Tag: sick

Recap, Run!, Training

Week 11-Bump in the Road

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Otherwise known as sickness, heat wave and ouch-oh my.

  • 2019 Race Schedule (so far):
  • 3/24 Oakland Running Festival (Thanks BibRave)
  • 4/28 SLO Half Marathon
  • 8-11 Oaktown Half (Thanks BibRave)

Last week was rough. I had long days at work due to early morning conference calls. I ended up getting sick and then even when I felt better I was so damn tired. Like tired enough I slept through 3 of my alarms and had to get ready in 20 minutes on Friday. A similar story to Sunday when I set an alarm for an early morning run and instead dozed right through to 10AM. What?? That came back to bite me in the ass. Figuratively and damn near literally.

Monday- 3.1 miles
Starting the week out on a good note- I love the time change. I made it all the way to hometown before my run with plenty of light in the sky. I wasn’t sure if I was running 3 or 4 but settled on 3.1 so I could meet my mom for a late dinner. There were so many people out enjoying the extra daylight. My run was pretty decent- it actually ended up being a very short progression and the last mile was speedy for me these days.

Tuesday/ Wednesday- sick
I felt fine when I woke up on Tuesday but took a sharp decline mid morning. I was not ok, sick to my stomach, watering eyes and feeling feverish. I ended up leaving work early on Tuesday and barely made it through Wednesday.

Thursday- 3.5 miles
I was still feeling off and bordered on cranky. My new plan called for intervals but I didn’t think there was any way that was happening. I headed to the lake path after figuring it was easier to bail if I wasn’t feeling it. For some random reason, I pushed play on the interval workout. The first running interval almost killed me, ha! However I was able to increase the pace on each interval after that so yay? Granted, I am way off from the days when I ran paces of low 7’s, high 6’s for 1/4 repeats. I was struggling to hold a 9 minute pace but you have to start somewhere, right? Not cool was the numb left foot… again.

Friday/ Saturday- ???
Work was super long but I was abnormally hyper. It’s not the first time this has happened but it usually means I am still not feeling well. So no running but I randomly decided to rearrange all the furniture in the bedroom and closet. Moving dressers and beds is not exactly restive. Oh and I did push the limits of my lunch break on Friday and made it the Running Warehouse and back to pick up a new pair of shoes.

Sunday- 7.25 miles
Holy heat wave, Batman. It was almost 80*, I was so not prepared for that much of a jump. I had planned on running 10 miles for my last long run before Oakland but knew by mile 3 that wasn’t going to happen. I was so hot I was taking walk breaks more than occasionally. My pace actually wasn’t too horrible but I knew it wasn’t going to get any better. Good news is that there weren’t any issues with the new shoes. Bad news is that being hot wasn’t the worst- this turned out to be a chafe-tastic run. Ouch!

Just shy of 14 miles for the week but no cross- training. Unless you count sleep, haha. Not what I was hoping for when the week started but better than it could have been.

How was your week?


Run!, Slacker

Rambling On-51

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Happy Friday!

Oh I am so glad it’s Friday, it’s been a long week.

I had other posts planned but well, sickness arrived. Boo. It did enable me to catch up on some of the stuff on my DVR though. And delete a lot of it.

I maybe, possibly spent a little time last weekend doing some online shopping. It’s so easy to forget until every delivery service out there starts sending you tracking data. Oops. Then #allthethings arrived. Yay? Really, it wasn’t that bad just kind of feels like it.

There has been multiple early morning starts this week, I am so tired. I actually only missed a couple hours of work and probably went in on a day I shouldn’t have. But we are short and the show must go on.

I’ve been starting to get into audio books. I swore I never would and now I’ve finished a few. Although I have say that damn song from The Greatest Showman did more for me in 4 minutes than 6 hours of Unf*ck Yourself.🤣

Are we really halfway through March?? How?

Just got distracted writing this because I heard my mom’s tennis team mentioned on the news. Say what?? Oh wait, they lost.😛

I’m sure have more important things to say but right now I’m like- look cows!

Tell me something! Please?

Run!, Slacker, Training

Week 50- Disneyland

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

After last week’s race, my Garmin told me I needed a ridiculous amount of time to recover. It was something like 50ish hours.  Yes, I was sick but really?   After a couple of days, I realized it have been smarter than me.  

But, wait- what about Monday?  Hello Disneyland!!!!


