Tag: Running

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 11

Never mind, can I have week 10 back?

Who knew that it would look good by comparison.  😛

This week was a step back week but I had a specific way it was going to go down.  Run Monday and Wednesday after work, 8 miles on Friday since I had the day off due to a tennis thing and then a local half marathon on Sunday.

I hit a minor stumbling block on Monday but wasn’t worried as I still had the rest of the week to catch up.   The tennis trip was canceled due to rain so I debated canceling my vacation day too but decided to keep it after Wednesday night into Thursday morning turned into pure misery.  My stomach hurt so bad, I just wanted to cry.  Thursday morning saw me sitting on the floor by my closet talking myself into getting dressed and forcing myself to go to work.   Things didn’t get much better from there.

Monday- Rest Planned on running but a sudden trip to another work location at the end of the day put a pin in those plans.   Actually I would be at this location for the next 2 days.

Tuesday- Rest Pouring rain and working in the other location kept me from running.  The drive to work was sketchy enough, I wanted to get home and off the road as soon as possible.

Wednesday- 3.30 miles Once again at the other location which meant the only running option was changing ad heading back to home town.  I hit up the river path and hoped to break in my new Altra’s.   While I had no real break in period for the Torin’s, that is not going to be true for these Intuition’s.   My calves and achilles were super tight so I kept stopping to stretch them out.  Which gave me more time to enjoy the sunset.  😊  I also made my last mile a bit speedier than my past few runs.  I think I’ve made the run/ walk intervals a crutch.  They were only supposed to be for long runs for Big Sur practice but they’ve become more of an every run thing.  Oops.

Thursday- 2.3 miles The start of the pain days.  I headed to the lake path after work hoping that a few miles would help make things better.  I figured the path was a good idea because if things went south, the car was never that far away and there are bathrooms there if needed.  It wasn’t a miserable run but it wasn’t marvelous either.  Nor did it seem to help the pain or make it worse.  Just to be on the safe side, I called it at just shy of 2 laps of the lake.

Which was probably a good idea as that night I was in so much pain, I damn near went to the ER.

Friday- Rest Less pain than the day before.   I had the day off from work due to the now canceled tennis trip but I knew I wasn’t getting in my 8 miles like planned.  In fact, I knew I was barely going to do anything.  I was also beginning to question the likelihood of me running the half marathon on Sunday.   This was further reinforced by another epic bout of pain that evening, this one my mother happened to witness and she was volunteering to drive me to the ER.

Saturday- Rest Less pain but I was still on the fence about the race.  I went to packet pickup and picked up my bib and shirt.  I’d never down graded a race before but I also didn’t think I had a DNF in me if it came to that.  If you’ve been following me for a while, then you may recall that I have a proclivity for running races when I shouldn’t or finishing them when I know I shouldn’t.   My mother was lecturing me and I was texting Kate who was trying to talk me down.  In our Squadrunner channel, James and Dorothea were also trying to talk some sense into me.   I went to bed mostly decided to drop to the 5K but still thinking about the half.  I love this half and it would be half #30.

Sunday- Wine Country Run 5K  Holy crap, I did something smart.  😛  Race recap to come but damn it was cold!

8.71 miles for the week.  Sunday evening was actually the best my stomach has felt in days so fingers crossed that stays.  The coming week has tons of rain and a 19 miler on the schedule.

As for my stomach- my gastroenterologist can’t see me until the middle of May.  So either I get lucky and snag a cancellation or I wait it out.  Otherwise another round like this week may send me to the ER before then.

So, someone tell me something good!

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 10

Oh, week 10, why you gotta play me like that?

If I ever train for another marathon, I swear I may skip week 10.  Just go from week 9 to week 11, you know like they skip floor 13 for some high rises?  Week 10 is cursed to be a hot mess.  During San Francisco training, week 10 was the breaking point with Hanson’s and I spent the last weeks just trying to hang on and get through the race without making my leg worse.

This time- I managed to hurt everything.   Right shin. Left shin.   Pulled a left groin muscle.  Popped/ pulled something on the right side of my back.   Oh and had a panic attack on the side of the road.    As for running?  I pulled off a whopping, crawling 15.75 miles last week.

