Tag: Garmin

March Recap

I kind of feel like March was a runaway train. It knocked me around some and then sped off. Between 2 crazy weeks at work and then trying to give myself a concussion, I am ready to say hello April! While the month may have been insane, I did manage a few things.

Races– Wine Country 13.1 – 2:07:08 Course PR

Training– Unofficial 5K PR- 26:35

I also joined the Around the World Running Blog Relay for March and April with a goal of 200 KM (which also means I have to do the conversion each week when I send in my numbers. 🙂 )

So-

74 Miles, sweet! I’ll take it. Taking 5 days off last week put a dent it what could have been my highest mileage month ever. I had also planned on running yesterday but a crazy rain storm came in and I just could not bring myself to go to the gym instead. Daylight savings time has really spoiled me. 🙂 Instead I drove straight home. Which was probably better because between the pouring rain and water coming off the tires; visibility was crap. I was just thankful to get home.

While Saturday’s run was rough, I got in another 4 miles on Sunday. While I may brought the pace down by the end on Saturday, my legs never felt right. Sunday’s average pace was similar to Saturday but it felt so much smoother. My legs remembered how to work 🙂 Woo hoo! I had a little trouble with my Garmin, though. I thought I hit start but half a mile later I was wondering why I hadn’t felt the slow pace alert buzz. I always walk the middle part of the first mile on my neighborhood route. (Hill denial) I looked down and it had never started, boo!

I thought about starting it then but saw an opportunity. Earlier in the month I had signed up for the virtual kickoff run for the Rock n Roll Las Vegas Marathon. I have been wanting to run this race for years and any chance to win a race entry, I was taking it! I needed to run a 5K and submit photo proof as part of the deal, and it had to be in by April 2. The incident with my head had pushed my original planned run back. Since I had my Nike+ app tracking the whole run and I was planning on doing 4 miles, I didn’t start my Garmin until around the .9 mile mark. From there my only goal was to get that 3.1 in under 30, which I knew may be tough because I figured I would need a walk break or 2. It was tough but mission accomplished! 3.1 miles on the Garmin and overall 4 miles in 39:20 on my Nike+ app. Then I took a photo and a less than great selfie so I could submit my time.

Man, I have no talent at these :) — Man, I have no talent at these 🙂

My bruise has faded and the welt is gone, and so is the tightness in my head, woo hoo! I have worked out a little training plan for the next 26 days leading up the SLO Marathon and 1/2. I have 2 race options for the weekend before as well. I am deciding between a 10k on the beach and pretty tough 5k that kicked my ass last year. Decisions, decisions. I have a week or so to decide.

Also, race pictures are finally up and one doesn’t suck! In the other I look like an 80’s reject, but this one isn’t bad-

Who wants to race SLO with me? I have a discount code that’s good until registration closes on April 11. Odds are good for great weather and a beautiful course!!

Any good April fool’s pranks? Either done by you or to you? My coworkers tried this one on me today-

Apparently April is race month! Who else is racing and what are you racing?

Hope you’re all having a good week so far!

2014 Wine Country Half -Recap

Previously mentioned jitters aside, I knew going in that I was not feeling this race for some reason. I was tired, I’ve had a crazy few weeks and I just wasn’t looking forward to that last hill. I knew under 2 was a shot in the dark and was iffy about beating my previous PR of 2:05:57. I managed to get to sleep at a decent hour last night but I hated my alarm this morning. 🙂 I had everything laid out last night so getting ready was pretty easy. A plus about this race is that it had an 8AM start but I didn’t have to leave my house until after 7:20. And that was just so I could deal with parking. I hung out in my car until about 5 minutes to start time. Which was good because it was cold.

I look tired and I haven't even started running yet — I look tired and I haven’t even started running yet

I checked the weather yesterday and this morning and it said high 40’s to start, high 50’s at the end. I thought about not wearing my arm sleeves, but I put them on anyways. Which turned out to be a wise choice because the weather man lied!!! It never made it to the 50’s and the sun never came out. I never took my arm sleeves off; usually they feel too hot by mile 3. My legs were cold to the touch the entire race. When did I get so wimpy? People are running in snow and ice and I have issues with the 40’s? Sad, sad.

