week at work, a sudden cold weather snap and a bout with the stomach flu, I watched a lot of Netflix.
Monday- Rest I planned on running, I mean a day off from work meant a perfect day for running right? Yet somehow, between cleaning my car, inside and out- it was so dirty, getting my tires rotated and balanced and then my doctor’s appointment to get my test results, I just never made the time. Plus it was super windy and cold.
Tuesday- Rest I never take my running gear on the Tuesdays after 3 day weekends knowing that work is likely to be crazy busy. Plus I knew we were down 2 people so I was calling it being prepared. It actually wasn’t anywhere near what I thought so I probably could have brought my gear.
Wednesday- Rest I felt off, kind of moody, odd. I brought my gym bag into the building to change but just wasn’t feeling it. I couldn’t figure out why.
Thursday- Sick Ok, maybe that was it. I didn’t even make it through the full day at work. I was spending more time running to the bathroom than I was working. Sorry, TMI. So instead of running I spent most of the day resting in my chair and binging Netflix. Hello, 100.
Friday- Rest I made it to work but was still feeling off, at this point was just hoping I would get in my weekend runs like planned.
Saturday- 7 miles I started the morning by filling in as a coach for the JV boys tennis team for an away match. Yeah, that was interesting. I had 4 boys show up, the opposing team had 19. The opposing team was locked out f their own courts so they were literally climbing fences to get us tennis balls. 😛
I headed out for my run late in the afternoon. After having so many unplanned days off in a row, I admit I was a little concerned how things would go. However it was a pretty good run. I was feeling decent so I decided to throw in some hills. Apparently not enough because at the end of 7 miles I had only hit 600 ft in elevation gain.
Sunday- 15 miles Longest run since last marathon training cycle. My side was hurting in the morning so I slept a little longer and headed out for my run in the afternoon. I had a route planned and I was planning on taking it slow and easy considering it had been a rough week. The first 1/3 felt pretty good but I told myself not to celebrate yet as I still had a long way to go. The second third was also the warmest section and I slowed a bit as well as had a stand-off with an off leash dog. I am not sure who was more alarmed by who.
Things went south around mile 10. I was crossing the street to get to the park with the bathrooms. I checked all 3 ways (T intersection) for oncoming traffic, I had reflective gear and I was paying attention. I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT! Yet 2/3 of the way across the street, this blue car came flying out of nowhere speeding towards me, blew through the stop sign, the cross walk and squealed it’s tires out into oncoming traffic. WTF?! I was seriously close enough to the car to touch it.
Here’s where I reacted wrong. After avoiding getting mowed down by the crazy, oblivious driver I looked around wondering if anyone else had seen that while cursing and yelling out loud. Before remembering I was still in the cross walk and therefore still in street. Move, stupid!
I had 5 more intersections and stop lights to get through on the busy side of town before I was back in the neighborhoods and side streets I run all the time. Once I was in calmer streets it was like all the adrenaline left my body and everything cramped and my brain caught up to me about the near miss. The last mile or so home were kind of rough but I could tell it was more emotional than mileage driven if that makes sense.
22 miles for the week. The weekend rescued the week but things were a little rough this week. That said, I am ok with the mileage that I did pull off.
Slacker Runner 