Tag: Cross-training

Week 42 Training Recap

Training for-

  • Paso Harvest Marathon 13.1
  • Golden Gate Half

I am not sure what happened last week.  I am not sure if it was the lack of sleep catching up with me and I kind of felt like I was fighting some bug.  I was feeling down but whatever it was, I fell off the motivation train.    I kind of just wanted to hide in a dark hole and sleep.    But life goes on right?

Monday- Rest  Rest day!!  And a day off, man that was nice.   I was feeling a little sore form Sunday’s race so taking it easy was fine be me.  Plus I had to take my dad to an appointment so I killed time in the best way-


Tuesday- 7 miles bike.  I felt crappy all day, just sluggish and worn down.  Sleep was rough which didn’t help.  I had packed my running gear as my coach had me scheduled for 30-45 minute recovery run.   By the end of work, I knew it wasn’t happening.  I headed home and did a slow 7 miles on the bike instead.

Wednesday- 6 miles Rest Yeah, I can’t really pinpoint what happened here.  I felt better but not 100%; I was tired but what else is new?  My family invited me to dinner and the tri tip was calling?  Whatever it was, it won and I did not run.


Thursday- 5 miles  The plan was to run 3 miles a little faster than goal half marathon pace plus warm up and cool down.   I was still in a funk and had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen.  I did try though.  I worked a partial day and headed to the river path to attempt it.   Yeah, it went about as well as I expected.  I could not get my legs into gear.   My splits for the speed work were 9:43, 10:35, 9:32.  Ha!  Not even close to a sub 9.   But I ran though, right?

Friday- Rest  Pretty typical Friday.  Work was work and I admit I caved and picked up a pizza on the way home.  Well, I ordered one but Domino’s messed it up so they gave me 2.  2?!  That doesn’t help the waistline.  🍕😛

Saturday- Rest I worked in the morning and enjoyed a white knuckle drive home as everyone in CA forgot how to drive in the rain.   It didn’t help that the fog was so dense, you could barely see a car length in front of you.  Throw in the steep drop on both sides of the highway and that was fun.  I meant to be productive in the afternoon but beyond laundry and posting my Bibrave review of City to the Sea, I really wasn’t.


Sunday- 8.1 miles– I wanted 10.  I could not make myself get out bed any sooner.  The day called for rain and I wanted to run in the only dry part of the morning.   I love the rain but figured if I was still fighting something, running in the rain wasn’t going to help.  I also had to run in the morning as my family had plans in the afternoon- my little brother turned 30!!!  Man, I feel old.


Anyways, back to the run.  It was kind of all over the place.  Kind of like the weather.  First it was cold, then it was super windy, then it turned unbelievably muggy and hot before starting all over again.  Every half mile was a new adventure.  Kind of like my pace.   Mile 4 was a 9:30- oops!   There were times when I felt like I was running tall, had awesome form and could go forever.  Then there times when I felt hunched over and tired, panting like a dog.    Can I blame the weather changes?    Whatever it was, I was glad to be done.

So to recap- 13 miles run and 7 biked.   I did get a long-ish run in so that’s a plus.  I’ve done some thinking about how how my next races will be run but I will save that for another post.   My hope is get in a solid week of training going forward.  And to sleep more.  Oh- I did receive my essential oils- after a battle, the post office lost them- so I have been trying those and will share thoughts soon.  It’s only been a few days so I am still on the fence.   😛

How was your week?

Would the lure of food keep your from running?

How’s your weather? Has fall really arrived?

 Week 40 Training Recap/ September Wrap

3/4 of the year is done!  Woah.  Already my Facebook feed is full of countdowns to Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Knock it off people!!

Anyways, last week’s training started out great, maintained for most of the week then hit a big roadblock by the weekend.  One I am still trying to figure out.  Combine that with a truly craptacular week in sleeping and this one was a little rough.   Seriously, each night averaged around 6 hours.  😕

Monday- Rest– I somehow got used to running on Monday’s and now resting on those days feels odd.  However I was so abnormally sore to the point of painful after Sunday’s races that I embraced it.  Plus the temps were in the triple digits everywhere so why put myself through that?

