Tag: lazy

Told Me So

Is it Friday yet? I am actually counting the hours this week. I’ve been a little cranky this week, I think stress has gotten to me, I noticed yesterday that even my jaw aches. Ugh.

Need A Little Motivation? — Via Pinterest –link

Anywho, moving on! Yesterday, NikeC and I got back to the gym. I wasn’t feeling like running much, so we just walked a slow mile on the treadmills to warmup before heading to the circuit room. It’s only been 2 weeks since I was last there but I felt so weak! I felt like I was starting from scratch again. We managed to make it all the way around the room this time around. 4 people came in and used random machines and then left. One lady glared at us while I was using one of the leg machines. Hey, we were going in numerical order! My gym is pretty low-key and I have never seen anyone monitor the circuit room even though there is a sign on the wall. I also had the privilege of hearing my first gym grunter. I have seen all the stereotype memes, gifs, and commercials but didn’t think they actually existed. The free weights section of the gym has always seemed more like a coffee date than anything else, more talk than working out. This very buff guy comes into the circuit room and goes to one of the arm machines (I really have to figure out what they are called) and cranks the weight up. He then proceeds to do his reps, grunting and talking to himself. And he was grunting loudly. But who am I to talk? I can’t even use doors properly. As I was leaving the gym, the door only opened about 45 degrees. I wasn’t paying enough attention and slammed into it, loudly. Just call me grace.

photo 3 (2) — A post run mother- daughter selfie

Ever since my rough race a few weeks ago, I have been running a little differently. I’ve been starting out with no real goal in mind other than just to run. I have also been taking my time with my first mile, i.e my warmup. I have mentioned before that warming up is a weakness of mine. That just takes too much time for this Slacker, cue the eye rolling and head shaking. I also hated seeing that warmup bring down my overall pace. Ego much? Most of my last few runs, I have met up with my mother more often than usual. This usually meant that my first mile is slower while we walk and chat. A month ago, seeing that first mile in the high 12 to high 13 range would have irritated me to no end. The last couple of weeks I noticed something- my pace is consistently back under 10:00 a mile after that first slower mile. This was true even today when it was 93º at the beginning of my run and 91º when done; I also took a few walk breaks in the shady section. Well, don’t I feel ~~silly~~ stupid. Granted it’s only been a few weeks but I think it’s safe to say that I have learned my lesson. The Slacker can learn.

We have had a brief cool off, but the temps are going back to triple digits this weekend. My long run will probably not be that speedy, despite everything previously mentioned. 🙂 But that’s ok, too.

What does your weekend look like? Anyone racing?

Anyone else shortcut their warmup? Or is it just me?

Rising Moon and a Windy Run

After Friday’s race I was pumped to keep running. In fact I had hoped to run another 7 miles that day, before dinner and fireworks, to round out to 10 total. I wanted this to be my last long run before my half in 3 days. An unplanned 2 hour nap changed that, I didn’t even make it to the fireworks. 😦 While waiting for the awards to start after the race, there was very little shade and I think it affected me more than usual. When Saturday rolled around; after getting in the shopping trip that was postponed last week, I just did not want to run. Same for Sunday. So, I didn’t. I chose to treat the weekend as some needed rest. I haven’t decided if that violates the whole #noexcuses thing or if a little rest is a good thing. Instead of running, I read 4 books. That counts for something right?

After that restful few days, I was ready to run on Monday. Work wasn’t too busy, so I was able to get out of there fairly quickly. I then headed back to home town to run the path I have been running lately. My mom decided to join me, so I met up with her at the trail head. I kind of like when she does that, it forces me to take the first mile a little slower, which is a good thing because I rarely ever warm up enough. Especially on race days- bad runner! Slower is also better when it’s 90+ outside. 🙂

When I broke away from her, I felt like I settled into a good pace. At least on the way up. Coming down, I was looking forward to thelittle bit of help that a downhill brings but then there was the wind. Every single time I run this newer path the wind is ridiculous coming back down. Last week it was so bad and so loud, I could barely hear the music coming from my headphones. It wasn’t as bad on Monday, but I felt like I was running through sludge. Once I made it off the hill and around the corner, it eased up a bit. And I was rushed by 2 dogs on the trail portion again. Seriously?! Why am I dog bait? Overall, though at the end, my pace was pretty good.

The gym didn’t work out tonight so I hit the lake path to get in some miles. My left foot was a little sore the first lap around, so I wasn’t sure how many I was going to finish. I seem to have split personality feet. My right foot has a higher arch and loves heels but hates flats. My left foot has a lower arch, hates heels and loves flats. How does that work out? I haven’t found an insert that would help my left foot yet. Those things are pricey!

Luckily my foot loosened up around 2 miles in. I finished a few more laps to hit 5 miles before turning of my Garmin. I then alternated walking withbutt kicks and high knees for the mile back to my car. I felt a little silly. I was also staring at the serious lack of water in the lake. I’m kind of afraid to ask where the geese went.

