fair – Slacker Runner

Rambling On 37

July 27, 2018July 26, 2018 Fallon @ Slacker Runner

I need a nap. On a beach. In a hammock. Have I said that before?

Happy Friday!

I have a trail race tomorrow. Oops. I am hoping it is more fire road and less trail but we shall see. I know there’s a 350 foot climb at end of mile 2. What goes up must come down right? What else is it hiding? And I just read that we get to run through a barn so woo hoo!

Something about the fair always brings a heatwave to town. So let’s double the town population ( at minimum), make traffic nuts and weather 110. Yes. Don’t get me wrong, the fair does a good job and I’ve learned over the years that our small town has a damn impressive fair but by the end of 12 days I am over it. It doesn’t help that the fairgrounds are more in the middle of town than you would think. But my funnel cake made it worth it.

My boss is gone for the next few weeks so it’s back to not being able to leave the building for a while. In a way that’s a good thing- can’t be tempted to run down to Burger King for a quick meal on my lunch anymore. Besides, I rarely left during lunch anyways.

Oh and remember how I complained about my lack of reading?? I’ve since read 2 books!😀

What are you doing this weekend?

Run!, Training

Week 30- Goodbye July

August 3, 2017August 2, 2017 Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races-

Salinas Valley Half Marathon

This was a calmer week at work thankfully. I’m still feeling a little ragged around the edges but I think we’re pulling it together. Have I mentioned my coworkers are rock stars?

The hours were a little more normal and I was able to get in a few more miles than week 29. Not a lot but a few. 😛

Monday- 2.5 miles. I packed all my running gear planning to run in work town after work but then work kicked my ass. I was so tired I decided to just go home. Something on the drive home made me change my mind and I changed super fast at home and ran out the door. I was able to get in a short 2.5 miles in my birthday shoes. 😀

Tuesday- Rest. I made my first #bibchat in weeks! Sweet!

Wednesday- Fair!! I took all my running gear to work but realized I had left my pack and inhaler in my garage after Monday’s run. Womp womp. So sudden change of plans- my mother and I hit up the fair after work. Funnel cake for the win.😀

Thursday- migraine from hell. By the end of work, I could barely see straight. I thought about running to see if it helped but I was also concerned it would make it worse. Combine that with the insane traffic I was fearing I would face going home and I just decided to head home. Why insane traffic? Garth Brooks. He performed at our little fair- 2 concerts in a row- and getting home was a little tricky.

Friday- Rest The headache was still lingering plus with working open to close, I was just exhausted. I haven’t been sleeping well this month.

Saturday- 10 miles Despite how tired I was, I forced myself out of bed on Saturday morning to get in my long run. Well, I did hit snooze when the alarm went off at 7. I knew I wasn’t going to be setting any speed records so a little bit warmer wouldn’t be horrible. It actually ended up being my slowest 10 miler ever, there was a lot of walking the last 3.5 miles. Ok, mostly walking. But this run was just meant to be time on my feet and not to worry about pace. I think I accomplished that. 😛 Then I spent the rest of the day trying to relax. I randomly went and saw Spiderman in the evening…not bad.

Sunday- Rest. So not the plan. I planned on sleeping in, running some errands, doing some chores and then braving the heat for a few miles. Everything was going according to plan right up to the laundry. I went to grab the first load out of the dryer and noticed a funny smell. It smelled like burnt plastic. And everything I had just washed and dried stunk of it. Did I mention the washer was full of freshly washed sheets? So then I spent the afternoon trying to line dry everything without a line. Lay it on something, point a fan at it, come back in 20 minutes and rotate. Everything that had been washed had to be rewashed. Yay. That was fun. It felt like a workout but it wasn’t running. 3 loads of laundry dried by 2 fans.

12.5 miles for the week. Like I said, not a huge improvement over last week but a step in the right direction.

How was your weekend?

Had any appliance issues lately?

Last movie you saw?

Run!

Rambling On 12

July 28, 2017July 27, 2017 Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Friday, Friday, yay.

People, I have huge race news but I don’t have the brain power to adequately share it. But let’s just say marathon #2 is on the calendar. Who wants to come to CA and run some hills with me?!

Work has calmed down a little. I’m still crazy tired but some of my piles have gotten smaller. Or I’ve moved them. Hmmm, I’m not sure.

I have run this week actually but barely. So far more than this point last week though. 😛

This went down last night-

And right now Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood are causing chaos a mile down the street. 😛 ( ok, I typed this Thursday night)

How was your week?

