Tag: road trip

Lost…

Lost…

It’s funny the way that music brings back memories, or even just a feeling.  

The last time I downloaded music onto my phone was around 2016-2017.  Then streaming services started to take over and instead of choosing each song individually and intentionally and paying 1.99 for it, the monthly fee took over and music was just available with little to no deliberation.  It no longer required thought.

That said, I have an Iphone and did back then too.  Granted back then it was a smaller version and I didn’t use iCloud so anything downloaded onto the phone had to be chosen very carefully, after all it took up valuable space.    But the beauty of IPhones is that everything just gets pushed forward with each new device.

I recently went on a 9 hour road trip and as we expected when in the middle of nowhere, I lost connectivity.   Streaming was out but I also can’t have silence when driving or I get sleepy.   So I pulled up Apple Music and put those old playlists on shuffle.  

Y’all those songs sent me back to when I was a different person. Back when I knew what I was doing.  I liked who I was, I liked my job and my coworkers and I loved how running made me feel.   Some of those songs are still in today’s rotation but they way they tie in with other songs I haven’t heard in years just hits different.

Which then made me have to admit I lost that person.   And they have been missing for sometime now.

I don’t know where I am going or what I am doing.  The things that used to make me happy just frustrate the hell out of me now.  Everything got harder and I responded by burying it all in sleep and laziness.  Or just general avoidance with anything.

I used to love running.  Now it’s hard and depresses me. I used to love my job, now the stress is making my hair fall out.  I used to love reading, now I have next to no attention span.  I used to love writing this blog, aforementioned attention span also killed that.   I used to be bitchier but was still nicer.  Now, I’m too burned out to give a shit.   

I don’t know where I am going with this but maybe it’s time I try to find what I lost.   Can I dig myself out the hole I’ve created or is the ground too unstable.  

Destination Anywhere

Recover

The race might have been my slowest ever but I was still a little achy post race.

Actually I had some very angry toes to deal with and they had been angry since I laced up my Wave Rider’s on race morning. It’s odd because toe pain is never an issue I had with them before. I had not worn flip flops one time since we left town. I have been having PF issues, particularly with my left heel so I wore running shoes the entire trip leading up to the race. Primarily my old Ghosts and a little bit of time in my newest trail shoes. The Ghosts are not really old, less than 100ish miles on them but no longer work for me running so I retired them into travel shoes- maybe beach shoes- so I don’t know where the pinched toes came from. I finished the race with one bloody toe and one black toenail. Boo.

The real pain came from the 17+ hour drive on Monday. For some reason we decided to go from northern Washington to middle of California in one day. Dumb. Between short tempers and crappy food and a fiery pain in my right leg- one I remember from when I commuted- I don’t know how we did it.

I think that left me the most sore and tired for the next few days. So Tuesday through Friday were pretty lazy vacation days. There may have been a nap or two.

I did get out for some miles over the weekend. Some trail miles with the pops on Saturday. Where I hiked up and ran down like a lunatic. It’s been so long since I did that. I forgot how much I missed it.

Sunday, I headed out for a short run/walk. Figured I would do whatever felt good. Last week was kind of lazy but I needed a chill week. Work is about to get crazy and I am starting a new training plan for another half, so a laid back week was good.

Actually, I wish it could have been a little longer.

Week 41/ Rock N Roll San Jose Recap

Because let’s be real, that’s the only thing that kind of happened last week.

Disclaimer: I received an entry into Rock n Roll San Jose 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 packed up on Friday and was ready to road trip on Saturday morning. Let’s do this!

I forgot how easy the drive is up to San Jose. Soon enough, I was parking at the convention center for the expo.

The expo is more a mid size expo for Rock n Roll expos but with plenty of good things. I spent money! But first, the important stuff. I checked in and picked up my bib. Then I looked for the solutions table- oh right behind me! I walked over and asked what I needed to do to drop to the 10k. They wrote my bib number down and that was it! Easy peasy.

