Tag: Migraine

BibRave, Run!, Training

Week 37:Upcoming Races-Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 9

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

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

This week was ruled by sunburns, migraines and then peeling.  Oh yay!

That said, it surprisingly wasn’t a complete wash on the workout front.   I was feeling a little adrift after the Liift4 challenge was done so I joined another challenge group but this one is less focused and you pick your own workout so I was a little slacker-like in that respect.

The plan called for a 4 mile run, 30 minute pace run and a 10K race.  It was kind of a step back week.  There weren’t any 10k’s locally so my original hope was to sub in a 10 miler.

Monday-Rest
The sunburn from hell kept me from doing anything too active.  I wore one of my loosest dresses but even that made me cringe anytime I moved at work.

Tuesday-4.2 ish miles
I headed for the river path to get in a few miles. I really wasn’t feeling it but I told myself to just get started and see what happened.    I felt better once I got started and even threw in some tempo bits.  I guess I should say fartleks.  I was glad I didn’t bail and followed through with my run like planned.

Wednesday- 21 day Fix- upper fix
What the hell? After 8 weeks of Liift4, I figured 21 Day Fix would be a walk in the park.  People, I was sweating in the 2 minute warm up.  10 minutes in, I was like what the hell is this?????   I finished but need to reassess my fitness level.

Thursday- 3.6 miles
The plan called for a 30 minute pace run.   The migraine that rolled in had other plans.   I still headed to the lake path for a few miles but I wasn’t optimistic.  The pace run didn’t happen but I did get a few easy miles around the lake.  Took a few walk breaks whenever I felt like I needed and just kept putting one foot in front of the other.

Friday- Nothing
I meant to do another 21 day fix but the migraine was still hanging around and by the time I got home after 7, I was done.

Saturday- 21 day Lower fix
I was supposed to do my long run.  I was supposed to go to my boss’s boss retirement party.  Instead I didn’t get out of bed until 10 AM and I took a 2.5 hour nap in the afternoon.  Damn migraine, you can leave anytime now.  I did manage to complete another workout in the evening though.

Sunday- 7.2 miles
I woke early to run but my head was still fuzzy and I admit when I saw the temp was 42*, I wimped out.  Where did the cold come from?? So like an idiot, I put it off until the afternoon.  Where I rode the struggle bus.  I had hoped for 10 miles but yeah no.  My headphones died just past mile 2.  My stomach cramped horribly around mile 4.  Cramped like I started walking a lot- there were no bathrooms on my route.   I had the driest mouth ever- even though I was chugging all the Gatorade.  I called it at 7 miles.

15 miles for the week and 2 cross training workouts.  Considering how I felt for most of it, I am calling that a quasi-win right now.

How was your week?

BibRave, Run!, Training

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

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

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?

BibRave, Run!, Training

Week 29/ Rock n Roll San Jose Training Week 1

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

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?

Recap, Run!, Training

Week 25- Of Heat and Headaches

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

What’s up party people?

Yah, no, I’m never saying that again.

Last week was a typical work week.  I got in a few miles, did some yoga (say what?), probably watched too much TV, probably ate too much food, definitely consumed too much popcorn while watching Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom.  Oh and I Twitter stalked the Western States results.  As one does.

Monday- 2.32 miles   I headed for the lake path after work hoping that the combo of the dirt trail and the flatness of the loop would be good for my foot.   It was a little warm- mid 80’s but I was only out there for a short time so how bad could it be?  Good lord, I was sweating so bad in those short 2 miles- what gives?  😛  However, as long as I focused on my form and how I landed on both my ankle and my left foot, it wasn’t a bad run.  I was feeling a little encouraged.

Tuesday- Rest  I wasn’t going to be stupid though and push it.

Wednesday- Rest I was actually supposed to attend a business mixer after work but I ended up feeling super nauseous and sick to my stomach towards the end of work so I ended up just going home.   Which sucked because I was planning on running after the mixer too.  However when I got back to town, I realized those plans would have been scrapped anyways as town was blanketed in smoke due to a brush fire on the army base.

Thursday- 3.14 miles It was 60 degrees in work town and 100 in home town, where do you think I ran?   Yeah, I never claimed to be a genius.   It actually didn’t feel that hot but I tried to be smart and made sure I took walk breaks consistently even if I didn’t feel like I needed them.  I also made sure I had plenty of hydration on me.  Overall, this was a decent run and I only one odd twinge from my foot.

