creepy run – Slacker Runner

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

I feel like all I do these days is make excuses. One of these weeks, I will type “this week was awesome!”. But that was not this week.

My back has been acting up and my hope that my new bed would cure all has not materialized. Boo. Actually, I am still on the fence when it comes to the new bed. But it’s only been 2 weeks, right? It has to get better right? I do feel less tired, so that’s a plus.

Ok, let’s get to the running or lack there of. This week had a good run, a creepy run and a disaster run.

Monday- Yoga app. Monday is a running day and I should have run but my back was pissed so I passed on the run and headed home to try and stretch out my back. If a yoga app could get dusty, mine would be. I chose a flexibility workout and tried to follow it the best I could. I also used my foam roller.

Tuesday- More stretching I still hurt more than I could ignore so another rest day it was. Ugh, this was getting old.

Wednesday- 4 miles The pain had downgraded to an ache so I figured I would try a run. Honestly I thought I would only get in a mile or 2. Imagine my surprise when I felt ok enough to keep running for 4 miles. I was slower than molasses but I felt ok. It was a decent run. It was also in the 60’s for the first time. I almost felt cold. 😛

Thursday- 1.5 miles Creeptastic run. I knew running 2 days in a row could be pushing my back but that was not what cut this run short. I set off and was walking my warm up when I noticed a bush on the back side of the lake. Except that bush had never been there before. And it seemed really boxy….and was it wearing shoes? As I’m giving this bush the stink eye, it jumps up and tries to scare me. Ummm, no dude. He was full on wearing one of those camouflage bush outfits. What? 1/2 mile later, some guy tries to preach to me. Which normally wouldn’t seem too odd but something about him just weird-ed me out. 1/4 mile later, bush guy was in a new hiding spot. I gave him the stink eye again. 1/4 mile past that, there was a dude dressed in a black hoodie, all covered up with a large black backpack. All right, I’m done. Get me out of here.

Friday- Rest Being down my boss, means that Fridays will be open to close for a while. That said, no running will be happening. My back was feeling a little better though. Or the migraine and dizzy spells that came with that time of the month just took precedence.

Saturday-Rest Based on how I felt Friday I knew I wasn’t running long in the morning but I had thought about making up Monday’s/Thursday’s missed miles in the afternoon. At least until I took a nap on the floor and really pissed off my back again. Stupid.

Sunday- 8 miles I planned on running in the morning but apparently my body had other ideas. I vaguely remember my alarm going off and me thinking 10 more minutes sounded nice. Then it was 9:45. Well, crap. Instead I set out for my long run at 3:00. It was 82* but I figured I would be fine. Bad idea.

Miles 1-4 weren’t bad. I stuck to my 1 minute run/ 1 minute walk and drank water when needed. I added a new street to the route and ran until I literally ran out out sidewalk. It was on the way back that I started to realize I had a problem. I really needed a bathroom! I swear I have never had to pee that bad in my life. I knew there was a park about a mile away and I was hoping the bathrooms were open. I got to the dog park first but the bathroom was so disgusting- I wasn’t that desperate. There was another set across the street so I kept my fingers crossed. Much cleaner but there were no doors for the stalls! What? Ok, I was that desperate. Luckily, a nice stranger was waiting outside for her son in the men’s room so she kept watch for me. Thank you! But by then I was also figuring out that I was overheating. My fingers had turned to sausages, my head was starting to hurt. Miles 6-8 were a slow slog of just trying to take the shortest route back to my car. Screw 10 miles, that wasn’t happening today. Why was there no shade?!

13.58 miles for the week. Considering my track record lately, it didn’t suck. At this rate, I won’t hit the 20’s again marathon training. 🤣 I had better be wrong about that.

How was your week?

Do you have fall weather?

Hmmmm, let’s just call this a step back week?

Monday- Rest

Actually I had a Harvest Marathon meeting, so a rest day worked out perfectly. Plus it was Monday and I don’t seem to run well on Mondays’. I was late getting to the meeting so I felt like a total slacker. It’s just hard when work runs late and then I still have the commute.

Tuesday- 3.74 Miles

The less than great run. That being said, I think my post about it came across more negative than I had wanted. Yes, the run was rough but overall it wasn’t that bad and I was glad I didn’t bail because of all of my gear/ shoe issues. Maybe that’s why non runners think runners are crazy- I cried but I still call it a decent run. 😉

Wednesday- Rest

I remember!! Tuesday’s stomach issues doubled and I felt the beginning of a migraine coming on so rest day. I headed to Target for some small things and headed straight home for the comfy chair.

