Tag: run

The SF Marathon Week 17 Training Recap

17 down, 1 to go.   I’m trying not to dwell on that.

This was the first week that I fully embraced the taper.  Some might say I took it too far.  😛  I guess there really is a way to run less when training.   I didn’t mean to have such an ummm- “relaxed” week it just kind of happened.

The week started off rough.  I got little to no sleep on Sunday night and almost called in.  good thing I didn’t as my boss wasn’t feeling well either and didn’t make it in.  Then when I finally did make it into work, I was greeted by the news that my fish had died.    Can you be done with the week by 8:20 on a Monday?  Work was crazy from that point forward all week.

Monday- Rest.  After 13 miles on Sunday and crap sleep, I was fried.  Throw in the work day from hell and I was done.

Tuesday- Rest.   I thought about running, I really did but I was still feeling kind of foggy.   Besides, I had plenty of time during the rest of the week right?


Wednesday- Run– Fall Out Boy!!!!!  Running was the plan but when you are given the opportunity to see one of your favorite bands for the cost of only 2 drinks- you take it!   So I made my trip to the fair a little sooner than planned.  Both the funnel cake and the concert were amazing. 😃😃  They played all the songs I wanted them too and a few more.

Thursday- Rest.  I took my gym bag to work.  Even though I was still super tired I was planning on running.   I really was but once again I allowed my family to text-coerce me into going to dinner with them.  Yum.


Friday- 4 miles.  Holy crap, I ran on a Friday!   I didn’t get home until 7 but I was out the door fairly quick.  After 4 days off, I was kind of worried my legs wouldn’t remember what to do.   They did!  It was slow and still very warm but it was nice to get moving.

Saturday- Rest.  Damn, I’m really good at this rest thing aren’t I?  I wasn’t completely sloth like though.  I headed down to SLO and did a bit of shopping.  That counts as moving the legs, right?


Sunday- 9 miles.  I headed out around 8 but I should have headed out sooner.  It was way hotter than I would have liked.   I packed my Camelbak with more supplies than I needed and filled it with water.  I knew I didn’t need all of it but I wanted to practice carrying the weight.  The run was hot and slow and my neck was a little sore after it.   I was a nasty, sweaty mess.  Whose idea was it to train in the summer?

Shouldn’t I be feeling at least a little more fit these days?  Every run just seems so damn hard.   The smallest thing seems to trigger my asthma and I am freaking out.  But let’s save all the drama for another post, ok?

How was your week?

Seen any good concerts lately? 

Tell me something shiny!

 

 

The SF Marathon Week 16 Training

I just had to look up what week I was in, it’s all starting to blur.  😛

The head games have multiplied…the race is so close and unfortunately my last few weeks of running have not been confidence building.   More like the exact opposite.    I felt pretty damn good after my 20 miler a few weeks ago.  I haven’t since.  I’m trying to tell myself that it’s all part of training but I hurt and I am tired and I just… I don’t know.

Monday- Rest.  I had a few vacation days from work and it was so nice to have no alarm to set.   I really wanted to sleep in but I woke up a little before 8.  Grr.  However, I must have slept soundly- I woke up with a dead arm.  Guess I hadn’t moved from the first position I fell asleep in.


Tuesday- 7.12 miles.  Birthday miles!!!  Another day off too.  I was torn what to run today.  I know some people like to run their birthday but let’s be real, there was no way I was running 35 miles or kilometers.  35 minutes seemed too short and 3.5  miles seemed like a cop out.  So instead I ran the day.  It slow and hot but it was fun.  I ran to the high school where my mother was having tennis practice.  I then dragged her along to a local burger place to get my free burger!!! The little things excite me.

Wednesday- Rest.  Back to work.  They bought me donuts!


Thursday- 3.75 miles.  Talk about slow!  I think all the over indulging of the past few days caught up with me, I did not feel well.   Plus, I decided that until the marathon, I should probably wear flats.  I forgot how sore that would make me.  Ouch!

