Tag: Running

Let the taper begin

Happy Monday!!

Saturday I was hoping to do an 8 mile dress rehearsal run. Last longish run before my race and I was planning to wear everything that I want to wear for the race. The perfect dress rehearsal would have been to run it in the morning but I had an early tire appointment and was still so tired from the week, that I slept as long as possible. It wasn’t enough. I was still dragging when I made it to the tire place. After 10 minutes of running around, they informed me that the tires I had ordered never arrived and no one bothered to call me.

I have been told by family, friends, coworkers and former employees that I have a “resting bitch face” and sometimes I can make them feel like a bug that I am about to squash. Yeah, those were their exact words. 😦 I have worked hard on improving my expressions over the years, especially since I work management in customer service. I feel I’ve done a decent job, but Saturday I was tired and cranky and this was not the first time this tire place had messed up. I think the bug squashing face came back because I left there with 4 new tires for the price I had been quoted (2nd quote because they lost the 1st one) for the 2 tires I had ordered.

Saturday's work view — Saturday’s work view

I fit in a few errands and lunch with my mom before I had to head out for a work function. With drive time and the function itself, it filled up my afternoon. It was good getting to see everyone and put faces to names and voices on the phone. However put a few hundred people in the foyer of performing arts center and the acoustics make the din just shy of unbearable. The headache I had for a week came back with a vengeance. The auditorium itself was much quieter. 🙂 It was a good afternoon. Plus on the way down I was able to swing by the Running Warehouse and pick up a few supplies-

I made it back home by 5, changed and ran out the door to get in my 8 miles. I knew I was tired so I was aiming for a steady pace. My legs felt horrible; it was hotter than I would have liked and I was just so tired. I lost track of how many walk breaks I took. I have no pictures of the run because I was afraid if I stopped, I wouldn’t get started again. A former coworker drove past me and I thought about flagging her down for a ride home. I should have just done 6 and called it a day but I am not the smartest and pushed to the full 8. 8 miles with an average pace of 10:22. Which for a long slow run is ok but I was just beat. I tested the new handheld on my run too. So not a fan, I wanted to throw it. I am going to try again just to make sure that’s it wasn’t just user error. 🙂

I rewarded myself for completing my run by watching the new Veronica Mars movie. Cue the inner nerd girl squeal! Sunday I slept in, yay!!!! I thought about taking the puppy for a walk but I ended up helping my mother move rocks. She is redoing their landscaping. Let’s call that cross-training. Lots of squats and bending and lifting. Plus chasing errant rocks down the driveway before they went into traffic. The backs of my legs ache in interesting ways today, haha.

They made the music for tonight's run — They made the music for tonight’s run

Today marks the beginning of taper week. After work I headed to the lake to get in a few miles. I was torn between 4 and 6. I figured I would just start running and see how I felt. My legs were stiff from yesterday plus breaking in the new boots I picked up over the weekend didn’t help. I also made this my “uncomfortable” pre-race run. Brand new shirt and shorter than normal shorts. I like to try to prepare myself for wardrobe malfunctions on race day. 🙂 My shorts were actually from Abercrombie’s new “active” line (haha) and I just figured they would be cute summer shorts but not actually good to run in. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. They were light weight and airy and they never moved, never rode up. Wow, I have never had a pair of shorts do that, I may have to try running in them again.

I started off a little stiff and told myself during mile 2 that I was just doing 4 miles. Around mile 3.5 I finally started to loosen up, so I kept going. Mile 4 was a little looser, mile 5 felt pretty good and 6 felt better. I finished out a full 10K and walked back to the bars that I like to stretch on. I knew I was looser and quicker towards the end but I didn’t know how much until I looked at my Garmin splits. Negative split? Sweet! Or should I call that a good progression run?

What makes me laugh about this Garmin data is that I ran the opposite direction on the path tonight. I usually go clockwise but tonight I decided to go counter-clockwise. It felt soooo much harder. I tried telling myself that maybe the elevation was slightly different the other way. Who am I kidding? The average elevation gain was 6 feet. 6 FEET!!!!! Seriously, I must be a big baby.

This should have been up earlier, but the nerd girl in me again was yelling at the tv while watching Teen Wolf.

How was everyone’s Monday?

Who else has “crazy” elevation?

The Week that Was

You know that quote?

