Tag: miles

Week 22- June?!?

Upcoming Races:

  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

Wait, it’s June?  And race week?  Someone really needs to slow the clock down.   Or I’ll take a Time Turner, wouldn’t it be nice if those were real?  😛

I suffered from vacation brain and just burn out this week.  Everything seemed so much harder than it should have been.  Seriously, I had troubles counting.  That’s not a good thing in my line of work.   I had to count things multiple times.    While I love 4 day work weeks, there is still 5 days worth of work to fit into those 4 days.  Years ago I had a coworker tell me she hated 3 day weekends because she spent all of Monday stressing about the increased workload on Tuesday.   I won’t complain about 3 days off but I am beginning to see her point.


I mentioned in my last post that I may have ordered myself a new Garmin.  It’s here!!  It’s so pretty, now I am just trying to figure out the bells and whistles.


Monday- 2.74 miles  Ugly.  I decide to try the Roga’s again and once again it was a bad idea.  I eventually gave up attempting to run and just walked it back to my house.  It felt a waste of the extra time off work.      I did take the dog out for a short walk later but it was super short and slow.

Tuesday- Rest With work typically being crazy busy and now being down a person ( my coworker had the baby!) I didn’t even try to run.  I thought about riding the bike when I got home but thinking is as far as it got.

Wednesday- Rest  Oh hey, I have a race in 4 days.   I started to do the math and realized that if ran today and Thursday like planned, I would have more miles than previous weeks.   That didn’t seem like the best idea.  Granted my miles have been so low that a taper seems silly but it still didn’t seem smart to suddenly increase them on race week.    Then my brother decided to take the family to dinner so I figured it all worked out, right?


Thursday- 3.22 miles   Ok dinner was a bad idea, it made me sick.  At first I thought it was just my stomach being an asshat but I later found out that my dad was kind of sick too and we ate the same thing.   There was a point I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to run at all.  Yet, I changed and headed for home town.  Once I got there I realized it was 85 degrees and I had somehow forgotten a water bottle.  Lovely.  Then somehow this run kicked ass.   I decided to keep it shorter and slower than planned due to lack of hydration and heat and managed to stick to one of those. 😛   I ended up running my fastest 5K in the last 6 months.  Still slow as I made sure to take walk breaks every 2 minutes but my legs felt great!   Where did that come from?!

Friday- Rest Total vacation brain, stress ball.  I was trying to get everything done so no one had to worry about anything while I was gone and I was stressing out.  I love vacations but the type A in me hates not being there.

📷:azsungoddess

Saturday- Road trip!!  Oh good lord, it took 7 hours to get to San Diego.   Traffic, you suck.  Once we were finally there we headed straight for the Convention Center and the Expo.  Bib pickup and shirt pick up was a cinch then it was into the crowd.  I figured we were so late most people would have already picked up their stuff…nope!  People everywhere!   I was able to meet up with Mai of Once Upon A Run and Chelsea of The Dancing Runner, which was awesome!  Then it was of to Seaport Village for a Bibrave Pro meetup with Mai and Emily of azSunGoddess.   


 Finally we checked into our hotel- literally across the street from the finish line festival- before heading out for some food.    I tried to go sleep early as I knew I had a really early wake up call but I was realizing that you really could eat too much pizza.  Food and I did not get along this week.  😭

Sunday- Rock n Roll San Diego 13.1  Recap to come.  But for the first time, I took a race shuttle to the start.  Look at me being all runner like.  😛

19.2 miles for the week.  I meant to ride the bike but it just never happened.  I wasn’t too busy I just didn’t make it a priority.  Next week.

Speaking of next week, I have the week off!! Woo hoo!  I have so many things I need and should get done but I also kind of want to spend a day or 2 doing nothing.  Which one will win?

How was your week?

Do anything fun this weekend?

What do you do on Stay-cations?

Week 20- Oddly Inspired

Upcoming Races:

  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

I planned to take it a bit easy this week post Wine Country Half but other than some soreness in my quads on Sunday and Monday, I was feeling pretty good.  I’ve been fighting some achiness in my left leg though so I am trying to be smart for once with another half in a few weeks.

Work was busy last week, meetings galore and more to come this week.   Thursday started an hour and a half early- damn that was a long day.  Guess one plus to no longer being salary is that I actually get overtime for crazy days like that.   😛


Monday- 3 miles   I had new shoes- Adidas UltraBoost X to break in so I was looking forward to my run after work.    These are different than my past shoes in that they have a ton of arch support.  I took these miles slow as my feet were not entirely on board with the change.  I had to stop and listen the shoelaces as they felt super tight.  By the end of the run my left foot was on board, my right was still protesting.  I wasn’t worried about it though because it always takes me a while to break in new shoes.


