Tag: long run

Week 14 Training Recap

Upcoming races– Firehouse 5K
SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus this week– Keep Calm and Run Long

This week has been in the back of my mind for a month now. Looming and lurking all at the same time. The first real test of my crazy decision to run a marathon. The first big effort for this Slacker. Throw in some stress in my personal life and some work stress and the week had the potential to go south real fast.

Monday- Rest Attack of the crazy wind! Well, spring had been here. The temps dropped and the wind came in. How those palm trees bent so far without snapping, I have no idea.

Tuesday- Rest I had every intention of running after work, I really did. My mom started texting and wanted to move pizza night up. I said I wanted to run. Her response was that it was still crazy windy everywhere. There was truth to that as we had lost part of a tree at work but I still wanted to run. Then she dropped the kryptonite- my dad would come with us if went on Tuesday instead. All right, she won.

Wednesday- 3.81 miles Baby speed work!!! I headed to the lake path for some intervals. After a 15 minute warmup I did intervals of 1:30 at 5K pace and then 1:30 recovery. Baby intervals but you have to start somewhere right? I did 6 intervals- 8:29, 8:44, 8:34, 8:19, 8:31, 8:35 pace. Which is about 30 seconds under my 5K pace but hey they were fairly consistent right? I felt pretty good and wanted to do more but knew I had big plans for the weekend and was trying to be smart.

Thursday- 5.69 miles I met up with NikeC after work for a few miles. Ouchie McOucherson. This run hurt. I am not sure if it was because I had run the day before or because I was once again wearing shorts. It also could have been the Launch’s; I was wearing different socks than usual. Whatever it was, my shins hurt the entire run. Not enough to quit but enough to be concerned. Other than that, it was a great run. The company and conversation were great and NikeC ran us up a street I had forgotten about. It was the course for a 10k we had run years ago. The race was so miserable for me, I tried to forget everything about it, it took me 2+ years to run another 10K. However, now that I remember the route, I have more ways to add mileage with out doing incessant loops.

Friday- Rest Can I say how much of a win it was that I only ate 1 cookie on Cookie Friday? Anyways, once off work I was home by 7:30 and prepping for Saturday. I was ready to go to bed by 10:30, which is early for me but I knew I had an early wake up call the next day.
So much for good intentions, I could not sleep. I was tossing and turning and felt like my heart was racing. Either the stress of the week caught up with me or the next days’ plan was really freaking me out. Either way, I got less than 4 hours of sleep.

Saturday- 16 MILES!! Holy crap, people, I followed through! I knew the likelihood of me completing this run on my own was small so weeks ago I called in reinforcements. I met up with Ashley and Heather bright and early Saturday morning. The sun was barely up!! Not that we could see it as it was a very gray morning. Heather was running 24 so she ran to where Ashley and I were and then we ran from SLO to the Avila pier and back. That sounds like a lot when I type it.

We kept a steady pace up for the first 9ish miles and I was feeling pretty good. I had to take a few walk breaks which I knew I would but I felt bad for slowing them down. The route ran through the Bob Jones Trail which I had always heard about but never really run. A mile of it was in the City to the Sea half but I was riding the misery train and hadn’t paid that much attention to it. It’s nice, paved and scenic and full of people enjoying it. We hit the bay around 8ish miles and I had to take a break. My right knee was twinging in an odd way. I told them to go ahead so I could stretch it out. Speeding up usually helps me work out the kinks so catching up to them worked perfectly. Once at the pier we turned around and headed back towards SLO.

My lungs started protesting around mile 11. Which wasn’t surprising given how heavy the marine layer was. I started to slow down. We played leapfrog for the last few miles. We would run together until I tired, then I would walk, they would pull ahead. Then I would either catch up or they would wait for me. I didn’t hurt until mile 14. Then my knees started aching and my right toes ached. Just keep running, just keep running. At this point we lost Heather, she had a much longer run back and the sun finally came out and the temp was rising. On a side note- she’s a rock star and ran 25 miles that morning!

Then my watch buzzed- 16 miles!!! I did it! And I didn’t hate myself! In fact, it kind of rocked. I have Ashley and Heather to thank for that, they were both awesome.

Funny thing- because we ran all the way to the pier, the mileage was a little off. When my watch hit 16, we were still 3 miles from the cars. I contemplated walking it, but instead we took an Uber. I’d never done that before! It was a morning of firsts.

Sunday- Rest After a much better nights’ sleep, I headed down to SLO for a little bit of shopping. I also cleared 10K steps for the day so let’s call it active rest. Stairs were the only times I noticed a little soreness from the run.

