Yes, I know it’s Friday, but it’s been that kind of week. For a short week, this has seemed like the longest few days. My brain is all jumbled As a result, I feel a little scrambled and fried. So here we go.
I got lost on my way to work today. Seriously. It’s not like it’s moved. The last half of my commute is on a windy, rural highway that is prone to car accidents and landslides. This morning a car accident shut it down. We were rerouted and that’s where things went screwy. It was like follow the leader through the rural side roads and we chose the wrong leader. Combine that with heavy fog and I had no idea which way was up. Somehow we ended up making a giant loop and ended right back where I started. Except I’d never come on the highway from that side so I didn’t immediately recognize it. I was so freakin’ confused.
We’re getting a Little Ceaser’s in town. Why is this a problem? I believe I’ve mentioned I have a minor pizza addiction? Seriously, most of the employees at my local Domino’s greet me by name. I don’t even have to check in, I walk in they yell out how much longer I may have to wait. 🙂 So what’s the problem? This Little Ceaser’s has a drive thru. Drive thru pizza- say what?!
I’ve done pretty well on cutting way back on soda. Now I only drink it when I go out or if I am stressed. Getting lost in my backyard made this a soda day. 🙂
Coffee is a morning requirement though😃
I’m not a huge fan of Adele. There I said it. Hello actually drives me a little crazy. But this spoof is freakin’ hilarious. Except now every time I hear the song on the radio I get a craving for some French fries. 😝
I need to run 12 miles this weekend. If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I have a serious mental block with 12. Big time. People are out there dropping 20 milers and I have troubles running 12 by myself. And it’s supposed to pour on Saturday. Well, maybe. It keeps changing. Crazy rain.
Speaking of rain- it rained so hard on Tuesday that branches came down in the parking lot. I put on my shiny new rain coat and headed out to the clear the lot. The jacket kept the top of me dry but the bottom of my dress was drenched and I discovered my boots won’t last much longer. Water got in through where the sole meets the upper and for the second time in days my feet were drenched.
I watch all sorts of tv but I’ve never been a fan of anything zombie. Until Sunday. I was trolling Netflix for something to watch and somehow I landed on Z Nation. It has gotten me through 20+ miles on the bike this week so it can’t be that bad right?
All right, think that’s enough rambling for one post. Happy Friday!!!
Ever been so turned around in a familiar area that you got lost?
After 11 days off (stupid flu!!!) I finally got out there and did something! I also made it to work on Thursday and Friday. Wowza, Thursday was rough, I was exhausted. No lie, I got through the day with a lot of Diet Coke. But anyways, on to Sunday.
With the 25k 7 days away, eek, Sunday was my last day to get in a trail run/hike. Plus I needed to test run my race day gear. Because of the narrowness on the trails and the chance for ticks, I am wearing clothing that is a little more form-fitting than usual. I also had a new hydration vest I needed to test. The first one didn’t work out so well. It didn’t fit right with water in the bladder and just didn’t feel like it was made well. I replaced it with a new one a few weeks back but hadn’t been able to test it yet. This one doesn’t have a bladder but has 2 water bottles in the front. I stashed snacks in the back pocket and filled the bottles. Success! Well, except I haven’t figured out how to easily access my phone. But I’ll work on that. 🙂
With me being sick and my mom being slightly hurt, we have readjusted our general time goal for the 25K. Sunday, the plan was to head out to the race course and hike part of the last out and back. According to the course map, that section is 8.4 miles. We had troubles finding the right trail head but we were near another one that my mom had hiked before and really wanted to again. The sign said it was 3 miles and it looked to be all fire road. Fine by me, 6 easy miles was probably all I was up for anyways.
It was freakishly warm! High 70’s and I was burning up! Being a fire road, the trail was easy but I was still coughing a bit. The trail ends near a worn down, beat up, old barn. It was equal parts creepy and cool. So of course we had to take a few pictures right? When we headed back, we passed a tiny, almost hidden single track trail head. My mother insisted she had hiked it before so we should do it too. Holy mother of incline. We gained 700 ft over the next 1/2 mile. Once we finally made it to the top, we found a picnic table. We took a break and ate a few snacks. And enjoyed the view. 🙂 We headed back down another way, hoping it was shorter way back. Ha!
Since we weren’t positive what mountain we were on, I pulled up a park map on my phone. It didn’t really help. Or maybe I just don’t know how to read it. Eventually we found our way down to a trail intersection. According to the map, the right trail led to a dead-end and the left trail was the backside of Hazard peak. We went left which meant we then had another climb in front of us. My mom’s knee was just starting to hurt and we coming up on 6 miles and we weren’t even at the top of the mountain. Our pace had slowed but we mad it to the top once again and enjoyed more views. There were some mountain bikers at the top discussing trails and I overheard one say that the trail we had not chosen led to another fire road. Really?! That would have been so much easier! Where were they when we could have used directions?Then it was time to head back towards the parking lot, down the front side of Hazard Peak. So at least we were able to check out the race course from that direction. Down hill it’s not too bad, but I am wondering what the uphill will feel like after 8 miles. Guess I’ll find out next weekend! We finally made it back to the parking lot- 9.65 miles later. We survived, haha! Even with getting a little turned around, going farther than planned,and getting a little sunburned, it was a good hike. I don’t think I would have hiked that far without getting turned around but some coughing attacks aside, it was great to get outside and do something again. Plus it was a good practice run for next weekend. It gave us a general idea of what kind of time to expect. Sunday’s hike was just that a hike and we covered 9.65 miles with 1400 ft gained and maintained a 17:00 pace. Next week the race will add some speed on the downhills but a little slowness when we climb Valencia Peak, but that’s only 1.5 towards the beginning, so fingers crossed?Sunday’s route took us from fire road to single track, packed dirt to loose shale and then loose sand. The surroundings changed from scrub brush to trees then to a Eucalyptus grove. The sun was shining and sometimes we could hear the ocean. I’d call it a pretty good day!
