Tag: fire

Giant Race SAn Francisco- Recap

Disclaimer: I received an entry into Giant Race- San Francisco as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

Labor Day weekend was the San Francisco Giant Race. I was signed up for the Lou Seal Challenge- the 10K and the 5K. Had the race happened IRL, I would have been running both of those on the same day. Had the race happened IRL, I think my motivation to train might not have taken such a huge hit this year. But it did and I knew I did not have the fitness to “race” both on the same day.

One of the benefits of virtual racing is the flexibility. Can’t run them both on the same day? Then I will run them on back to back days. Well, at least that was the plan. Also, I appreciate the virtual races right now as they actually motivate me to get my butt out the door and move.

Race weekend was Labor Day Weekend and it was predicted to be a scorcher. Actually my town did break local records and hit 117 and 115 on Saturday and Sunday. So, I ran for the ocean. See what I did there?? Hehe. 🤣

I made it to the beach early for me and thankfully it wasn’t crowded. The downside was that it was high tide so that did put me closer to people that I had wanted. It also meant that the sand wasn’t as hard packed as I usually like. Oops, but still doable.

Ok, total honesty- I am really out of shape like I recently restarted Couch to 5K out of shape- so I knew there was no way this was going to be “raced”. So I told myself I had to run the 10k from start to finish without any stops- no breaks to catch my breath, no breaks to make my time look better- so in other words like a real race.

I started from the Dog beach and ran towards the pier. I was using Couch to 5K for the first 30 minutes and then just an interval timer for the rest. A 10K in week one? Why not?

I was slow which was fine, I somehow kept my heart rate the lowest it’s ever been for a 10K. So, yay?! This was also the longest I’ve run in months. I was slowing a lot by mile 5. I was also feeling like a blister was forming which has never happened on a beach run before. I walked the majority of mile 6, never paused, never stopped, just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

And then, finally, I was done. 1:29:32.

Whew, that felt like a workout. I then cooled off with nature’s ice bath.

However I was left with giant blisters. Those were one deterrent to me finishing my 5K, the biggest one arrived in the form of smoke from the fires. We haven’t seen the sun in a week. Until it the AQI drops under 100, I will not be attempting the 5K. Boo. However races can wait, the important thing is that we get these fires under control and out, this is kind of insane.

I will be running that 5K, I will. Makes me glad I have a little time before the medals arrive.

If virtual races are what gets me out of my chair, bring them on.

26- Fade

Remember when we thought 2020 was going to be so awesome?

I take it all back.

My poor little town needs a break. Fire is a common occurrence out here, very common but I wasn’t ready for fire to come roaring out of the riverbed into the surrounding neighborhoods. And this a week after the southern part of the county had the largest fire we’ve seen in years. All homes were saved in the southern fire, not the same can be said for our small town. There was another midsize fire over the weekend too. Which again is sadly normal.

And for the love of Pete, stop it with the fireworks!

Ok, running…

Monday was lost to fire, and Tuesday was pretty smokey too.

Wednesday turned into a tilt-o-whirl. Is that what those things are called? The day started out normal but turned south just before lunch. The world started spinning and it didn’t want to stop. I ended up leaving work early which is something that does not come easily to me. I then slept the day away.

The tilt-o-whirl then left me fuzzy for a few days. At least I know it was migraine related but that does make 2 world spinning trips in the last 5 months and that is not normal.

My weekend was spent mostly napping but I did drag myself out for a sluggish 5K on Sunday. My heart rate throughout those short miles let me know I was still a little rough. And a lot out of shape. So it makes total sense that I just signed up for a mileage challenge right?

Ha!

How was your week?

Week 24- Nerve

This week was good but odd in some ways.

2019 Race Schedule (so far):
8/11 Oaktown Half (Thanks BibRave)
7/20 Vintners 5 Mile or Rock to Pier 10K
10/ 6 RnR San Jose (more to come)

We started it with a red flag heat wave then swung back the other way. I had some good runs, I missed one and one definitely pushed the definition of the word “run”.

I had a slap in the face about the level of my emotional eating and tendency to eat more than I should in one sitting. But that’s for another blog post. That I’ve started and stopped a few times already.

My sciatica pain came back. Either due to my new (to me) desk chair or because I spent an hour on the treadmill this week. Could be either, could be both. Not gonna lie, wish I could go get my chair from my previous office.

Oh and I rearranged all the furniture in my bedroom over the weekend because why not?

Plan vs Reality

Monday 1.5 miles/ .8 ish miles
I am pushing it by calling this a run. I was in jeans and boots but I was moving pretty fast. It hit 105 in hometown that day and 95 in SLO. While the home town temp isn’t abnormal- that SLO temp is. I had to do an errand for work and I was moving pretty quickly. I admit when I learned there was a fire in the riverbed at home town and they were shutting down the main bridge in town, I turned on my watch while doing this errand.

Tuesday 1 mile up/down, 2x 1 mile repeats/ 4 miles -1 up/down, 2 x1 mile repeats
It was 103 in home town so I used my brain and headed to the gym. I hate the treadmill. The warm mile wasn’t bad, I didn’t nail the mile repeat paces but I was damn close. I find running on the treadmill so much harder then outside. And by mile 4, I could tell that my lower back was not happy.

Wednesday 1.5 miles/ 1.5 miles
Nothing much to say just went out and did it.