Expo haul

Then I was off to wander around the expo. I love the first big section is the Brooks / Rock n Roll section. I always drool over all the things but never buy. Except this day. I fell for a hat and a magnet. So cute! Then I wandered and checked out the rest. I kept my wallet in my purse this time.

I was aiming to get a good race pic here

Then it was off to the hotel and dinner at the Spaghetti Factory. Yum, but maybe a little too much. I laid out my #flatrunner to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. I was looking forward to running the 10K and knew that dropping down was the right choice after the past few weeks. My only goal for the race was to have fun and try to get an actual good race picture. I knew where one photographer was going to be so I figured I would try for a good one. We were being warned that it was going to be a warm morning but I was prepared.

Off to bed early, where I suddenly realized I had no safety pins for my bib! Oops! Then I tried to sleep. Key word- tried. I was just dozing off around 3 when it all changed.

The phone screamed into the night just after 3 in the morning. My dad was in the hospital and I was on the way back home in less than 30 minutes.

And that was how I DNS’ed Rock N Roll San Jose.

At the time I was writing this , I had more of hospitals than I would like but my dad is recovering. And that is what is important.

Sometimes life happens. There will be more races.

Week 36- Chaperone

To all those with kids or those who teach teenagers, I don’t know how you do it.

I felt broken after 2 days, ha!

However prior to that, I had a decent week. Well, except for the sudden bout of insomnia. How did I used to survive on so little sleep???

Also tried to change up my typical pic🤣

Monday- 3ish miles
I had not slept at all the night before. I had hoped to get my long run of the week out of the way but had zero energy. I ended up heading out for a few miles in the heat of the afternoon and it was rough. Partly due to the heat and partly due to the 2 days of no sleep.

Tuesday- MM100
Another night of no sleep. Yay. I headed home and just did a low key home workout.

Wednesday- 5 miles
Still no sleep. I thought about not running but I decided to just head out and see what happened. I wasn’t expecting much, especially when I realized I had no idea where my headphones or new sunglasses were. I just wanted to turn my brain off and tire myself out. Mission slightly accomplished.

Thursday- 4.5 miles
After a slightly better night of sleep, I briefly considered trying for my long run of 7-8 miles after work since the weekend was going to be busy. My body quickly let me know that was not happening. So instead I settled for 4.5 miles with a little push in the middle.

Don’t all high schools have massive diving platforms😮

Friday/ Saturday- California Classic Tennis Tournament
And the chaos started. Once again, I was chaperoning and driving for my mother’s tennis team. We left town around 5:30 on Friday morning and didn’t return until late Saturday. 3 matches on Friday and 2 on Saturday. I was fried and exhausted. I wasn’t even playing! At least the Expedition I was driving was better than last years Tahoe.

Sunday- Rest
I had planned for an afternoon run but everything caught up to me and I napped for 2 hours. Ha! I did feel mostly human after that though.

12.5 miles for the week. Considering I was running on fumes all week, I have no complaints.

How was your week?

Rambling On – 59

Happy Friday!!

I love Fridays but this one is a doozy. As this goes live, I will be driving hours away with a car full of teenage girls. Send help. And caffeine. Please.

I’ve dealing with a bout of insomnia this week. It’s been a bit rough. It used to be the norm for me actually but the past few years have been better. And my migraine meds put me right to sleep at night now. Just not this week. I can’t brain anymore.

According to the news, this has been the coolest summer in years. Yeah, what? I know I am gettign older but I’m sorry 106 is not handable anymore. And yes, I realize this is coming from the person who said 3 miles in 100* last week wasn’t bad. Where is fall?

Then again, I want the fall temps and not the early darkness. So picky!

I need something new to watch. I finished Teen Wolf and now I feel lost. I’ve too many Hallmark movies and Ridiculousness lately. Any suggestions?

I may have taken advantage of some of the Labor Day deals on running gear. Or maybe they took advantage of me? But new gear is fun, right?

What are you up to this weekend?