Tag: recovery

BibRave, Product Review, Run!

Hurts So Good

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

“Disclaimer: I received an Addaday Pro Roller to review 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!”

I fully admit I slack on recovery. Well, unless you count napping?

I know I should roll. I know I should do my PT exercises. Yet, I never do until I feel something more than a twinge. Bad Slacker. It’s not for lack of equipment. I have a regular old foam roller, a generic stick thing and a random, bumpy roller I picked up at Target one day. Yet none of them ever seemed to really do anything. Could be I wasn’t using them properly either.

Enter the Pro Massage Roller from Addaday.

From the website

First impressions was that it sure looked pretty. But did it work?

I always feel so awkward rolling, somehow it makes me feel uncoordinated. That said, I did notice that this roller can pinpoint soreness much better than my previous ones. Once I figured out the red roller was to pin point problem areas, I went to town on my shins. Not gonna lie, at first I was saying- ow, ow, ow! However after more use, it felt better each time.

I’ve used the roller on my calves, shins, hamstrings, knee, etc. Tried to use it on my feet but that’s a work in progress. I’ve even used the softer blue rollers to gently roll out my neck.

My only wish is that I could get it to dig a little deeper into my right hip/ butt area. It’s my weak spot. The roller is not a replacement for the PT exercises I should be doing on the daily but it makes a great add-on.

My calves are more often than not a little cranky but they’ve felt better since I started using the roller. And for clueless people like me, the Addaday website has a lovely page with links to tutorial videos. Score!

Also, something I discovered quite by accident is that you can move the little roller balls around. I never claimed to be gentle on things (my nickname should be Destructo Girl) so one day I tossed the roller and the handle came off. At first I freaked out a little but soon realized it just screwed on. Whew, but that means the rollers can move- sweet!

I love this little roller ( I’ve already given my other stick rollers to my mom for the tennis team) and hopefully I will continue to use it regularly and not be such a Slacker.

How do you recover?

BibRave, Run!, Training

Week 41: Monterey Bay Half Prep

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races-

  • City to the Sea 13.1-10/14- maybe
  • Rock n Roll Los Angeles 13.1 (Thank you BibRave!)- 10/29
  • Monterey Bay Half Marathon (Thank you BibRave!)- 11/12

This week was an odd duck.

I was so sore post San Jose, it was ridiculous.  I started the week planning a few recovery days but it kind of snowballed from there.

Then Wednesday arrived and a baby deer and my car collided on my way to work.   I managed to mostly swerve but the deer bounced off my door panel.  I pulled over and took a few moments to breathe.   The deer managed to get up and run away so I choose to believe all good things.  However my brother was not so lucky on the way to work that morning.   His was a big deer on the freeway and they collided in a major way.    Wednesday was just off.

I supposed to run a race on Sunday- City to the Sea- one of my favorite races.  But I kind of never registered for it.  Oops.  Maybe it was meant to be?  Or to not be?

I didn’t really have a plan this week, just wanted to get in some running and some cross training.

Monday-Liift4
I was so sore after Sunday’s race.  Seriously, flat is not my friend.  I was less sore after 26 miles of Big Sur hills.  I didn’t run but I did manage to complete week 2/ day 1 of Liift4.  Very, very slowly.

Tuesday-Nothing
I really meant to do something after work but just didn’t.  I knew I wasn’t running, I wanted to give my legs and back another day to rest but I had intended to at least do a workout when got off work but I didn’t.  Oops.

Wednesday- 1.14 miles, Liift4
Deer day.   Then the day was just odd.  I changed into my running gear after work but everything felt off.  I went to the river path but even the air felt off.  Ever have one of those days?  I walked/ jogged a short loop back to the car and called it.  I didn’t regret it but one of the local sub elites came flying past me I did groan and shake my head.  Of course, I was walking at that point.

Thursday- Mes de Mas legs
Haha, I am so uncoordinated.  I lost count of how many times I fell over.

Friday- Nothing
It was an open to close kind of day.  As I was driving home I suddenly wished I had my running gear because the sun setting on the beach looked amazing and it was warm outside.   I totally would have gone for a run on the beach.

Saturday-Nothing
More nothing.  I thought about running all day but that is as far as it got.    Instead I just kind of lazed about.

Sunday-5 miles
Since I wasn’t running the race anymore, I slept in.   I ran some errands before heading out for an easy run.  It turned into a progression run thanks to a little pass by homeless person incident at the start.   My legs felt good but then why wouldn’t they, they had all week off.

6.2 miles for the week.  I think I took more of a recovery week post San Jose than I did post Big Sur. 😛

How was your week?

Run!, Slacker, Training

Week 20- Oddly Inspired

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

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?

BibRave, Product Review, Run!

We Have A Winner

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Disclaimer: I received Beachbody Performance to try 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!

A month or so back I posted about my struggle with fueling properly in long runs and my proclivity for headaches at the end.  I was testing out new hydration choices with calories so when I had the chance to try BeachBody Performance, I jumped on it.   I was open to anything.  😀

From the website-

The Science Behind Beachbody Performance
Rooted in cutting-edge sports science, exercise physiology, and nutrition research, Beachbody Performance supplements feature key ingredients that are supported by the latest peer-reviewed science, athlete input, and top players in the field of exercise physiology and nutrition.
Beachbody Performance products contain state-of-the-art ergogenic (performance-enhancing) ingredients and phytonutrients that are scientifically shown to improve energy, stamina, strength, focus, and recovery. These key ingredients are included in the formulas at their clinically established effective levels. There are no artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, or preservatives.