Weekly miles 25.5

Last week was a good week. I feel a little better going into future training. I know it’s going to be hard and going to kick my ass but this was the week I needed. I needed a litle reassurance to continue. I got it. Now I just need to keep running and training and taking it one week at a time. I need to work on fueling. I ran those 16 miles on an empty stomach and only ate 1/2 a package of fruit snacks along the way. I felt fine but I know that won’t always be true. My hydration was good- I had Gatorade and Skratch.

Low-carb- speaking of food, last week was kind of an odd week. I did pretty well on most days but really bad on others. It was kind of an emotional eating week but I didn’t give in anywhere near as much as I could have. I passed on In n Out for crying out loud! I am concerned that this week will be more of the same but we will see.

How was your week?

What about weather? What is it like in your neck of the woods?

Do you fuel for long runs?

March Madness- Recap

Just like that March is gone. Instead of lamenting about fast it flew by, let’s talk about what happened.

66.8 Miles

March ended up being a race free month. I sat out Wine Country Half for the first time in 5 (6?) years and never replaced it with anything. I think this is the longest race free stretch that I have had in years. Part of me likes it and the other part fears I’ve forgotten all race etiquette. 😛

After February’s realization that my long run consistency over the years was all a big lie, I was hoping for a better March. In some ways it was. I had 3 good long runs and one major flame out. I missed one long run and a few easy runs due a stupid cold/ flu thing that knocked me out but other than that I stuck to my 3x a week schedule. I do wish my overall mileage was higher but you get back what you put in right?

snapseed-14

Looking to April, it’s time to step things up. SLO is one month out and San Fransisco is 4 months out. That means increased mileage and the return of speed work. If I stick to my plan, running will increase to 4x a week. Cross training really needs to be more consistent too. It’s just so hard for me to follow through. Again, that is something I need to work on.

Let’s end on a funny story–

I headed out for a run with NikeC tonight. We explored a neighborhood I had never run in before so that was cool. On the way back to the car, a moth was flying towards us. I batted at it as it neared my face but it didn’t help. I felt like it was stuck between the frame of my sunglasses and my face. I tried swatting it away while running but it didn’t help. I ended up coming to a full stop and ripping my glasses off my face. I don’t know if it flew away then or if it was even ever really there but I noticed NikeC trying not to laugh while I swatted my face. I know I probably looked funny but it was more than that. Between coming to a stop and ripping off my glasses, I had paused my Garmin. I didn’t even realize I had done it. Apparently pausing the watch was more important than getting the moth off my face. Priorities right?

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How was your March? Are you ready for April?

Do you pause your Garmin when you stop?

Mid Week Musings 7

Thursday can be mid-week right?

I thought about posting my food post but nah, I’m not in the mood to be cranky. So let’s clear the tracks (brain fog) instead.

Remember when I said I liked to browse websites and put things in my shopping cart but never buy? Yeah, marathon training has made it even worse. I want all the shiny new things! It’s like I’m starting over! I feel like a stalker considering how often I’ve been on the same websites. How long can you stare at a water bottle?

Handheld Hydration Pack, Black, Running Water Bottle

Wind sucks. Go away El Nino, you’re drunk. Getting used to running in humidity is one thing. Cold wind turns me into a baby though. Monday and Tuesday were crazy windy and cold. Branches and trees came down, boats were evacuated off the water. Yeah, I didn’t run. #sorrynotsorry

I ate 2 big cookies today. Low carb fail. It was in the name of research though. Ok, one was. We’ve been testing different bakeries for cookie Friday’s and how else do you know if they are good? I’m going with dang good since I ate a second one.

Where is time going? It’s almost April for crying out loud. How is the year a quarter over?

I have a long run of epic proportions that I am trying not to freak out about this weekend. And I am trying shorts on a short again tomorrow. Aaaack! Not sure which is more stressful.

I have a 5K in a week. I kind of feel like I forgot how to race. It’s been so long. Especially for a 5K. Yikes!

I ran intervals tonight. Again, it’s been so long!!!!

I had so much more to say but I seem to have forgotten most of it. Oops. That’s where my brain has been living lately.

How has your week been?

What’s on your wish list?

Research calories don’t count, right?

Week 13 Training Recap

Upcoming Races– Firehouse 5K
SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus– I forgot to pick one- oops

Week 12 was pretty good so of course this week started off rocky. One of these days the pendulum won’t swing back and forth so quickly. The whole week was wonky actually. It started odd, swung into worse and then swung back again.

Monday- Rest I had planned on riding the bike but as I was leaving work I started getting texts from my brother. He wanted to know where my dad was. Odd but ok, so I called my dad. No answer. Hmm. I called my mom, no answer. That’s odd. Now my mind goes to worst case scenarios and starts thinking that something happened. Turns out my brother’s truck had broken down in the Subway parking lot. As for my parents not answering- well, they have lives. 😛 But eventually, I picked up my mom and we ended up eating Subway for dinner while waiting for AAA to tow my brother’s truck.