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Tuesday- 4.2 miles–  I was still sore so I opted for the lower end of what coach suggested.    I kept the pace nice and easy and walked whenever my leg felt odd.   To avoid most of the heat, I ran in work town.   I really wish there was more trail through the eucalyptus grove.  That said, it was a decent run and I managed to negative split, which considering it’s an out and back with the first 2 miles down hill is pretty sweet.


Wednesday- 3.75 miles.  Float like a butterfly, pant like a dog.   Speed work!


Thursday- 3.5 miles.  Recovery run.  In retrospect, maybe I should have just gotten on the bike and moved my legs that way.  I was really trying to stick to the plan though.    I crawled.  My legs were not happy even attempting to run.  I iced and rolled and stretched that night but I had a feeling it wasn’t enough.

Friday- Rest- Ouch.  My left leg was pissed.  I felt twinges anytime I moved.  Which  brought me to a very cranky conclusion-

Saturday- 5K race– Yeah, nope.   I had planned on running the inaugural Run the Runways out at the airport but I realized there was no way my leg was up to it.    I knew I would get out there and likely do something stupid.   I did 15 minutes on the bike though.  Work is attempting the Tone It Up challenge for October, I looked at the daily exercises but they all required more leg work then I was willing to do, so fail day 1.😢

Sunday-9-10 mile long run– 30 minutes bike  Another one bites the dust.  I woke up with a headache, tried getting up to run but no.   Figured I would go out for a few in the afternoon and slept some more.   Afternoon rolled around and my leg was not happy.  I was trying to determine if it really hurt or if I was trying to be lazy and not feel guilty about it.   I hopped on the bike for a very slow ride for 30 minutes.  Judging but how my leg felt while riding, I made the right choice not running.  Boo.

So now, I am in limbo.  I have a half marathon on Sunday and I am hesitant about it.  Plus side is that I haven’t registered for it yet.  Downside- it’s one of my favorites.   So this coming week will be interesting.


Since last week saw the end of September, I added up my mileage- 75.85.  Not too bad.  Not where I had hoped I would be but it is what it is and now it is time to focus on October.   Which hopefully means that the high 90’s and triple digit weather is gone.  Fingers crossed! 

How was your week?  September?

Any plans for October?

 

 

Training Week 12 Recap

Upcoming Races– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus this week–  Getting back on track after a sickly week.

After a less than stellar week 11 and being truthful, week 10, I was eager to get back on track.  Coming clean about San Francisco also provided a good kick in the pants as well.   Eagerness aside, I also knew that 2 crappy weeks didn’t mean I should go all crazy this week.  So, that meant I needed a measured improvement.  Umm, what does that mean?

We had a full crew at work last week for the first time in a long time.   We actually had more people behind the counter than we had stools.   I was actually looking forward to it, I need to sit less and what better chance?

Monday- 4 miles stationary bike–  Had I realized it was going to be a short ride I would have stopped at 3.14 for PI day.  But I did not.  I planned on riding longer but then my mom texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Subway for dinner.  For some reason, it sounded amazing so it didn’t take much to convince me.  

Tuesday-  3.5 miles–  I love Daylight Savings, I really do.  I headed for the lake path after work.  I missed it.  This also means that speed work is about to make a reappearance in my life, just not today.   I was taking the Launch’s for their second spin and was aiming for between 3-5 miles.    My left calf was freakishly tight so it ended up being 3.5 miles.  I kept a fairly easy pace but had to stop to stretch more than a few times.    My back was also hurting and my stomach muscles were super sore.   It’s sad how badly 2 days of standing kicked my ass.

Wednesday-  Rest– Pizza night!!   Also, I was still so damn sore, that I sat for most of the day.   Luckily, Wednesday is a usual day off for one employee so M and I weren’t fighting for the chair.   🙂

  
Thursday- 4.34 miles– I finally figured out the best way to run easy- run with friends!!   They say your easy pace should be a pace you can have a conversation at but it’s not like you can run and have a conversation with yourself, right?  NikeC and I made plans to meet up for a run and we stuck to it!   It was so great catching up!!   Plus I was finally able to give her her baby shower gift!     Only 4 months late.