Thursday- 3.5 mile fartlek run/ 3.5 mile fartlek run
My stomach was a total asshat and I was tired and did not want to run. I was trying to rationalize skipping the run but I changed and headed out anyways. I normally love fartlek runs but this was more about getting it done. It wasn’t horrible but I was glad I pulled it together.

Friday- 1.5 miles/ Spiral
I skipped this run. My lower back was hurting pretty badly but I wonder if I just used that as an excuse. It also wasn’t a great food night and reality may have hit me.

Saturday- 8 miles/ 8.5 miles
Once again I hit the snooze button a few too many times. So another mid afternoon run was on the books. I almost pushed the run to Sunday but told myself to stop being stupid. I headed out around 3:30 and it was only in the 80’s. I started off with a half mile warmup then got to business trying to get the next 8 miles in the long run zone assigned. So close! Miles 4-6 were too slow. I ran a section of road that while shaded the headwind died. The temperature increased like wow. My stomach also cramped spectacularly in mile 5. I slammed to a halt and wondered if I could even make it to my car. There were park bathrooms .5 mile in the opposite way so I was torn which way to go. I stood on the side of the road for a while. But someone was conspiring against me- they tore down the park bathrooms!! Why?!?!?! Somehow my miles back to the car were my fastest. With moments when I had to stop and take deep breathes. In and out, in and out. It was also my first run trying a new fuel but I am not sure which way to make that correlation. Hmmm.

Sunday- Rest/ Rest
Nailed it! I actually thought about heading out to make up the missed 1.5 mile run but sleep and a migraine kept it a rest day. So I caught up on my DVR and cleaned my closet.

18.8 miles for the week. So close to where I was supposed to be!

How was your week?

Week 45: Monterey Bay Half Prep

Upcoming Races-

Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you BibRave!)- 11/12
Oakland Turkey Trot- (Thank you BibRave!) 11/22

Wow, this week was just nothing like I’d thought it’d be.

I was back in my office but work was chaos. I came back to a new hire starting on Monday, a surprise announcement of an audit coming down the pipe and just general insane busy-ness.

Then I was still abnormally tired. I was falling asleep in my chair watching TV. I was falling asleep in the break room on my lunch. I did manage to complete a Liift4 workout once but I can’t remember it it was Monday or Tuesday. 😛

I kept meaning to run, I packed my bag every day but things kept happening. Work kept running super late- people, my time card clocked in at over 105 hours. Then when I set an alarm to run in the morning, it was below freezing. I hadn’t brought out the winter running gear yet, wth? I tried for a lunch run, thinking it was fall, temps should be fine- nah, work town hit 86*. I don’t know about you but my hair wouldn’t recover from that for another 3-4 hours of work, let alone stressing about if I smelled.

So that brought me to race weekend. I was doing race day pickup so I was hoping for a shakeout run on Saturday but catching up on other things just saw the time run away from me. Plus I had an early wake up call (2AM!) so I needed to try and get everything together and then to sleep.

Then I received an email-

Wait, what? Is this really happening? I mean I get it but I was also kind of in denial.

Now what?

Week 52-And a cold

And just like 52 weeks have gone by and bring 2017 to close.

And the calendar did me a solid and worked out perfectly… unlike last year.

I had my second PT appointment and this time they had me try lumbar traction. Then all laughed at the expression of fear on my face as they described it. It really wasn’t that bad.

Last week was a little rough, I felt a little ragged around the edges. I was looking forward to the 3 day weekend- not for the New Year’s parties but more for the opportunity to sleep. Truth- I just barely managed to stay awake through midnight on New Year’s Eve but I still managed to miss the ball drop on TV. Oops.

Monday- Christmas And I was about as active as a lump on a log.

Tuesday- Rest/ PT Exercises I knew work was likely to be busy after the 3 day weekend and oh boy was I right.

Wednesday- Missed Run Work was exhausting and I was tired and cranky so instead of running I just headed home. Which might have been fate telling me something- maybe that’s dramatic but barely moments after picking my mom up to go to dinner, we were driving down the street to see flames literally shooting out of the top of an apartment building. Then it hit the power lines. I pulled over while my mom called 911 and jumped out and stood with the homeowner, we asked if anyone else was inside or if there were any pets. I then just got my car out of the way and stayed out of the way while we waited for the fire department and PD to show up. It was definitely not how I thought the night was going to go.

Thursday- Rest/PT exercises Work this week just kicked my butt. Plus I was denial that I was sick. If I ignored the sore throat and the coughing, that meant they weren’t real right? Despite the fact I’d fallen asleep in my chair almost every night. I missed a dinner with old high school friends because I didn’t want to get anyone sick, so I wasn’t being completely stupid.

Friday- Rest More of the same. This time I missed a dinner with a coworker who was leaving another location. Boo. Also fell asleep in my chair again.

Saturday- 3.1 miles After sleeping in, I headed out for what I figured was going to be an afternoon slog. Except I was moving way faster than I should have been for only having run once last week and being sick this week. Legs what are you doing? I had no business seeing miles in the 10 minute range and my lungs let me know so I ended up take a break to sit on a wall at one point.

Sunday- 4 miles Once again I headed out expecting a slow run and once again my legs and lungs were at war. My legs just wanted to go! But my lungs were not quite on board. It was better than the day before though. Other than a little wheezing, this 4 miles felt pretty good.

7.1 miles for the week. Better than last week. Still super low but I’m not mad. The last week of the year always throws me a curve ball and this was no exception.

How was your week?