When it arrived it was like I had hit the mother lode- so much stuff!! I felt like a kid in a candy shop.  I received-

Energize- pre workout (lemon)

Displaying energize_label_526x526.png

Hydrate- during workout (citrus)

Recover- post workout (chocolate)

Recharge- before bed (vanilla)

And a little guide, which was awesome since I felt a little out of my depth.   Help me!

So let’s talk Energize.  I’ve never used a pre-workout before.   Never really saw the point.  Poor, uneducated Slacker.   I started off with a smaller serving but the first thing I noticed was that I really liked the taste- it’s very lemony.  But I didn’t feel any different.  Hmmm.  I was expecting to feel a kick of something you know?  Next time around, slightly bigger serving. Still yummy but I still didn’t feel any different.  It’s when I was checking my Garmin app that I noticed something odd so I went back and checked the first run too.  Well, heck check those paces- I haven’t hit those paces consistently in months.  Who knew???   And it kept on delivering like that.


Moving on to Hydrate.  I can barely taste the citrus flavor in this but from comments on Twitter I think I’m alone in this opinion.  😛  To me it’s lightly refreshing.   I’ve run every run with it since I got it and guess what??? No long run headaches!!!! Not even after the 10 miler where I ran out water and the temp jumped 30 degrees.  I expected one then but nope, all good.😀


Recover–  now you are supposed to mix this with water about 30 minutes after working out but I prefer milk.   I think it tastes better that way.   Now Recover is designed to aid muscle recovery after a hard workout.  The key ingredients are pomegranate extract and Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs).  They are supposed to help support recovery and promote muscle repair post hard workout.  So did I feel better after?  I’m not sure, it’s hard to say.  I know my calves have been less tight but I also have new shoes sooooo?

Recharge– I’m not going to lie, I had the hardest time with this one.   I don’t eat or drink anything other than water past a certain time due to my GI issues usually so most often it was really hard for me to remember to drink this before bed on workout days.  So very hard.

So some issues I have encountered-

How the heck do you easily transport it?   Since I run after work during the week, I’ve been taking the entire container of Energize and Hydrate to work on Mondays and bringing them back home on Fridays.  I also took both containers to Livermore with me.  Not exactly convenient.  I could probably premix in water bottles but I have a tendency to lose water bottles.    While I love the taste of the Recover, I do have troubles mixing it completely.  Whether I mix it in the blender bottle or in a cup with a whisk I have issues.  Again, that could just be me.      Also, my commute gave me some issues with the time frame.  Energize is recommended to be used 30 minutes before exercising.  Which is great if I run from work.  If run in home town and drink it on the way there, I inevitably arrive needing a restroom and hometown locks those all up.    Similarly, Recover is usually later than 30 minutes post workout because of my commute.  However those are issues very specific to me.

So what are my thoughts overall?

I really like the Energize and Hydrate- I will keep buying those.    As for Recover and Recharge, I am still on the fence.  I have quite a bit left of those though so I have more opportunities to to see if I can work out the kinks there.

Have you ever used Beachbody?

Do you use a pre-workout?

How about a recovery drink?

 

Run!, Training

Week 44 Training Recap

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Training for-

  • Paso Harvest Marathon 13.1
  • Golden Gate Half

So I started titling my weekly recaps like this back in January but took a little break during marathon training.  The weekly numbers are starting to drag on me.  I need figure out another way to do this.  Good thing it’s almost 2017!   Ouch, did I just say that?

This week saw me back on the dreadmill and it almost broke me.   I don’t know if I can do that 2 nights a week until spring.   I may have to get over my mountain lion fear.  Well, and the fear of what’s hiding in the dark when you run at night.    To that end, I bought a new pair of reflective leggings this week and I am hunting down all my blinking lights.   I think I have them stashed in odd places.  My flashlight also needs new batteries.  Who said running was a cheap sport? 😛


Monday-2.3 miles  The plan called for an easy 30 minute recovery run.  Oh man, my calves were stiff.   I walked more than I would have liked which meant I barely hit 3 miles in 30 minutes.  Ouch.   At least I was able to enjoy the view.


Tuesday- Rest I spent some time with my foam roller but probably not enough.   I can’t remember if I did anything else. 😛


Wednesday- 4 miles  Son of a treadmill.  The plan was for a 7 mile run- some warm up and cool down with mile repeats at half marathon pace.  Ha!   I hate treadmills but I was trying to be optimistic.   I couldn’t even pull off one mile at pace.  My calves were tight and would not loosen up. I paused the treadmill so many times to try and stretch them out.   At one point, I stretched so long the damn treadmill reset itself.  I finally decided that I was doing more harm than good and called it.  I was still pissed though so I cranked the incline to 7 and power walked it out.  Things finally loosened up.   So what, all my treadmill dates this winter will power walking at an incline?

Thursday- Rest  I was still feeling sore from the day before so not much happened.  I planned on jumping on the bike for a few miles but I didn’t.  Oops.

Friday- Rest


Saturday- Rest  Oops.   I was supposed to do a 20-30 minute shakeout run.  This also would have worked great with the Alzheimer’s Walk that I was supposed to participate in and yet neither happened.  I took my car in for some tire work and planned on doing the shakeout run then except they moved at lightning pace and I did not have time.    After a few errands, I headed to pick up my packet for the Harvest Half.   I was nervous.  This is the first time in 4 years that I haven’t volunteered to work it and it was the first time in 6 years that I was running it again.   I ran the 5k years ago.   This was also my first race with BibRave so I a little anxious.

They moved the expo into town this year and livened it up with a few vendor booths, some live music and a dinner in the park.   I have to give them points for effort.  There were only 2 vendors- Costco and a local gym.   The tri tip smelled amazing though.  I headed home to eat dinner and try to get a decent night’s sleep.

Sunday- Harvest Half  To be continued…but ouch.

How was your week?

Any tips on making the treadmill less miserable?