So let’s whine talk about what I managed to do-

Tuesday- 1.54 miles I headed to lake path after work, looking forward to bringing it back into play.  The path being back means speed work is an option again and I was looking forward to going back to 4 days a week.  However my legs didn’t get the memo.  I knew right away something was wrong but I was hoping it would go away after a lap of the lake.  My left shin hurt but the scary part was my right shin.  I felt like something was loose under the skin- kind of like the muscle was pulling away from the bone.   It wasn’t getting better, getting worse in fact so I called if after a lap.  Grrr.

Saturday- Rain What do runners in denial of injuries do?  Buy new kicks.

Sunday-   12.55 run/ 1.66 walk The plan called for 18 and that’s what I set out to do.  However between all the rain of the week and all the pains I had been feeling, I was tired and not feeling it but I told myself to get over it.  I forgot my pepper spray and had to turn around to get it.   I had to change my route less than 1/4 mile in as there was a funeral at the cemetery and I try to not run past when there are actual services.   I started out slow and it never got any faster.  I was dragging around mile 7 when a passer-by leaned out their car window and yelled “good job” with a thumbs up.  It gave me a second wind for about 5 minutes but also made me wonder if I looked as rough as I felt.

My legs were aching, my feet felt like they were swelling.  It was 70+* and I was hot.   I was so damn thirsty and I had 2 bottles of water in my pack.  I stopped for a bathroom break around mile 10 and doused my hat and Buff in water.  I kept trying to move faster but I just kept moving through quicksand.  I couldn’t catch my breath and it just got worse.  By mile 11 I was sitting on the side of the road having a freaking panic attack, crying.

I somewhat pulled myself together, ha, called my mom and asked her if she wanted to join me for my last miles so I would have some company.  She said no and told me I should quit and she would come get me and give me a ride.  I was stubborn and said no.   I tried to suck it up and run on.  At mile 12.55, I knew I was being stupid.  My pace was in the toilet and my head still wasn’t right.   I stopped my watch and decided to walk a shorter way home.   That was still almost another 3 miles.  I didn’t make it.  I ended up calling for that ride.

I was so damn irritated with myself for not finishing 18 but I also knew that pushing on would have done more harm than good.  As it was, I was limping, dehydrated and exhausted.  I was done.

Now starts week 11… and I am filled with doubt and lingering muscle pain.  Oh boy.

How was your week?  Tell me something good!

Rambling On 29

Let’s ramble on a Thursday.

I had to drive on my spare tire on Monday.  Crap, that thing was squirrelly.  So, FYI, if you have an Escape- the spare is creepy.

On Tuesday, I ripped my pants.  In a very inappropriate place.   I work 45 minutes away from home and work town doesn’t really have any clothing stores.  Well, crap, now what?  Well, I have amazing co-workers who literally give you the skirt they were wearing.   😯  And don’t worry, she was still good as there was something in our donation pile that fit her.  Which was actually some clothes of mine I don’t fit into anymore but let’s not got there.

They are predicting rain for this weekend and next weekend.  Seriously?!?! Do you how many miles are on the schedule?  Nope, not going to think about it.

I finally tested out the lake path for the first time this year.  It was short due to some odd feeling in my leg but it was nice to be there.

And super random- why is Matthew McConaughey doing Carl’s Jr. commercials??? I don’t know why I’m weirded out by that but I am.😂

Share something random!

Big Sur Marathon Training-Week 8

Or the one where I almost got mowed down by a car.

Even before that though, this week wasn’t going so well.   Between the less than helpful test results, a busy week at work, a sudden cold weather snap and a bout with the stomach flu, I watched a lot of Netflix.

Monday- Rest  I planned on running, I mean a day off from work meant a perfect day for running right?  Yet somehow, between cleaning my car, inside and out- it was so dirty, getting my tires rotated and balanced and then my doctor’s appointment to get my test results, I just never made the time.  Plus it was super windy and cold.

Tuesday- Rest I never take my running gear on the Tuesdays after 3 day weekends knowing that work is likely to be crazy busy.  Plus I knew we were down 2 people so I was calling it being prepared.  It actually wasn’t anywhere near what I thought so I probably could have brought my gear.

