Tag: Liift4

Week 36:Upcoming Races-Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 8

Fallon @ Slacker Runner1 Comment

Upcoming Races-

  • Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
  • City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
  • Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
  • Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you BibRave!)- 11/12

Fried.  That’s how I would describe this week.

I knew it was going to be a hectic one and I thought I planned accordingly.   But well, life.

The week was already short due to the holiday and then I was off Friday to chaperone a multi-day tennis trip for my mother’s team.    I tried to cram all I could in at work in 3 short days as well as get in all my workouts before we left.

The plan called for a 6 mile run, 50 minute tempo, 9 mile long run and the last 4 Liift4 workouts.

Monday- 9 miles/ Liift4
Long run on a Monday- say what?? I knew the weekend ahead was going to be super busy so with a Monday off work I thought I would get my long run out of the way.  Yet, I woke up nauseaus again.  I did a crazy Liift4 workout in the morning and debated skipping the run.  I headed out in the late afternoon for what I was sure was going to be a 4 mile slog.   Instead I somehow had the best 9 mile run that I have had in over a year.     Hell, it was the best long run I’ve had in years.  Who knew?

Tuesday- Liift4
This final week of workouts was kicking my ass.  I don’t think I’ve ever sweat this much in my life.

Wednesday- Rest
I meant to do another Liift4 workout but my stomach was being a total asshat.  So instead I picked up some last minute supplies for the weekend trip.

Thursday- 3.75 miles
This was supposed to be longer but my legs weren’t feeling it.   This was actually slower paced than Monday’s long run too.  Way to bring me back down to earth legs.   My right hip was cranky, I really need to start doing my PT exercises again.

Friday/ Saturday- Tennis Road Trip
So tired, the days were long and stressful and so freakin’ hot!   I layered on sunblock, I stayed in the shade as much as possible, I wore a hat and somehow I still ended up with my worst sunburn in years.   It hurt.   By the time we got home on Saturday, I was just mentally done.  Teenagers are hard.

Sunday- Rest
This was not the plan.  I needed another 6 miles and should have completed the leg workout for Liift4.  However… the sunburn.  Owwww!  Everything hurt.  It hurt to the touch, it hurt to move, clothing hurt- there was no way I was putting a sports bra on.  Nope.

12.77 miles for the week.  Stupid sunburn!  Also the Liift4 challenge is complete even if I missed a few and I feel a little adrift.   Oops.

How was your week?

Week 32:Upcoming Races-Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 5

Fallon @ Slacker Runner6 Comments

Upcoming Races-

  • SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
  • Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
  • City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
  • Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
  • Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

If I had one word to describe this week, it would be- pain.

I think I watched more stupid movies than ever before.  Netflix shamed me with “are you still watching” a few times.  😛I kind of buried myself in a dark hole, I was barely even paying attention to those movies, I just needed background noise (there were some good ones though).

The plan for this week was 3 runs- 4 miles, 40 min tempo, 8 mile long run- and 4 Liift4 workouts.  Reality, however-

Monday- 2.5 miles 
I was looking forward to my run after work.  I thought I had 5 miles on the plan -oops – but I was on board with that.  The bottom half of me apparently was not.  Right from my first few steps, things felt off.  My legs hurt- not just sore but hurt.  I walked the first half mile hoping they would loosen up but no luck.  I tried running and it felt like the pain was deep in my bones.  WTH?  A little over a mile in, I stopped to try and stretch it out and almost screamed.   It hurt from my hips to my knees but in the bones.  I turned around and hobbled back to the car.     I didn’t know what was going on but it wasn’t worth risking an injury.

Tuesday- Liift4
My legs were still not right so I focused on my form and modified anything that required any jumping. I kind of do that anyway as I know my limitations but I really did it now.

Wednesday- Liift4
I drove to the lake path to run.  I had changed, I had my pack in my lap but I wasn’t feeling it.  Like deep down, really NOT feeling it.   I’m not a believer in there are no bad runs.  Yes, there are.   The times in the past that I have forced myself to run when I feel that against it I have either hurt myself or broken a piece of running gear.  I drove away without running but I wasn’t completely lazy.

