Tag: shopping

Shopping and running, a few of my favorite things

I had planned to get my long run in on Saturday morning before heading out to do a little shopping for the day. My alarm went of at 6:35, my head hurt and it was still dark. My phone said that sunrise was at 7:07 so I rolled over hoping the headache would go away. A second alarm went off at 7:08 and my head was just pounding. Bloody hormones and that’s all I’m going say about that; so I chose to sleep more.

I made myself face the day a little before 9. I got ready and headed out for some retail therapy. The plan was for window shopping, I didn’t really need anything. It’s just fun to hit SLO and enjoy the weather and the shopping and the food. The weather was great and the food was yummy as usual. Shopping was actually very budget friendly. 🙂 I couldn’t even find anything to buy at Dick’s, it was sad!!! I did buy Kimi a new blanket, and what does she do? She sleeps in the bag instead!

Shopping ran later than planned, so I didn’t get out the door running until 4:30 so the long run was not an option. Want to know a good way to run a Tempo run? Try to beat the setting sun. Great motivation. My legs felt a little tired but it was a good run. Thanks to my persistent cough, I still had to take a few walk breaks. However, it actually turned into a progression run instead of a tempo. For once each mile was faster than the one before it. Sweet! I made it back to my driveway just as the sun was dropping behind the hill. It may not have been what was planned but a solid 4 miles to end the day.

This morning I was planning on running yesterday’s 10 miler. I had mapped out a route last night- from my driveway with lots of loops, finishing by running crosstown to the high school. I was aiming to only have to do 1.5-2 miles on the track. After that the plan was to meet up with my mom who was working on the tennis courts and she would give me a ride back. Since I have been rather tired this week, still kicking that stupid sickness from last week, I figured I would aim for an 11:00 minute pace. Get the distance in but take it easy.

I had a slightly later start than planned and then when I was trying to get out the door, I found out that my mom was heading to the courts sooner than planned. Wait, she’s my ride home!!! The first three miles of my run I was recalculating in my head. Do I keep my route the same and just hope it takes her that long or do I throw in more loops and head back home. That was when I noticed my time, mile 3 had me under 31 minutes. Well, that was faster than I was aiming for. So plan B, could I maintain that pace for all 10 miles? I am faster in races but never before held that in a long training run. It would only save me 10 minutes but that just might be enough.

Why do I live is such a hilly neighborhood? Why did I plan my route by running one of the hills 3 times? Granted it wasn’t the worst but still, I must be crazy. I slowed down in mile 6 because while trying to get my long sleeved top layer off, I skillfully tangled myself in it. 🙂 Just call me Graceful. After finishing all 3 loops, it was down to the bridge and across town. I hate running across the bridge, it’s a little too on display for me. Luckily its not huge. After the bridge, there’s a few shopping centers and traffic lights before the last small hill and then the high school. With the traffic lights, I was able to test out the auto pause feature on the Garmin. Pretty cool but I felt like it was a little slow on the restart. I made it to the track at 8.5 miles and finished out the 1.5. And I was done, whew! And thankfully, my mother had waited for me.

I have no idea what happened in mile 4, barely even remember it

After lunch and grocery shopping, I joined my mother in walking the puppy. It was supposed to be short, like a mile, so I was rocking my new Wave Rider’s and skinny jeans. Bad idea. It turned into 2.5 miles and the puppy decided that she wanted to move fast today; she was dragging us. Seriously, where was this dog last week? I do not recommend jogging in skinny jeans without a proper sports bra, just don’t do it. The shoes felt great though. 🙂 The evening was finished off by the whole family going to The Olive Garden for dinner, yummy.

Training wise, I didn’t do too bad this week. 29 miles out of a scheduled 34. 5 days running. I still can’t do 6. And some of the planned runs I am unable to fit in my schedule, so I am adapting it a bit. Next week only has 5 scheduled days with my long run on Saturday, That will have to be a 2-a-day, as my first race of 2014 is that morning!! It’s a 5K that I am looking forward to.