Friday- Rest day–   My boss was on vacation all week and while the week wasn’t crazy busy, there were some fires to put out.  By Friday, I was feeling frazzled and needed a new fire extinguisher.   Grrr.  Plus my left knee started hurting towards the end of the day, pretty badly and I couldn’t figure it out.    I had played catch with a 40lb box- it had started to fall so I caught it, then lost it and caught it again.   Probably shouldn’t have done that.  

Saturday- 9 mile long run–  I am trying to switch my long runs to Saturday mornings but it’s been hit or miss the last few months.    When I woke up and saw that there was heavy fog and my weather app said the humidity level was 98%, I was thisclose to saying F* it. My lungs maybe doing better but they would not appreciate that at all.   They just might revolt.  I had all weekend right?    Then marathon training creeped into my thoughts.   Other than its hills, San Francisco is known for fog.   So after a few more moments of denial, I dragged myself out of my warm, cozy bed and went for my run.

I had originally hoped for 10 miles but I wasn’t sure I had enough time.  The plan had been to run then meet my mom and S after tennis practice for lunch.    So I was running from home across town.   Which meant 7 stop lights and an unspecified amount of time spent standing still.   😛    Combine that with a slower pace due to the moisture in the air aggravating my lungs and I finished 9 miles.

Once again, my goal was to just run as easy and steady as possible.  I knew I would need walk breaks and was fine with that.    Overall I didn’t take as many as I thought I would.   Other than the bridge miles, I kept a pretty steady 11:00 min pace, which is actually on the fast side of my current pace guidelines.  The bridge mile saw a 9:41.  Typical, I hate running the bridge.   The mile following was also faster, coming in at 10:00.  I have a serious issue running in the busy areas of town.  I tend to speed up.   I slowed down again by mile 6 and kept it steady until the end.    I almost ate asphalt around mile 8 though.  I was coming up on a stop light and was crossing through the dirt to punch the signal button.  I didn’t notice the cover for the power lines and caught it with my left foot.  I stumbled hard and almost went down.   Luckily, flailing my arms about seemed to help me stay upright.  Un-luckily, this is one of the 5 busiest intersections in town.  Doh!!   I recovered and finished my run.   It might have been slower than my pride would like but it was where it should be right now.  And it was done before lunch on a Saturday!   I celebrated my getting a much needed haircut.  

Sunday- 8.5 miles stationary bike–  I still felt a little achy in my knee but other than that I felt pretty good.   I decided to err on the side of caution though and leave my running mileage where it was at.  Just shy of 17 miles was a significant improvement on the previous weeks 4.5.

Low-Carb– Ummm, oops.  Monday through Thursday were great.  From Friday on, not so much.   And I feel puffy and gross after a few less than stellar eating days.  I only have myself to blame, I should know better.

Overall, it was a pretty good week.  I was feeling good about it until I realized that SLO is only 41 days away.   41 days?!?!  How did that sneak up on me?   I’m not ready!!  Oddly, though my mileage is down from last year, my long runs have drastically improved so at least something is working.  Finding the shiny, right?  That said, it’s time to bring some speed work back into play.  Oh crap, that sounds scary.

How was your week?

Anyone race over the weekend?

Ever almost fall in a public place?

 

 

Week 16?- Blah

I really have to go back over these posts, I think I am a week off somewhere.  I shouldn’t be on week 16 until next Sunday.   Hmmm, maybe I can’t count?

If you read Thursday’s post, you know I got a little emotional last week.   I’m still feeling a out of sorts but I’m going to just keep smiling and fake it til I make it.  Thank you to everyone who commented.  🙂

Monday- Rest

Harvest Marathon meeting.  Where did the time go?  Race day is only a month away?  Well, crap that’s soon.   Unfortunately numbers are down.  I’ve noticed that at a lot of races this year.   I run a lot of the same races and they all seem smaller this year.  Has anyone else noticed that?

Tuesday- 3.8 miles

I really wasn’t feeling a run.  I couldn’t really pinpoint why so I made myself change into my running gear.  I headed to the river path for an easy run.    My mother texted me as I parked and I was hopeful she wanted to meet for dinner and I could ignore the run.  I was half right.  She did want to meet for dinner but was still at a tennis match.  So I went running.    Despite my weird funk it was a pretty solid run.   It started out slow with a nice progression to a faster finish.   I fit in 3.8 miles before I went to meet her. 

