I am not gonna lie, last week was rough. On most fronts.
My stress level may have hit peak levels. I wasn’t feeling great either.
No running on Monday as I had promised to help my dad with something.
Tuesday saw a nice, fairly relaxing run. I just enjoyed the sky and cleared my head. It was great while it lasted. 3 miles.
We don’t talk about Wednesday. Nope. Nope. Nope.
I desperately needed a good run on Thursday. However, that wish was denied. I headed out for a run after work and it hurt. My left leg was pissed and it would not loosen up. I ended up calling it and turning around to hobble back to the car.
Friday was a compression sock wearing stress ball kind of day.
Road trip!!! Saturday dawned bright and early and I was off to Napa with my mother. A little shopping along the way and then it was off to the expo. Not gonna lie, I felt a little claustrophobic in the expo. It was a snug fit in a tight space. Then we drove to find the race start and then our hotel. I suck at maps. The hotel was over 30 minutes away from the start. Oops. After the draining week, it didn’t take much for me to doze off early. Now if only I could have stayed asleep.
Seriously, what day is it? I was wrong most days last week. The drama of Sunday continued on into the week. Roll with it right?
My dad had more health drama, I was supposed to be running a half marathon on the weekend. I tried to cancel, he insisted I go. It was a lot of back and forth. I also drove around the county numerous times. I knew a couple vacation days were coming at the end of the week, so I just tried to hold on. I was feeling a little fried.
Oh, and I got a new watch!
Monday- Rest or Stress I dropped my dad off at the hospital in the early morning and made my way to work. I had running gear for an after work run but then things changed and I ending up leaving work early because they said I had to pickup my dad at 2:30. Get there and they wanted another hour. I was regretting leaving my running gear at work. I could have run laps around the hospital. I napped in the car.
Tuesday- Nothing Or just something I did that I can’t remember.
Wednesday – 3ish miles After so many days off, I had a feeling this was going to be rough. It honestly felt pretty good. In fact I probably would have run more but every now and again, the end section of the street where I park my car gets super full. Like cars idling in odd spots and people talking to each other in and out of cars. And I mean like 10 cars. It’s always odd so I bounced.
Thursday- Nothing I had planned on running and was hoping to break in my new watch but again life. My dad had gone back to the ER on Wednesday night and then he wasn’t answering his phone that afternoon. So I went straight to check on him after work.
Friday- Road trip! After much back and forth with both of my parents, I headed down towards Santa Clarita for my Saturday race. By this time I had already messaged the race and dropped from the 13.1 to the 10K. I had canceled my hotel in the beginning of the week so I was also booking a hotel en route. Oh, and Northern Los Angeles was on fire.
I picked up my bib and did a little wandering around Vasquez Rocks.
Saturday- Space Rock Trail Race Recap to come.
Sunday-Recovery And coughing and wheezing.
So, 9 ish miles for the week. This is not how you approach running a 50K. Not even if you are training glacially slow.
Race week arrived and I don’t think I’ve had a bigger case of the whatever’s.
I worked hard for 13 weeks and then the last 2 was eh. Life, right?
Things were a little crazy last week as I canceled my hotel room on Monday and then rebooking another on Thursday. Work had it’s moments and asthma and I aren’t getting along. But I had a great race weekend to look forward to and I was bringing multiple people with me this time. More fun, right?
Except, I need to stay out of stores that sell purses. Full Stop, seriously.
Running wise though, my runs went surprisingly well.
Plan vs Reality
Monday- Up/down 1.5 miles, 2x 1 mile at goal pace/ 3.5 miles I set out to do the workout but wasn’t feeling it. Instead I ran- ok mostly walked- a warmup and then ran 2.5 of the steadiest miles I’ve run in a long time. I’m counting it as a win.
Tuesday- 1.5 miles/ MM 100 7 I had post work plans and just decided to not even try to run. I did however squeeze in a MM 100 workout. While I love the workouts, I decided after this to put them on hold until after the race- my hamstrings were so tight.
Wednesday- 1.5 miles/ 1.3 miles Ever have that vain moment where you think -“I’ve done a week of MM100 workouts, those cute shorts should work for running now”? Haha, nope. 1.3 was all my thunder thighs could handle.