Plus I hope to have some exciting news to share soon!!! I am waiting on one last email to confirm, I always like to be doubly sure before sharing something important. I am so excited!!!

How was everyone’s weekend?

What’s the most awkward clothing you’ve ever run in?

Finally a Reason

Friday morning, I woke up feeling like I had slept more hours but they were just as crappy. I just wanted to burrow under the covers for a few more hours. But I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for work. Since I was feeling crappy, I wore my newest skirt and my most comfortable boots to work. Fake it ’til you make it right?

Yeah, I rock funky socks, every day :) — Yeah, I rock funky socks, every day 🙂

Don’t worry, I push the socks down before we open the doors. 🙂 I was also treated to this morning view while picking up the cookies-

Shaping up to be a good day, right? By early afternoon, my headache had turned into a head pounder and my swallowing was so painful. Ahhhh, light bulb moment, I was sick. Maybe that explained the week of crappy sleep and the zoning out I did a few times at night. I watched Biggest Loser on my DVR over the week, but I couldn’t tell you a dang thing that happened. I don’t remember it at all. 😦 After leaving work yesterday, I crashed in the Comfy chair with a blanket. I was hoping I would be better in time for a long run today.

I had a little shopping trip planned with my mom; she wanted help looking for a wedding gift for one of her former players. I set an alarm in the hopes I could get a run in this morning first. Ha! My head and throat were worse. So I tried to get a little more sleep before getting ready for the day. Shopping went well, even if both my mother and I were feeling poorly and moving a little slower than usual. Even though my throat hurt, I was able to enjoy lunch. 🙂 She also found a great gift, which is good as the wedding is tomorrow. 🙂

She then needed to head to the Tennis Warehouse to pick up a few things for the team. Uhoh- danger zone! The Running Warehouse was literally 10 feet away. And I had been feeling the urge for new shoes. I was one of those rare runners who only had one pair of shoes. I wore them for every race, training run and occasional trail adventure. When they wore out, I replaced them. With my planned increase in training this spring and more half marathons on the schedule as well I was thinking about getting another pair.

The place was packed, but then the store front is small. However customer service there is amazing. I tried to resist, I really did. I ended up trying on the Mizuno Wave Inspire 10 and the Mizuno Wave Rider 17. I love my current pair of Inspire 9’s so I was optimistic for the 10’s. They felt like an entirely different shoe, tighter and flatter. Not cool. The Wave Rider’s on the other hand felt awesome! Restraint be damned!

The Wave Rider’s are a neutral support shoe so that is a change. So I will be trying them out on the treadmill for the first few runs. If I like them, I figured I would use them for the flatter, shorter runs and races. I can’t wait to test them out. Our shopping trip was longer than planned; I ran out of daylight. My mother cannot make a quick trip to Petco. I ended up wandering away at one point and having a conversion with a little boy about betta fish. He was excited because they are fighter fish. I told him we have one at work that likes to try to attack a coworker. He thought that was great. 🙂

Once home, I had absolutely no energy for the gym. So today became a rest day. I am hoping that I will feel better tomorrow and can get in some miles. Maybe not the 8 that I missed today but anything between 4 and 6 would be cool. It will have to be early though as I am my mother’s plus 1 for the wedding. My dad, well he’s not the partying type. Neither am I, really, but I fake it better. 🙂

How was everyone’s Saturday?

Was I really the only one with one pair of shoes?

Accidental Tempo

First off, I want to say thank you to everyone for the thoughts left on my last post, they really helped 🙂

Today, I set no alarms. After the past couple of weird days I just wanted to get some sleep. I was hoping a good rest would help. It wasn’t the best but I felt a little more level this morning. Not to say that I didn’t have random moments throughout the day but I ignored them.

I met my mother for lunch where I did indulge a little, tri-tip sandwich and onion rings, yes please. Then we hit up a favorite antique store for a little browsing. I hadn’t realized I hadn’t been there since early November, so many things had changed. I went in with the intention of spending no money, I didn’t need anything and as always, Christmas was more than I planned for 😦 I held strong to this until one of the back stalls. I found this little beauty. Then I saw the price. 30 bucks??? It’s mine. Way too good of deal to pass up. Plus I will never turn down extra storage. Like I mentioned before, slight hoarding tendencies.