 Wednesday- 11.5 miles bike

Today was rough.   I think the bad news about the potential job was the final push and I got a little emotional.   At least I made the right choice that night and turned to exercise instead of food.  My legs felt a little rubbery when I was done with those miles.   😄

Thursday- 4.77 miles

Once again, I just wasn’t feeling my run.  The plan called for speed work but I was having troubles talking myself into even running 2 miles.  I headed back to the river path and just figured I would run whatever my head wanted to.  I kept it easy and tried to just shut my brain up.   I don’t know how well it worked but I feel like it was a solid set of miles.  While our temps have been very un-fall like- we have had some amazing sunsets.  It’s hard to be mad when you see this-

 
Friday- Rest

More like chaos.  Due to some scheduling issues and a late summer illness, there was only myself and 2 other people at work.    Being down 50% of your crew is painful.  I knew we could do it, but there were some logistical issues that had me concerned.    We did get a some help from other locations for portions of the day and thankfully it was a slightly slower than normal Friday.    We got through the day and I have never been so glad to close the doors.   😖 But hey a customer told me I had an amazing attitude so score!

  

Saturday- Rest

I planned to ride the bike but I was so damn tired I chose a nap instead.  Wish it could have been longer.   I also worked the registration table for my favorite race of the year.  HOB Fun Run!    This was the first race I’d ever run.  And it turns out it was 5 years ago Saturday and this showed up on my Timehop-
Sunday- 10K and 5K

I love this event but it does stress me out.  It’s a race where I am guaranteed to know a ton of people.  Performance anxiety!!!!  Plus the last two years we’ve had a running team with matching shirts.  You can’t hide when you’re wearing matching clothes.  😉  Race recap will be up Wednesday.

   

   
Oddly enough, for a week when running was the last thing I felt like doing, I turned in one of my highest mileage weeks in months.  Which is partially cool and partially sad because I would love to see a higher number.    But it is what it is.  Despite my funk, I feel like they were all solid miles and solid miles help build a stronger runner.   Right? Can’t complain about solid miles.

Paleo–  Oh hell, I don’t even want to grade myself.  Lunch and breakfast were still good but other choices were not.  Let’s just say donuts and pizza happened.  Way more often than they should have.   Oddly enough it was my nice healthy salads that made me feel sick.   I’ve been experimenting with various types of lettuce and some are not winners.    But now I know I can add kale to the list of things I can’t eat.     I’d never eaten it before so luckily it’s not something I’ll miss.

So yes, last week was rough but I am going to try to look on the bright side.   I got all my miles in plus a solid cross training workout.   I had a fun (busy) weekend and got to see a bunch of people.    Oh and I dyed my hair again.  😏   My boss is back this week- woo hoo!- and I am looking forward to a weekend of nothing.   And then taper!  Or am I in taper now?  How did I mess up my damn race plan so much?

How was your weekend?

What’s your favorite race? 

Is taper the week before race week of the week of the race for a half?  My brain has turned off.

If this is February-

I am getting a little nervous for summer.  It was 80 today.  Really?  On one hand I love it but on the other hand- man it was warm.

I had a big work meeting on Thursday and I was a little stressed about it and figured that combined with the driving to and from and back to work, I would not be in the mood to run on Thursday evening.   So I moved my 45 min easy run to Wednesday.   After Tuesday’s tempo, I knew it was going to be a little rough but man it was a slog.   I was just not feeling it.  I hit 42 minutes but it was only 3.5 miles.  I straight up walked 1 mile of it.   Yeah, it was ugly.

Thursday was my dress meltdown and the big meeting.  They were presenting the President’s Award to one of the Heritage winners so part of the meeting was fun.   My coworker took 1st runner up- woo hoo!  My former boss and I cracked jokes that since we hired him, we could be equally excited.  It was also pretty cool that when they called out the Heritage winners to the front, there were 3 from my location.  🙂   3 out of 19- sweet!