Took these the other day when it was sunny

Miles 1-3 felt pretty good, I tried to keep my pace around 9:00. I hit the first bigger hill around mile 2.5, it led with a down hill, so I picked up the pace down it. Mile 4 brought a slow down, I got stuck behind another runner and couldn’t pass due the line of cars driving by! There must have been 6 or 7. It was slower but I was still feeling pretty good. Miles 5, 6, and 7 were another story.

Partway into mile 5, I noticed a tightness in my lungs. Seriously again? I was a little wheezy at City to Sea in October and then February’s Super Fun Run 5K was so cold, I had troubles breathing. I don’t think I have used an inhaler since high school, I don’t even have one anymore. I hadn’t felt like I was pushing it and I felt like my breathing was under control but I slowed down anyways. By mile 8 I was feeling a little better. There was little out and back here that I swear felt longer than last year.

In mile 9, my Garmin went wonky. Every mile leading up to 9 I would pass the race mile marker and then my Garmin would beep about 1/10th of a mile later. Mile 9 beeped but I never saw the mile marker. They were on wine barrels so I didn’t think I had missed one. Quarter of a mile later, I found it. WTH- my pace was making sense for how I was feeling but nothing was lining up. I was getting tired and my arms were chafing and it was making me fussy. I wanted to take a walk break (or 2) but I had a feeling I was walking the hill at the end so I just kept running. There was a man running with his dog, a big dog, so I used that to distract me. The dog looked like he was out for a morning stroll, he was just trotting along in front of his owner, not even running.

Mile 12 and I hit the dreaded hill. I managed to run 1/3 of the way up before saying F* it and walking. Once at the top, I still needed to walk. After about a minute of that i told myself I was almost done and to get a move on. Mile 13 was the slowest over all at 10:44. The finish line was in sight. As I got closer, I could see my mom and Zoey at the finish line. When I ran passed them, I gave her a thumbs down sign to show how I felt. I crossed the line and received my medal, I then headed over to pick up my wine glass. Finishing time- 2:07:08. Not a PR or sub-2 but it was a 7 minute course best.

Want to know what happens when you finish a race that you are half happy about, partially disappointed and just tired? You hug random strangers at the finish line. And I am not a hugger. She wasn’t a complete stranger but now I feel like a total creeper. She was a newer work colleague from another location who I have had a few meetings with in the past few weeks. How’s that for a welcome to the team- here let me share my sweat with you. Like I said- creeper status.

While a part of me wishes I had done better, but the course was nothing to be sad about. I finished it and barring a few issues, I felt strong for at least 1/2 of it. 🙂 I beat last years time of 2:14 and according to my Garmin, the overall elevation gain for the race was 1,617 feet. How accurate are these things? I celebrated with a tri-tip sandwich, and another trip to the theater to see Divergent again. This time included movie popcorn, yum! Oh and the sun finally came out-

Now it’s off to bed for me and I get to sleep in tomorrow!!! I am taking a vacation day, which will hopefully be restful.. Except I have tons of laundry to do and I should work on a paper that is due soon. And apparently I need to make an appointment to get another inhaler.

How was everyone’s weekend?

Who else raced this weekend?

Let the taper begin

Happy Monday!!

Saturday I was hoping to do an 8 mile dress rehearsal run. Last longish run before my race and I was planning to wear everything that I want to wear for the race. The perfect dress rehearsal would have been to run it in the morning but I had an early tire appointment and was still so tired from the week, that I slept as long as possible. It wasn’t enough. I was still dragging when I made it to the tire place. After 10 minutes of running around, they informed me that the tires I had ordered never arrived and no one bothered to call me.

I have been told by family, friends, coworkers and former employees that I have a “resting bitch face” and sometimes I can make them feel like a bug that I am about to squash. Yeah, those were their exact words. 😦 I have worked hard on improving my expressions over the years, especially since I work management in customer service. I feel I’ve done a decent job, but Saturday I was tired and cranky and this was not the first time this tire place had messed up. I think the bug squashing face came back because I left there with 4 new tires for the price I had been quoted (2nd quote because they lost the 1st one) for the 2 tires I had ordered.