Friday- Rest.   I still felt off, I think I found my sugar intake limit.  Rough.  A new toy came in the mail though.


Saturday- Rest.  Sensing a pattern here?  After feeling poorly for 2 days, I chose sleep over running.   After a few errands, I just had a low key evening.  Plus, I was sucked into streaming Stranger Things on Netflix.  So good.


Sunday- 13.1 miles.  Dress rehearsal.   My last long run of training.  Plan ( what plan) called for 12, I wanted 16.  Yes, I know that’s stupid.  I was also testing a few things out this run.   When I was shopping in Santa Barbara last weekend, I picked up a new Lululemon skirt for race day.  I also recently ordered a new hydration vest as well.   I’ve never been a huge fan of them but I need to be able to carry more water than just my handheld.  So this long run was a test of all that.

Good lord, it was rough.  It took my legs 4.5 miles to warm up.  My lungs wanted no part in running.  I probably should have tested the hose on the hydration pack before running.  I choked twice.   My new skirt rode up in very uncomfortable ways and yet also migrated down.  That shouldn’t be possible?!   I just kept moving forward.  I hit 13.1 and called it for the day.   Called my mom for a pick up as I was 4 miles from home and went for Chipotle.   I really need to stop eating when I’m stressed.

24 miles for the week.  Bring on taper.  Even though part of me is excited for no long run next week, I feel like I haven’t done enough to prepare.   The voices in my head are getting louder.   But, this is the best week to quiet them.  It’s fair time!!!!!   It’s time for my yearly indulgence in a funnel cake.  Hopefully, I’ve detoxed enough from birthday cake/ donuts to enjoy it.   I look forward to a funnel cake and pretzel all year long until fair time.    😛

So here’s to week 17- another week in flats, even fewer miles and a funnel cake at the end.

How was your week?  Do anything fun?

Do you have a dress rehearsal run?

What’s your favorite fair food?

The SF Marathon Training Week 15

I have no witty opening for this one.  That’s also assuming anything I’ve ever opened with before was witty.  Hmmm, maybe that was a reach.

Like I said in my Friday post last week, I am tired.  Just tired.  Running wise, the week was actually pretty good.   Work wise, I think my brain went into vacation mode way too early.    Oops.  That wasn’t great considering my boss was on vacation Thursday and Friday.   I needed to be firing on all cylinders.  I believe I completed most of my piles but I can’t shake the feeling that I forgot something.


Monday- 6.7 miles.  4th of July!! I met with Ashley and Heather for a very patriotic themed run down at Avila Beach.  The plan was to do 8 miles but it was my third day of running in a row and my shins and knee were pissed.   I ended up falling behind taking walk breaks but I eventually just sat on a bench 2 miles from the beach and waited for them to come back my way.  Truthfully, I wanted to swing on the swings while I waited but they were occupied by children.  Once they were back, I was able to run the whole back with them.  I was fine with fewer miles.  Then we went for a super yummy breakfast – churro french toast for the win!  It was a great way to spend the morning.

Tuesday- Rest.  Yeah, there was no way I was running a 4th day in a row.  Rest was awesome.   Plus work is always insane the day after a 3 day weekend so it was nice being able to just go home and crash.  I think I did something else but I can’t remember.


Wednesday-2.3 miles.  My legs still felt wonky.  Seriously one 20 miler less than 2 weeks ago and I’m broken for days.   I did 2 laps of the lake and called it.  They were a slow, crawling 2 laps but that’s better than no miles right?


Thursday- 3.75 miles.  Uh oh, 2 days in a row again?  However, this was the day that finally felt more normal.   I kept it short and sweet though as I didn’t want to push it.  Not only is the marathon super close but I had a half marathon on Saturday.  But I really wanted to try out my new shorts.


