Tag: marathon training

BibRave, Run!, Training

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 15

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

I may have taken week 1 of taper a little too far.  And you know what?  I am ok with that.

At this point, cramming all the miles in isn’t going to help me come race day, in fact with this groin/leg issue, it could actually hinder me.  Maybe that’s just something I told myself as I embraced the Slacker in me but I’m still ok with it.

Work was busy in odd ways, time moved quicker than I needed it to and things didn’t always work out.  I threw my pen in the air a few times.   Bad habit, I know but I always make sure there are no customers around when I do it.  😛

I crossed some things off my to do list and went to the movies and saw Rampage.  It’s pretty good but then it’s rare that I dislike a movie with The Rock in it so I was kind of biased.

So how about the running?

Monday/ Tuesday- PT exercises & stretching I had planned on taking these 2 days off from running after my last long run.   I made sure to stretch really well and focused on my PT exercises each night.

Wednesday- Rest w/ some stretching.  I was going to run but I decided to give the leg one more day.  There was also something else but I can’t remember what it is.  Oops.

Thursday- 3.26 miles I headed to the river path after work a little nervous about my leg.  It was a little sore at the start but it loosened up and the run was pretty good.  However it was way too fast.  I told myself to keep all my miles in the 12’s this week to give my leg a break and my brain too.  Plus with how I’ve been feeling, I didn’t think that would be too hard.   However these were in the 10’s and a negative split at that.  Oops.

Friday- Nada Open to close, my brain was mentally fried and I was just done.  I picked up a pizza on the way home.

Saturday- 4.53 miles I headed out in the afternoon for a few easy miles except once again I was moving way too fast.  I obviously had no control over myself last week.  Luckily I knew my mother was out for a walk on the same roads so I had built in excuses to walk when my route met up with hers.  So my running portions may have been too fast but my overall pace looks perfectly slow.  😜

Sunday- Rest.  I’m not going to say oops.  When my alarm went off in the morning for my long run, I had a pounding migraine.  It was the throbbing kind and I can’t run through those, I slapped the phone off, pulled the covers over my head and tried to hide from everything.   The pain eased by mid afternoon and I could have headed out for my run but honestly, I didn’t want to.  My leg was sore, my head still hurt and overall I was concerned that doing the miles for the sake of the miles would actually do more harm than good.  Maybe that’s just something I told myself but I’m still good with it.   Besides I wasn’t completely lazy- I did clean my car- well the inside, and trust me that was quite the work out.

7.79 miles for the week.   I should be mad or feel guilty about that but I don’t.   Whether I regret this later remains to be seen.

How was your week?

BibRave, Run!, Training

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 14

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Don’t freak out, don’t freak out.

My leg is giving me grief.  My back is putting up a fight.  I feel like I am barely running any miles and I am falling apart.  What gives?!  I really should be sleeping more.   How do I become less of an night owl??

Oh my gawd, I made it to taper.  Even though my whole training cycle has been another runner’s taper, haha.   Last week was a rather pitiful peak week but it’s done.

Monday- 2.62 miles  The irony of the mileage of this run is not lost on me.  My leg was not on board.  In fact it protested something fierce.  Fierce to the point of pain and I decided that rest days after long runs were going to have to become a thing during the next few weeks of this training cycle.   I turned around fairly soon into the run and headed back to the car trying not to be alarmed.

Tuesday- Nada I could feel my leg every time I moved.  From the car to work.  Every time I got off my chair or stood still too long.  Boo.

Wednesday-More of the same.

Thursday- 2.3 miles I headed for the lake path hoping the dirt path would be friendly to me and that I could get in a good 4-5 miles.   But that did not happen.  I managed 2 laps of the lake before I threw in the towel.  I may have pushed for more but with this weekend being my last chance to get in 20 miles I figured that was more important.

Friday- Rest I took a vacation day for a once again canceled tennis trip -rain, so I spent the day attempting to catch up on sleep and rest my leg.

Saturday- More of the same. Another rainy day.  I had started reorganizing my closet on Friday and it turned into the never ending project.  🤣

Sunday- 18.25 miles I overslept and started a little later than planned, oops.  I was also running in what I hoped would be my race day outfit to see how it worked out.  With my leg being fussy all week, I wanted to keep the run slow and steady and walk whenever I needed.  And things were actually good for the first 10-12 miles.  The temp was pleasant, my leg was cooperating and I wasn’t tired.  My clothing was another story.  My tank was riding up into a crop top, the shorties under my skirt kept moving around, my pack was shifting down my back, I had to put BodyGlide on at mile 6.  I don’t usually have to use BodyGlide when I wear skirts.  Grrr.   And my shoes were starting to hurt my feet.