Saturday's work view — Saturday’s work view

I fit in a few errands and lunch with my mom before I had to head out for a work function. With drive time and the function itself, it filled up my afternoon. It was good getting to see everyone and put faces to names and voices on the phone. However put a few hundred people in the foyer of performing arts center and the acoustics make the din just shy of unbearable. The headache I had for a week came back with a vengeance. The auditorium itself was much quieter. 🙂 It was a good afternoon. Plus on the way down I was able to swing by the Running Warehouse and pick up a few supplies-

I made it back home by 5, changed and ran out the door to get in my 8 miles. I knew I was tired so I was aiming for a steady pace. My legs felt horrible; it was hotter than I would have liked and I was just so tired. I lost track of how many walk breaks I took. I have no pictures of the run because I was afraid if I stopped, I wouldn’t get started again. A former coworker drove past me and I thought about flagging her down for a ride home. I should have just done 6 and called it a day but I am not the smartest and pushed to the full 8. 8 miles with an average pace of 10:22. Which for a long slow run is ok but I was just beat. I tested the new handheld on my run too. So not a fan, I wanted to throw it. I am going to try again just to make sure that’s it wasn’t just user error. 🙂

I rewarded myself for completing my run by watching the new Veronica Mars movie. Cue the inner nerd girl squeal! Sunday I slept in, yay!!!! I thought about taking the puppy for a walk but I ended up helping my mother move rocks. She is redoing their landscaping. Let’s call that cross-training. Lots of squats and bending and lifting. Plus chasing errant rocks down the driveway before they went into traffic. The backs of my legs ache in interesting ways today, haha.

They made the music for tonight's run — They made the music for tonight’s run

Today marks the beginning of taper week. After work I headed to the lake to get in a few miles. I was torn between 4 and 6. I figured I would just start running and see how I felt. My legs were stiff from yesterday plus breaking in the new boots I picked up over the weekend didn’t help. I also made this my “uncomfortable” pre-race run. Brand new shirt and shorter than normal shorts. I like to try to prepare myself for wardrobe malfunctions on race day. 🙂 My shorts were actually from Abercrombie’s new “active” line (haha) and I just figured they would be cute summer shorts but not actually good to run in. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. They were light weight and airy and they never moved, never rode up. Wow, I have never had a pair of shorts do that, I may have to try running in them again.

I started off a little stiff and told myself during mile 2 that I was just doing 4 miles. Around mile 3.5 I finally started to loosen up, so I kept going. Mile 4 was a little looser, mile 5 felt pretty good and 6 felt better. I finished out a full 10K and walked back to the bars that I like to stretch on. I knew I was looser and quicker towards the end but I didn’t know how much until I looked at my Garmin splits. Negative split? Sweet! Or should I call that a good progression run?

What makes me laugh about this Garmin data is that I ran the opposite direction on the path tonight. I usually go clockwise but tonight I decided to go counter-clockwise. It felt soooo much harder. I tried telling myself that maybe the elevation was slightly different the other way. Who am I kidding? The average elevation gain was 6 feet. 6 FEET!!!!! Seriously, I must be a big baby.

This should have been up earlier, but the nerd girl in me again was yelling at the tv while watching Teen Wolf.

How was everyone’s Monday?

Who else has “crazy” elevation?

Well, that was a hot one

Happy Daylight Savings Time!!! You know, I hated this day before I was a runner. Not I count down the days until it comes. 🙂

Not only was Friday a rest day but it was just one of those days. It started with a 4:30 AM text and went on from there. It left me feeling harried all day and that can sometimes make me crave crappy food. And I indulged. A few too many of these ↓ followed by pizza for dinner.

I had planned my long run for Saturday morning, I had been thinking 9-11ish. I was giving myself 2 hours to run 10 miles; I knew I wouldn’t use the full 2 hours but I wanted to make sure that I took it easy. Well, 9 turned into 9:40. I have been trying to train myself to sleep differently and it’s not going so well. 🙂 I finally headed out the door after making the last minute decision to lose the long sleeves.

The first 3 miles were solid even if my body was telling me that it did not appreciate the pizza for dinner the night before. It was warmer than I had expected so I was glad I was running in a tank and shorts. I planned my route the night before but as I passed the cemetery the first time I saw that they were setting up for a service. I try not to run by when they are having a service, sometimes I can’t avoid it, so then I slow down to a crawl and try to be super quiet. Today though, I could see it so I knew I had to change my route. I had planned on doing a hill loop twice so instead I added a third. By the third pass I was getting tired, it was getting hotter and I was only at 6.5 miles. One of my former co-workers lives on that street and the first 2 times I ran down, her husband was outside. I thought about saying hi but figured he would have no idea who I was. Third time back down, she was outside too. Yay for a break!!! I stopped and we chatted a bit. It was a good little rest.