Yeah that’s the one. This week definitely ran me. While Tuesday was a planned rest day, it turned decidedly less so shortly after my last post. Food poisoning, yippy!!!! I was up most of the night feeling horrid. I hated the sound of my alarm more than usual on Wednesday morning. I drug myself out of bed and made myself presentable. Well, I tried to, I realized on the way to work that I had forgotten mascara. I have never even run without mascara. Luckily I had one stashed at work. I don’t wear a lot to begin with but I felt naked without mascara. 🙂

Thankfully, Wednesday was the last day of our inspection. I put on a smiley face and mustered on. Not gonna lie, it took 2 Diet cokes (big ones) and a cup of coffee to do it. I had a hot flash before the exit interview and one after. It could have been due to the stress or the lingering sickness from the night before. I really wanted to run after; I had my clothes and everything, but I was completely whipped. Just the thought of having to change my clothes sounded exhausting. I left my running gear at work for the next day and just headed home. Which turned out to be the smart choice because I was sick again. 😦

Thursday I was still super tired, but everything else felt better. Work was so nice without Mr. inspector looming around. Plus my replacement Fuelband finally arrived!!! 3 in 13 months but more on that later. 🙂 I have a busy Saturday this week, so I was shooting for getting in my long run after work that night. I figured I could get 8 miles in around the lake before twilight set in. Work was done, I changed, hit the car and headed for the lake. Then the phone rang.

My mother had Zoey spayed on Wednesday and she (the puppy) was having a rough go. My mother was out of town for a tennis match so the pup was with my pops. He wasn’t dealing so well with an under the weather puppy and kept calling my mom telling her the dog was “freaking out”. She wanted to know if I could go to the pet store and find one of those cone things for Zoey and then go check on her. Ok, no more long run. 😦 I figured I could at least get in 3 laps of the lake.

I hurried there and set out running. Halfway through mile 1, I decided that if I couldn’t run long, then I would run hard. I mean hard (hard for me), I was aiming for race pace. I figured my last 5K race was 27:54, I wanted to hit that. The weather was good, the park was full of people. Actually very full, apparently Thursdays are popular. I kept pushing; I was breaking one of my own rules, I was huffing and puffing on a training run. But it felt good, really good. End result – 3.1 miles -26:35. Hell yeah!!!!

Under 27, I was pumped!!!!! I walked a cool down and then went to stretch. My usual stretching bar was occupied so I used the railing around the observation part of the path. I also attempted a selfie or 2. I should just give up, they never turn out. The only reason I am smiling in this one is because I had just realized that behind where I was stretching and taking crappy pictures was a class full of people line dancing. Oops! Cue embarrassed laughter.

I went to Petco and picked up a cone and some new toys for the pup and then headed that way. She ran right up to me when I got there. She had been hanging with my pops in the garage. He again expressed the opinion that she was going psycho but I don’t think she was that bad. I wrestled the cone onto her head and we played with her new toys until my mom got home.

Today was pretty good but I wish I had managed to get a run in. This week has turned into an accidental taper. It’s leaving me a little stumped about how to proceed next week during actual taper time. Plus I drank too much soda, ate too much sugar and too many chips getting through it. Stress bites. I am getting new tires on my car tomorrow and I have a work thing in the afternoon, so I am trying to figure when to fit in an 8 miler. Hmmm, can this Slacker pull it off?

How have your week’s been?

Anyone racing this weekend?

Loving this Light

I mentioned in my previous post that this week is inspection time at work. I thought I was prepared but what I was not prepared for was for him to show at 8:05 on Monday morning. Seriously?!!? I hadn’t had my coffee or my soda; I was in a sudden panic that I hadn’t crossed my I’s or dotted my T’s. Aargh!!!! By the time the day was done, I was just stressed and cranky. I needed to run but I knew it wasn’t going to be awesome; my brain was tired.

I may have been stressed but I was so excited to take advantage of the time change! I changed after work and headed for the lake path that I haven’t been able to run since the time changed last year. My commute is a narrow two lane highway going through a canyon which is prone to rock slides. The road has no shoulders, blind corners and is heavily shaded. Seriously I think my hips are bigger than the “shoulder”. The speed limit is 55 but most treat that as a suggested minimum. Imagine my surprise rounding one of the corners to find a man running with traffic wearing black. Seriously, dude?! I get that you want to make the most of the extra daylight, but this is not the road for it!

