Tag: shopping

Suddenly Shoreline

You know you’re a runner when you find out that a local race you’ve run the last 2 years on your birthday weekend is a week later this year and you’re bummed out. 2 years ago I ran the Rock to the Pier 10K the day before my birthday. Last year, I stepped up to the half marathon that was now on my birthday. The 10K rocked, the half marathon kicked my ass. Both were still awesome. There’s something about running a race on/near your birthday that is kind of awesome. Well except for seeing the new age on your bib, that usually stings a bit. 🙂

I was still planning on running Rock’n Around the Pier this year but I just wasn’t feeling very into it. The race has 12+ miles on the beach. Add the sand and the inevitable humidity and I was preparing for a rough time. Throw in a lazier than planned June and I was starting to dread it. Plus, last year I ran it with NikeC, that’s not in the cards this year. So I decided to do the smart thing, I figured I would run the 10K instead. It would mean the loss of bling, but it’s not all about the medals. Right?

2 weeks ago, I got an email. California has a half marathon series every year, and you can earn an extra medal at the end of the year at one of the Series end races for a variety of challenge. Pretty cool but the odds of me running any of the end races are kind of small. The emails let you know of upcoming halfs in the series though. The race at the top of this email was Shoreline Half. In Ventura. On my actual birthday. Could I, should I? Nah, no, that would be crazy.

Call me crazy. I registered. I found a sweet discount online and committed. I also adjusted my training. I had been aiming to hit 4 days a week and up my mileage but I stuck with 3 days and upped my long runs. So my last 3 weeks looked like this-

14 miles overall- 5+ long
16 miles overall- 8 long
18 miles overall- 10 long

Dang, that looks sad. But after 2 Slacker months, I wasn’t trying to break myself by being in a hurry. Plus this race is strictly for fun. For more reasons than just not hurting myself. I am not getting a hotel, I am driving down on race morning with my mom and S (one of her tennis players- she tends to adopt them). So hello to my first ever 3AM wake up call for a race. And hello to packet pickup on race morning. Cuz that won’t be stressful at all. 🙂 The race is flat, which most people would love but I find flat to be my nemesis. Oh and it’s on the boardwalk…along the beach. Hello humidity. #sorrylungs

You know you're a runner when... you are looking forward to a girls weekend that includes a half-marathon!

So am I crazy? Well, that remains to be seen. 🙂 I am hoping for a fun, pretty race. Some shiny new bling and then a day spent shopping and eating around Santa Barbara. Hello Lululemon and Lorna Jane- please take my money. 🙂

So, seriously, am I crazy?

Ever registered for a race at the last minute? I have but not this late for a half.

Do you run on your birthday?

Well, that wasn’t the plan

Even though the extreme pain of Thursday evening eased, I still felt sore on Friday. Sore isn’t really the right word but it’s the closest thing to describe how my left side felt on Friday. I didn’t pay much mind to it throughout the day. Partly because the day was too damn busy and chaotic and partly because I figured it would go away by the end of the day. When the text messages start coming before your alarm, you know the day is going be a little rough. But eventually it was over and I was looking forward to a weekend of running and maybe a little shopping.

Saturday morning was a fundraiser for my mom’s tennis team. They were completing a walk-a-thon and each boy had to walk or run or crawl 20 laps on the track. One boy brought a unicycle! They had a few hours in which to do this so my original plan was to run to the school and then complete my 12 miler on the track with them. When my alarm went off, I could still feel that odd soreness before even getting up. So I chose to sleep a little longer and then just head straight to the school. I figured I would get in as many laps/ miles on the track that I could. They had the track for 3 hours, I was still hoping I could get in 10-12 miles. I didn’t really think they were going to be there that long and I was right about that. However I was overly optimistic about my goal.Running hurt. I walked a few laps and tried to run one. Ouch. Walked a few more and tried running another one. Still ow. Ok, fine I get it. I walked out the remainder of laps. So 5 miles walking done. I still hoped to try and run later in the afternoon. I ran a few errands and then had the afternoon free. I could have/ should have run but instead I took a nap. Naps are training right?

I’ve been doing the math and realized that if my Wave Rider’s wear like they usually do, I will need a new pair before the SLO Marathon. Even if they did hold up through April, I would be running the race in very worn down shoes. I’ve been hoarding the gift card I got along with my Heritage award for just this purpose so today called for a trip to SLO. My mom and I headed down for a day of shopping, yummy food and hopefully a good hike to end the day.