After saying our goodbyes, I headed off to finish my run. Of course, stupid pride makes you run faster when you think someone you know is watching, haha!!! I was also still trying to figure out the route in my head so I threw in another half of the same hill loop; 3/4 of the way up, there is another option for coming back down. I then headed back towards home. It was hot and it was getting rough. By mile 9 I was done. I ran out of Gatorade at that point as well. I have never run out water or Gatorade before. I dragged myself through mile 10 and shut off my Garmin. I was still half a mile from my house and was trying to remember if the grocery store 2 blocks away had a water fountain.

The weather had started in the low 60’s but by the end of my run it was almost 80. I have run in much hotter temps before but for some reason, I was not prepared for yesterday. It kicked my butt. It also burned through my sunblock, my back is a lovely shade of red. I made it home and went straight for the water. Then a little chocolate milk and 2 bottles of Nuun.

I then managed to clean my car, finally. My mother had a tennis match yesterday and she wanted to show her team the puppy. So I picked up the puppy and took her for a ride. She was a little confused at first, but overall very well behaved. She wasn’t prepared for stop signs though, and tumbled off the seat at the first one- oops!!!

I rounded out the day by doing the usual errands and topped it all off by watching Catching Fire, again. Today was mostly chill, I took the puppy for another puppy jog- 3 miles in 56 minutes. She was a little slower today but much better behaved. She only barked at one car. 🙂

I am excited for the daylight time to run this week after work. It’s also inspection time at work, so I may have the need to run off some stress. 🙂 And my first half of the year is just two weeks from today!

How were your weekends?

Ever had a run turn out to be way warmer than planned?

A Pretty Slog

Since I have come to the conclusion that I have troubles with taking it easy, I headed to the gym on Wednesday evening. I need to work on controlling my pace better when running outside but for the purposes of this run I relied on the treadmill. That is one good thing about the bore-mill’s, I made sure to never go above a 6.2 the whole time and spent a few minutes warming up as well. 4.5 miles in 45 minutes. It should have been 5 miles but I just wasn’t feeling it. Which is kind of funny because by the time I did my cool down I was at 5 anyways. What I don’t understand is why treadmills feel so hard? The belt is doing some of the moving for you but it just seems 5x harder. I know that a lot of people share this opinion but I really wonder why?

I wore the Adrenaline‘s yesterday and they felt pretty good. Tonight’s run was in the Wave Riders. They felt great however the run did not. The weather was gorgeous if windy and I was excited all day to get a solid 4 miles. Plus I was looking forward to trying out my new toy-

It's a Flip Belt!!!!!! — It’s a Flip Belt!!!!!!

Amazing shipping, I ordered it late Sunday night and it arrived yesterday. I have been eying it for a few months and finally decided to just buy it. It is heavier than I thought it would be but I was hoping that wouldn’t be noticeable on. And for the most part it wasn’t. My phone fit in it with the case on perfectly. It was also easy to get it in and out to take pictures. It was a little awkward with my pepper spray so I just kept that in my hand while running. Which is fine for shorter runs but that will be trickier when I carry water. I will be testing that this weekend on my long run, a long, slow run. (No race for me this weekend.) I am not forming an opinion on the belt just yet. 🙂

Tonight’s run was rough. Just rough. I decided to run the route from work, hoping for a good 4 miles. It started off downhill like always but into a stiff headwind. Ugh. I felt like I was running through a swamp. I was hoping it would get better when I rounded the corner– no such luck. Less wind but still swampy. It never really seemed to click. I turned around at the 1.5 mile mark and headed back. My goal was to take it easy this week anyways, right?

That's actually pretty good — That’s actually pretty good

Once I made it back to my car, I checked my Garmin and noticed that my pace actually was pretty good. I guess I just wasn’t feeling this run. It made last night’s treadmill run seem good. 🙂 Maybe I should have only planned on running 3 days this week and not 4 after last weeks rest and recovery time. My legs felt so heavy; nothing hurt which is great, it was just funky. My long run this weekend will be between 8-10 miles and I am planning on crawling… Really. I am shooting for distance over pace this weekend. I will rest tomorrow and one of the weekend days. Who am I kidding, Friday is always a rest day – 🙂

Today’s run may have been rough, but at least I was out there. Plus the view was awesome, so no complaints there. Now, I am ready for Friday!

Who else is ready for Friday?

Who is racing this weekend? LA?

Anyone else counting the hours until Daylight Savings Time???