Thursday- 5 Miles- Creeptastic run

Not only was my headache still around, I was exhausted. Stupid hormones. Any how, I headed to the lake after work hoping for 6 miles but resigned to 4. I honestly didn’t think I had more in me even with keeping an easy pace. However once I got running I felt pretty good even with the headache and thought I could run a 10k. Then things got weird.

You know when you feel like something is looming over your shoulder? I got that feeling as I hit the backside of the lake just before mile 4. I looked over my right shoulder and there was a truck driving half in the dirt and half on the street super slowly. My first thought is that they wanted to pull over and park and I was in their way. So I sped up. So did the truck. Ummm? I slowed down again, so did the truck. This went on for 1/2 a mile. I came to a complete stop and tried to get a better look at it. It pulled behind some trees. Enough. Run done. I got my ass back to the parking lot as fast as possible while looking for the truck behind me. As an extra caution, I ran to the playground and waited there for a while just to make sure it didn’t follow me to my car. Cue the Slacker PSA– Maybe I overreacted, maybe I didn’t. As much as I love the running community and all people I cross paths with while running, I am out there running by myself. Hence rule #1- Be Paranoid. If something seems off, trust your gut. Don’t continue assuming that everything’s ok or that you’re tough enough to handle whatever comes your way. That may be true but toughness should be a last resort- cut your run short or change your route. Don’t be stubborn, you can get the miles in on another day. End PSA.

Friday- Rest

I fell prey to a cookie around 9:30 but that ended up working in my favor. I started work at 7:30 but didn’t get to lunch until after 3:00. I credit that cookie with getting me through the chaos that was Friday. 😆

Saturday- 4 Mile walk

I went to SLO for 2 intentional purchases but ended up spending more money than planned. One stop was the Running Warehouse but more on that next post. Victoria’s Secret had sports bras for $35 so I had to go check that out- those things are expensive! But kind of useful for running. 😝 Those were the planned purchases. What was not planned? At least it hadn’t been a fully formed thought-

So that happened. I was in the best running shape when I rode the stationary bike 4x a week. Ever since mine died, I have never followed through with going to the gym. Now I have to follow through. Yes, recumbent is lazy but my stomach and side appreciate it. Now if it would just get here.

Finished the evening with a 4 mile walk, testing out some new gear. More on that later, too.

Sunday- 4.5 miles

Long run fail. I had planned for 8-9 miles but woke with a gnarly headache again. I think it was part hormonal and part sinus- I’ve had some allergy issues lately. I blame the humidity, that’s my scapegoat these days. Sunday family dinner wasn’t happening so I decided sleep a little more and get the run in the evening when it was cooler. Then things changed. Not only was Sunday dinner happening but it was at a restaurant. Well damn, now I couldn’t even show up sweaty. I headed out in the heat of the afternoon and pulled off a slow 4.5 miles. My head was not too impressed with that decision. I was hoping I could out run the migraine. Not so much. It did ease a bit though by the time we headed to dinner (steak and veggies for me).

All in all, not a horrible training week. No speed work thanks to my stomach but I kept my weekly mileage consistent. Low but consistent. It’s the little things right?

Paleo Week 1- C

Last week was also my first week changing things up. Breakfasts and lunches were on point, dinner was atrocious. I ate out every single week night last week. I didn’t even do it on purpose, it just kind of happened. Tuesday pizza was supposed to be the only night eating out. Bad!! I also ate a little bag of Lay’s one day. Last week might not have been the best week to start paleo. I tend to want to eat everything that week of the month. So I guess in some respect it was a win because I didn’t go crazy on the snacks. Also something in my lunch veggies- spinach, romaine, cabbage slaw, celery and carrots pissed off my stomach every day. It couldn’t have been the spinach or cabbage slaw because those have been staples of my lunch for months. So I swapped a few things this week and we’ll see how I do. I meal prepped for the week on Sunday again. It’s like Tetris getting all the containers into my lunch bag on Monday morning. 😃

Goals for this week are to get in the miles. Definitely a long run and hopefully my side will accommodate some speed work. Another goal is to only eat out 2x for dinner. Last week was just ridiculous.

How was your week?

Ever had a potentially creepy situation on a run? What did you do?

How often do you eat out?

Slacker Runner

Week 38- Stupid

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