Thursday- Migraine
Bring on the pain.  I woke up to the oncoming pain but hoped it would ease up.  Both because I had an early morning meeting and because I wanted to run after work.   I finally admitted defeat around 11:30 and did something I rarely do- I went home sick.  Then I spent the rest of the day napping, watching movies and alternating between being too hot or too cold.

Friday-Liift4 ish
I still had a migraine but I made it through work.  I attempted Liift4 in the evening but I only pulled off the lifting portion.  When it transitioned to the HIIT work, I tried one move and was like, umm, not happening.

Saturday-8 miles
Maybe it was the migraine that was still around but this was the hottest 8 miles of my life.  In hindsight, I maybe shouldn’t have tried for my long run after 2 days of pain.   I started my run around 9:15 and while that is early for me; it was already hot.   Miles 1 and 2 were good and I was optimistic.  I slowed during mile 3 but I was also entering the section I lovingly call the “surface of the sun” so that was to be expected.  However mile 4 went south.   It got super warm, I was too hot, I was feeling dehydrated and I almost threw up.    I was almost out of water and I was only 4 miles in.  I rerouted back to my car but I had slowed to a shuffle.  I refilled at my car and sat there a bit as it was fully in the shade.  By then I needed less than 2 miles so I dumped my pack thinking running without it would be cooler and just shoved my phone in a pocket and carried a water bottle and my pepper spray.  I then looped the river trail and the neighborhood until I hit 8.   This route needs some shade!

Sunday- Rest
I may have gotten in my long run but I was kind of broken the rest of the weekend.  Not only did the migraine not go away, it was a little pissed at me after those 8 miles.  The most strenuous thing I did on Sunday was clean my car.  Except it was so dirty, that really was a workout.

10.5 miles for the week.   I couldn’t have 2 good weeks in a row, could I.  Shake it off.

How was your week?

Week 32:Upcoming Races-Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 4

Fallon @ Slacker Runner10 Comments

Upcoming Races-

  • SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
  • Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
  • City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
  • Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
  • Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

I was fussy, cranky and tired this week.   I had a few too many balls in the air at work at one point.   Home town was in the middle of an almost 20 day streak of over 100* weather and I was sleeping poorly.

I like to sleep with the window open during the summer which is odd because I am also one of those people who tends to over react at every sound.   Unfortunately this week, some creature decided to come visit the yard every night a little after midnight.  And it was not a small creature.    I tried to tell myself it was a family of deer.  Which is likely was but I worry about the bigger felines.   I digress…it was every single night.  So eventually I would end closing the window but then it would feel super stuffy and sleep would still be crappy.  Grrr.

Ok, training.  This week called for a 5 mile run, 4 mile run, 7 mile long run and 4 Liift4 work outs.

So how did I do?

Monday- Liift4
I planned on running after work but work ran long and I was feeling cranky so I decided to push my run to Tuesday.  Then while I was driving home I was feeling guilty for doing that only to arrive in run town and then home town to realize they were both completely socked in with smoke from fires.  Combine that with the 3 digit temps and somehow my lazy choice was the smart choice.

Tuesday- 3.78 miles
Another hot day, it was around 95 when I started running and there was still a ton of smoke in the air.  I decided to stick to the run/walk intervals I had programmed since I had also forgotten any way to carry water on my run.   Short and easy miles, that was the plan.   My legs had other plans and those running intervals were some of the fastest paces I’ve seen in years.  Oops.  I did keep it relatively short though.

Wednesday-Liift4
I am sure I did something else but I can’t remember what it was.

Thursday-3.5 miles
I had woken with a gnarly Charlie horse around 1:30 that morning and it never really went away. That said, I still wanted to attempt a run. Oh, my gawd, I was melting.  I don’t know why.   It was 93, so this was coolest run I had had in weeks.  Or it should have been. It was so muggy at the lake path though.  I had 3 decent, consistent miles and even though I was able to stop at my car for water, I could tell I was overheating. My leg also hadn’t loosened up at all so I finished 3 laps of the lake and called it.    If the lake wasn’t so nasty I may have jumped in.