What are you doing this weekend?

Eat!, Run!, Slacker

Week 6 Recap- Really?

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015 Fallon @ Slacker Runner

I know I picked a longer training cycle but how is week 6 over already? Picking a longer cycle seems to have been a good choice so far with work being crazy, my odd leg issues and other various issues popping up. The plan is detailed enough to give me guidance but flexible enough I can move things around. And things moved this week.

Monday- Rest

Ahh, glorious Monday Rest day. Coincidentally also Monday Pizza night. 😉🍕

Tuesday- 4 miles easy.

Like I mentioned in my last post, this run made me nervous. While my leg ached it didn’t outright hurt. I tried to focus on my form and make sure that my left leg was actually coming around and not just shuffling along. I pulled off a nice negative split for the run but gravity helped that along. 🙂

Wednesday- Rest

I have to start writing these recaps as the week progresses. I can’t even remember what I did other than work on Wednesday. I think pizza may have been involved. Oh, I got my CT results. Yeah, more on that next post.

Thursday- 7 miles long-ish run

I love half days. Granted, they mean working on a Saturday but those extra few hours on weekday rock. I decided to try and get my long run out of the way. With my leg still being achy, I had already decided that instead of the 10 that had been on the plan I was aiming for 7-8 miles. I headed to the lake path, while running multiple loops can be boring I would be near my car if my leg started hurting. It was warm but not too bad. There was one section of the lake that resembled the surface of the sun and I felt like I slowed in that section every time. I completed the first 5 miles by taking a .10 mile walk break after each mile to shake out my calf area. I noticed that walking wasn’t helping so for miles 6 & 7, I tried something different. I stopped my Garmin and started a new run. Instead of walking, I took a short 20-30 second pause if I needed to stretch. My running pace dropped by 20 seconds and overall it only added 2 minutes to my run vs the 5 minutes walking. Overall, I am not sure if I learned anything but it was an interesting experiment. 😏

Friday- Rest day

I lost the battle with the cookies.

Saturday- Active Rest day

The morning started with a drive out to Saturday work town. I headed home after work as my mom and I had plans to head to the fair for the afternoon. The fair comes once a year and runs almost 2 weeks. The town goes a little insane but it’s fun. I can usually hear the concerts out my window too, so bonus! I’m not huge on crowds so I generally only go once. I have to get my funnel cake and pretzel, it’s a fair tradition. 😄 We enjoyed our yummy fair food and took in all the sights. I will never ride a fair ride but I love taking pictures of them.

She’s real!!

I always try to go on a night where I wouldn’t mind hearing the concert a little better, too. This year that was supposed to be Alice Cooper and Motley Crue. Except they had plane issues so the concert was pushed back. From what I could hear from home- Alice Cooper started playing after 10 and Motley Crue around midnight. I wonder how many people stayed. I wore my Fitbit to the fair and we walked well over 5 miles. Plus that thing is notoriously short on steps. I feel zero guilt for that yummy fair food. Maybe for the purse I bought.

Sunday- 5.5 miles Speed work

Somehow I was up early for me and made it to the track by 10. I wanted to try to complete the speed work I had skipped by running long on Thursday. The plan called for a 30 minute warm and 8x 1:00 @10K pace with 1:00 recovery and then a 15 minute cool down for 1:10:00. As I type this I noticed 2 things- 1) that math does not add up at all and 2) I thought it was 10x repeats so I did 10, ugh. The 30 minute warm up turned into 35 and I rode the struggle bus the entire way. I could not get my legs moving and my lungs weren’t much better. I checked the temp during a water break and noticed the 65% humidity. Ok, I get the complaining lungs now. I really wanted to blow off the repeats but I figured I would at least start them and see how it went. Since I didn’t want to see 500 splits with an odd overall average pace I ended my first run after the warm up and started a new one. Honestly, I have no idea what my 10K pace should be but according to my PR 16 months ago it was around 9:00. Didn’t think I had a shot in hell of hitting that.

1. 8:01
2. 8:13
3. 8:02
4. 8:12
5. 8:15
6. 7:55
7. 8:19
8. 8:21
9. 8:23
10. 8:21Well, that was unexpected. No lie, I walked the recoveries. I recently read another blog of someone much faster and stronger than me and they said they walked their recoveries. I swear it was like birds singing when I read that. 😊 That being said, I have no idea how I hit those paces when I was feeling so rough. I felt like a nasty, sticky mess when done so my cool down only ended up being half a mile. I was done. But all in all, it turned out to be a good run. Plus I love the track.