I was still kind of full from lunch but I knew I needed to get a run in. Not only did my training plan call for it, but I needed one. I was torn between doing the 8 that was on the schedule or backing it down to 6. I had been text messaging with a friend who commented that her legs weren’t ready to run in shorts. I agreed that mine were the same, hello Holiday 4 7. So what do I do? I decide to try out my new running skirt. So I changed and was out the door.

The plan was for this to be a slow and steady run between 6-8 miles. So when the first 3 came in under 30 minutes, hills and all, oops. My head knew what I needed to do but my feet were not listening at all. Luckily I ran into my mother out walking Zoey again, perfect reason for a walk break to slow down. Of course they were going up that damn hill from New Year’s again, but oh well. We walked for a bit then I ran on. Again my feet ruled my head and I went left up another hill, actually the same one I ~~ran~~ walked up 10 minutes previously.

I looped around and then ran up another hill. Stupid feet. Coming down, I hit 6 miles. I was tired and feeling the too fast pace and hills. I headed for home slowly, telling myself I was done when I hit my driveway no matter what the GPS said. I was tired, my legs were heavy, I had had a too big a lunch, and my upper thighs had been regretting the skirt since mile 5. Once again my feet ruled and when I ran passed my driveway, the Garmin said 7.57. So I ran another .25 mile out and then back. I stopped the Garmin as I began the crawl up my driveway. I was so done. But I felt good in a sore, tired kind of way.

Where's the escalator? — Where’s the escalator?

I started out way too fast and was crawling by the end but I finished it. My feet chose to not listen to my head and maybe I needed that. The true measure will be how sore I am tomorrow. It should be a rest day, but I may try to make up some miles, but they will be really slow ones, I promise. I rewarded myself with a nice hot shower (oh the sting!) and a yummy smoothie 🙂

While on my run, I passed an older lady out for a walk and she told me it was too hot for me to running. It is January 4th and I ran in a skirt and tank top, 72º. I can’t decide if her comment was funny or freakishly correct 🙂

Hope everyone had a good Saturday!!!

Anyone else like antique stores?

I’m not the only one who’ve had my feet overrule my head right?

My Happy Place

It rained!!!!! Only for a bit and it was more of a mist but it rained! It happened while I was working Saturday, I tried to take a picture but it just looks gray. We’re in the middle of a drought so any rain is exciting. Granted I wasn’t in my home town and it turns out it didn’t get any rain. Driving home in the rain and fog was less exciting. I was behind a car going 40 in a 60, but that was actually ok as I could hardly see the car itself due to the fog.

I arrived home to find new toys in the mail! My new belt had arrived. I had searched numerous web sites and asked fellow bloggers opinions as I was super frustrated by my current hydration belt. After checking things out, RunningFromitAll (awesome blog) recommended iFitness. Duh! They made my basic running belt that I really liked aside from it being too small for longer races. I had forgotten about them. So I checked out their website, turns out they changed their name to Fitletic. After mulling things over, I ordered myself a new belt.

Now this is not a hydration belt. I can order the add on’s for that but I think I am going to try it without. There are 5 water stations in my next half marathon, so I figure between those and a little handheld with Gatorade, I will be ok. At least that is the plan. We’ll see how it works out after the race. It has 2 pockets and some straps for gels, as well as race bib holders. I probably won’t use the bib holders, I tend to wear my belt really low on my hips. My phone does fit much better in this belt as well.

I was torn between the track and the gym for my run, but I really wanted to test out my new belt. The track won. Which is more than fine by me, the track is my “happy place”. I was aiming for between 4-5 miles and was thinking about trying some 800’s. I felt pretty good after my first mile, so I decided to just try and maintain pace as long as I could. I had a larger bottle of water to carry but it was driving me bonkers so I left it on a table by the track.