The problem arose around mile 14- my back started to hurt.  And I slowed way down.  So much so, that I knew I was going to have a problem keeping my lunch plans with my mother.  Hence the 18.25.  My lower back was super cranky, I think part of the problem was the bladder of water in the back of my pack.  I stopped carrying water on my back due to back pain a few months back and stupidly forgot about it. Silly Slacker.  So another lesson learned- no bladder in the pack on race day- bottles in the front only.

When I mentioned how much slower I had gotten towards the end of the run during the lunch, my mother asked what the minimum pace was before being swept at Big Sur.  Thanks Mom.

23.17 miles for the week.  Not the 20 miler I was hoping for but not horrible.  I am trying to think positive… or maybe I am just in denial.

How was your week?

BibRave, Recap, Run!, Training

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 12

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Last week was better… of sorts.

Mother nature decided to rain fury down upon us last week and try to make up for months of doubt.  And yes I meant to spell it like that.

The storm started Tuesday and stayed until Friday morning.   There were mudslides, rocks down, trees down, flooding, too many car accidents and just chaos.  The damn river (of the river path) rose so fast overnight Wednesday that there ended up being 10 swift water rescues on Thursday. 10!  I went to work and I went home, that was it.

I am sure I did other things last week but the rain is the only thing that sticks in my mind besides the running, ha!  So let’s just get to it.

Monday- 3.1 miles I tried to get in a few miles before the storm.   I don’t recall much about the miles but I pulled some decent paces for miles 2 and 3 looking back so it had to be a decent run, right?😜

Tuesday- Thursday- Nada– See opening above.  Unless white knuckled driving counts.

Friday- Rest The sun came out so I took my gear to work to run after we closed.  At least that was the plan.   I got something in my eye and could not get it out.   I tried eye drops, taking out my contacts, nothing worked.   I finally gave up and just went straight home.

Saturday- 3.1 miles 5K shakeout, I had lots of miles planned for Sunday and I wanted to get the legs moving after so many days off.  This run actually felt pretty dang good.  In fact at one point, I felt like I was powering up a hill impressively.  Of course I couldn’t see myself, so I have no idea if that was true or not.  🤣

Sunday- Tent City Half Marathon/ 5 miles = 18 miles total  Surprise! Half marathon #30 went down on Sunday.  At the butt crack of dawn… nope pre-dawn.  In the freakin’ cold.  Race recap to come.  😀

The plan called for 19 miles so after some food and a nap I headed out in the afternoon to complete another 6 miles.  Oh my misery.  I don’t think I am built for 2 a days anymore.  I liked them during my last marathon cycle- this time not so much.  I never found a rhythm or settled into a decent pace.  I dragged ass for 5 miles and knew adding another mile would likely do more harm than good so I just headed for home knowing I would fall short.  But 18 is nothing to frown at right??

24.4 miles for the week.   Better than the last two weeks!!!

How was your week?

BibRave, Run!, Training

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 9

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Week 9… how is that possible?

Yikes.

Last week was odd.   I had to cover another location for a few hours on Monday, and my tire pressure light was on.  Not cool when you’re driving all over the county and it’s raining.  Oh and I had all my tires checked, rotated balanced the previous week.  Grrrr.   I was supposed to have 2 vacation days due to a tennis trip but it was canceled due to projected rain so I canceled of those vacation days.   The weather was hard to get a handle on as no app or meteorologist could it get it right.  There were other things that added to a very scattered feeling week.    I still feel like I am forgetting something.

Oh and after getting my air checked on Monday, my tires were fine until Sunday when the damn light came on again.  There’s a stinkin’ nail in my tire.

The Plan-

week 9.PNG

Life-

Monday -Wednesday- No Running There should have been but there wasn’t and right now I can’t remember if any of the reasons were actually really good reasons for not running.  I know one day work ran really late but as for the others?

Thursday– The vacation day I gave back. Boo.

Friday- 6 miles  The vacation day I kept as a kind of mental health day.  I slept in and headed out for a run in the afternoon.   It looked clear on the weather app but it lied.  It rained off and on the whole run.   I wanted 7-8 miles but I was so damn cold I couldn’t. 6 rainy miles were good for me.

Saturday- 6 AM miles, 11 PM miles-17 miles total  Hit the snooze button a few too many times and I knew I was splitting my run but it wasn’t supposed to be like this.  It was supposed to be 13 AM and 4 PM.  However, again the weather app lied.

I headed out in the AM planning for 13 but my legs were feeling a little sluggish and my stomach was a little off in a weird way.    At mile 4, I rerouted and reversed my middle loop so I would hit the park with the bathrooms around mile 6 instead of mile 10.  All hell broke loose just after mile 5.  It started with a few drops of rain followed by a few more then the skies opened and just dumped buckets of rain and hail.   Girls running a track race down the street past me started screaming, I tried to run for cover as hail was bouncing off cars.   My shoes were drenched with moments as well as both pairs of socks.    I had a choice to make- try to push on or bail.  It was the shoes that decided it for me.  I don’t want a blister with only 8 weeks of training left.  I also knew I’d passed the high school a mile back and my mother had a tennis practice that she was probably canceling too.  I had a small window to hitch a ride.   I called her as I ran for cover under some solar panels dodging giant puddles.