Friday- Rest
My tiredness and crankiness caught up to me.   Could the animal outside at night just stop?!  I told myself I was going to work out when I got home from work but I didn’t.  I just zoned out watching Netflix’s Insatiable.  That show is on crack, people.

Saturday- Liift4
I meant to do my long run.  I laid out my clothes and charged my Aftershokz.  I set my alarm- 5 of them.  I slept through all of them.  Grrrr.    I thought about running my 8 miles (I also had the number of miles wrong) in the afternoon/ evening but although we finally break the streak of over 100* days it was still hot. Also, ended up taking the cat to the vet so that took up some of the afternoon.

Sunday-7.4 miles
My mother was planning on cleaning her tennis courts in the morning so I figured that would be good incentive to actually get my butt out of bed and run to the high school to meet her.    75* should have felt amazing after the last few weeks but it was more humid than I would have liked and I felt a little wilted.

Pace wise, I was doing fine for a long run but by mile 5 I was feeling hot.    My mother was also feeling it on her end as she called me around that point saying she was done at the courts- it was too warm.  I convinced her to wait for me in the shade instead of coming to get me and I tried to pick up the pace to the school.    I am hoped for 8 to make for the run I shorted on Tuesday but 7 is just fine with me.

14.69 miles for the week.  Much better than last week and almost all the miles the plan called for.  So close!!

Now if the damn creature in the yard could just go away.

How was your week?

Week 30/ Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 2

Fallon @ Slacker Runner14 Comments

Upcoming Races-

  • Vintners 5 Mile-7/28
  • SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
  • Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
  • City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
  • Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
  • Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

So close, so close!  I almost hit every work out.  But I didn’t.  I tried rearranging to fit life, the heatwave and my leg and it just didn’t work.

The plan for the week was 4 Liift4 workouts and 3 runs.  The runs were originally laid out as an easy 4, a 30 minute tempo and a long run of 6 miles.  I knew I had a 5 mile race on Saturday so I figured that would be my tempo and I would just run another easy 4 to make up for the shortened long run.   Well, that was the plan.

Monday- Liift4/ Fair  Stupid mistake #1.  Possibly 1 and 2.  I should have done the Liift4 workout in the morning.  I didn’t- I did it after the fair, finishing around 11.  I wore flip flops to the fair- which might have been fine if it was just the fair but I also walked home.  Everything below my left knee was pissed.   The funnel cake was awesome though.

Tuesday- Liift4 I packed my gear to run but my leg was still pissed at me for the flip flops.   In the end I decided another day of rest was best and met my mother for dinner instead.  However that may have been a bad idea as I spent the rest of the night violently ill.🤢

Wednesday- 4 miles With the temps in hometown around 110, I opted to run in work town where it was a pleasant 66.  I always feel super awkward running in work town for some reason but usually settle into it around 1.5 miles in- around when I hit the eucalyptus grove.   I feeling good and running an easy pace but the 80% humidity was making my breathing sound like I was sprinting.  That said, this was a rare time I powered up the hill back and felt like I could have done it again.  I didn’t.

Thursday- Liift4 I wanted to run but it was another 110 degree day and a late afternoon doctor appointment in another town messed with my plan to run in work town again.   Traffic getting home due to the Luke Bryan concert irritated me and I really wanted to run but the temps didn’t really cool until after 9 PM and not really even then.   I don’t run at night let alone at night during the fair.

Friday- Rest The Liift4 leg workout was on the schedule but I remembered being extra sore last weekend afterwards.  Which normally would be fine but with a trail race on Saturday and my leg still feeling funky, I decided to push the workout until after the race.  Possibly mistake #3.

Saturday-Vintner’s 5 Mile Race Race recap to come complete with vines, dirt, rocks,  barns and medal snafus.  My Liift4 workout did not happen that evening.

Sunday- Rest Oh, what the??? Not only did I not do the Liift4 workout I missed, I did not run.   Without going into too many details from Saturday, there are some lingering issues and anything weight bearing sounded and felt like it would do more harm than good.  I wish I could say I made that choice easily but I kept telling myself that things were going to improve right up to 5PM.   Nope.  Crap.

