Tag: rest

Sleepy and Slow

After waking from my third power nap of the week on Saturday afternoon, I realized that my planned 10 miler on Sunday might not be the best idea. Sleep was not my friend then and it still is not now. Saturday wasn’t even a stressful day. It was a day of relaxing shopping and yummy food. I had a generic gift card to blow so I treated myself to a ridiculous pair of flip flops. They’re black and basic but super supportive, I have high arches and for the first time, I feel like these actually support them. But the price did make me a little squeamish, they better last forever! And of course, I had to spend money at Dick’s. 🙂

I was still tired after my little nap, but I followed through with my no excuses plan and completed my yoga dvd. I almost let myself believe that walking around while shopping could count as my days’ exercise but unless you are running from store to store or aggressively trying on clothes, it’s more of a leisurely stroll. I felt a little better by the end of the DVD though. Since going to sleep at the usual time hadn’t helped and neither had earlier times, Saturday I flipped it, I stayed up reading until 2 hoping I would be so tired I would sleep. Yeah, not so much.

I headed out Sunday afternoon for a run. Since I had decided that running the full 10 wasn’t the brightest, I thought that a least a 10K was 10 of something. I also met up with my mom and the puppy at various points, so those were opportune walk moments or miles. 🙂 Since I was so tired, I made sure to take as many walk breaks as I needed and not care about my pace. The weird thing was that I felt like my form was spot on for the first time. I felt like I was running tall and strong. Of course no one was watching so it could have all been in my sleep deprived head. According to my watch I spent 2 different ½ mile sections at around an 8:00 minute pace. What? I can’t do that when I am fully rested. I was still tired but I felt good after my run.

That feeling did not translate in better sleep last night and I was dragging butt this morning. Work was straight up chaos, more so than the usual Monday but we got through it. I admit to 2 sodas getting me through the day. After work, I hit the park for a very short 2.5 miles. I just wanted to get moving. Plus I had a new visor to break in. I bought the visor to be a spare on Saturday only to discover Sunday that my month old purple one was broken. Ugh. Talk about good timing. The run was ok, nothing great but nothing bad either. No complaints here! If I don’t sleep well tonight, tomorrow will be a complete rest day. I would like to do a kettle bell workout but we will see how it goes. I used to be a night owl/ insomniac (2 AM was the norm) so you’d think I’d be used to this.

How was your weekend?

Ever have rough periods of sleep? Help!

Such a Slacker

I feel like I was just posting the Run or Dye recap then I blinked and now it’s Thursday. 4 days without a post, total Slacker! I really did mean to post but this week ran away from me, so here we are. On the upside, tomorrow is Friday!!!

On Sunday, I enjoyed an overly warm uncomfortable run. 4.5 miles in 48:08-ouch. I won’t say it was hot, because it was only mid 80’s. It actually nice outside, until you started running that is. 3/4 of a mile down the road, I realized I had misplaced my water bottle. How does a person do that? I pushed on to complete the 4.5 miles but took so many crawl breaks. I felt nasty sweaty at the end but I was done. I also found my water bottle. On top of the dryer in the garage. Oops.

Monday was a pretty good day at work. To keep things lively and stay upbeat on a busy day, a coworker and I had a little transaction battle. It was a close one but I lost. 😦 I don’t usually do that many anymore so it kept me moving. After work I met my mom and the puppy at the lake for a few miles. It was a nice little warm up, I walked a little over 1/2 a mile with them before running. The first mile was slower due to the walking but my legs felt pretty good so I decided to do a little speed work. I managed to pull in a decent progression run for the night.

I was a little sore on Tuesday so I kept it as my usual day. I knew Wednesday was going to be a busy day so I had thought of switching days but decided against it. I lucked out actually because since I work on Saturday I had the chance to leave early on Wednesday. I had a doctor’s appointment in the later afternoon but I thought I could squeeze in a run. I headed to the lake aiming for 3.5 easy miles. I wanted to run an average pace of 10:00-10:15. I also wanted to concentrate on my form.