Once I arrived at the park, the weather was amazing. I was aiming for 5 miles. The path is a little over a mile around so I was hoping that 4 laps would be 5 miles. That would be perfect, right? Not so lucky. Lap 1 came in at 1.18. Lap 1 included my warm up but I could tell I was sluggish. I was ok with that because I just wanted to run. I was also a little sore from Saturday’s long run, wearing new boots all day hadn’t helped either.

Miles 2 and 3 were a little rougher than I would have liked; this trail is flat after all. I feel like it was just after mile 3 that I settled in. Mile 4 felt good and 5 was better. Since I was on the backside of the lake when I hit 5 I kept running until 5.5. I figured that still gave me a quarter mile to cool down before hitting the exercise equipment that I use to stretch. I didn’t have any real goals with this run, just to enjoy the weather and the path and run off some stress. Mission accomplished!

The lake was not as low as I thought it would be. We still desperately need rain but the ducks and geese had some water. There were plenty of people taking advantage of the weather as well. I saw other runners, walkers and plenty of dogs. Some were running solo, some with friends. Everyone was friendly too. I had a conversation going with a guy as we passed each other on laps. He was out walking and saw me pause to take pictures. I told him I needed a little break. 😛 I also loved that there were 3 guys who looked like they had just come a jam session with their garage band doing laps.

Today, I had to remind myself that rest days count as training too. The weather was awesome again. The inspection is still going on and I am discovering the meaning of stress sweat (TMI?). I have been through so many of these before but this one just seems intense. Leaving work I had to go return the previously mentioned new boots. They ripped yesterday, classy right? Then driving home, I passed no less than 9 people out running. Against traffic on wide roads, yay! I was so jealous. But rest is good, plus I had classwork to do. 😦 Besides tomorrow is another inspection day, more stress to run off!!!

I am thankful that the extra daylight brings the lake back into play. It is outside and flat, both dirt and paved. More fun than a treadmill but better for my ankle than all hills. It also brings me back to be being a 3 town runner. I don’t know why, but the fact that I can run in 3 towns on a weekly basis just makes me smile. 🙂

I am 11 days out from the Wine Country Half and we are officially 46 days away from SLO Marathon. I am so excited for both but I am getting nervous. I still have a discount code for the SLO Marathon– anyone want to come run with me? Or faster than me? 🙂 Check out the amazing town and people too! Check out this bling for SLO Marathon–

Who is ready for hump day?

Anyone taken advantage of daylight savings yet?

Am I the only one who has formatting issues? Thanks WordPress, thanks.

Well, that was a hot one

Happy Daylight Savings Time!!! You know, I hated this day before I was a runner. Not I count down the days until it comes. 🙂

Not only was Friday a rest day but it was just one of those days. It started with a 4:30 AM text and went on from there. It left me feeling harried all day and that can sometimes make me crave crappy food. And I indulged. A few too many of these ↓ followed by pizza for dinner.

I had planned my long run for Saturday morning, I had been thinking 9-11ish. I was giving myself 2 hours to run 10 miles; I knew I wouldn’t use the full 2 hours but I wanted to make sure that I took it easy. Well, 9 turned into 9:40. I have been trying to train myself to sleep differently and it’s not going so well. 🙂 I finally headed out the door after making the last minute decision to lose the long sleeves.

The first 3 miles were solid even if my body was telling me that it did not appreciate the pizza for dinner the night before. It was warmer than I had expected so I was glad I was running in a tank and shorts. I planned my route the night before but as I passed the cemetery the first time I saw that they were setting up for a service. I try not to run by when they are having a service, sometimes I can’t avoid it, so then I slow down to a crawl and try to be super quiet. Today though, I could see it so I knew I had to change my route. I had planned on doing a hill loop twice so instead I added a third. By the third pass I was getting tired, it was getting hotter and I was only at 6.5 miles. One of my former co-workers lives on that street and the first 2 times I ran down, her husband was outside. I thought about saying hi but figured he would have no idea who I was. Third time back down, she was outside too. Yay for a break!!! I stopped and we chatted a bit. It was a good little rest.

