Tag: schedule

Racing Ahead

As rough as 2016 has been, I am still in denial that Thanksgiving is this week, more like tomorrow. How is that possible? It just can’t be! That being said, I am looking forward to one part of 2017…

My race plans!!!!

I would say schedule but considering they’ve already hit a drastic snag due to well…life. I had originally planned on running Surf City again on Super Bowl Sunday. 3rd try’s the charm right? Plus running it 3 years in a row qualifies you for Legacy status, it’s the little things right? But like I said 2016 has been rough and I will be attending a family memorial that weekend.

So with the need for something to look forward to, I took to the internet. Man, there are a lot of cool races out there! However, I am limited to those within driving distance. 😛 So, tentatively, I am looking at an early 2017 that might look something like this-

January- Carlsbad Half Marathon

This one is coming up fast, I won’t lie. I’m not registered for it yet. It won’t be a race race but more of a super awesome long run with thousands of other people along for the ride. The course looks amazing and I think it would be an awesome start to the year. I want to see how the first few weeks of December running go first before I register. I have a discount code for it and I would rather pay a little more than lose it all, you know?

February– Buzz Half Marathon

Keeping it local…and small. So small, the race doesn’t even have a logo 😛 This race takes place entirely on a nearby army base and it always been in the back of my mind to run but Surf City is usually the week before, so this year is looking good!

March– Wine Country Half … or Livermore

More than likely Wine Country. It’s small, it’s local and it’s one of my favorite races. I’ve run it 5 times. I broke my streak last year, boo, so I am looking forward to getting back out there. I know this course extremely well and love it. Even with the hill of death at mile 12.3.

May– Destination Races Santa Barbara

I get to run this race with BibRave and I am so excited. I have never heard a bad thing about any of the Destination Races. Plus running near vineyards is kind of my jam and one of my favorite things to do. I’ve also wanted to run a race in Santa Barbara but never been able to make it work. Plus with the start in Santa Ynez and the finish in Solvang, it makes me feel nostalgic. My grandparents lived in Santa Ynez when I was growing up and it brings back memories of many family trips. I am also thinking that May is perfect timing for a challenge race. That G word is still a 4 letter word in my book but I am liking the idea of a challenge for 2017. But more on that later.

Now that’s all to say I don’t do something crazy in April. I won’t lie, I am having crazy thoughts about April but we’re going to let those percolate a little more. 😛

Do you have any plans for 2017 yet?

How far out do you plan races? Register?

Lack of Umph

You know that saying about the difference between try and triumph is a little “umph”? Or something like that? I’ve lost my umph. Where did it go? Can you help me find it?

I’ve been feeling adrift since SLO. I thought having no training plan would feel liberating. I mean I am a Slacker after all, I was looking forward to it, thinking it would be awesome. Yet it hasn’t been. My last few posts have talked of my lack of motivation and each one said the same thing- I need to get back on track. Obviously saying it means absolutely nothing. Want to know how many miles I’ve run in May? 26. Seriously!?? Ouch.

Work has officially hit crazy, and my hours got a little longer, like open to close. Friday is the biggest change, last Friday ran around 11 hours. However that should be no excuse to be lazy. Maybe I should just try to go to sleep earlier. Ok, that one made me laugh a little. What time did this post go up? I also need to work on my time management skills outside of work but that’s for another post. Anyways, time to ~~hopefully~~ actually follow through with what I say. So to that effect, I planned out a race schedule. With a goal race. So here we go.

May– Bands on the Run 10K
June– Talley Vineyard 10K
July– Rock’n around the Pier 13.1 and a possible 4th of July 5kAugust– Trail 25K
September– Central Coast Cancer Challenge 10k, HOB Fun Run 10K/ 5K
October– City to the Sea 13.1 (GOAL)
November– Big Sur Half Marathon

A race schedule seemed to work for me before, so let’s try it again. Since I really think my training plan for SLO worked, I am going to re purpose it for City to the Sea. That is also where I set my half marathon PR and I love the course…except they changed the course this year, so we will see what happens. Now, this plan is flexible, life does happen so I may adjust things if I have to. May, June, HOB and Big Sur are the only ones set right now.

Most of this was thought out after a truly lackluster weekend of running. I ended up napping on Saturday- again. Sunday did see my longest run since SLO- a slow 10K. I ran a 10:52 pace which is great for an easy run which was the goal. What was not so great was how hard it was. I was huffing and puffing the whole way, that pace felt more like race pace than easy run. Ugh. That was not confidence inspiring, but rough runs happen and we move on. But I was out there long enough to think of all the reasons I have been lazy and what I can do about it. I am 20 weeks out from City to the Sea and I am aiming for a 16 week plan. The next 4 weeks will be testing a couple of new weekly schedules out since this newest one isn’t working out so well. 🙂 Plus I need to figure out what works best with the work schedule. Running later in the evening makes it harder to sleep and now I have to get up earlier so that probably won’t work, but I will figure it out. I also need to figure out how to stop the stress eating that has been happening for 2 weeks.

What do you do when you lose your “umph”?

