Tag: cold

Of Running and Cats

It’s race week!!!! I hit 2 out of 3 planned workouts, that’s a good thing right?

My training plan called for actual workouts this week so that was new. Usually I embrace taper for all its worth and run lazily once or twice leading up to the race. However the plan wanted 2 easy runs and 1 interval or fartlek workout. Hmmm, ok. I headed out Tuesday and marked off my easy run. It was one of those runs that wasn’t awesome but didn’t suck so it was just meh. My one complaint was the wind. I am so over the wind. It has been windy here for two weeks- it’s never windy around here. It just makes things so much colder.

My stomach was feeling pissy, so I pushed Wednesday’s speed work to Thursday. Yay, more wind…and I ran in a tank top. I was so cold but this was also intentional. The forecast calls for rain on Saturday and wind on Sunday so I figured I may as well get used to it. Plus I was testing out a new shirt. Can’t find out where it chafes if it’s covered up. But I was the only loony out there in a tank. Everyone else was bundled up, jackets, gloves, scarves and hats. Yes, we Cali people hate the cold.

I didn’t really want to think about intervals so after a warm up, I decide to run a few fartleks. I forgot to even look at my watch for the first one so I wasn’t sure what time or mileage I started at- oops! Oddly enough, all of my fartleks ended up being of similar distance, time and pace without too much planning on my part. I called it at 3.5 miles though, I just couldn’t take the wind any longer. I may be rethinking my race day outfit to include some more layers.

The best part of Thursday’s run was the lake cat. For a lot of my runs at the lake, I often see a gray and white cat roaming the back of the lake. I am pretty sure I know which house he comes from but I have always worried that something might happen to him. Quite a few cars drive that road and don’t always pay attention. Plus there are lots of people and more than a few dogs, some dogs off the leash. The last time I saw the lake cat was that run that ended in horrible stomach pain. That was in March. I’ve been looking for him every time I have run there since but no luck. Until Thursday. I rounded a curve on the backside of the lake and there he was. I actually yelled “kitty” out loud. I had to stop and visit, so that was the end of my first fartlek. 🙂 I was so glad to see him.Which made me feel even worse when I got home to find that I had once again traumatized my cat. 😦 After I come home, I usually carry my purse, gym bag, lunch bag, shoes etc into the house to put away. Kimi would come to meet me and walk around my legs. One day I was carrying too much and dropped my boots…they landed on her. It’s been over 2 years and she still bolts if she sees me pick up a pair of boots. Other shoes are fine but boots and she bolts. Now she runs from me if I am holding her yellow food dish too. 😦

The other cat had to go on a diet, so I’ve had a bowl of the normal food for her stashed in the bedroom. The other evening, I went to get it out of a drawer and turned as she was running in. In my defense, she jumped headfirst into the bowl but now she bolts from the room and hides around the corner. Waah, I feel so bad!

I took a few days off around SLO- so today was a lovely vacation day. I planned on getting in my last run but I took a nap instead. 🙂 I tried to work on a new playlist and get this post up sooner but somehow the day ran away from me. I did meet a friend at the movies this evening. We went and saw The Longest Ride. I am not a fan of the books, but somehow we always end up going to the movies. She and I crack jokes that we are the only who can stand them. It was pretty good, not great but good, and luckily not as destructive as his movies tend to be. Which was fine by me since Grey’s Anatomy was rough enough last night. Now I should probably go to bed, I have an expo to go to tomorrow! 🙂

What do you usually run during race week?

Ever traumatize one of your pets? 😦

Did you watch Grey’s? Or see The Longest Ride?

Slow and Easy

While Saturday’s easy run had gone fairly well I was still nervous about my long run. How were my legs going to handle it? I knew the planned progression wasn’t going to happen but I was hoping to run long-ish and easy.

