Forced Rest

June 22, 2021June 21, 2021 Fallon @ Slacker Runner5 Comments

I didn’t plan on radio silence but I think I was in denial.

If I didn’t recap the previous week’s runs, I wouldn’t have to think about the pain in my right leg.

The pain that had been there since we returned from the CDA Half. It would ease at times and then come back with a vengeance. There were times that it felt like there was a giant knot in the back of my leg on my calf. Sometimes it would radiate up past my knee. I could never see anything but it hurt to touch as well. I occasionally tried rolling it out but the pain was too much.

Then it eased up.

My trail run with my dad was fine and I was good for a couple of days. I headed out for a short run in the middle of week 2 (new training plan) and I mean short- it was 2 miles. That was due to a time crunch though and I felt fine. Or so I thought. The leg was little tight the next few days and didn’t really loosen until the weekend and I rested it on that Saturday.

My long run for that week was 6 miles according to my training plan. My leg was feeling looser so I figured I would give it a shot. I wanted something softer than pavement though so I headed to the beach. I really need to start checking the tide schedule- the tide was so damn high. I was dodging beachgoers as well as the tide. Also got stuck on some rocks but at least it was an adventure? Then I cooled off with nature’s ice bath- the Pacific Ocean. I felt pretty good.

Until the next morning, Monday, got out of bed and damn near fell over ripping of 4 letter words. I felt like I had the biggest know ever in my calf and could barely straighten my leg. Walking was super gimpy and painful. It was now also noticeable to everyone at work that I was having trouble walking. Between them and my mother being Dr’s of Google, they had all narrowed it down to a blood clot or I tore something. Thanks for the negativity. Also, I didn’t like either of those options. I finally broke down and made a dr’s appointment.

Then of course, that very same day, I moved in a way I still can’t recall but the constant pressure on my right calf suddenly eased. What??? But, why? I swear I hadn’t done anything different. I still limped a little for the next 2 days but nothing like before.

I’m not completely stupid so I took the all of last week off. And so far this week. The limp is 98% gone. My doctor’s appointment is tomorrow morning. Not that I am expecting much… I don’t usually have good results from my PCP… I usually just use him for referrals. So, fingers crossed?

Lost

February 16, 2021February 15, 2021 Fallon @ Slacker Runner4 Comments

Last week hit me like a truck and then put it into reverse. Have I already said that?

Maybe trying to limit my carbs and cut back on artificial sugars all in the same week was a bad idea. Both are at Dr’s orders. I’ve watched my carbs before and I admit, I did feel better but why do all the best foods have so many carbs?!?! I am starting slow and trying to moderate my numbers during the day and not stressing about dinners yet. I also may have taken the weekend off as well…oops. As for the artificial sugars, I am trying to cut back on everything except Diet Coke- we all have our vices right? But I use a surprising amount of Crystal Light so it’s taking a moment or so.

I didn’t work out all week, even though I kept telling myself I would. I even had an extra 15 minutes on Friday morning due to a doctor’s appointment but did I work out in the morning? Nope. And I really didn’t that evening as my morning appointment was for a couple of biopsies and the sites were angry that evening. Didn’t stop me from being stupid over the weekend though.

Saturday, I headed out early afternoon to get in a few miles. For the most part, I felt ok and ran/ walked 3.67 miles. My right foot was starting to blister and the biopsy on my back was starting to talk so I called it.

Sunday arrived and I was up early and heading for the coast. It’s been too long since I got lost. Obviously, getting lost was not the plan but sometimes trails with my mother turn into adventures as she does not know how to stick to a plan. We were on track for the first 3 miles and then we went off course. Took a trail neither of us has been on before with only a general idea of where it went. Also one of the steepest climbs… and it just kept going!!! Also it’s hard to oreint yourself to the ocean when you can’t see. Luckily we could from the top of the climb so I knew we were on the right track. Chose the right way through a couple of trail intersections before landing on a wide trail/ road. Which then led us back to the main road…like I thought. What I did not think was how far out on the main road it would spit us out. Like 2 miles out on a narrow winding death trap road. Oops.

I was pretty positive I could get us back to the cove by taking a trail on the other side of the road- the Dune Trail. Aptly named because it’s all dune sand. My mother lasted maybe 1/3 of mile before we were back on the road. Ha! After what felt like a longer trek than the previous 7ish miles, we were back at the car. 9.85 miles for the day. Big oops. But long enough to tell me these trail shoes are a big no. My left foot still feels bruised today. Grrr. Also, the back biopsy is very angry. Dumb.

So my levels of running go from none to getting lost in the state park…yep, sounds about right.

Run! · Slacker · Training

32- Rest

August 11, 2020August 10, 2020 Fallon @ Slacker Runner6 Comments

All though I loved the time I spent in the dirt on the trails last week, parts of my body did not.

The sun burn lingered for a few days but had mostly eased by Tuesday. What had not eased was the pain in my foot. To the point where even coworkers commented on my limping. Not good.

I wore flats all week instead of heals or boots and kept my feet up as much as possible at home. Which, let’s be real, that’s not too hard to do with my new recliner and general slacker-ness.

I did that for 7 days… Sunday through Saturday. I will say not running due to foot pain felt different than not running due to laziness. Ha!

Sunday, I wanted to test things out. I taped up my foot with KT tape and headed for a soft surface. I went to the beach.

