Tag: Garmin

A Little Running and a Little Tom

Seriously, where has this week gone? Not that I am complaining that tomorrow is Friday but how is tomorrow Friday? Yesterday felt like Monday all day long. Nobody needs two Mondays in one week.

funny quote my week all mondays except friday and saturday — This week, yes. Thanks Pinterest

I still love my new desk even if it is taking me longer to adjust than I thought. I make it to about 1 each day before I need to sit; but I have adjusted to the chair finally. I almost fell off the dang thing on Monday. Between the wheels and the higher height of the seat, I had a few rough moments. My challenge gave my coworkers a good laugh though. 🙂

Tuesday’s run was rough. Just ugh. Not sure if it was partly due to tired legs or what but lets just leave it at 3.5 miles done. Wednesday turned into a rest day. I was supposed to go to the gym but I just wasn’t feeling it and work ran later than planned so rest it was. I switched back to heels as well that day and for some reason, standing seemed easier. I am so odd.

Tonight I had no desire to run the lake path so I headed back to my town and hit up the river path. My initial warm up walk extended itself because I was a little nervous to run. My last 2 4 “easy” runs have been the opposite of easy and throw in the Ventura half and I was just afraid of another rough run. I couldn’t even decide on how many miles to run. The Slacker in me was saying that 3 would be fine, the moderately reformed Slacker was telling me to do 5. That tiny bit of fear was telling me to walk the whole thing.

I still have the 8:30/1:00 intervals set up on my Garmin, so after walking the first 9:30 I decided to stick with that and started running. I tried to focus on my breathing and take slow, deep breaths. I wanted to see if it helped any. My old rule of thumb for most runs was to never be huffing and puffing even if it meant I was slower. It worked for me last year, so let’s try it again! I noticed after a mile or so that my form was better than usual. I felt like I was running tall and it felt good. Not sure if it was an added bonus of standing more or if it was the shoes. I was wearing my Sayonaras and I try to pay a little more attention to my form in them since they are a very neutral shoe and I tend to over pronate on the right side. I was also running with Tom Cruise hands. Why??? Again, I am odd.

I walked the 1:00 interval in both miles 2 & 3, telling myself I would try to run all of 4. Sounds like a little thing but I haven’t run a solid mile in well over a month. While I succeeded, I don’t think it counts. At 3.5 miles I have to cross a street to get back to the path. I tried to run across quickly but somehow my pepper spray leaped out my belt and landed in the cross walk. I got to the curb and somehow paused both my Garmin and Nike+ app while spinning around. I must have looked funny because every car was stopped staring at me. What do I do? Leave it or bolt and get it? I waved one car on and hoped no one on the other side would run over it. I then bolted out grabbed it and ran back. Dang it, that messed with my breathing! And I finally lost the Tom Cruise hands. 🙂 I carried the pepper spray the rest of the way. 1/4 mile later, I saw NikeC running my way, so we stopped and chatted a bit. So yes, I ran all of mile 4 but I had 2 breaks. 😦

Overall, this was the least stressful run I have had in over a month. For once I didn’t feel horrible. Now just to duplicate it and still take it easy. Easy, peasy right? Ha!

How has your week been? Anyone else have an extra Monday?

Anyone racing this weekend? Long running?

Ever Tom Cruise’d it up?

The Slowest Mile

Happy Sunday!

I took Thursday and Friday as rest days. I had planned for a 8-10 mile run on Saturday. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Call it another rest day. Which was not so good because my lunch may have looked likethis-

Saturday night I was up late reading again, oops, so my alarm was quickly slapped in the morning. I had a BBQ to attend for work in the early afternoon. The weather was amazing and the view of the ocean from their back yard was awesome. I would have taken pictures but I felt that wasn’t cool doing that at an executives home. My ride had to be back early but even the short amount of time in the sun was too much. I guess when they put warning labels on medicine, they mean business.