An old friend was coming to town for the weekend and we had been messaging about running together. We have tried this before but never made it work. We always seem to miss each other. She ran SLO the year before I did, I ran City to the Sea the year before she did. We did run into each other at my first Super Fun Run but she was running the 10k and I was running the 5K. She’s running Wine Country next weekend and was aiming for 8-11 miles. I said I would be slow but hang on if that was ok with her. Seriously, there’s a reason I don’t run in the mornings. It’s freakin’ cold!! Yes, I realize that high 30’s, low 40’s is a heat wave to everyone outside of California. Again let me state that I am a big baby in the cold! For a variety of reasons we both had rough nights and there were more messages going back and forth on Sunday morning. 🙂 But we stuck it out and met up to run. I planned the route and figured that my habit of running in circles up hills probably wouldn’t be the best idea. So I mapped out a very lopsided figure 8 that led us across town and back for a little over 8 miles. If we were feeling good I had ways to add on miles. I was stiff and had to take numerous walking breaks. My stomach has also been an asshat since Saturday night so that slowed me down as well. I felt so bad for slowing her down. Other than those 2 things I felt pretty good though which was cool considering how much I had not wanted to get out of bed. If I am thinking optimistically then it’s not all my fault that we were slower than hoped for. I live in a small town, proven by the fact that an 8 mile route can take me across town and back. However, within that route we had 8 traffic light stops. 8. That said, I wouldn’t mind running that route again.

We finished our run and chatted for a bit before heading our separate ways. It was nice running with someone. I so very rarely do that. It does a little more energy to talk and run at the sametime- it should count as crosstraining- ha! Maybe we can try that the next time she is in town. Also, I would not have run in the morning had I not been meeting her. I am so not a morning person. I don’t think I ever will be. Races are my extent of early mornings.

Running before made this seem a little less indulgent.

I am still on the fence about Wine Country. I actually felt ok after Sunday’s run. I stretched really well and rolled a little. It’s probably just me using it wrong but my roller has not been helping. I have a feeling I am going to put off the decision-making as long as possible. On a random note- my Garmin shows 2 different average paces for the same run?!

What is your favorite time to run?

How many traffic lights do you usually have to deal with?

Can you run and hold a conversation at the same time?

February Flew- Recap

And just like that February is over. Blink and you missed it, I must have blinked. I feel like I was just running in Huntington Beach but in reality that was 4 weeks ago! So with that being said- here is my February recap-

Miles -78.41

Races- Surf City 13.1

February was actually a pretty consistent month for me. That said, the miles are lower than I would have liked but they’re still good. I hit every run on my training plan save 2. I missed one long run and one easy run by choice. Some aches and niggles made me think that rest days would be a better choice. Don’t they say that rest is training too? Along with that, I cut this week’s weekday runs short, only around a 5k each time. I know that those choices affected my overall mileage for the month. I would have had another 20 or so miles, maybe. I know I set a goal of 1000 miles in 2015 which breaks down to around 84 miles a month, I know I am behind. However I am not going to break myself just to meet that goal. See, I do have smart moments. 🙂

After last week’s increase in my leg issues, I was very hesitant to head out for a run on Saturday. And random note, I have run in pants more in the last week than I have all winter. Our neck of the woods got a little bit chilly. Bear in mind, I find the 40’s to be cold. Big baby over here! I finally headed out around 3 ish to test the waters. My first mile included 8 minutes of walking and clocked in at 13:00 but it didn’t suck so I kept going. Things were tight but not painful. Things loosened up a bit over the next 2 miles but I still knew things were off. I was planning on doing my short route- 3.8 miles- but when I got to split point between that and the point for 4.5 miles I was stuck. The road ahead was blocked off by fire trucks and police cars. Well crap, so 4.5 miles it was. I slowed down on the way home but didn’t feel too bad. I admit to over analyzing every twinge and every step.