Thursday- 3 miles w/strides/ 3 miles w/ strides I did exactly what the plan said! Yay!
Friday- 1.5 miles/ Rest Nothing but work and heading home to pack for Oakland.
Saturday- Road trip! We all packed up and away we went. We did a little shopping, some pizza eating before checking into the hotel. Then it was more shopping and more eating before trying to get some sleep before the race.
20.6 miles for the week. If you looks strictly at the number of miles run vs the plan- I nailed it . The details reveal a much different story.
Last week so up and down. Actually more down. I dealt with a possible leg issue, my sleep doesn’t seem to be getting any better, splinters in butt and then an ant attack. Oh and asthma issues. I’ve joke I should be called Calamity Runner instead of Slacker and last week it really fit.
Planned vs Actual
Monday- 1.5 miles / 1.5 miles Easy running on Monday. It felt odd doing so few miles on a day off work but I was keen on sticking to the plan. The odd part was the twinge in my left ankle that started about 40 minutes after my run.
Artsy or moody?🤔
Tuesday- 1 up/down, 3.5 mile tempo/ 3.5 blow up I headed back to the lake path figuring the flat, friendly, sandy trail would help me focus on my pace. Big dreams. I couldn’t have been more wrong. My left foot and ankle were pissed. I couldn’t get my breathing under control and I was nowhere near hitting my paces.
I had 2 failed tempo miles before I called it and walked it in. Then to add insult to injury I sat on a wooden bench to at least enjoy the sunshine and wound up with splinters in my butt. 😂
Wednesday- 1.5 miles/ 2.2 miles I kept it super easy and honestly probably walked half of it. My ankle was angry but not as pissed as the day before. I was still very nervous about any running especially since I had a race only a few days away.
Thursday- 4 miles/ Zero I decided rest was best and resigned myself to the red dot in Final Surge. I was supposed to go to a networking event after work but this was when the ant attack happened. I went to get gas as my car was on empty. As I was filling the tank, I decided to wash my windshield. Partway through I felt stings on my right foot. Look down to my right foot, ankle and shoe are covered in ants. I scream and kick the shoe across the gas station lot, I throw the squeegee too. Then I am hopping around on one foot trying to brush the ants off while the stinging turns to pain and of course my dress decides now is time to do a Marilyn Monroe impression. I flash all the workers in the auto bay. I finally got them all off, jumped in the car and drove straight home. I jumped directly into the shower but my foot was bright red with bites and swelled. Yay. I’ll spare you the pic I took- my toes are ugly. 😒
Friday- 1.5 miles/ more rest Rest, rinse, repeat. Except today I felt like things were crawling on me. 🐜
Like my makeshift arm warmers?
Saturday-7 miles/ Road trip! I knew my long run would be Rock N Roll San Diego this week which meant long run on Sunday and not Saturday. It was also a very long drive down. But I made it to the expo around 3:30. Picked up my stuff, did a little shopping- I forgot my water flask and Gatorade Endurance at home. Doh! I tried to turn in early to get as much sleep as I could. Haha!
Disclaimer: I received an entry to Oakland Running Festival as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!
It’s race week!
How did that happen? Then again the last few weeks have kind of been a blur so that explains that.🤣
Speaking of sleep, it hasn’t been going so well this week. I just tell myself that it’s all the more reason to love the Oakland Marathon start time. 9:30. Which is one of the latest times I have ever started a race.
It kind of makes me nervous- I’m going to be running until when? Haha. I am sure I will appreciate the late wake up call on Sunday but it’s odd. I’m used to 6:30 start times, 8 is late. Maybe race mornings are the reason I can’t run early? Nope, just lazy.
I am staying at the race hotel so that’s going to be new too. I feel fancy. Just kidding. I may or may not have my mother traveling with me- it’s up in the air. 🤷♀️
I have increased my mileage but not by much so I am treating the race as a well supported long run. And fingers crossed none of the issues from Surf City pop back up. I know I said I was cool with my slower time but it doesn’t mean I want to do it again.
The only thing I am mostly stressed about is driving to Lake Merritt on race morning, I know I am going to run into race detours but I am not sure where or how many times. The marathon on the 5K start at 7 and 7:30 respectively. Fingers crossed for smooth sailing!
Oh and what pair of shoes to wear. Can’t my feet just be happy?