Tuesday- 3.5 miles– With my brother’s truck out of commission, he needed a ride to work. His current job has him working in SLO. Not in the town I work or the town we live in. Well that makes the commuting a little tricky. It’s sad how much getting up 30 minutes earlier kicked my butt. I had running gear packed but wasn’t optimistic about getting in a run. It ended up working out, I only had to take my brother halfway and he found another ride home.

I headed to the lake path to get in a few laps. Ouch, Ouch, ouch. My calves and shins were soooo tight. I hoped they would loosen up after the first lap but no such luck. I stopped multiple times to stretch during lap 2 but it didn’t help. Lap 3 probably shouldn’t have happened but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t being a big baby. It still hurt, so I called it at 3.5 miles.

Wednesday- Rest-Another earlier than normal morning and time I did take my brother all the way to SLO. That led me on a roundabout way to work but bonus- I found a new road to run on!! You know you’re a runner when you drive new roads and notice how run-able the shoulders are. I mapped it and I can run from my work location to another one and it’s around 14.5 miles. Woo hoo! Just have to figure out how to get back. 😛

Thursday- 7.5 miles– As I mentioned in Friday’s post, this run sucked. Pain, tightness, clothing issues, asthma issues, body insecurities; you name it, I had it and the run blew. I was hoping to pull off 12 but called it at 7.5. My brother took the family to pizza to thank us for the week. 🍕 Then I came home and vented about the run on the blog. I also had the beginnings of a headache so I went to bed early with an ice pack on my head.

Friday- Rest– Like all Fridays. 😀My headache had turned into a migraine. I tried drinking tons of water, caffeine, food, sugar, etc to help it but nothing worked. I even took 2 Excedrin Tension Headache pills. That was probably a mistake. I tend to have odd reactions to OTC medicines. Yeah, my pupils decided they wanted to be different sizes. I ended up going home an hour early.

Saturday- Rest– I worked in the morning and it was chaos. That seems to be the new theme for the Saturdays I work. Can it stop? Part of me wanted to run in the afternoon but I was considering another long run attempt on Sunday. I don’t usually follow the 10% rule but since 2 weeks ago saw 4.5 miles and last week 17, I decided to be smart.

Sunday -10 miles run, 3 mile walk– Holy crap people!!!! After the crappiness of this week’s runs I was not optimistic for this attempt. When my alarm went off and I saw 88% humidity for the weather, I hit snooze. I thought about blowing it off entirely, but an hour later I was heading out the door. I had zero goals for this run, I turned my watch face to the clock and then ignored it. My mother, brother and I were doing lunch so she was picking me up at the end. Erring on the side of caution, I told her to give me 2 hours.

I didn’t worry about keeping my pace slow, I didn’t worry about being fast. I ran what felt comfortable and walked when I needed to. Per usual, I picked up my pace running across the bridge, it was the only time I really felt fatigued. I kept running and was soon off road on the river path. Which turned into a running hopping dance. The path was full of stink bugs! Half a mile of watching my feet and hopping over them when needed- that added some excitement to the morning. Then it was up the hill for the river route and back down. The humidity never broke and it was still around 78% at the end of my run. I felt like a sticky, nasty mess but my lungs held up pretty well. I finished down on the river trail again and stretched out.

Then I saw my watch- 10 miles at 10:27 average pace? Where the hell did that come from? I didn’t think I had seen that pace for a long run since last year’s training for SLO. Hours later and I am still not sure how I pulled that off. And I had time to stretch and walk it out before I met my mother.

When I uploaded my figures into Smash Run later, I realized just rare this run was. I thought it had been the fastest in a year, umm, it was my fastest 10 miler since January 2014. What?!?! I’m still not sure how it happened but I will take it!

My mile splits make me laugh- typical me, all over the place. But I felt good so I’m just going to call it a win.

This week was all over the place- work, life and running included. I feel like I need another day to recover. Boo. Oh well, moving on. My hope this week is to stay consistent and pull off a new to me distance this weekend. Fingers crossed!!!!

Low-carb– umm, yeah, I had Subway 4 times this week. It just kept happening! It was easy and not horrible for you. Ugh, well, Monday is a new week right?

How was your week?

Have any Easter plans?

Training Week 12 Recap

Upcoming Races– SLO Marathon 13.1

Focus this week– Getting back on track after a sickly week.

After a less than stellar week 11 and being truthful, week 10, I was eager to get back on track. Coming clean about San Francisco also provided a good kick in the pants as well. Eagerness aside, I also knew that 2 crappy weeks didn’t mean I should go all crazy this week. So, that meant I needed a measured improvement. Umm, what does that mean?