Over all, not a bad training week. I think I’ve finally accepted that I have some limitations right now so I am going to do what I can and see what happens. Going forward I would like to add in cross training and I think the stationary bike is the best option right now, I just need to get my lazy butt to the gym. Any bets on how long that will take me?

How was your week? Do you like the track?

Ever been to a concert that started that late? Would you have stayed?

What’s your fair food indulgence?

Run!, Slacker

Busting Out

July 22, 2014 Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Saturday’s fair trip took the place of running. I dug out my Fuelband and wore it just for the fair that afternoon. Just under 10,000 steps. Which means it was actually over 10,000 because the Fuelband hasn’t worked properly in months. Granted that wasn’t anywhere near enough to negate the funnel cake or the pretzel I ate but it only comes once a year right? Totally worth it.

Sunday, I was a little tired, so I headed out for my run in early afternoon. I did this run the same way I had the previous two. Letting my feet do whatever they wanted to do, and every now and again they were reined in by my stomach. Apparently my head was still not invited to the party. I set out to do 5 or 6 miles. Also on the plan was to meet up with my mom and the puppy for the first mile and then mile 4. Other those 2 miles which I knew would be mostly walked, I had wanted to keep miles 2, 3, 5+ around a 10:15 pace. That seemed like a good pace for an easy run for me. Well, that’s what my head wanted to do. Miles 1 and 2 went mostly according to plan. Mile 3, umm oops. Mile 4 brought a big hill and puppy time, so it was back to the plan. Except I would have thought it would have been a little slower than that- closer to 14:00. Mile 5- again, oops. So not 10:15. Maybe I should ignore my head more often? I shut off the Garmin at 5 miles and walked another ½ mile to my house.

Every time I walk up my driveway, I tell myself that it is the perfect place for hill repeats if I could just force myself to follow through. I totally get the point of hill repeats but they are just so damn scary sounding.

Monday was well, Monday and let’s leave it at that . 🙂 Since I usually leave work and head somewhere else to run, it is inevitable that when I get there I have the urge to pee. So annoying, and of course, there are often no available bathrooms. So I generally run the next 4-5 miles trying to ignore it. Great training for a half right? Haha! I planned on running tonight after work and at 3:30 I realized that I had already consumed 154 ounces of liquid. Ummm, oops? So I stopped drinking after that to see if it changed anything. I headed to the river path for a few miles. Even though I was running solo, I chose to treat the run like I was starting with my mother. I walked the concrete part of the path before hitting the asphalt and running.

It felt so much hotter than 80. They were quite a few people out today. As I was running up the hill, it felt harder than it should. As I was huffing and puffing and probably turning a lovely shade of red, I noticed about 3 people running towards me. 3 turned into 5 high school boys. A hundred yards later, oh look here comes the cross country boys team, complete with coach and assistant. Please don’t notice my poor form or the fact that a 9:30 mile is kicking my butt while you all fly by me. At least it wasn’t the girls team, that would just be perfect. Did I mention I felt like busted can of biscuits when I put on my running clothes tonight? Thanks “recovery” week. Few hundred yards later, oh look- I spoke too soon. Here comes the girls cross country team. And yes, I now feel giant, thank you very much.

I kept running until I hit the turn around point. My pace felt pretty good going back down but harder than I would have liked. I ran under a little tree, little not big, and my Garmin went cuckoo. My slow pace alert kept buzzing- 15:14, 14:45, 13:25, and on. WTF! I know it wasn’t right but it was pissing me off. For once, I really did need the Nike app as a back up. My pace was pretty good (for me) but I was tiring, so I called it at 4 and just walked the rest of the way back to the car. Which turned out to be good choice because I could the trail from the street and there were 2 roaming, off leash dogs. Safe!! My splits on Nike were pretty good actually. The Garmin had mile 3 about 35 seconds behind, but mile 4 was pretty close. How does that work?

My shin is still a little sore from last week’s half so I am thinking of trying to go other day now for a while. I even wore compression sock under my boots while walking around the fair on Saturday.

Speaking of the fair, I can hear Lady Antebellum through my windows right now. Last night was the only concert that I kind of really wanted to go to but couldn’t make it work with work right now. 😦 I was hoping I could some of it but it was the first concert that I couldn’t make out. All I heard was bass and drums, come on Florida Georgia Line, help a girl out!

How has your week gone so far?

Any good concerts on your horizon? Or even bad ones?