The weather was awesome and the food was yummy as always. My stomach was not cooperative for a hike, however. This was more of the usual though and less of the odd soreness. Which is probably partially my fault. I start a new diet with lots of restrictions tomorrow so I may have indulged a little too much this weekend. Oops, but not really. I had to say goodbye. 🙂 So the hoped for hike didn’t happen. I did clear 10,000 steps on my Fitbit though and that is only the second time I have done that outside a day with a run. Yeah, I need to work on that. 🙂The highlight of the shopping was the new shoe purchase. Aren’t new running shoes always the best? I knew exactly what I wanted to try on so that made it fairly easy. Per usual, the Running Warehouse was packed on a Sunday afternoon. There were already numerous people being helped and a few waiting. I checked out all the pretty shoes while waiting. So very many colors! I guess being a familiar face is helpful because one of the employees was able to grab the shoes I wanted to try while he was getting another customers. Score! I tried the Wave Rider 18 and Wave Inspire 11. I still love Mizuno. 🙂 I had 2 pairs of Wave Inspire 9’s that I loved but just could not get behind the 10’s. I never even bought a pair they felt so off. I’ve been in the Wave Rider 17 ever since and am on pair 3. I was nervous I wouldn’t like the update for the 18. I liked the fit and feel, nothing felt too different, I just liked the feel of the Inspire’s better today. In fact the only real issues I had with both pairs was deciding which to buy and the shoelaces. The laces seem short, so I may be changing those shortly. It’ll be interesting going to back to a support shoe after being in neutral for so long but I think it may be a good thing. I picked my shoes and was in and out of there fairly quickly, double score! Now I just can’t wait to take them for a run!

And I need to get back on track with training. This was not a shiny week, it happens right?

How was your weekend? Did you race? Or run?

Shoelaces? Do you like them longer or shorter?

Almost there…

Friday was just as crazy as the rest of the week had been but it was ok, I had cookie Friday to get me through it. 🙂 Plus for once, I had plans after work, girls night! I met ML and A for dinner and a movie after work. Dinner was at a pub like restaurant, where I took no pictures. Oops! The burger was so good I was too busy eating it and catching up with them. Then it was on the movies, we saw Maze Runner. It was good and they did a decent job of sticking to the book. Granted I read it years ago, but they hit all the points I remembered. I also indulged in movie popcorn, maybe too much, but it was so worth it.

Saturday morning started with work. While I love that the weather is finally below triple digits, I could do with out the fog increase that has accompanied the cooler weather, particularly on my commute. At one point, I could barely see 2 car lengths ahead of me. Ugh. After work, I decided to use Saturday as a rest day and just ran some errands. My legs are a little tired from the extra 6 hours or so of standing per day but it’s still awesome. I decided that it had been too long since I had rearranged the bedroom furniture so that was how I spent my Saturday evening.

With my new plan to step back on running, I am aiming for 3 days a week, 15-20 miles. This week I had hoped for 15, a 3, a 5 and a 7 mile run. Instead it was 3.5, 4.5 and 4.3. I started the second set of medication that my doctor prescribed last night and woke with a pounding headache. I don’t have time for that! I had plans to go toSLO with my mom and get some shopping done plus that 7 mile run.

We were heading to SLO because back in July, I bought her a pair of running shoes at The Running Warehouse. They were supposed to be a very early Christmas present but after a month, she decided that she hated them because the tongue never stayed in place. So that was the first stop of the morning. Probably should have checked the times because they didn’t open until 10. Oops. I told her that she had to do all the talking. 🙂 Luckily the service was great as usual. She didn’t have a second choice, so I took partial store credit and picked up a new pair of Wave Rider’s with the other part. The new version comes out in a month so this way I have a back up when I need a new pair. Plus who knows if I will like the new version. I hated the Wave Inspire update.

Then it was lunch and some more shopping. I wanted to stop at Banana Republic, I have an interview on Tuesday, so I felt I needed a new dress. My head was still pounding and I was beginning to wonder if I was going to get in any running. Once home, I put my stuff away and then took a 25 minute power nap. I had very little desire run at that point but my head felt a little better, so I headed out. I kept it super easy and walked whenever I needed. Considering how I felt for the most of the day, I’d say it was damn good run. I even had the energy to take the last hill (slowly) and hit 4.3 miles instead of the other way, 3.8. I’d call that a win. 🙂 So mileage for the week- 12.3.

How was your weekend?

Anyone else hoard shoes in advance?

Ever hated a shoe update?