We had a full crew at work last week for the first time in a long time. We actually had more people behind the counter than we had stools. I was actually looking forward to it, I need to sit less and what better chance?

Monday- 4 miles stationary bike– Had I realized it was going to be a short ride I would have stopped at 3.14 for PI day. But I did not. I planned on riding longer but then my mom texted me and asked if I wanted to go to Subway for dinner. For some reason, it sounded amazing so it didn’t take much to convince me.

Tuesday- 3.5 miles– I love Daylight Savings, I really do. I headed for the lake path after work. I missed it. This also means that speed work is about to make a reappearance in my life, just not today. I was taking the Launch’s for their second spin and was aiming for between 3-5 miles. My left calf was freakishly tight so it ended up being 3.5 miles. I kept a fairly easy pace but had to stop to stretch more than a few times. My back was also hurting and my stomach muscles were super sore. It’s sad how badly 2 days of standing kicked my ass.

Wednesday- Rest– Pizza night!! Also, I was still so damn sore, that I sat for most of the day. Luckily, Wednesday is a usual day off for one employee so M and I weren’t fighting for the chair. 🙂

Thursday- 4.34 miles– I finally figured out the best way to run easy- run with friends!! They say your easy pace should be a pace you can have a conversation at but it’s not like you can run and have a conversation with yourself, right? NikeC and I made plans to meet up for a run and we stuck to it! It was so great catching up!! Plus I was finally able to give her her baby shower gift! Only 4 months late.

Friday- Rest day– My boss was on vacation all week and while the week wasn’t crazy busy, there were some fires to put out. By Friday, I was feeling frazzled and needed a new fire extinguisher. Grrr. Plus my left knee started hurting towards the end of the day, pretty badly and I couldn’t figure it out. I had played catch with a 40lb box- it had started to fall so I caught it, then lost it and caught it again. Probably shouldn’t have done that.

Saturday- 9 mile long run– I am trying to switch my long runs to Saturday mornings but it’s been hit or miss the last few months. When I woke up and saw that there was heavy fog and my weather app said the humidity level was 98%, I was thisclose to saying F* it. My lungs maybe doing better but they would not appreciate that at all. They just might revolt. I had all weekend right? Then marathon training creeped into my thoughts. Other than its hills, San Francisco is known for fog. So after a few more moments of denial, I dragged myself out of my warm, cozy bed and went for my run.

I had originally hoped for 10 miles but I wasn’t sure I had enough time. The plan had been to run then meet my mom and S after tennis practice for lunch. So I was running from home across town. Which meant 7 stop lights and an unspecified amount of time spent standing still. 😛 Combine that with a slower pace due to the moisture in the air aggravating my lungs and I finished 9 miles.

Once again, my goal was to just run as easy and steady as possible. I knew I would need walk breaks and was fine with that. Overall I didn’t take as many as I thought I would. Other than the bridge miles, I kept a pretty steady 11:00 min pace, which is actually on the fast side of my current pace guidelines. The bridge mile saw a 9:41. Typical, I hate running the bridge. The mile following was also faster, coming in at 10:00. I have a serious issue running in the busy areas of town. I tend to speed up. I slowed down again by mile 6 and kept it steady until the end. I almost ate asphalt around mile 8 though. I was coming up on a stop light and was crossing through the dirt to punch the signal button. I didn’t notice the cover for the power lines and caught it with my left foot. I stumbled hard and almost went down. Luckily, flailing my arms about seemed to help me stay upright. Un-luckily, this is one of the 5 busiest intersections in town. Doh!! I recovered and finished my run. It might have been slower than my pride would like but it was where it should be right now. And it was done before lunch on a Saturday! I celebrated my getting a much needed haircut.

Sunday- 8.5 miles stationary bike– I still felt a little achy in my knee but other than that I felt pretty good. I decided to err on the side of caution though and leave my running mileage where it was at. Just shy of 17 miles was a significant improvement on the previous weeks 4.5.

Low-Carb– Ummm, oops. Monday through Thursday were great. From Friday on, not so much. And I feel puffy and gross after a few less than stellar eating days. I only have myself to blame, I should know better.

Overall, it was a pretty good week. I was feeling good about it until I realized that SLO is only 41 days away. 41 days?!?! How did that sneak up on me? I’m not ready!! Oddly, though my mileage is down from last year, my long runs have drastically improved so at least something is working. Finding the shiny, right? That said, it’s time to bring some speed work back into play. Oh crap, that sounds scary.

How was your week?

Anyone race over the weekend?

Ever almost fall in a public place?