Friday- Rest.   My boss is on vacation so it was an open to close kind of day.  I did manage to sneak away for 10 minutes and grab my packet for Saturday’s race.    And a Diet Coke because by that time I needed one.  😛


Saturday- 13.1 miles.  Rock’n Around the Pier Half.   My hope was to run the race in the morning and do another 7 in the evening to complete a disjointed 20.   Yeah, that didn’t happen.  The race was rough and I had some problems, but more on that next post.    I did however get in a few miles of walking around SLO with some post race shopping.

Sunday- Rest.  Unless miles of walking around Santa Barbara shopping count as exercise.  😛   My mom, S and I headed to Santa Barbara for a day of birthday shopping, S has hers on Monday and mine is Tuesday.  It was fun but it made me realize how much I prefer SLO.  However I am jealous they have a PizzaRev, that place was awesome.  It was a long and tiring day and my legs/feet were fried by the end.    By the time I was home I was too tired to even finish this post in time for it go up on Monday.   On the upshot- I may have found my marathon outfit.  Priorities right?

Overall, it was a good running week, I was just exhausted.   I know that time frame wise I am at the point in training that I should be exhausted but I don’t feel like I’ve really trained enough for that.  Life has been a little crazy for a few months as well but it doesn’t usually affect me like this.    Maybe my upcoming birthday is just making me moody?  That’s a thing right?

Going forward, this week would start a traditional taper period for the marathon.  However I feel like the past few months have been a taper.  So we will see.  I know I still need to figure out water.   My handheld is not enough and my pack is crap.  Hey I rhymed!    Non running life- I have 2 vacation days!!  Happy dance, happy dance.  😃😃  I have nothing planned- it sounds awesome.

How as your weekend?

When was you last vacation? What did you do?

 

The SF Marathon Training Week 14

14.  14 down, only 4 more to go!

So yeah.  Week 14.   Ummmm, ouch? Week 13 was awesome- I mean, I ran 20 miles and kind of like it?  What could go wrong?  Ha Ha.

Monday- Rest.  I felt pretty good actually, my legs- shins included- felt fine all day.   Part of me wanted to run but I figured that would be silly or worse injury provoking, so I scheduled in 2 rest days.

Tuesday- Rest.   Once again my legs felt pretty good but I had a plan man, and I was sticking to it.  It made sense.    At least I thought it did.

Wednesday- Rest.  Hello freight train.  Body wise I felt ok, but I was suddenly exhausted.  I felt like I could sleep for days.   That said, I was still planning on running after work.    However my family texted and asked if I wanted to meet everyone for dinner.  I first said no- I needed to run.  They ended up convincing me.   So instead of running, I enjoyed too much food at dinner.


Thursday-6 miles.  Seriously I wish someone had filmed the first 3ish mile of this run.   I want to know if it looked as hilarious as it felt.    I had another half day at work so I was naively hopeful that I could get the weekends 10-12 miler in early.  I don’t have a route that length in work town so I headed home.   I walked my usual 5 minute warm up and then started running.  Or tried to.   My legs were not functioning as a team.  Nothing hurt but I could not level out.  I felt like one leg was going forward while the other was swinging to the side.  I felt like a newborn giraffe trying to walk. Mile 1 was 98% walking, mile 2 wasn’t much better.    The final 4 miles were all in the 12 minute range but I finally started to feel a little more normal by mile 6.  I knew I wasn’t doing any more than that though.    This run did put me over 100 miles for June though.

Friday- Rest.  I should have tried to run.   It would have been the smart thing to do.  But, yeah, I didn’t.


Saturday- 5 miles.   I wanted more but after working in the morning, running in the 80’s was kicking my ass.  When did I turn into such a baby?    Once again, I was running while limping.  Again nothing hurt, but my stride was all over the place.   Miles 4 and 5 felt better but were still so slow.   I hobbled/ ran until I hit 5 miles and called it.   My ankles and shins were pretty sore that night.  I iced and rolled.