After lunch and a short nap, I headed out to finish my run.  Oh good lord, my legs were not on board.  This was struggle bus from start to finish.  The sun was out but half the miles were in a flippin’ wind tunnel and the other half had zero air movement.  It was a slog.  Nothing hurt, my legs just didn’t want to work and my little break had let me figure out what was wrong with my stomach, a surprise visit of the hormone variety, so my stomach was still not right and I was feeling more fatigue than usual so I just let it ride.   I basically crawled 11 miles.  Ok, it wasn’t that bad it just felt like it.   But I finished it.

Sunday – 3.5 mile trails  Took my shakeout run to the rails.  Went for elevation gain over pace.   Which was my original thought process back when I created my training plan but considering this is week 9 and it’s the first time I got my butt up a mountain- oops.  Every time I’m out on the trails, I remember how much I love getting my shoes dirty.

26.59 miles for the week.   So now if I could just figure out how to get the beginning of the weeks on track. 😛

How was your week?

Run!, Training

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 8

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Or the one where I almost got mowed down by a car.

Even before that though, this week wasn’t going so well.   Between the less than helpful test results, a busy week at work, a sudden cold weather snap and a bout with the stomach flu, I watched a lot of Netflix.

Monday- Rest  I planned on running, I mean a day off from work meant a perfect day for running right?  Yet somehow, between cleaning my car, inside and out- it was so dirty, getting my tires rotated and balanced and then my doctor’s appointment to get my test results, I just never made the time.  Plus it was super windy and cold.

Tuesday- Rest I never take my running gear on the Tuesdays after 3 day weekends knowing that work is likely to be crazy busy.  Plus I knew we were down 2 people so I was calling it being prepared.  It actually wasn’t anywhere near what I thought so I probably could have brought my gear.

Wednesday- Rest  I felt off, kind of moody, odd.  I brought my gym bag into the building to change but just wasn’t feeling it.  I couldn’t figure out why.

Thursday- Sick Ok, maybe that was it.  I didn’t even make it through the full day at work.  I was spending more time running to the bathroom than I was working.  Sorry, TMI.  So instead of running I spent most of the day resting in my chair and binging Netflix.  Hello, 100.

Friday- Rest I made it to work but was still feeling off, at this point was just hoping I would get in my weekend runs like planned.

Saturday- 7 miles I started the morning by filling in as a coach for the JV boys tennis team for an away match.  Yeah, that was interesting.  I had 4 boys show up, the opposing team had 19.   The opposing team was locked out f their own courts so they were literally climbing fences to get us tennis balls.  😛

I headed out for my run late in the afternoon.  After having so many unplanned days off in a row, I admit I was a little concerned how things would go.  However it was a pretty good run.  I was feeling decent so I decided to throw in some hills.  Apparently not enough because at the end of 7 miles I had only hit 600 ft in elevation gain.

Sunday- 15 miles Longest run since last marathon training cycle.   My side was hurting in the morning so I slept a little longer and headed out for my run in the afternoon.   I had a route planned and I was planning on taking it slow and easy considering it had been a rough week.  The first 1/3 felt pretty good but I told myself not to celebrate yet as I still had a long way to go.  The second third was also the warmest section and I slowed a bit as well as had a stand-off with an off leash dog.  I am not sure who was more alarmed by who.

Things went south around mile 10.  I was crossing the street to get to the park with the bathrooms.  I checked all 3 ways (T intersection) for oncoming traffic, I had reflective gear and I was paying attention.  I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT!  Yet 2/3 of the way across the street, this blue car came flying out of nowhere speeding towards me, blew through the stop sign, the cross walk and squealed it’s tires out into oncoming traffic.  WTF?! I was seriously close enough to the car to touch it.

Here’s where I reacted wrong.  After avoiding getting mowed down by the crazy, oblivious driver I looked around wondering if anyone else had seen that while cursing and yelling out loud.  Before remembering I was still in the cross walk and therefore still in street.  Move, stupid!

I had 5 more intersections and stop lights to get through on the busy side of town before I was back in the neighborhoods and side streets I run all the time.   Once I was in calmer streets it was like all the adrenaline left my body and everything cramped and my brain caught up to me about the near miss.   The last mile or so home were kind of rough but I could tell it was more emotional than mileage driven if that makes sense.

22 miles for the week.  The weekend rescued the week but things were a little rough this week.  That said, I am ok with the mileage that I did pull off.

How was your week?