I headed to the gym hoping for 8 miles but knowing that 6 was more realistic. Ha!! 4 very sluggish miles were all I could do. I warmed up with 1/2 mile walk then alternated between a 6.00 run and 3.8 walk. It was rough from the start. I never hit a groove, and it was all I could do to complete the 4. This not feeling well crap is beginning to make me cranky. I tried my Garmin again on the treadmill. I thought I turned off the GPS but apparently not. So I present to you the slowest mile, and actually it’s not even a mile-

Nice. Splits- 12:43, 10:56, 10:33, 10:41 — Nice.
Splits- 12:43, 10:56, 10:33, 10:41

So it is looking like I will end up with a 2 week taper for Ventura. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s closer to how I trained last year but I feel anxious missing that last long run.

Work has been a little stressful these last few weeks. My boss was offered a position at another location so now I have a new boss. So far it’s all good and I even took 2 full hour lunches last week, I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. Overall though, it still leaves you feeling a little wonky. I admit that I make poor food choices when stressed, so last week didn’t help that. Combine that with less running and I feel like even more of a Slacker than usual. It’s temporary and I will get back on track. Think positive right?

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Do anything fun?

Ever have a training flub this close to race day?

Oops, I Did it Again

After getting back to running long(er) on Sunday, I wanted to take it a little easy on Monday. I was feeling a little sore so I figured 3 laps of the lake path would do. My mom met up with me and we did the usual warm up walk, which yes I included in my mileage for the day, before separating. In good news, the bridge is now fixed! I thought they were taking the bumpy boards out and replacing them with smooth ones, but they put back newer bumpy boards. Except now I don’t know where these bumps are so I used that as a reason to walk the bridge. It’s super short anyways so it’s not like it hurt my pace any. I also tested out the new inserts I had purchased on Saturday. They were a little awkward, I felt like my shoes were super loose in the heel area. Even after 3.5 miles, I felt like my right foot kind of liked them but my left foot hated them.

I’ve decided to use my Garmin to track pace and my Nike app for overall mileage. When it comes to races, I turn the Garmin off after the finish line anyways. Why I count my warm up for both, I have no idea, maybe I am just weird. 🙂 After finishing my 3.5 miles, I stopped my Garmin. I looked around for my mom but couldn’t see her so I jogged/ walked back the opposite way figuring I would meet up with her shortly. I hit the back parking lot and the end of the cement bridge and still no sign of her, what the frak? I waited for 5 minutes, expecting to see her coming my way but nope. I then turned back towards the other parking lot, starting to get a little nervous. Once there, I finally saw her coming the opposite way. Apparently she randomly decided to walk some of the neighborhood streets and got a little lost- not cool. 😦With running 8 on Sunday and then a few on Monday, I took Tuesday as a rest day for my legs. I think they appreciated it. 🙂 Wednesday I decided to take my new shoes for a speed work spin. I planned on a baby progression run. Mile 1 warm up, mile 2 in the low 10’s, 3 in mid-9’s and mile 4 in the high 8’s, followed by a cool down. Full disclosure- this is an out and back course with a slight incline for miles 1-2 and decline with 3-4. This time I met up my mom and the puppy. Mile 1 went according to plan. Mile 2 felt comfortably hard which I had anticipated. What I did not anticipate was my time at mile 2-9:17. Oops? I wasn’t sure I could tighten it any more to bring miles 3 and 4 faster than that, I didn’t think I had it in me, but I decided to try. Mile 3 got a little harder, I took a tiny 10 second walk break. – Clocked in at 9:07, but I was starting to get tired and winded which made me cranky. I know it’s been ~~months~~ a while since I’ve done speed work but come on. Mile 4 started with another tiny walk break- .05 of a mile- then I pushed hard. I was slowed by intersections so I changed up my route slightly to run the back of the path into the river trail which gave me 1/2 a mile without intersections or driveways. I focused on speed and just kept running. I took a tiny 10 second walk break towards the end before running through and when my watch buzzed 4, I was so happy to hit stop. I was breathing so hard I was panting, I actually did the whole bent-at-the-waist, hands on my knees gasping for air pose. Then I checked my watch hoping for around 8:30- holy crap I just did what?!!! Faster than last week, too! If I hadn’t taken those 2 little breaks, I would have been in the 7’s!!!!! I then walk/ jogged back up the path until I found my mom and the puppy, stopping to stretch along the way. Total miles for the day 4.7.