So yeah, 9 miles for the week, 5 out 7 workouts.  Which on the surface might not look so bad but I am a little for how it going to play out this week.

How was your week?

Week 29/ Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 1

Fallon @ Slacker Runner12 Comments

That was a mouthful.  All right, when I said things were getting serious, I wasn’t exaggerating.  So let’s do this-

Upcoming Races-

  • Vintners 5 Mile-7/28
  • SLO ULTRA 5K-9/2
  • Rock n Roll San Jose 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)-10/8
  • City to the Sea 13.1-10/14
  • Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
  • Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you Bibrave!)- 11/12

Still with me? Ok, that tired me out just typing that up.   But I have a game plan.  I really do.

Remember how I mentioned in my San Jose post that I wanted to get as close to a PR as possible?  That is still my hope.  So with that in mind, I know I need to change things up.  Oh, so many things.

The real title of this post should be Shit Just Got Serious.

As my social handle suggests sometimes I lack motivation.  In my “about” section I mention that it was a competition with my mom that got me into the best shape of my life.  Well, outside of high school but we can never go back right? 🤣

So I put my money where my mouth is and joined a challenge group.    Now I have a partner I don’t want to let down as well as getting my jiggly butt back into PR shape. So how did week 1 go?

*If you’re interested, I am using Hal Higdon’s H3 training plan.

Monday-  AM- Liift4/ PM- 3.77 miles
Look who worked out in the morning??? 40 minutes of weights and a little bit of HIIT.   Who am I?

However, I may have hydrated way too much during the after that because I kind of bottomed out right before my run.  That and my run was extremely uncomfortable as I felt like I needed to pee the entire time.  It was supposed to be 4 miles but I could not hold it any longer.  I needed to be done and I needed a bathroom.  Lesson learned- don’t consume almost 200 oz of water in 9 hours.

Tuesday- Liift 4
More weights.  However I woke up with a headache so I snoozed for another hour so this workout was done after work.

Wednesday- 2.5 miles
It was a rest day from Liift4 and even though my next running day wasn’t supposed to be until Thursday but it seemed perfect to move it up so I didn’t have to double up.  I didn’t feel sore and the plan only called for 3 miles so easy peasy right?  Haha!  My legs quickly let me know they were not on board, all the soreness I had been missing suddenly showed up.   I could barely move and was just getting slower and slower.  I figured I wasn’t doing myself any favors and called it at 2ish laps of the lake path.

Thursday- Liift4
I slept right through my alarm- first and second ones- so that meant my workout was pushed until after work.  However, my family ended up texting me asking if I wanted to join them for dinner.  I am never one to turn down free food.  😛  Instead of being my usual Slacker self, that meant I was doing a shoulder workout at 9:30 at night.  But I got it done.

Friday- Liift4
Once again, I hit snooze one too many times plus I had an early morning lab appointment.   So after a long day of work, some slacking in the evening, I was again completing the workout after 10PM.   Part of that was also due to some animal drama outside though.

Saturday- Rest
I thought about getting my long run in.  I thought about going to the fair.  Did I mention the Fair is in town? It’s chaos, just chaos.   In the end, I did neither.  I had the beginnings of a bad headache that I really didn’t want to turn into a migraine.  So got my errands done, hydrated and just tried to rest.

Sunday- 6.2 miles
My fight to stave off the migraine failed.  My alarm went off to get up and run and any movement made me either want to cry or hurl.   I set the alarm for another hour and hoped for the best.  Nope.  Another hour and repeat.  Nope.   Finally I gave up and decided to push my run to the evening hoping the temps would drop enough- we’re under a heat advisory for the next week.

I headed out a little after 5 when the temps dropped to around 90.   I knew I was going to be moving slower than normal and I was ok with that.  That turned out to be true and it was hot but it was actually a decent run.

12.7 miles of the 13 on the plan.  All Liift4 workouts completed.  My training plan starts out on the lower mileage side and I am fine with that as I incorporate cross training in for the first time in years.   Only time will tell if this pans out.

How was your week?