I noticed awhile back that I relied heavily on my left leg. All of my issues are usually on my left side. I wanted to work on my form but didn’t want to try anything new before the SLO 1/2. I figured that would be a bad idea. 🙂 So after my first mile, which was a little fast, I focused on my right leg and its turnover. Apparently I can’t do two things at once. I couldn’t maintain my planned pace and focus on my form. I ended up being faster than planned. What was weird was that it felt easy. Too bad that doesn’t happen all the time. If that pace could become my easy run that would be sweet, but that’s likely farther out.

And I found this branch in my shoe... — And I found this branch in my shoe…

After my doctor’s appointment, I headed to a tennis meeting with my mother. She likes to drag me along when she can. She always ropes me into filling out the draw forms for her. Wow, 7 team coaches trying to get their players seeded? There were a few times I though there was going to be a throw down. I just kept my head down and kept writing, trying not to laugh out loud.

I’ve been feeling super run down and tired lately and that translated into a rough morning today. It took me a little longer to get going. I figured if I was so tired that I was texting my boss for an extra 45 minutes then I was not running tonight. Boo. Well, more time for an update then! Tomorrow’s a planned rest day, so fingers crossed, I can also avoid the temptation of cookie Friday. Especially since I ate a donut yesterday. Ok, 2 donuts. But they were so good. 🙂

How has your week been?

Any temptations you’ve avoided or embraced?

Happy Friday!!

Sometimes You Listen

In my March Recap, I likened March to a truck that had run me over. Well, April is a freight train barreling through. I have been trying to stay upbeat, particularly when I post but I am not sure if it worked. 🙂

Work has been crazy busy since the beginning of March and it’s likely to stay that way through late August. I did not think it would affect me as much as it has. But I am tired, so very, very tired. But again, I tried not to say much because, 1- who wants to read a Debby Downer all the time, and 2- my boss reads this blog. (Hi awesome boss!) I think with work being crazy and then trying to stay trained for 3 half marathons (plus 5k’s) in 3 months may have been a little more than this Slacker was ready for. I still love my job, I’m just a little worn out and somehow when I was planning my race schedule, I wasn’t paying a lot of attention. My next few weeks look like this-

This weekend– work/ long run*
April 19– Firehouse 5K -may be a 5K but there’s a 500 ft elevation in less than 1/2 a mile
April 25-27– SLO Marathon weekend- half
May 3– Run or Dye
May 10– work

My last post mentioned an irksome migraine, and it hasn’t really left. This is not horribly unusual; I average a lingering one around once a year. 😦 Between that and being overly tired, I got a little emotional driving home on Friday. There may have been some loud, off-key singing involved as well. 🙂 Maybe a little Let It Go.

Saturday was a work day and I was trying to psych myself up for the 10 mile run that I needed to do. Meanwhile, both of my co-workers were lecturing me that I needed to take of myself. After work, I headed home for the usual lunch and errands. It was while I was in Target with my mother that I had to face facts. I jokingly mentioned that a nap sounded like a great idea. She looked at me, paused and then said that it was a good idea. Ummm, what?

My mother is not the type to suggest that. Growing up, one of the things we argued about most was my inherent laziness. If there are hours in the day then there are hours you could and should be doing something. The name of my blog came from her; one day I said I didn’t feel like running, she called me a slacker. So for her to say I needed a nap meant I must look like a train wreck. Ha!

Even then I still thought about trying to get in my run. I was telling myself I could start with 5 miles and see how it went. Finally common sense prevailed and my planned *2 hours of running turned into 2 hours of napping.

slo — This will be the finish line in 2 weeks

I was still feeling a little rough today, so I took it easy again. That’s not to say it wasn’t a good day. I headed down to SLO for some more hardwood shopping with my mom, seriously, how long does it take to make a choice? The choice was finally made, so now I just get to look forward to helping her rip out the carpeting in the near future. My brother gets to install the hardwood. 🙂 So that’s coming up in a few weeks too.

I ate some yummy food, didn’t buy too much and finally managed to get this shot-This is the local landmark that inspired this years medals for the SLO Marathon and 1/2. I can’t wait to earn this crossing the finish line. 🙂

Tomorrow, depending on how I feel, I will get back to running. If I am still tired, I may rest another day. I would rather feel rested and slightly under trained for the half than exhausted and sore. Work is likely to be just as busy in the coming weeks, we will down a person, so I am thinking of dropping my training back to 3 days a week. I need to think on it a little more though.