It's all the shoes, or maybe my clearance Abercrombie shorts — It’s all the shoes, or maybe my clearance Abercrombie shorts

I was never a runner in high school, in fact I managed to get out of PE most of my high school years. I had it freshman year, and dance sophomore year, got off campus early junior year, and had athletic PE senior- which outside of tennis season amounted to nothing. Not to say I wasn’t athletic, I played softball and tennis year round but running was not my thing. We had to do those stupid Presidential fitness tests every year and part of that was the mile. My fastest mile ever was 7:37, which I remember because it reminded me of a plane. I half-assed that mile, and now I wish I had tried a little harder. Who knows where I would be now, hopefully not panting like a dog at the end of 8:05 mile, haha.

Did you ever have to do those fitness tests? I still can’t do a pull up…or was is a chin-up?

Ever been happily surprised by a run?

What are your plans this weekend?

Happy Friday!!!

Return to Long and a Goofy Garmin

Thank you all for your encouraging comments on my last post. I felt a little odd posting it. I wasn’t sure how well “re-embracing the Slacker” would go over. It does sound a little backwards 🙂

Friday was one of those days that started ok and went south real fast. So fast and south that it made me question how well I was doing my job. By the time I got off work all I wanted to do was eat a pizza. Like, the whole thing. I had had tentative plans to hit the track for some speed work with a friend but those fell through. Part of me wanted to use that as added justification for the pizza. The other part of me wanted to run. In the end I met up with my mother at the river path. We walked the first 3 miles while I ranted. Well as much as I could without going into too many details. By the end of mile 3, my feet were itching to run. So I decided to run the last mile. I felt really good on that mile; I felt like I was running out my irritation and doubt. So good in fact, I am pretty sure I threw down my fastest mile- 8:15. Sweet! I can’t find the proof to back that up though, apparently my Garmin doesn’t track single mile records?! My fastest unofficial 5k is 26:35 so I double checked the times on those miles, and yep, this was still faster. 🙂

The only bummer was that while running I determined that my white Wave Riders are pretty much done for. 300 miles and done. Poor, pitiful shoes. I have already been breaking in their replacements but it’s still sad to say goodbye to these. Normally I would try to get a few more miles out of a shoe but since I should be in a support shoe but choose to run in a neutral shoe, I have been trying to pay more attention to how the shoe wears down. On Saturday, I did some shopping and I did purchase some fancy insoles to try and see if that would help get some extra miles out of them. The verdict is still out on that one. I also purchased another belt to try out. I have a fitletic belt and a Flipbelt, but I am always open to possibilities. Sunday, I finally followed through on a longer run. I made it to the track for 8 miles. I have missed the track. I didn’t feel up to speed work and figured a long, slow run would be more beneficial anyways. My Garmin apparently had other plans. It took awhile to find the signal and by the time it did, it was almost 2/10 of mile behind. By the end of my run, it had dropped even more distance. I could not figure out was going on. Luckily, I am a little neurotic and still run with the Nike app too. It tracked well enough. Warming up was hard on the track. I had to force myself to walk 3 laps, which is huge compared to the 200 meter warmup I used to do. After that I just tried to keep an easy pace. I ran miles 2, 3, 4 and took .1 walk breaks in miles 5 and 6. After that it was all running until I hit 8. The weather was kind of weird for the run, overcast and kind of muggy but not too hot. At one point, I thought I smelled rain in the air but nothing ever happened. Boo, that would have felt great.

I stayed in lane 7 the entire time, my Garmin disagrees.

I also got to see a prodigy in the making. This family came to the track to have the little boy ride his big wheel. He was having some problems steering. However the scene stealer was his towheaded, little sister. They brought her a tricycle but she didn’t need it. She ran laps around the track, barefoot. He father was cutting across the grass trying to catch her. She was all of 3 years old and so cute. She thought it was all a great game to her. If she keeps running, I’m betting she’s gonna be fast. 🙂

After stretching out some, I tried messing around with a self timer app that I downloaded. Haha, umm no. I was either out of the shot or looked like I was tripping instead of running. I also determined that the new belt is a no-go. While the pouch didn’t move or bounce, the belt refused to stay put. Granted I wear my belts super low. So low, a woman in the SLO half grabbed my shoulder at mile 2 to tell me it was falling off. Nah, that’s normal. I could do without the bubble butt effect but it works for me. This Nike belt will not, so it’s going back.

Do you see how low that is? — Do you see how low that Flipbelt is?