What’s your race schedule look like?

What do you do when you’re stressed?

Radio silence

Long time no share. I think that was the longest posting break I have taken since I started this blog almost 3 years ago. I try to stick to a schedule of posting 3x a week so my one post last week was very lonely. 😞

I wanted to post but just didn’t feel like I was in the right head space there for a while. I ended up taking Wednesday through Saturday off of running as well. So attempt 1 of changing my weekly schedule didn’t work out. A migraine rolled in on Wednesday evening and didn’t leave until Saturday. Sometimes I run through them but this time I just decided to embrace the Slacker and rest. The migraine was probably partially hormonal and partially due to stress so rest sounded great. 😃 I watched some tv, read some fanfic online (yes I am that nerdy) and maybe ate some things that I shouldn’t have. I have zero regrets about that donut- I needed it for my mental health. 🙂

Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving. Albert Einstein — Just keep moving…. Thanks Pinterest

Work is in the process of getting a little crazier so I decided that I just needed some quiet time. I work in a location with a smaller staff, only about 6, and 3 have given notice. All are for different life reasons but the timing still makes me doubt myself as a manager. There are some things that I have no control over and I know this but still that little voice in my head starts whispering. Ugh. Plus with 3 leaving, things are about to get really interesting. I see some very long days in the future… Very soon. I am ~~trying~~ going to stay optimistic and it is what is and we will get through it. Where did the cynical Slacker go?

I am hopeful that I can stick to my usual running of 4x a week throughout the coming weeks but if I have to drop a day I will. We’ll see. Also I need to get back on that schedule, I haven’t hit 4 days a week since the week before SLO. oops!!

I did get in some miles on Sunday. On Saturday, my mother and I had headed into SLO for a little shopping. One of those stops was the Running Warehouse. It broke my little Mizuno-loving heart but I exchanged my Inspire’s. I don’t know what it was but I just could not break them in. I hate exchanging shoes, I feel bad that they have to be sent back, but I do not have the room in the budget to just keep buying shoes. I swapped them out for a pair of the Wave Rider 18’s. Maybe they are what I should have gone with in the first place. Hmmm, we’ll see.Sunday was Mother’s Day (Happy belated Mother’s Day to all you mothers!) and the day started with a nice run/ walk with my mom. We did the usual walk for a bit then I would run ahead and double back. I was feeling a little tired and sluggish but after 4 days off, I wasn’t complaining. Plus it was my first run in my new shoes. 🙂 In a completely unimportant note, these shoes sure are pretty, I hope I like them.

So I am hoping to get back to the regularly scheduled programming this week. Hopefully in all areas, fingers crossed!

How was your weekend? Mother’s Day?

Ever needed a time out? What did you do?

And How Now?

For some reason I did not want to do any of my workouts last week. For some reason I was just feeling super lazy and super whiny. It was actually something that my boss said each day that got me to change and get in both workouts during the week. Which was a great thing because both runs were pretty damn good.

Saturday dawned and I was feeling the same lack of motivation. I so wanted to bail on everything. We had a prediction of rain for Sunday so I knew I should move my long run up a day. I’m all for a short run in the rain but nothing past 6 miles. My second half marathon was run in the rain and between that and a myriad of other issues it was a miserable race and I burst into tears at mile 11. So yeah, no long rainy runs for me. Bad memories.I finally headed out late afternoon but I had no expectations. I was going to run whatever I felt like doing whether that was 3 miles or the 12 on the schedule. I wanted to keep the pace super easy and just go with the flow. After a couple of miles I figured I would just do my easy 4.5 mile route and chance the rain the next day. But then I turned up the hill again instead of down. And then again and then up another hill. Followed by down and around and back up that first hill, then a few loops. Then up the hill again, then some loops of the school. Dizzy yet? I was tired and achy but felt pretty good otherwise so I just kept running. I actually felt like my form was pretty damn good. Usually by that point, I feel like I am starting slouch and need to remind myself to straighten up and pick up my feet. On Saturday, I felt like there was none of that. There were a few times I looked at my watch and saw my lap pace was in the mid 9 range. Woah Nelly, slow down! Each time I saw that I would take a walking break. Part of me was super stoked each time I saw that but I knew I should back it off. I felt pretty good but still had achy spots in my legs, particularly my left. After numerous loops, I finally called it when I hit 10 miles at the bottom of my driveway. Once again, I hadn’t felt like running but pulled off a pretty good run. Guess that was the theme of the week.

Other than the few times I saw that I was running too fast, I hadn’t paid much attention to my pace. I just kept what I felt was a comfortable pace and walked anytime I felt I needed to. So I was surprised to see that the 10 miles were completed in 1:47:53. Only 8 seconds slower than the previous week? And how now? Especially when the elevation is taken into consideration. The previous week’s run had an overall elevation gain of 85 ft over 10 miles. This week was 780 ft. Say what? It was in the high 50’s as opposed to 80’s so that could have been a factor. But otherwise I went out with the full intention of crawling a slow, shorter run. But I guess part of me just felt like running. Long run done! 🙂