A heavy marine layer meant it was not as crowded as I had feared but there were a ton of dogs out! They all wanted to play.

I started off real slow, with around 3/4 of a mile walking. From there, I moved on to intervals of 1 minute run, 1 minute walk. I tried to keep the pace real easy and focus on how I was landing. I also had the marine layer keeping my pace down- this is the same beach I’ve had a massive asthma attack on. I didn’t climb any rocks and turned around at the rockiest point.

My right foot- the injured foot- felt pretty good the whole time. And I did take my shoes off for the final .3 miles.

Not cool was that my left foot went numb around 3.5 miles in. What?! I had that problem at the beginning of last year but it got better. It did! Plus, I was wearing my PureFlow’s and those were the one pair of shoes that they never went numb in. Granted, I have turned this pair into beach running shoes but still. I slowed to a walk while I tried to stomp feeling back into my foot. It came back around 3/4 of a mile later. Grrrr.

Still it was a good 5 mile test of the foot.

So 5 miles for the week. Better than nothing.

How was your week?

Run! · Slacker

Rambling On

July 26, 2019July 25, 2019 Fallon @ Slacker Runner3 Comments

Happy Friday!!

I love Fridays and I think this one will be decent as I do not have to work open to close. Woot Woot!

It’s fair time here and I think I may be skipping it this year. What? Don’t get me wrong, I am craving a funnel cake something fierce but the idea of the costs and all those people does not float my boat. Hell, getting to and from work for the last week and a half has been stupid. We’re a town of 30,000 and right now we’re probably clearing 100,000. And yes, we have that many hotels.

My summer TV binge continues. I finished Veronica Mars over the weekend. I then broke up with Hulu. I really did. Now, I’m on to Teen Wolf. Which I watched before and is surprisingly better than you think. Well, once you get past first season. That was pretty cheesy.

The heatwave is real but I’ve been at work all week and haven’t been able to leave so I feel like I’ve missed most of it. Ha!

I was giving directions in Spanish one day this week and totally blanked on the word 20. What? How basic is that??

Of all the bands at the fair so far, I could only hear a little from Blake Shelton and Cardi B. Why Don’t We has been the loudest so far. I heard nothing from Lynyrd Skynyrd. Really?

My training plan is all messed up this week. I may have given myself a concussion and I have to work on Saturday. Boo.

What are you doing this weekend? Share a random!

Run! · Training

Week 27- Panic

July 8, 2019July 7, 2019 Fallon @ Slacker Runner2 Comments

This week was up and down and topsy turvy and that was before the earthquakes.

Yeah, Cali’s been moving around this week. On one hand the former wanna be geologist in me is excited by earthquakes. On the other, my town suffered a lot in the last big quake about 15 years ago. Downtown was leveled, a sulfur spring ruptured and numerous other buildings were condemned. And for some reason it took almost 10 years to cap that damn spring. Downtown was rebuilt but we had a giant hole blocked off in the library parking lot for years. A stinky one at that.

In other news, going back to work the day after the 4th of July was hard. It was like the Monday of Fridays. Anyone else not have a long weekend?

And then I played tourist in my town on Saturday and ventured out to the Lavender Festival.

Plan vs Reality

Monday- 1.5 miles/ 1.5 miles
I don’t recall much about this run other than I got it done. I didn’t even post about it to social media, ha! But I took a pic so I guess it really happened.😛

Tuesday- 2 mile up/down, 3x 1 mile repeats at 5K pace / 1.5 up/down, 3 miles of pain- yoga
I’ve been beginning to realize that I may over overstepped with the training paces on my training plan. Reality hammered that home with this run. Not only did I tank the paces prescribed, I ended with a possible injury. I knew I should have quit during the second repeat attempt but I am stupid. So stupid. I limped back to my car hence the shorter cool down.

Wednesday- 1.5 miles/ Nada
I limped around the office all day, that was fun. My stomach also decided to hate me so that was fun.

Thursday- July 4Th! 4 mile fartlek/ MM100
I thought about trying for at least an easy run but decided to be smart instead. Boo. I did attempt a very slow workout video.

Friday- 1.5 miles/ Nada
My leg felt better until the end of the day but I was just fried and didn’t run. I really need to figure out how to run in the morning. Especially when I work open to close.

Saturday- 9 miles/ 9 miles
I actually got up early for this! Except nasty humidity rolled in so I actually think it was hotter than my last 2 long runs in the afternoon heat. Oh and I got fried. So much for sunblock. I also think it was the slowest 9 miles I’ve ever run. I had a freakin’ panic attack around mile 3. I started noticing the symptoms just before crossing the bridge. Which could have been partly fueled by the previous nights tremor. I’m not a big fan of bridges, at least not being on them, so why I chose today of all days to run across it for the first time in months, I have no idea. I refused to let the panic attack win and just slowed way down anytime I felt the usual symptoms. I also explored a side path off one street in an effort to distract myself.

Sunday- Rest/ Rest
I thought about trying to make up some of the 7 miles I missed throughout the week but ended up napping instead. Oh and I started Stranger Things 3.

15.3 miles out of 22.5 for the week. My leg is still not right so I am holding out optimism for the week to come. Plus I went in and adjusted the paces zones in my training plan so now they should at least be achievable.

How was your week? Have a good 4th of July?