Tomorrow I want to get in a few quick miles before a rest day on Friday. Then Saturday is race day!! 13 miles on sand, I can do this right? There are 5 stretches of soft sand that have me concerned. One, it slows me down, two, it weighs me down. But I get to run it with NikeC, so I am sure that it will be a blast. Plus, I am kind of excited about running a race on my actual birthday.

How has your week gone so far? We’re more than halfway through!

Anyone use inserts? Either in running shoes or regular shoes?

Sleepy and Slow

After waking from my third power nap of the week on Saturday afternoon, I realized that my planned 10 miler on Sunday might not be the best idea. Sleep was not my friend then and it still is not now. Saturday wasn’t even a stressful day. It was a day of relaxing shopping and yummy food. I had a generic gift card to blow so I treated myself to a ridiculous pair of flip flops. They’re black and basic but super supportive, I have high arches and for the first time, I feel like these actually support them. But the price did make me a little squeamish, they better last forever! And of course, I had to spend money at Dick’s. 🙂

I was still tired after my little nap, but I followed through with my no excuses plan and completed my yoga dvd. I almost let myself believe that walking around while shopping could count as my days’ exercise but unless you are running from store to store or aggressively trying on clothes, it’s more of a leisurely stroll. I felt a little better by the end of the DVD though. Since going to sleep at the usual time hadn’t helped and neither had earlier times, Saturday I flipped it, I stayed up reading until 2 hoping I would be so tired I would sleep. Yeah, not so much.

I headed out Sunday afternoon for a run. Since I had decided that running the full 10 wasn’t the brightest, I thought that a least a 10K was 10 of something. I also met up with my mom and the puppy at various points, so those were opportune walk moments or miles. 🙂 Since I was so tired, I made sure to take as many walk breaks as I needed and not care about my pace. The weird thing was that I felt like my form was spot on for the first time. I felt like I was running tall and strong. Of course no one was watching so it could have all been in my sleep deprived head. According to my watch I spent 2 different ½ mile sections at around an 8:00 minute pace. What? I can’t do that when I am fully rested. I was still tired but I felt good after my run.

That feeling did not translate in better sleep last night and I was dragging butt this morning. Work was straight up chaos, more so than the usual Monday but we got through it. I admit to 2 sodas getting me through the day. After work, I hit the park for a very short 2.5 miles. I just wanted to get moving. Plus I had a new visor to break in. I bought the visor to be a spare on Saturday only to discover Sunday that my month old purple one was broken. Ugh. Talk about good timing. The run was ok, nothing great but nothing bad either. No complaints here! If I don’t sleep well tonight, tomorrow will be a complete rest day. I would like to do a kettle bell workout but we will see how it goes. I used to be a night owl/ insomniac (2 AM was the norm) so you’d think I’d be used to this.

How was your weekend?

Ever have rough periods of sleep? Help!

A Reason for Speed

Happy Wednesday!

After this weekend’s hot miles, I felt like I had a blister forming on my right foot, which is not cool. I have to admit that I have only had one blister since I started running. I think the heat plus the miles made for some uncomfortable feet. So I switched the usual run on Monday for Tuesday’s yoga. Sometimes I feel like that DVD is easy but I always end up ridiculously sweaty. I also still can’t hold the poses very long either and I have to drop my knee while doing side planks. But I am going to keep trying! Like I said before though, I am glad no one can see me. 🙂

Tuesday was a pretty good day work-wise. I was able to get away for lunch and hit up the Dollar store for some pens and things for my coworkers. Not the healthiest choices but guaranteed to bring a smile to someone’s face. 🙂 I was looking forward to an easy 4.5 miles after work. Then I apparently decided to prove that my hair color is natural. Without going into too many details, we were wrapping up at work per usual, and I went and did something I thought I couldn’t fix. It was a pretty big something. I felt like my stomach had dropped to the floor and I went slack jawed. I was trying to figure out who to call first and trying not to panic. What an example I was setting. 🙂 One of my coworkers said that something similar had happened before and she thought she knew what to do. My face now probably showed complete disbelief, because seriously how does a person do what I did?! We were able to get it straightened out but it took another 20 minutes. Whew. But then I was running behind to get running.

After changing in a hurry and finally getting to the park, I saw plenty of people on the path. I still had to change my shoes and get all my gear together so I was a few minutes longer than usual in my car. When I started to get out I noticed a potential lurker sitting on the fence two places down. Really?! I waited to see if I was just paranoid. He finally meandered down by the horse shoe pit. I got out of my car but kept an eye on the pit and ran the path in the opposite direction than I usually do. There were about 20 people on the path and more in the park and on the playground but I still made sure to keep my pepper spray handy. I am sure that he was probably harmless but my theory is that when you are running alone, everyone has the potential to be creepy so it’s best to be cautious. I didn’t see him on first loop back so I did another. The general uneasiness had me only running 3.5 miles. I also went from an easy 4.5 to a closer to pace 3.5. Potential lurker = run faster.

bettersky — The iPhone didn’t do it justice, so there may be a filter on this

The sky looked amazing as I was leaving, so I tried to snap a few, very quick pics before jumping in my car.