Friday- Hey, migraine, I didn’t invite you to the party.

Saturday- Yoga My migraine was still an unwanted visitor when I woke up in the morning and it never really eased up.  It was another really hot day so I wasn’t going to push it with my head already being on the edge.  Instead I started a yoga series in the evening.

Sunday- 5 miles/ yoga Temps in the 80’s felt pretty marvelous after the previous few days.  I wasn’t feeling like running though so I kept putting it off. Truthfully I just wanted to take a nap.  But I made myself change and lace up my shoes and get out there for a few miles.  I told myself to do 3 but I was feeling ok so I ended up doing my neighborhood “easy” 5.    I shouldn’t call it that… the hills make it feel the opposite of easy.  I later did the second yoga video.

10.5 miles for the week.  Well, at least the number is going up and I think my foot is starting to cooperate.  Fingers crossed.

How was your week?

Run!, Training

Week 19- Disconnect

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races-

  • Rock n Roll San Diego 13.1

I wish I could say my migraine was all gone when I woke on Monday but no such luck.   It did ease up as the week progressed but I swear migraine brain made me feel stupid.   And tired.  Maybe it’s all because of allergies?  My car is covered in a lovely yellow powder these days.

Monday- Nothing- The migraine was still lingering so after making it through work, I just headed home to rest, well after a stop at In n Out for dinner.  😛  Oh, wait I did attempt my PT exercises.

Tuesday- 3 miles I had tried sleep, ice packs, dark rooms, food (so much food), now it was time to try running out the headache.     I almost quit less than 1/4 mile in.  I felt like the top of my head was going to pop off and I was just walking.  Perhaps a hat, headphones and 90* temps was a bit much all at once.  I ran super slow and took breaks if I felt I needed a moment to chill on the path.  By the end of the 3 miles I did feel a little better.

Wednesday- Rest My head felt better but I wasn’t going to push it and do too much too soon.   Instead I took my parents to dinner and almost got run over in a parking lot cross walk.  Nice.

Thursday- 3.15 miles  My legs and head were not talking to each other.   My legs apparently wanted to move but the rest of my body not so much.   I kept telling myself to slow down but it wasn’t really working.  Which was weird because I also finally understood the meaning of tight hips on this run.   It sucks! I stopped my watch with a 1/4 mile to go and worked on squats, walking lunges, side steps and karaokes the rest of the way before stretching out.

Friday- Rest  Oh good lord, a few squats and lunges on Thursday and I think I hurt worse the next day than I did after Big Sur.  🤣

Saturday- Mother’s Day Shopping– I spent the day shopping with my mother for Mother’s Day.  No running but I definitely got my step count in!

Sunday- 7.16 miles The plan was for 6-10 miles as my first long run since the marathon 2 weeks ago.  Except I slept so poorly and woke with a headache.  I lay in bed from 6:30 to 9:30 trying to either force myself to get up to run or go back to sleep- neither worked.  My brother took us to lunch and I was hoping food would help and I could squeeze in my run before dinner.   Except after lunch and a short nap, I really did not want to run at all.  I was feeling very Slacker like.   But I forced myself to change and headed across to town to attempt a run.

I told myself a short run was better than nothing- 3 miles and I could go home.   I started out and just kept going forward.  At the turn around point for a 3 mile run, I kept going, I wasn’t happy but kept going.  At mile 2.5 I had to stop and lose my top layer, I was way overdressed for the temp but I kept going.  Not only was I still running but once again my legs were writing checks that the rest of me wasn’t keen on paying.  However, I mostly let them do their thing and took walk breaks when my lungs pointed out my foolishness.   Which they did more than once…more like each mile.  However, I was somehow turning out my fastest 7 miler in over 2 years and I have no idea where it came from and I was actually feeling pretty good.   In an effort to be at least slightly smart I called the run at 7 miles.  Less than the original plane but more than I had been feeling!

13.34 miles for the week.   If I didn’t have a half in 3 weeks, I would say hell yeah to that mileage post Big Sur.  But I do, so I am slightly nervous.  Oh and I did more squats and lunges Friday through Sunday- can I keep it up?

How was your week?