My run felt good. It was a little harder than I would have liked but considering I had to talk myself into getting out there, I was ok with that. I tried to rationalize another weekend of shorter runs but even with my revived Slacker-ness, I knew that was a bad idea. But I admit I was glad when I was done. Then it was time for a quick shower before heading out to dinner with the family. Olive Garden, yummy.

Ever run into any running phenoms?

Any suggestions for a wacky Garmin?

How do you carry your gear?

Letting My Feet Do the Talking

It’s almost Friday!

I was kind of disappointed with my showing at the race on Saturday. I was so irritated that I contemplated taking a week off from running. I always treat the day after a half as a rest day, so I used that as a testing ground. I spent the day shopping and even with my lower back being sore from the race, I felt kind of lazy having a rest day on a Sunday. This was the first time I’ve run a half marathon on a Saturday. I kind of splurged and treated myself to a new laptop on Sunday- my old one is a 6 year old beast that has had issues from day one. And it weighs like 25 pounds. I had Monday off from work and thought about running but trying to get things moved over gave me a great excuse to not run. And even now, I am still having troubles moving iTunes. Ugh.

I packed my gear for Tuesday after work but I was still feeling very anti-run. The horror! But I was a good little runner and changed after work before heading to meet my mom at the path we have been running. I think I will call it the river path from now on just for ease of typing. We started like usual with a walk and I was still fussy. I still had my slow pace alert on my Garmin from the race and it kept buzzing. I tried to turn it off but all I succeeded in doing was pushing the lap button multiple times so my splits look a little funny. I gave up worrying about it because I figured I was going to be a little sluggish. I walked with my mom until the concrete ends and then run ahead. My first mile came in under 13. Hmmm, that’s odd. Usually walking the first .6-.75 of it makes it pretty slow. I decided to let my feet do whatever they wanted to do and not over think it and just kept running. I hit the turn around and once again, there was a headwind going down, where does that come from?! If it hadn’t been for a horrible stomach cramp at mile 2.6ish that stopped me dead in my tracks for a moment, this probably would have been a nice little progression run. 🙂 Instead I will call it a nice little, unexpected tempo. 12:42-9:41-9:55-8:50-4:12 (1/2 mile)- then another 1/2 mile cool down walk.

Wednesday I tried out my new Barre dvd. The instructors are a little interesting. At first, I was thinking that there is no way this will count as a work out. 10 minutes later, my legs were shaking. It felt like I was getting a good workout during but I recovered really quickly after, so I am not sure how well it worked. I will have to try it a few more times before I really decide.

Tonight my running plans fell through. I had planned on catching up with an old friend from out of town, but we weren’t able to make it work. 😦 I was torn about where to run. Work town looked amazing outside and it had been awhile, so I decided to run there. The route that I run there is around 4 miles, part of it in a state park on a narrow road with no shoulder. I had been told there was a little dirt path near the road but I was never able to see it. I decided to look for it on the way back this time. I made it through the sketchy part on the way down and stopped for some pics.

Once by the water I was able to find the path and I was followed it back out of the park. I had to walk part of it because I almost fell on my ass twice. There was a section of super loose dirt, covered in fallen Eucalyptus leaves- it was like a giant slip and slide. 🙂 The route is downhill for the first 2 miles and uphill back. I always go out too fast and slow down on the way back. But once again, I decided to let my feet do whatever they wanted to do. It was a great run actually, other than it was hot!!! Work town is not supposed to be in the high 70’s at 6:00PM!

Both runs this week went better than I had anticipated. I needed that to get over my crankiness. My left shin is a little sore, so I will probably only run once more this week and take it easy before getting back into training for the Ventura half. That’s ok it gives me more time to figure out this computer thing. And hopefully not want to punch it thanks to iTunes. I’m only missing around 3000 songs, no big deal right? Ugh.

In other news, the fair is here! I live fairly close so I last night I was able to hear the Zac Brown Band cover Metallica. Ummm, what? Tonight, it’s Kid Rock. I am looking forward to spending Saturday bumming around the fair and eating some yummy fair food. It only comes once a year right? Plus I walk there, so there’s a little calorie burn. 🙂

Anyone taken time off after a disappointing race?

Who’s racing this weekend?

What’s your favorite fair food?