That brought my little challenge to 10 for 10 so far. Today, I had planned on completing the yoga DVD again but my lovely stomach chose to rebel again so today ended up being the 1 out of 7 that I allow myself to be really lazy. I hit my goal every day (7 out of 7, what!) last week so I was hoping this week would be the same, but 11 was not my lucky number. But that’s ok, too.

I am looking forward to getting back on track tomorrow. And I have a 9-10 miler to look forward to this weekend. I also may need to look for new socks as well. For shorter runs, I have been using the Target C9 socks, but I really do not want blisters. Any suggestions?

How had your week been?

Anyone else had any lurkers while running?

May Recap = No Excuses Summer

May was a long, kind of rough month that also felt like it passed in the blink of an eye. But enough whining, lets move on to the numbers-

Races-

Run or Dye– ?????
Bands on the Run 10K- 59:28

May turned out to be my lowest mileage for the year so far. This was due to a variety of reasons but at this point I calling bullshit and saying that they were all excuses and poor planning on my part. Which leads into my summer plans-

#noexcusessummer

As of June 1st, I am done whining. This is going to be really hard so I may need your help. 🙂 What this means is that going forward I will do at least 10 minutes of exercise six days a week. Doesn’t really sound like anything at all, but considering all I do right now is run and sit on my butt, it’s a step in the right direction.

So I will run a minimum of 3 days a week, 4 if I’m feeling feisty. But I will focus more on quality than hitting a mileage goal.
The yoga DVD has made it’s way into the dvd player and will be done once a week, the kettle bell dvd should be done once a week as well.
Also on the plan is to start using the gym I pay for but haven’t been to in 3 months. And by use I mean something other than the treadmill 🙂

As for the no excuses, I have made a lot of them lately. Work was crazy, it was hot, my stomach hurt, I had the paper to work on, etc. Enough is enough. Work is going to be crazy until at least the end of the year, so I may as well get over it. The heat? As someone pointed out, I live in central California, it’s just a fact of life. I should be thankful that we don’t have humidity. I don’t know how anyone runs in that. My stomach? Well, realistically, it’s never going to work right, I’ve been told that, so why wait in vain for it to be perfect? As for the paper, it’s done and the class is done. Not my best work. 😦

There are 24 hours in a day and really I have next to no obligations. There is nothing stopping me from exercising before or after work other than my Slacker-ness. While it may be hot in my home town, my work town usually runs about 25º cooler. Granted, to run more than 4 miles I will have to find roads with actual shoulders but I’m sure it can be done. And if not, well then there is the nice air conditioned gym. 🙂

In keeping with this new attitude, Sunday I completed the yoga dvd and day 1 of the AB challenge that is floating around right now. After the race on Saturday followed by a 3 mile hike with my mom and the puppy that night, I gave my legs a break from running. We did the same hike as the Firehouse 5K race, it’s still hard just walking. But yoga equals exercise so day 1, done!

Monday was a vacation day for me, which was awesome. I had planned to run 6 miles in the AM and followed by a busy day of errands and helping my mother with her tennis banquet that night. I woke to find that day 2 was going to be a challenge. My stomach was horrible and there was no way I was running then. I did some thinking and knew I had a small window around 1:00 to squeeze in some miles, so I slept a little longer. By 1:00, my stomach was barely better but I couldn’t quit after a 1 day streak so I went out for a slow run. I kept it easy and walked every time it got a little worse. I came to a complete halt at 3.5 miles for a few moments but I pushed though. 4.5 miles completed! Normally, I would have blown off all exercise for the day.

I was supposed to help my mother hand out the awards during the banquet but the puppy was not doing well with the unusual crowd at the house. Finally to calm her down, I took her for a walk. It was supposed to be short, but she had energy to burn and maintained a steady pace for 2.5 miles. She never does that! So in a hap hazard way, I hit my mileage goal for the day anyways. 🙂 I only completed half of the ab challenge though, my stomach was in no mood to do sit ups or crunches.

Today was another vacation day, yay! I met a friend for lunch to celebrate her birthday tomorrow ( Happy birthday ML!). It was yummy. My stomach is still not happy so I was planning on taking it easy and doing the yoga dvd in the evening. Then I ended up helping my mother with tennis practice. It’s spring practice for fall right now, and she has like 30 girls out there. She likes when I come help because I am more of a drill sergeant out there. I lost count of how many times I yelled bend your knees. Even though that could have counted as my exercise of the day and Tuesdays are a usual running rest day, I couldn’t pass up a vacation day and not run. So I set out for 4 miles.

I don’t know if it was my stomach or just because I mentally think of Tuesday as a rest day but it was hard. I ran so slow. Then I got stuck behind a truck doing an awkward 5 point turn in mile 2 and a phone call in mile 3. Ok, I get it, not a fast run day, but still got it in. 🙂 So 3 for 3 so far! Let’s see how far I can go!

It’s back to work for me tomorrow. 😦 Plus I have to get a few miles for National Running Day! I might check out the gym equipment too. But seriously? How do you use that stuff?

What are your goals for June?

No really, any gym tips?