I hit mile 4 and still felt good, so I kept going. My mother had come with me for this workout and I noticed then that she was doing her sprints. She does those when she nears the end of her workout. I rounded the south curve and hit mile 5, and she was sitting on the table waiting. It was too good of run to quit so I pushed through to a full 10K. Mile 6 was my best mile out of the 6, 9:38 🙂 My overall pace was better than my previous run on the treadmill. But I also love the track now, like I said, it’s a happy place. I hated it in high school, but then I hated running too. I have always been a slacker. I was actually asked a couple times if I wanted to run track back then and I was like “why the heck would I do that?”. I ran the required amount for tennis and softball and that was it. Not a foot more. Now I wish I had maybe given it a shot then, maybe it wouldn’t be so hard now.

Today was a designated Slacker day. I spent the day shopping. Prior to getting healthier and losing weight, I use to say that window shopping was exercise, all that walking up and down the street right? My Nike Fuelband quickly put that theory to rest. Shopping days are actually some of my laziest days. I earn more fuel points at work, and I sit at a desk a lot. Today, I discovered that trying on clothes is a work out, haha! I went to Dick’s to look for a new pair of running capris. I tried on 9 pairs, that was just ridiculous. I ended up going with the Nike Filament Capri, which was funny because they were the pair I liked the least on the rack and based on fabric. Once on, though, they felt awesome. Now to see if they run awesome.

I also picked up some new work clothes for a steal 🙂 and ate some yummy food. I picked up a few things to finish the mini room makeover, but still haven’t been able to get the headboard to work. All in all, a very good Slacker Sunday.

So yummy, I snacked a bit first :) — So yummy, I snacked a bit first 🙂

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend and kicked ass in any races 🙂

Shoe Talks

Let’s talk about shoes. So I am currently wearing Mizuno Wave Inspire 9 and I have been since December. As of today they have 386 miles on them. I love these shoes and of course they are introducing a new model in November. But I love this style!!!! I really should replace them now, but I do not want to break in a new pair before my half marathon in 3 weeks. And I have been using that excuse for the last 2 months.

I have also held off because every time I buy a new pair of shoes, the shin splints that I use to suffer from every day always make a reappearance. Why can’t they just stay gone? Since there is a new updated version about to hit stores, I think that I will see if I can find mine on clearance anywhere. Fingers crossed! But then again, the new ones do look pretty.

I really do love these shoes. Prior to these Mizuno’s, I had only ever run in Brooks. Actually my previous two pairs were both Brooks Ravenna. While I had never had any problems with them, I wasn’t dead set on them. So after Christmas last year, I headed out on a shoe hunt. My shoes always seem to need to be replaced around Christmas or my birthday. I have managed to not have to pay for a pair of shoes yet. Yay for presents! Changing to Mizuno was a jump because it was a different brand, I went down a size and they were a different support level. Yikes! I was nervous when I first started wearing them. But they have been awesome. I am sad to see the wear on them. I have also set 3 PR’s in them, so maybe I am a little emotionally attached to them. J

Speaking of shoes, I wore my boots to the chamber mixer on Thursday and it occurred to me that they probably have almost as many miles on them as my running shoes. Slower miles for sure but they got me through a crazy time back at the beginning of the year. I had just transferred locations for work and we were going through something like a merger. We had crazy hours and did lots of running around, and these shoes were my go to. Got me through the day, didn’t hurt and kept my legs warm! Sadly, they too are in need of replacing. I hate replacing shoes, you never know if the new ones will be as comfortable as the nice old, worn in ones. And breaking them in always takes time. Plus, I have a hard time finding boots that actually fit my calves. Ahhh, the joys of being a runner 🙂

Yep, I wear knee socks :) — Yep, I wear knee socks 🙂

Thursday was busy but good, and Friday has come and gone. Bring on the weekend running! I now have 8 days until my 10K, and possible 5K, so I would really like to get in some decent miles this weekend. I also have some shows that I would love to catch up on, Slacker style in my comfy chair. And maybe some good food along the way. All that after I get off work that is.

Anyone else have a pair of shoes that they just don’t want to let go of?

Hope everyone had a good Friday and if you are racing this weekend, good luck!!