Tuesday- 4 miles  AMGEN rolled into work town so we closed early and got the heck out of town before the chaos got too bad.   I had big plans for a Tuesday 10K at the lake but when I got there I didn’t want to run there.  So I drove to home town and the river path.    was still looking forward to the extra time to run but my legs were not on board.    They were stiff and just felt like boards.  I gave them until mile 3 to warm up.  When I still had dead legs at that point I called it at 4 miles.  It wasn’t happening and pushing it wasn’t likely to be beneficial.

Wednesday- Rest  After the dead legs of the day before, I figured I’d listen to my legs and take a day off of running.  I planned on some cross training but yeah, that didn’t happen.


Thursday- 2.6 miles I had 2 meetings at work and it ended up being a 10 hour work day.   My last meeting was in home town though so I rushed home and changed super fast to get out the door for a run.   It was in the 80’s but it felt ok.   I wore the Adidas again but this time with thinner socks to see if made a difference.  It did but it wasn’t all good.  On the flats and uphills, the shoes felt great but on downhills I was sliding all over the place inside the shoes.    That said, my legs felt great and I felt like I could have kept running but I forgot why I don’t run my neighborhood around 6- the elementary school is a death trap.  😕

Friday- Rest Friday brain had definitely set in.   I planned to cross train after work but again, that didn’t happen.


Saturday- 3.1 miles  I planned a low key weekend hoping I could catch up on the sleep I’ve been short on for 3 weeks.  I knew that may mess up my long run but  I was ok with that.    I woke with my alarm, turned it off and went back to sleep.   Oops.  I headed out around 3:30 for a short, slow run.  It was mid 90’s when I started so I my only plan was to take it slow and just start acclimating to the heat.  And to force myself to wear my Stride shorts.  😛   My legs felt great but yeah it was warm out there.  I wanted to run more but considering 70’s killed me at SLO, I forced myself to keep it short.

Sunday- 8 miles bike  Did you forget I had a stationary bike?  I kind of did too.  Last time I was on it was December.   My bad.   I stayed up late reading on Saturday night which meant an early morning run did not happen.  I still thought about heading out for 6 miles around 3 but it was 95.  Combine that with a sudden re-occurrence of the damn achy left leg and I chose another option.    However, I haven’t gotten my fan out of the shed and didn’t use the air conditioner so the room felt like a sauna while I was riding.  😛

Miles- Run 12.7   Bike 8    Ok so the miles don’t show it, but hot damn people, look at this week!  I worked out 5 times!  Do you know the last time that happened?  Because I don’t.   Surprisingly, I also feel like I caught up on a little sleep and I checked a few things off of my to do list.  Say what?!  I don’t know what came over me last week but I kind of like it.   Will it continue or was it a one time fluke?  I’ve been struggling with motivation this year and I’m kind of over it.   I just want to run… and I need that feeling to last longer than this week.  Oh and I wore shorts 3 out of 4 runs!  It the little things right?

How was your week?

What’s your weather like?

Anyone race?

Week 18- Step Back

Upcoming Races:

  • Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13
  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

The beginning of this week was full of late work meetings so with the lingering effects of SLO being felt, I figured it was a good reason to use the time to rest.  Otherwise I probably would have tried to run too soon.    My left ankle was very sore and achy so taking Monday through Wednesday off was probably the smartest thing to do.   But it was hard, I still packed running gear and took it to work every day.  😛

There was also the lack of sleep.  What I didn’t mention was that pre-SLO, I only slept for about an hour.  I generally sleep poorly before races but rarely that bad, I didn’t feel like it affected my race performance though.  I was looking forward to sleeping on Sunday night… except I couldn’t.  I managed less then 5 hours.   Grrr.  Monday night was more of the same as was Tuesday.  By Wednesday I was running on fumes but it didn’t really hit me until Thursday when I was driving home from work.  I started to get sleepy.    Like so sleepy I had to change my running plans because I wasn’t going to make the whole drive home.

That’s not to say it was a bad week, it wasn’t at all- it was a good week.   I just had some speed bumps.    I ate some super yummy food this week and that’s never a bad thing, right?   I did start a Random Friday post but dozed off part way through. Oops!

Monday- Rest  Day 1 of the planned 3 days.  I had a meeting after work so I knew running was very unlikely.  Which was good because damn my ankle was sore.

Tuesday- Rest Day 2 but like I said I carried my running gear with me every day.  Optimistic or in denial?  My ankle was still achy.  I stretched and foam rolled and planked that night.


Wednesday- Rest Day 3  Car show sponsor dinner.  I learned last year that this would be a late night so there was no way running would be happening.  But with an awesome dinner, who can complain?