Sunday- 10 miles.  I was aiming for 13 but knew I was also meeting Heather and Ashley the next day for a run.  I wasn’t sure my legs were up to 3 days in a row so I dropped my mileage back to 10.  I didn’t even think I was going to finish that.  Miles 1-3 were more awkward gait running.  It takes me 3-4 miles to warm up, so I just kept going.   Once again, I hauled ass across the bridge and saw a 9:37 split- oops.  My legs were not happy.  I met up with my mother a little before mile 7.   I ended up walking all of mile 7 with her.  While I do take walk breaks, I don’t think I would have walked a whole mile by myself at that point.   But I was tired of running weirdly.    I think it helped.    The last 3 miles felt the best out of everything- part of me wanted to keep running.  😛

I was sore, bordering on pain by the end of the day though.   I foam rolled, stretched and iced.  I also “recovered” while eating lots of popcorn watching Tarzan.  😛

There’s a reason I’ve been taking a day between each run and I just got stupid this week.   Now my ice pack is my best friend again.  Grrr.    This is not how I was hoping to be feeling 4 weeks out from San Francisco.  I choosing to stay positive and not freak out.   Think happy thoughts right?  Oh, did I mention I have a half marathon in 3 days?  On the beach.  #findtheshiny  I can do it.

How was your week?

How long does it take you to warm up?  I think I am realizing why all my short runs were rough all these years. I was warming up when I was stopping.  Oops.

Seen any movies lately?

The SF Marathon Training Week 13

13 weeks in and the title got a little shorter.  😛

After my last post, this recap may be a little boring.  But I was so excited about my 20 miler that I just had to share it.   Thanks for all your thoughts!   So let’s see how the rest of week 13 went.


Monday- 4 miles.   Home town was a comfortable 106 so I sucked it up and ran in work town.  I love the views there but feel so awkward.  I don’t know why I am so concerned for customers to see me.  I kept the pace nice and easy but it took me 3 miles to warm up.  My last mile felt the best which was funny as it was all uphill.


Tuesday- Rest.  I’m somewhat sticking to a day on followed by a day off running plan as it seems to keep my shins less aggravated.   Plus a rest day meant that I could participate in BibChat- my first as a BibRave Pro!  😃 😃   I’m looking forward to learning more and participating with BibRave.


Wednesday- 4 miles.  I’m sensing a pattern here.   I got off work early since I had to work Saturday.  Home town was still an oven so I headed to a new path in work town.  It kind of rocked.  I still felt super uncomfortable but I am going to work on pushing those limits.

Thursday-Rest.   I actually wanted to try a few miles to break in my new shoes but it didn’t happen.   I had an eye appointment at the end of the day and the dilation messes with my eyes.  I already have issues with too much brightness, even sunglasses weren’t enough protection post appointment.  I stayed in a dark room until they calmed down.  It wasn’t entirely a waste though.  I spent some time working on the blog.  The SLO milestone was still there- oops.  And now I have a discount page!

Friday-  Rest day.   I worked the late shift so I tried to sleep a little later in preparation for the weekend’s plans.   Wishful thinking, right?

Saturday- Rest.  Again, seriously?  This was intentional.  I knew I was planning a huge (for me) long run on Sunday so I was hoping to rest my legs.  I worked in the morning but things went well so we were able to get out on time.   I ran a few errands, rested the remainder of the day and hydrated like it was my job.    I also probably ate all the wrong things, oops.


Sunday- 20 miles.  Hell yeah!!  I am still riding high on this one.  I actually did it, woo hoo!  You can read all about that here.

28 miles for the week.   Could have been better but could have been worse too.   This week’s focus was on the long run and I would say mission accomplished.   Now if I could just stop talking about it.  😛   Sorry!

Food wise, things have been a little rough.   I would say I am around 40/60 right now.  My nighttime snacking has gotten a little out of control.  Oops.  I really need to get a handle on that.   I say as I eat a cinnamon bear…or 3.

How’s your weather?

What candy is your weakness?