Ventura Goals

My next half is only 2 sleeps away! I am leaving for Ventura tomorrow morning. Half marathon #9 is on Sunday. 🙂

With my recent rough patch, I have readjusted my goals for this race. When I first signed up back in June I was hoping that the flat course would help with my goal of breaking 2:00 for a half marathon. While that would be amazing, I don’t feel I am in the position to do that right now. Frankly, I don’t think I should even try. So in an effort to be smart, I have a new goal this weekend- have fun. Plus this will be a race weekend of firsts-

First race I travel to
First race out of the county
First time sleeping in a hotel in I have no idea how long
First time eating dinner somewhere random pre race?

I am heading down tomorrow morning and dragging my mother along with me. We are planning on getting in some shopping at the mall before picking up my packet and checking into the hotel. I also don’t remember the last time I was in a mall. With those plans I will be breaking quite a few pre-race rules. Which helps the choice to just have fun. Now I would like to have fun and still be around 2:10 but it will all depend on how I feel. I ran that in SLO with hills, so fingers crossed.

I got off a few hours early today so I had plenty of time to pack. Packing is stressful! I am only going for 2 days/ 1 night and I feel like I am both packing too much and not enough. I have had my race outfit planned for a while but am still taking extra shorts and compression socks. Maybe I will change my mind? Who knows. I am looking forward to hitting the expo too. The race sounds like one giant beach party, so yay!

I also updated my playlist. I am in weird mood, so it is kind of all over the place. Some good stuff, some bad. 🙂 Headphones are discouraged but I am not at the point where I can run without music. The site recommends only running with one in and I already do that anyways. Plus I still like hearing Mr. Nike chime in with how I am doing. Yes, my Garmin buzzes but I like hearing it too. I tried to take a screenshot of it, but apparently I don’t know how to get the whole thing in one image, oops.

Fingers crossed!!!!

Hope everyone had a good Friday! Happy weekend!

Anyone else racing? Any other plans?

Headphones- yay or nay?

Rising Moon and a Windy Run

After Friday’s race I was pumped to keep running. In fact I had hoped to run another 7 miles that day, before dinner and fireworks, to round out to 10 total. I wanted this to be my last long run before my half in 3 days. An unplanned 2 hour nap changed that, I didn’t even make it to the fireworks. 😦 While waiting for the awards to start after the race, there was very little shade and I think it affected me more than usual. When Saturday rolled around; after getting in the shopping trip that was postponed last week, I just did not want to run. Same for Sunday. So, I didn’t. I chose to treat the weekend as some needed rest. I haven’t decided if that violates the whole #noexcuses thing or if a little rest is a good thing. Instead of running, I read 4 books. That counts for something right?

After that restful few days, I was ready to run on Monday. Work wasn’t too busy, so I was able to get out of there fairly quickly. I then headed back to home town to run the path I have been running lately. My mom decided to join me, so I met up with her at the trail head. I kind of like when she does that, it forces me to take the first mile a little slower, which is a good thing because I rarely ever warm up enough. Especially on race days- bad runner! Slower is also better when it’s 90+ outside. 🙂

When I broke away from her, I felt like I settled into a good pace. At least on the way up. Coming down, I was looking forward to thelittle bit of help that a downhill brings but then there was the wind. Every single time I run this newer path the wind is ridiculous coming back down. Last week it was so bad and so loud, I could barely hear the music coming from my headphones. It wasn’t as bad on Monday, but I felt like I was running through sludge. Once I made it off the hill and around the corner, it eased up a bit. And I was rushed by 2 dogs on the trail portion again. Seriously?! Why am I dog bait? Overall, though at the end, my pace was pretty good.

The gym didn’t work out tonight so I hit the lake path to get in some miles. My left foot was a little sore the first lap around, so I wasn’t sure how many I was going to finish. I seem to have split personality feet. My right foot has a higher arch and loves heels but hates flats. My left foot has a lower arch, hates heels and loves flats. How does that work out? I haven’t found an insert that would help my left foot yet. Those things are pricey!

Luckily my foot loosened up around 2 miles in. I finished a few more laps to hit 5 miles before turning of my Garmin. I then alternated walking withbutt kicks and high knees for the mile back to my car. I felt a little silly. I was also staring at the serious lack of water in the lake. I’m kind of afraid to ask where the geese went.

Tomorrow I want to get in a few quick miles before a rest day on Friday. Then Saturday is race day!! 13 miles on sand, I can do this right? There are 5 stretches of soft sand that have me concerned. One, it slows me down, two, it weighs me down. But I get to run it with NikeC, so I am sure that it will be a blast. Plus, I am kind of excited about running a race on my actual birthday.

How has your week gone so far? We’re more than halfway through!

Anyone use inserts? Either in running shoes or regular shoes?

First race I travel to

First race out of the county

First time sleeping in a hotel in I have no idea how long

First time eating dinner somewhere random pre race?