Thursday- 3.5 miles  I ran!  But I damn near fell asleep on the drive there.  I planned on running in home time but halfway there I realized I wasn’t going to make it.  So I made an emergency right at the lake path and hoped the fresh air and a few miles would wake me up.     Thankfully it did.   As for the miles, I was sluggish and a little sore to start but once I got going things loosened up.  I still made sure to foam roll and stretch really well that night.  I also iced, just for GP.

Friday- Rest  I worked open to close so I knew it was going to a long day.  We were treated to breakfast which was yummy Acai bowls which almost turned bad.  I took a bite of mine and it tasted off.  I took another bite, nope- it still tastes wrong, tastes like nuts.  Turns out they messed up my order and gave me the wrong base, which wouldn’t be so bad except the 2 main ingredients were peanut butter and almond milk.  Umm, I’m allergic to nuts.   I was just going to say whatever and have a cookie because you don’t complain about free food but a coworker took it back and the store corrected it to my original order.  She’s awesome.  (I can’t leave- I swear I’m not just lazy 😛)


Saturday- 6.2 miles  My overall fatigue level for the week never really improved so I made the decision on Friday that I was not running long this weekend.  I was doing 2 6 milers and I was comfortable with that.  Rest is important too.  A cold front came in so I was able to sleep longer and head out for an afternoon run.   Running wise, it was awesome.  Smashrun says it was my fastest run in 6 months.    However it was freakin’ chaos- it was moments of running calmly interspersed with moments of running for my life along with some walking.    It started out normally but went weird soon.   I noticed that a tiny house I’d been watching had recently sold and the new owner had a dog.  I wondered if the dog was nice because dogs like to eat me.  1/2 mile later I was running past a couple of parked cars when 4 pit bulls tied in a truck bed decided I looked like a good snack.  I freaked out and jumped into the middle of the street.  The owner said nothing and just looked me.  Asshat.    2 miles later on my way back I stopped at an intersection because I realized I don’t really know a 6 mile route from my house and was wondering if my mileage was going to work out when I heard a loud BANG! It sounded like a gunshot and it was right near me.  What the hell?!   I know it wasn’t a gunshot because that is actually not an abnormal sound on my longer runs (rural area) but I bolted like a bat out of hell.     I’m running neighborhoods, what is going on?  Then is started raining on me.  Seriously, just get me home.

Sunday- 6 miles Rest  It was raining in the morning so I planned on running in the afternoon.  At least that was the plan.     I ended up super dizzy and nauseous in early afternoon and it lingered into the evening.     I kept trying to force myself to get out and run but I am clumsy on a good day, who knows what damage I could do to myself if I tried to run while dizzy?

9.7 miles for the week.  Perhaps more of a step back week then I planned post SLO but maybe my body was trying to tell me something.   With a race next week, I chose to listen for once.  Who knew?

I did go and see Guardians of the Galaxy 2- Freakin’ awesome!

Oh- who watched Breaking 2?   What did you think?  Kipchoge was so close!

How was your week?

What was the last movie you saw?

Week 17- Surprise Race

Upcoming Races:

  • Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13
  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

I had a plan coming into this week but was thrown an unexpected curve ball towards the middle that slowed me down.  And left me craving burgers- seriously, I ate 3 this week.   😛   Maybe I should avoid the scale for a bit?   Or should I just call it carb loading?   Except that’s a bit excessive.

We got new alarms at work this week. Which would be awesome if we didn’t keep setting them off.  Grrr.  Speaking of work- a few weeks back I mentioned that I hit 10 years but I thought with the company change it would go unnoticed.  On Friday, I learned differently-

😀😀

Monday- 2.5 miles  Since Sunday’s run had been such a hot mess, I kept this short.  I also ran in the Sayonara’s again for the first time since the knee pain.  I wanted to see what happened.   It’s official, the shoes are toast.   Even 2.5 miles was too far in them.  Boo.


Tuesday- Rest  Yeah, my knee was not happy.   Sayonara Sayonara’s.

Wednesday- Rest Surprise!  I recently randomly quit birth control for some heath reasons and it’s been an interesting ride.  I’ve been taking it since I was 16 so I’ve been feeling a little all over the place.    Wednesday was the start of my first real time of the month in years.  And it jacked up my week.  😛  Plus sent me into a burger craving spiral.


Thursday- 3.55 miles  This run felt so hard.  I kept an easy pace throughout but it felt so damn hard and I was so tired.   I blame hormones.      I also changed the way  I lace the Brooks to see if that helped with my arches.  Why it took me so long to remember to do that, I have no idea.  I did it with all my PureFlow 4’s, these would probably be similar.  Silly Slacker.    It was also insanely windy for this run.

Friday- Rest–  This week just felt long and it was time to prepare for my weekend plans.  I had some odd leg pain though.  I have it every time I up my mileage though so I wasn’t overly concerned just more annoyed.