How was your weekend?

Rung my Bell

Monday, I was feeling a little sore from the hill’s on Sunday but I was coming around to my race time. 🙂 I took it easy all day, just caught up on some laundry and course work. I had skipped foam rolling on Sunday (Slacker!!) so I made sure to roll Monday evening. Holy crap, my right IT band was/ is angry with me. That’s what I get for putting it off.

A little foam rolling... — A little foam rolling…

I was looking forward to a ~~nice~~ sore, easy run at the lake Tuesday after work. Being 4 weeks out from the SLO half marathon, I knew I needed to get back to training. Particularly if I want to improve my time from my PR of 2:05:57. I knew Tuesday’s run was going to be slow and awkward but I just wanted to get my legs moving. I figured my week would look like this-

Monday– rest Tuesday-3 slow miles Wednesday– long work day Thursday 4-5 easy miles Friday-rest

I know that I have mentioned my gracefulness (or lack thereof) before but my proclivity for stupid accidents really reared it’s head. Tuesday morning I was a little tired, so I slept a few minutes longer. This prompted me to get ready in a hurry. Which led me slamming my head into my bathroom counter. Such skill!!!! After a few four letter words and hopping around, I moved on. While putting on makeup, I noticed a big welt forming above my brow bone, so nice. I only felt a little pain, so I finished getting ready and headed out to work. 3/4 of the way to work, I knew I had a problem. I made it to work, but it’s a little hazy. 😦

I spent the day completely nauseated, hating light and sound and trying to not move much. One of my coworkers tried to make me track his finger, not could I not do it, I almost lost my cookies. I managed to keep down some chips- my go to for nausea- and made it home after work. No running for me but lots of rest in a dark room. Today was slightly better, I manged to eat real food. My head feels tight and the nausea comes and goes, yay! I spent my lunch napping in the break room. I am hoping tomorrow will be little to no nausea. I would like to get in a run but that’s probably not likely. Which means my hope of hitting 75 miles this month is not too likely either.

So let’s just call this a true recovery week? That’s was happens when my innate grace comes out to play. Actually come to think of it, my entire family is talented at hurting themselves in weird and crazy ways. So while my posts may not include any actual running, I do have some gear reviews that I have been meaning to post and some blog awards I have been I’ve been slacking on (thank you!). And I will anxiously count the minutes until I run. 🙂

Happy hump day!!!

Anyone else have any hidden injury talent or is it just genetics?

Run, Run, Run!!!!!

So Sundays planned day of rest turned into a 4.5 mile trail run/walk. This was after a yummy lunch and a little shopping 🙂 While shopping I picked up a pair Yurbuds. I could never find a pair of earbuds that didn’t hurt in some way, so I thought I would step up the money and see if it was worth it. Worn them twice so far, and have to say, pretty nice.

I told myself I was going to take it easy on the trail run, and I did half the time, I ran the other half. It was a very pretty trail. Could have done without the snake that decided to say hi, I think we equally scared each other! I may have to do this again sometime.

After running on Saturday and the trail on Sunday, I really should have taken a rest day today but I was so close! After the trail, I noticed that my Nike+ app said 997.1 miles. I was almost at 1000!!! I wanted to hit that number so bad, so I went for a run after work. Figured I would force myself to go easy for 3 laps of the park. The weather was good except for the backside of the lake, the wind was ridiculous! And of course, I was running into it 😦

So my ankle was not feeling so great and I was tired, so I was actually taking it easy. As I’m running, I’m telling myself that my slow today is still faster than when I first started running and this time last year and at least I was getting in a workout. Of course, while I’m trying some motivational self-talk, what happens? A freakin’ turbo comes flying past me, leaving me in the dust. Gee, thanks dude, did you miss my inner pep talk?! Seriously, he was fast, and more power to him, I was just envious.

But Turbo-Man aside, I hit 1000 miles!!! Hell Yeah, Little happy dance.
🙂

Now if only the average pace was more reflective of the past year, hehe.

Tomorrow is definitely going to be a rest day and since I work later than usual on Wednesday; that will probably be a slacker day. I’ll get running again on Thursday.

Anyone else have any turbos on their runs?