new gear – Slacker Runner

Where did November go?! Today should not be the first day of December- I’m not ready! But, time marches on so here is my November Recap.

Miles- 55.1
Race- GREW From the Vines 5KHikes- 2 East Cuesta and Cerro Alto So November was kind of a toss-up. I started the month feeling a little under the weather, so only logged 3.4 miles the first week. I also figured that meant I finally wouldn’t be sick on vacation. The following week I started my training plan but the first 2 weeks were fairly easy. Last week was supposed to step up the mileage and it coincided with my first week of vacation. I tried really hard to stick to the plan but the stupid head cold of Thanksgiving came back with a vengeance Saturday and Sunday. Saturday wasn’t wasted because I did enjoy some shopping with my mother. I was a little confused- where were all the people who were supposed to be out and about? I may have treated myself to a new running outfit. Both pieces are by Reebok and the pants are super warm. The top is long-sleeved and the exact style of an original clearance rack cheapie I picked up almost 2 years ago. I have worn that light pink one so many times, my mother can no longer stand the sight of it. 🙂 Sunday dawned gray and rainy, and I had been up coughing most of the night. Between my asthma and GERD, every time I get a little cold I develop a hacking cough. Geez, I have issues, nice. I knew there was no way a long run was happening but I thought I could handle a good puppy walk. Except the puppy didn’t want to walk, she wanted to run. I finally just decided to jog with her. Every so often she would look my way like – “see, I can run with you”. It was a pretty good run. I also bundled up before heading out. I tested out the new pants and wore multiple layers on top plus an ear warmer over my ears. My bottom half was the warmest part of me, though. It only rained on us for a short while. Those 4 puppy miles brought my November total to 55.1 miles. Not what I had hoped for but better than October (by a mile)! Another bonus about November? I hit my yearly goal of 750 miles!!! Miles to date for 2014- 776.8!!

Woo hoo! Time to move on to December. I have one last week of forced vacation 😦 and then it’s back to work for me. There is Christmas to prepare for, both of my parents have birthdays this week plus the plethora of Christmas/ end of the year parties are starting. I also have my colonoscopy to look forward to in a couple of weeks. All that being said, it’s time to step up the mileage.. and see if I can really follow through! Oh and it’s time to watch a bunch of silly made for tv Christmas movies. 🙂

How was your November? Are you ready for December?

Any Reindeer runs in your future or are you done racing for 2014?

Thank you all for your encouraging comments on my last post. I felt a little odd posting it. I wasn’t sure how well “re-embracing the Slacker” would go over. It does sound a little backwards 🙂

Friday was one of those days that started ok and went south real fast. So fast and south that it made me question how well I was doing my job. By the time I got off work all I wanted to do was eat a pizza. Like, the whole thing. I had had tentative plans to hit the track for some speed work with a friend but those fell through. Part of me wanted to use that as added justification for the pizza. The other part of me wanted to run. In the end I met up with my mother at the river path. We walked the first 3 miles while I ranted. Well as much as I could without going into too many details. By the end of mile 3, my feet were itching to run. So I decided to run the last mile. I felt really good on that mile; I felt like I was running out my irritation and doubt. So good in fact, I am pretty sure I threw down my fastest mile- 8:15. Sweet! I can’t find the proof to back that up though, apparently my Garmin doesn’t track single mile records?! My fastest unofficial 5k is 26:35 so I double checked the times on those miles, and yep, this was still faster. 🙂

The only bummer was that while running I determined that my white Wave Riders are pretty much done for. 300 miles and done. Poor, pitiful shoes. I have already been breaking in their replacements but it’s still sad to say goodbye to these. Normally I would try to get a few more miles out of a shoe but since I should be in a support shoe but choose to run in a neutral shoe, I have been trying to pay more attention to how the shoe wears down. On Saturday, I did some shopping and I did purchase some fancy insoles to try and see if that would help get some extra miles out of them. The verdict is still out on that one. I also purchased another belt to try out. I have a fitletic belt and a Flipbelt, but I am always open to possibilities. Sunday, I finally followed through on a longer run. I made it to the track for 8 miles. I have missed the track. I didn’t feel up to speed work and figured a long, slow run would be more beneficial anyways. My Garmin apparently had other plans. It took awhile to find the signal and by the time it did, it was almost 2/10 of mile behind. By the end of my run, it had dropped even more distance. I could not figure out was going on. Luckily, I am a little neurotic and still run with the Nike app too. It tracked well enough. Warming up was hard on the track. I had to force myself to walk 3 laps, which is huge compared to the 200 meter warmup I used to do. After that I just tried to keep an easy pace. I ran miles 2, 3, 4 and took .1 walk breaks in miles 5 and 6. After that it was all running until I hit 8. The weather was kind of weird for the run, overcast and kind of muggy but not too hot. At one point, I thought I smelled rain in the air but nothing ever happened. Boo, that would have felt great.

I stayed in lane 7 the entire time, my Garmin disagrees.

I also got to see a prodigy in the making. This family came to the track to have the little boy ride his big wheel. He was having some problems steering. However the scene stealer was his towheaded, little sister. They brought her a tricycle but she didn’t need it. She ran laps around the track, barefoot. He father was cutting across the grass trying to catch her. She was all of 3 years old and so cute. She thought it was all a great game to her. If she keeps running, I’m betting she’s gonna be fast. 🙂

After stretching out some, I tried messing around with a self timer app that I downloaded. Haha, umm no. I was either out of the shot or looked like I was tripping instead of running. I also determined that the new belt is a no-go. While the pouch didn’t move or bounce, the belt refused to stay put. Granted I wear my belts super low. So low, a woman in the SLO half grabbed my shoulder at mile 2 to tell me it was falling off. Nah, that’s normal. I could do without the bubble butt effect but it works for me. This Nike belt will not, so it’s going back.

Do you see how low that is? — Do you see how low that Flipbelt is?

My run felt good. It was a little harder than I would have liked but considering I had to talk myself into getting out there, I was ok with that. I tried to rationalize another weekend of shorter runs but even with my revived Slacker-ness, I knew that was a bad idea. But I admit I was glad when I was done. Then it was time for a quick shower before heading out to dinner with the family. Olive Garden, yummy.

Ever run into any running phenoms?

Any suggestions for a wacky Garmin?

How do you carry your gear?