Saturday- RaceSLO packet pickup  I needed to run 12 miles this weekend but we all know I haven’t been doing so well with following through with that.  So I figured why not add a mile and run a local half on Sunday instead?  Sounds like a great idea right?    I did enjoy some amazing carb-loading though.  😛


Sunday- SLO Half Marathon- 13.1 miles  Recap to come but let’s just say that my morning started like this-


19.2 miles for the week.  Much better than last week if still a little rough in places.   I have a work heavy week this week so getting in the miles is going to be tricky so let’s see how I do!

How was your week?

What did you eat this week?

Week 15- Ouch

Upcoming Races:

  • Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13
  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

Ouch, ouch, ouch.  It hurts.  Cue panic.   I have a half in 2 weeks and Wine Country in 26 days.  Why?!?!

This week was tiring.  There wasn’t any real reason I can pinpoint it was just tiring.   I actually bought a few beers to help me relax a bit the last time I was at the store but to show how rarely I drink- when I went to have one I realized I didn’t have a bottle opener.   Well crap.  Who knew those multi purpose race medals would actually come in handy? 😛

After a good week of running last week I was looking forward to more of the same this week.   Ha!

Monday- Rest  I had planned on running after work but things ran a little later than I thought.  This is when the tiredness started.  I was also supposed to help my parents with their taxes so I decided there just wasn’t enough time.  I hate taxes.

Tuesday- Rest Hmmm, apparently this is the black hole day of the week.


Wednesday- 3.5 miles Where it all went to hell.  Ok, maybe that was a tad dramatic.   I headed to home town for what I thought was going to be a nice, easy 4-5 miler.  20 feet in I had a feeling it was going south.  My left knee hurt- like a sharp stabbing pain right under the knee cap.  Do I stop or is it going to work itself out if I run on? I ran on, slowly.   By mile 2ish, my knee was under control but now my left shin was throbbing.   My shin is always a hot point but never usually this bad.  What the hell! I had turned around before that point and was gimping my way back to my car.  Walking made my knee hurt but running aggravated my shin.  Both sucked.   Later that night I had shooting pains in my right leg… compensation maybe?

Thursday- Rest  My knee hurt at odd points throughout the day, I did the smart thing for once and just went home.   This was beginning to get irksome.

Friday- Rest  My knee felt 85% better but my shin was still twinge-y.  For only having hobbled my way through 3.5 miles during the week, I was stupid tired.  I took a nap on my lunch.


Saturday- 4 miles  I helped my mother move a bunch of rocks in the morning which may or may not have been the best idea.    I joked that I was just working on my squats and hip openers.    I headed out for a test run in the afternoon to see how things went.  One thing I changed was my shoes- Wednesday’s run was in the Sayonara’s and this was in the PureFlow’s.  I tried to keep things easy and walked anytime I felt any sort of twinge from my left leg.  All in all, it wasn’t a bad run at all.  If anything, my legs really wanted to run but I wouldn’t let them.


Sunday- 10 miles 2 less then my original planned long run but maybe more than I should have done.   A cool front and an incoming storm meant I could run in the afternoon again.  I helped my mother with more buckets of rocks and then got the run in before Easter dinner.   Can I count all the rock lifting as cross training this week?  I wasn’t sure how many miles I was going to get in but I figured I would give it a shot.     I ran the same route as last week and coming up on mile 4 I knew I had a choice- turn left and turn it into and 8 mile run with more hills or go straight across the bridge for a slighter flatter 10 miles.  I was feeling ok so I headed across the bridge.  Per usual, I picked up the pace running across the bridge and slowed it down after that.   The river path is super over grown right now so lately  I slow down, pause my music and keep an eye out for rattlesnakes.  😕    Coming back across the bridge my leg was starting to talk, not pain but not happy.  Ok, 8 miles would have been a better idea.    I slowed down and just kept moving forward.  I think I can, I think I can.  10 miles done.  Where’s my foam roller?

17.5 miles for the week.   Less then I wanted but more than I thought I would get considering how I felt on Wednesday.   I will be spending lots of time with my foam roller and stretching throughout the week to come.  Maybe this will be the kick in the pants to use the roller more consistently?   As for the pains, I think the knee may be a problem with my shoes.  If so, this is the quickest I’ve ever killed a pair of shoes- the Sayonara’s only have 174 miles on them.  I think I might know what triggered the shin so I am testing a theory this week.

Oh did I mention I tried to knock myself out on a tree branch?  😂😂

Last week had some shiny moments-  I made it to the movies to see Fate of the Furious.  Yeah it had it’s over the top moments but it was still awesome.

How was your week?

Happy Marathon Monday!!!!