I don't run through injury. That would be stupid. I simply refuse to believe that the injury exists. That's toootttallly different! I still have not decided what to do about Wine Country in 2 weeks. I want to see how I feel through out the week. I also have to figure out how to dress at work. I have heels, boots and flats. And by flats- I mean flat- zero support. I wore flats 3x last week and was aching most of the day. Heels one day and I rolled my ankle and stumbled into a cabinet- new bruises- yay! I do that all the time in those particular shoes though. I really should toss them but they are cute. And here returns the less smart moments. 🙂 Oddly, I wore taller boots on Friday and it was the best my legs felt at work all week. I may deal with the toe pinching of those boots if my hamstrings appreciate them. 🙂

Onward to March!!! Oh, that sounds odd.

How was your February?

Any shoe suggestions? Anyone else as clumsy as me?

A Slow Start to February

I feel like all I have been doing this week is playing catch up. I’ve posted recaps of Surf City and January but barely anything else. So I guess let’s keep with that theme and cover the week-

Monday– If I hadn’t made the appointment before Surf City, I would have done it myself after that race. If I had had a pair of scissors I would have chopped off my ponytail at mile 8. Seriously. And it wouldn’t have been the first time I cut my own hair. Luckily I restrained and had the professionals do it the next day-Can’t take non running selfies apparently- it looks longer here. It hits my chin. I have zero post cut guilt- woo hoo!

Tuesday– the schedule called for either a rest day or an easy run after Sunday’s race. Neither option sounded appealing, so I grabbed the puppy and took her for a puppy jog instead.Wednesday– This was the last day of my mini vacay so I decided to move Thursday’s speed work up. I had no desire to run it on the treadmill and on Wednesday I could run it outside. However I had a very tiny window of time. Probably should have gotten out of bed sooner- nah. Also not good was the fact that I had eaten lunch an hour before starting my run. Lunch that was a tri-tip sandwich. Oops. But I did it. At least in a tiny way- first intentional speed work in way too long. Oh, and speed work without a heavy, swinging pony tail was awesome! Then I headed off to the tennis courts to help my mom out at practice. It was time to scare a new group. #goodtimes 🙂

Thursday and Friday were back to work. I actually got caught up on a lot of things. Reviews are done and submitted and now they just have to be presented. The bad thing was my serious overindulgence in donuts on Friday. So not good. But so good. 🙂

Saturday– my alarm went off early- too early. I had plans to attend a nutrition and training seminar put on by the SLO Marathon. The plan was to start the morning with a run. It was raining. Now, rain is so rare here, that I usually love running it. What I did not take into account was just how wet I was going to be and how that would feel over the 2 hours of sitting. I was so damn cold, I was shivering. I also looked like a drowned rat. Once the seminar let out, I found a pair of flip-flops in my car and a light sweatshirt I luckily had been too lazy to take out after tennis on Wednesday. The flip-flops were so much better than wet socks and shoes and the sweatshirt helped after stripping off my outer layers. My tank was still damp so I cranked the heat. It felt so awesome but I think I turned my car into a sauna. I picked my mom up for lunch after getting home and changing and she had troubles getting into my car it was so warm. Ha!The seminar was good. I think the rain kept quite a few people away which was a bummer. I was nervous about the run because I’ve never run in a group outside of a race. We set out for an easy 40 minutes, I ended up in the middle of the pack. There was one person near me on the way out but on the way back I was by myself. It was still nice knowing that other people were out there though.

The seminar briefly covered nutrition and training, Team in Training and the Challenged Athletes Foundation. The nutrition information was basic but helpful as well. It also emphasized how much I have been slacking on that lately. Team in Training is always inspiring and I keep telling myself I should participate at least once but I admit that fundraising goal intimidates me. I don’t think I had heard of Challenged Athletes Foundation before. Talk about inspirational. The woman giving the presentation would have been inspirational before her accident, what she’s accomplished after is just awesome. All in all it was a good morning.

Sunday– As I sit trying to finish this post, I am arguing with myself. My original plan when I knew I had back to back race weekends was to take this week off prior to resuming training for SLO. Then I received my fancy training plan and it said different. It calls for a 90 minute Thirds progression run today. Up until now I hit all the planned workouts for the week. But I am tired and achy and I have little desire to go out in the pouring rain and run. The treadmill sounds even less exciting. I really just want to take a rest day but I feel lazy thinking that. I am just tired, have I said that already? So, the argument continues.