How was your weekend?
Ever got lost in the woods? (yes, I wasn’t in the woods but still) 🙂
A top 20 finish! I got lost! Have I peaked your interest? 🙂
Having been feeling under the weather for a week, hearing the alarm go off on Saturday morning was rough. It was cold outside, I was tired and my bed was so warm. What was I thinking? Oh I know, it was my pride. I wanted to prove to myself that even feeling crappy all the time, I could still pull a 30 minute 5K in a race. Stupid, I know. Since it was a cold morning and I was fearing asthma issues, I layered up in clothing. Yes, I know it’s cold air I breathe in that causes my issues but I just felt like the layers helped me be mentally prepared. As I still wasn’t feeling great I told myself 31 minutes would be a good adjustment. Like that made a huge difference. Head games, much?It was a smaller local race so I headed out around 8:15 for a 9:00 start time. My mom and the puppy were with me as well. I knew what winery it was at and its general location. Driving out I never saw any signs that said Villa 46, we came up on another winery that I had a run a race at and I knew that we had gone to far. We turned around and headed back the other way, this time paying attention to the street numbers. We find what we are looking for but it says Villa Toscana… and we couldn’t pull in the main drive. Continuing on a little farther we found a delivery driveway with yet another name but same street numbers. We pulled in there and parked next to some trucks that had already parked. Seeing the number of cars parked and then seeing the page of pre-registered runners confirmed that this was going to be the smallest race I have ever run. Only 17 people pre-registered. I think we barely hit 20 by start time. After a little announcement, a race volunteer told us there would be kids guiding us at each turn so we wouldn’t get lost. He also mentioned staying inside the fence. Then we were off! The first mile started on a dirt road but it fairly flat and wide so it was easy to run on. The kids directed us right and we headed out towards the street. As we got to the street I saw an arrow pointing right again but it kind of looked like it was telling us to run on the uneven grass. That didn’t seem right and everyone was running on the street so I followed. Let me clarify that the grass was on the inside of the fence.
Wow, that looks like bad form
As we ran down the street, we passed the delivery driveway. Some people turned up it only to turn around and run back to the street. A volunteer was yelling something towards us but we couldn’t hear him. A group of us chatted, figured they told us to stay on the street and all kept running towards the main driveway. Turned in there, headed back across the start line and back to the first Y. This time the kids sent us left. Mile 1- 9:22. I was feeling good so I was very happy with that time.
Then mile 2 came. Going left this time sent us down into the vineyard. Gorgeous views but I have run trails up mountains that had better maintained paths than that. I should have worn my trail shoes. By now I had decided to try to pace a tall guy wearing red in front of me and a woman in front of him. Then the inclines started. Ok, all were less than 100 ft but all were short and steep and on loose ground riddled with divets. I know I have maintained an average base lately but I don’t have it in me to run hills right now. However, I can power walk them faster than I can run them. So that is what I did. I lost red shirt here but was able to pass the woman who was struggling with the climb too. From there it was another small climb and out on a grassy section. Mile 2- 10:54. Ouch.
Mile 3 led us around another set of vines and through the actual vines. Have you ever tried to run between vines? It’s hard! Then a little down hill section that I flew down before heading back to the first set of vines. This is where I passed a woman in blue, caught up to red shirt and passed him too. I could have sworn we were going right and up that hill again but the kids waved us left. Wait, what? We should be close to done not running the opposite way of the start line!
I was also way too damn hot. Capri’s and long sleeves were way too much for high 50’s. I passed a guy in white shirt before rounding a corner and another little incline. Red shirt caught back up. No! I sped up. Another trek between two vines and it was up the last biggest hill and back towards the start. I briefly checked my watch because I knew I had to be close to 30. 32:something, ugh.Then I noticed the mileage. 3.2 miles and I still had more to go. What?! Rounded a corner to the start and a woman waved me on through another gate and up the main drive way and finally to the finish. Finaltime- around 34:4? It took me a moment to stop my Garmin. Finalmileage- 3.44. My mileage was echoed by other runners watches as well. According to my mother I was the second woman across the finish line.
Leading up to the finish line
So no, I did not hit the arbitrary time goal that I had set myself. But I felt good throughout the race, my lungs and my stomach behaved for the entire thing. And I passed people!!!! It has been so long since I have done that, it felt kind of awesome. Childish, I know, but still awesome. 🙂 The finish line was kind of gorgeous so we took enjoyed the scenery for a while before heading home. There was a man who ran the race with his chocolate lab so we let Zoey and her meet. Zoey was so excited to meet a dog that wanted to play and not attack her. The lab was small for the breed and super sweet. She put up with Zoey’s hyper level well. So it was a good morning all around! 🙂
Can you guess where we all got lost? The kids did a good job directing us which way to go. However there were no kids at the corner where we went on to the street. When we were supposed to stay inside the fence. Yeah. Oops. Poor listening skills aside, getting lost driving there as well, it was still a good race. I felt a little bad for the poor turn out. I hope they try it again next year. This time, I’ll wear my trail shoes. Oh and blogger fail, I didn’t go back down into the vineyard to get pictures of the course.
Slacker Runner 