Wednesday- Rest  I felt off, kind of moody, odd.  I brought my gym bag into the building to change but just wasn’t feeling it.  I couldn’t figure out why.

Thursday- Sick Ok, maybe that was it.  I didn’t even make it through the full day at work.  I was spending more time running to the bathroom than I was working.  Sorry, TMI.  So instead of running I spent most of the day resting in my chair and binging Netflix.  Hello, 100.

Friday- Rest I made it to work but was still feeling off, at this point was just hoping I would get in my weekend runs like planned.

Saturday- 7 miles I started the morning by filling in as a coach for the JV boys tennis team for an away match.  Yeah, that was interesting.  I had 4 boys show up, the opposing team had 19.   The opposing team was locked out f their own courts so they were literally climbing fences to get us tennis balls.  😛

I headed out for my run late in the afternoon.  After having so many unplanned days off in a row, I admit I was a little concerned how things would go.  However it was a pretty good run.  I was feeling decent so I decided to throw in some hills.  Apparently not enough because at the end of 7 miles I had only hit 600 ft in elevation gain.

Sunday- 15 miles Longest run since last marathon training cycle.   My side was hurting in the morning so I slept a little longer and headed out for my run in the afternoon.   I had a route planned and I was planning on taking it slow and easy considering it had been a rough week.  The first 1/3 felt pretty good but I told myself not to celebrate yet as I still had a long way to go.  The second third was also the warmest section and I slowed a bit as well as had a stand-off with an off leash dog.  I am not sure who was more alarmed by who.

Things went south around mile 10.  I was crossing the street to get to the park with the bathrooms.  I checked all 3 ways (T intersection) for oncoming traffic, I had reflective gear and I was paying attention.  I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT!  Yet 2/3 of the way across the street, this blue car came flying out of nowhere speeding towards me, blew through the stop sign, the cross walk and squealed it’s tires out into oncoming traffic.  WTF?! I was seriously close enough to the car to touch it.

Here’s where I reacted wrong.  After avoiding getting mowed down by the crazy, oblivious driver I looked around wondering if anyone else had seen that while cursing and yelling out loud.  Before remembering I was still in the cross walk and therefore still in street.  Move, stupid!

I had 5 more intersections and stop lights to get through on the busy side of town before I was back in the neighborhoods and side streets I run all the time.   Once I was in calmer streets it was like all the adrenaline left my body and everything cramped and my brain caught up to me about the near miss.   The last mile or so home were kind of rough but I could tell it was more emotional than mileage driven if that makes sense.

22 miles for the week.  The weekend rescued the week but things were a little rough this week.  That said, I am ok with the mileage that I did pull off.

How was your week?

Hey, Hey, San Jose

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!

There’s a bear, there’s a bear!

Ok, that was not how this post originally started but then it took me longer to type it than I planned and I received an email with the following image-

A bear!

I want it now!  I have a matching hat!  And dude, that’s a quick shirt reveal- the race isn’t until October 6-7.

Ok, back to what I meant to say.

Rock n Roll San Jose has been on my radar for a while now.  I almost ran it last year but it conflicted with a local race I was running.  Not this year!

Some race facts-

  • This will be the 13th year Rock n Roll has run in San Jose with more music, runner support, and community engagement every step of the way.
  • Known for being California’s fastest half marathon
  • Has one of the most spirited courses in the entire series- like all the local school cheerleaders come out and cheer you on.
  • A full weekend of running with a Half Marathon, 10K, 5K and KiDS ROCK, giving runners the chance to take on the Remix Challenge and earn three medals during the race weekend.

Ok, so it’s supposed to be fast- well that’s because it doesn’t have a ton of elevation gain.  By my standards, it looks pretty flat.   I’m not usually a fan of flat but I am going to try to be.  Why is that? Because when I registered, I put down a finishing time I haven’t come near in years.   People it’s time to kick that 2013 PR to the curb.  The last time I was even close was 2015.    It’s been way too long.

Want to join me in San Jose?  Use code RNRBRP2018 to save $15 on the half. 

Anyone else have a dated PR?