How was your week/ weekend?

How do you solve your internal arguments?

Ever gone to a running seminar thing? Or run for Team in Training?

Wrapping it up!!

I hope everyone had a good Christmas! We had a good day here in California even though Christmas finally brought in the cold. We’ve hit freezing the last few nights and had colder days. Yes, it has been nothing like anyone who gets actual snow but it’s cold for someone like me. I think the perfect running temp is around 73 and I almost like running in 95-100º. Crazy, I know.

Christmas was good this year and I can finally share a few things I purchased for my family. I was super excited about these gifts this year, there were others but I had fun with these-

Road ID- Ok this one is mine but I ordered a similar one for my mom and I ordered a FIXX ID for my dad for when he hikes.

My mother has been saying that she wanted something with a logo on. This is the back and the front says photographer.

My family proved just well they knew me as well-

I’ve come to realize that part of the reason I may have only run 34 miles in December 2013 was that there are so many things to be done. My mileage so far this month is not where I had hoped it would be. I had two tiny weeks in a row that put a dent in my goal. But that’s ok- people first right? I have one more commitment on Monday evening and then I think I am done! Christmas is typically a lazy day with my family and I have always looked forward to it. Last year, I ran a few miles to break in the Garmin I had received but this was a return to the norm. It was so nice. We hung out and watched Love Actually and then multiple episodes of Supernatural. While enjoying yummy food of course. 🙂

Friday was back to work and I was confused all day. It was a Friday but felt more like a Monday. Even with that, I was able to restrain myself from eating cookies (Cookie Friday) which is kind of huge for me. Saturday consisted of the usual errands and waiting around for it get a little warmer before running. I admit to having little desire to run but I knew I was short on miles and also needed to get in a longish run. 10 was on the schedule but that didn’t seem like a smart idea after 2 short weeks. So I headed out around 3, figuring I would aim for 8 but would settle for 4.5 if I still wasn’t feeling it. For my longer runs, I have decided to aim for a pace around 11:15-11:30. I really want them to feel easier and be more of a focus on time than pace. Up until Saturday, it was going well.

The run felt hard from the start and my legs felt weirdly achy. I figured the cold was aggravating my asthma because I didn’t feel like I was pushing hard. I had a route in mind but going up a hill in mile 2, I changed it up and ran that hill 3 times. That section is kind of triangular so it was run up, walk a block over and run down to repeat. From there it just a series of loops around neighborhoods but I did hit that hill again around mile 6. I paused for a moment at an elementary school to check my shoes- they felt uncomfortable and just off- and use my inhaler again. It was there I noticed my pace, aside from my first mile, every other mile was in the 10’s. Slow down fool! My legs had a mind of their own and the last 4 miles were faster than the first 4. I was literally talking out loud to myself saying “slow down” but I just couldn’t seem to make it happen. I took walk breaks in every mile just to slow down. On one hand this is kind of awesome because it’s closer to what I used to be able to do but I need more self-control. I should have been able to rein it in when I need to. So yay but ugh? 🙂

Sunday called for an easy 6 and it was the perfect time to break in some new, shiny shoes. I attribute the aches from my long run to my shoes. I had noticed my neon Wave Rider’s had gone from good to not good overnight recently but I was hoping for another 50 miles or so. All of my treadmill miles have been run in my Sayonara’s and have been relatively ache free. Granted the condition of our streets doesn’t help but I had a feeling my Wave Rider’s were just done. I bought another pair in October and just stashed them until needed. What a world of difference! Putting them on today made me realize just how bad the previous pair had been, I had arch support again! Today’s 6 miles felt good, no aches other than a little soreness from yesterday. Woo hoo!

How was your Christmas?

Ever have a pair of shoes go bad seemingly overnight?

Ready for 2015? I’m getting there- next post will be goals. 🙂