Friday was girls night and yes, we saw 50 Shades of Grey.  I was proud of myself for not getting kicked out of the theater.  ML and I always sit next to each other so we can whisper things but she knew I was going to be a total smart ass so she put everyone else between us.  🙂    This was the worst behaved theater I have ever been in, it was ridiculous.   Some people had had way too much to drink before the movie and kept drinking the whole way through.  The woman in the row behind us made a phone call during the previews because her friends had not arrived.  Said friends arrived 5-10 minutes into the movie, laughing and talking about how they couldn’t find their seats in the dark.  Seriously?!  I think I heard 3 wine glasses break and the women in the front couldn’t go to the bathroom without going in multiples while laughing and yelling at each other as they left.   At the end all the men in the theater boo’d and I laughed out loud.  But other than that and the fact that the Mexican place we went to for dinner made me sick- it was an amusing and fun night.

This is my in pain grimace- why do my grimaces look more like smiles?
This is my in pain grimace- why do my grimaces look more like smiles?

I worked on Saturday, so I knew I would be eating a later lunch than usual.  This was also apparent when I set out for my run.  The training plan called a 45-55 minute run and fairly shortly, I knew it was going to be closer to 45.  My stride felt off and everything ached.   I was at the top of a hill, 1/2 mile from home when I wanted to curse out loud.  The outside of my right knee and the area a couple of inches up started screaming.   Are you freakin’ kidding me?!  My right leg never hurts, my left one is the problem child.   It felt like something was about to rip.   I instantly stopped and just started stretching on the side of the road.    A few minutes later I decided to see how it felt, I ran home and concentrated on my form just keeping an easy pace.   I felt a little tight but made it home.  I walked up half of my driveway backwards and spent extra time stretching and rolling with my foam roller and stick.

Yesterday’s pain made me nervous for today’s long run.  The plan called for 10-12 and yeah, 12 wasn’t happening.  I headed to the lake path, thinking that flat and outside would be best.  It was also easy access to my car if I needed it.    I was a little worried I would get bored lapping the lake so many times but I have run 10 miles on both a treadmill and the track before so it had to be better than those. Right?   I headed out around 2:00, thinking that I should take it slower and might need more time.    So for the second time in 2 days, I ran too soon after lunch, for me at least.      According to McMillan, my long run pace should be between 10:34-11:54.    I was aiming for 11:15-11:30, I was afraid it was going to hurt and I did not want to push.    My knee felt ok but my left hamstring is still sore from last week’s strength training fail.    I walked my warm up as usual and then picked up the pace.

When miles 2, 3, and 4 clocked in at 10:04, 10:10, and 10:11, I was a little ticked.   It didn’t feel hard but I knew I wasn’t going to be able to sustain it with the way I felt and the temp being around 80.    My mom had joined me today and was walking the path and I ran into her on lap 4.  I took that opportunity to extend my walking break.  Since the park was so busy, I walked the playground section every lap- easier to dodge the little people and their parents.  🙂   Even with that longer break, mile 5 was 10:36.   lakesunday10 6-10, the heat was getting to me and I finally slowed down a bit.   Those miles clocked in between 10:41-10:50.  Except for 8, that was 11:12.  I admit I almost quit after 8 miles just because I was tired and hot and irritated that I just could not control my pace.   I had a conversation with myself and decided that I wasn’t hurting and should just start acclimating to the heat now since it’s only going to get hotter.    So I finished my 10.    10 miles is a little more than 8 laps so the last .5 mile was me running back and forth between 2 of the exercise stations because I didn’t want to do another lap.   🙂  Plus by then my mom was waiting for me.

I am a little concerned by all the achiness that I have been feeling lately.  It’s one of reasons I passed on my long run last weekend.   I am hoping it’s just the treadmill.   Normally I dropped to running 3x a week during winter so only one run would be on the treadmill.    I run differently on the treadmill and I remember being a little achy last year but not like this.     I am kicking that thing to the curb in 20 days.  But for now, I am pretty sure I can get in a 30-35 minute run outside after work.   I can do my easy run that way and just use the treadmill for my speed work of the week until Daylight Savings time.   The work route is all hill so I could still get in hill repeats  too, the workout might just be a little shorter.

How was your weekend? Who raced?

Anyone else go to the movies?

Anyone else run differently on the treadmill?