After saying our goodbyes, I headed off to finish my run. Of course, stupid pride makes you run faster when you think someone you know is watching, haha!!! I was also still trying to figure out the route in my head so I threw in another half of the same hill loop; 3/4 of the way up, there is another option for coming back down. I then headed back towards home. It was hot and it was getting rough. By mile 9 I was done. I ran out of Gatorade at that point as well. I have never run out water or Gatorade before. I dragged myself through mile 10 and shut off my Garmin. I was still half a mile from my house and was trying to remember if the grocery store 2 blocks away had a water fountain.

The weather had started in the low 60’s but by the end of my run it was almost 80. I have run in much hotter temps before but for some reason, I was not prepared for yesterday. It kicked my butt. It also burned through my sunblock, my back is a lovely shade of red. I made it home and went straight for the water. Then a little chocolate milk and 2 bottles of Nuun.

I then managed to clean my car, finally. My mother had a tennis match yesterday and she wanted to show her team the puppy. So I picked up the puppy and took her for a ride. She was a little confused at first, but overall very well behaved. She wasn’t prepared for stop signs though, and tumbled off the seat at the first one- oops!!!

I rounded out the day by doing the usual errands and topped it all off by watching Catching Fire, again. Today was mostly chill, I took the puppy for another puppy jog- 3 miles in 56 minutes. She was a little slower today but much better behaved. She only barked at one car. 🙂

I am excited for the daylight time to run this week after work. It’s also inspection time at work, so I may have the need to run off some stress. 🙂 And my first half of the year is just two weeks from today!

How were your weekends?

Ever had a run turn out to be way warmer than planned?

A Pretty Slog

Since I have come to the conclusion that I have troubles with taking it easy, I headed to the gym on Wednesday evening. I need to work on controlling my pace better when running outside but for the purposes of this run I relied on the treadmill. That is one good thing about the bore-mill’s, I made sure to never go above a 6.2 the whole time and spent a few minutes warming up as well. 4.5 miles in 45 minutes. It should have been 5 miles but I just wasn’t feeling it. Which is kind of funny because by the time I did my cool down I was at 5 anyways. What I don’t understand is why treadmills feel so hard? The belt is doing some of the moving for you but it just seems 5x harder. I know that a lot of people share this opinion but I really wonder why?

I wore the Adrenaline‘s yesterday and they felt pretty good. Tonight’s run was in the Wave Riders. They felt great however the run did not. The weather was gorgeous if windy and I was excited all day to get a solid 4 miles. Plus I was looking forward to trying out my new toy-

It's a Flip Belt!!!!!! — It’s a Flip Belt!!!!!!

Amazing shipping, I ordered it late Sunday night and it arrived yesterday. I have been eying it for a few months and finally decided to just buy it. It is heavier than I thought it would be but I was hoping that wouldn’t be noticeable on. And for the most part it wasn’t. My phone fit in it with the case on perfectly. It was also easy to get it in and out to take pictures. It was a little awkward with my pepper spray so I just kept that in my hand while running. Which is fine for shorter runs but that will be trickier when I carry water. I will be testing that this weekend on my long run, a long, slow run. (No race for me this weekend.) I am not forming an opinion on the belt just yet. 🙂

Tonight’s run was rough. Just rough. I decided to run the route from work, hoping for a good 4 miles. It started off downhill like always but into a stiff headwind. Ugh. I felt like I was running through a swamp. I was hoping it would get better when I rounded the corner– no such luck. Less wind but still swampy. It never really seemed to click. I turned around at the 1.5 mile mark and headed back. My goal was to take it easy this week anyways, right?

That's actually pretty good — That’s actually pretty good

Once I made it back to my car, I checked my Garmin and noticed that my pace actually was pretty good. I guess I just wasn’t feeling this run. It made last night’s treadmill run seem good. 🙂 Maybe I should have only planned on running 3 days this week and not 4 after last weeks rest and recovery time. My legs felt so heavy; nothing hurt which is great, it was just funky. My long run this weekend will be between 8-10 miles and I am planning on crawling… Really. I am shooting for distance over pace this weekend. I will rest tomorrow and one of the weekend days. Who am I kidding, Friday is always a rest day – 🙂

Today’s run may have been rough, but at least I was out there. Plus the view was awesome, so no complaints there. Now, I am ready for Friday!

Who else is ready for Friday?

Who is racing this weekend? LA?

Anyone else counting the hours until Daylight Savings Time???