My mother and I hit the park first thing in the morning and stayed until 7:30ish.  Our plan was stay until closing but I just couldn’t.   We rode all our favorite rides and some new ones.   Wow, the Jungle Cruise driver was snarky- funny but not what I was expecting.    😛   We even got to ride the Matterhorn twice in row- who knew they did bonus rides sometimes? I learned you should sit in the very back row on Star Tours- so much better! We finally found moderately decent food. Spent too much money on souvenirs. Took lots of pictures. Both ships were moving for the first time that I’ve ever seen. You could glimpse Star Wars land from the highest points of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

By 6, I was exhausted and my feet and legs were throbbing. Man, I feel old. I couldn’t fight the mob of strollers any more- aren’t kids still in school? Then, as we are making our way out of the park at 7:30, an announcement comes over the loudspeaker that they are going to dim all the lights so they can light up the castle. 😯🤬 That wasn’t on the schedule and there’s no way I could fight my way back through the crowds.😢

Tuesday- Shopping/ Travel

We were supposed to go to Universal Studios. However we both realized we would be phoning it in; we were both exhausted. So instead we fought LA traffic and hit a large mall on the way back north. Dude, just walking around the mall made my feet hurt and tired me out.

Wednesday- Rest

I almost ran but I wasn’t feeling well. I knew my heart rate was crazy high the entire race and my resting heart rate was still oddly high. I’d rather rest and get 100% healthy than push for some junk miles and get sick again. I was sick long enough. Plus I had a Ton of laundry to do.

Thursday/ Friday –
Hi ho, hi ho, it’s back to work I go.  I still felt crappy on Thursday but was starting to feel better on Friday and what do you know, my resting heart rate was coming back down towards normal. What does it say about me that I am calmer at work?

Saturday- HaHa
I could have run but I didn’t.  I tried to Christmas shop but I failed.  I am really struggling this year.   Nothing like the final countdown!

Sunday- 3.1 miles
I do know how to run!  I meant to run more but it was cold and again more shopping fails took up time.   My goal was to keep this run all in the green or lower according to the heart rate monitor on my watch.  Yeah, I need to work on that.   It actually felt good to get out there.  I’m still wheezing but thanks to my asthma, that will likely accompany me on all my runs for the next month. 

I also did a Beachbody Transform 20 workout last week but I can’t remember what day.   So 2 activities, not great but I do actually feel slightly healthy for the first time in a month so win!

How was your week?

Ambassador, BibRave, Race Day, Recap, Run!

Holiday Half Race Recap

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Disclaimer: I received free entry to Holiday Half 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!

Race start was a leisurely 8 but after a night of utterly horrible sleep, there was no need for my alarm and morning came too early.   I knew I needed to get my bib before the race so we checked out first thing and headed for the Fairplex.    The Pomona Raceway and Fairplex has more than enough parking but getting in was more challenging than I anticipated and took longer than I planned for.   Once we finally parked, we booked it down to the race start where everything was clearly labeled and picking up my bib and race shirt was easy-peasy.  

Then the clothing debate was on.   I was cold so I was wearing a long sleeve with my BibRave tank over it and my black fleece vest over that.  I had my beanie or trucker hat to choose from and had gloves.   I still wasn’t feeling great and tend to run cold so I was thinking all the layers.  My mother ended up taking the beanie and talked me out of the vest as well although I was whining about it the whole time.  I ran with my old waist belt instead of my pack as well because I didn’t want anything heavy on my chest.   So still feeling cold, I lined up at the start and under a dusting of fake snow, we were off!

Miles 1-3- 10:03, 11:33, 12:05
I knew this was going to be slower, I was thinking around a 12 min pace likely and figured I would pay more attention to my heart rate than my pace.  First mile- oops but I was feeling ok as we wound out of the Fairplex and into the surrounding neighborhoods.  I knew from the race website, it had some rolling hills so I made the early decision to walk them just because I had been sick.  Then I had to forcibly remind myself of that on the first one.  Mile 2, I was already tired, haha!  And mile 3, I was overheating.  The weatherman lied- how the hell do I get this undershirt off? I am going to melt!  We also hit the actual drag strip which was cool and the main reason I slowed- I took a lot of pictures.  😛

Miles 4-8- 11:12, 11:34, 11:48, 12:12, 12:16
The track actually gave me a little bit of a second wind so I was moving a little faster than I had originally planned.  Not exactly speedy but better than I had predicted.  The course was winding us through neighborhoods and parks and campgrounds and I was just enjoying the view.  We ran passed Raging Waters so that was kind of cool.  There was a lake on our left for a good chunk of the miles so there was always something to look at.   The pacers were making me mad though.  At this point the 2:20 and 2:15 pacers passed me, which would have been fine, except they were running together! Ummm- that’s not how it works!    Mile 8 brought us down into a park that we looped and then back out.

Miles 9-12- 11:32, 12:37, 12:27, 13:12
Things were going good until 9.5.  Then my body was done.    My legs and hips started talking back about the lack of miles in the last 2 months and I felt an asthma attack coming.   I came to a halt and then walked.  A lot, all the hills, most of the flats and only really ran the downhills.  Bummer as this section leveled out and brought us back to the race track.   Here another pacer ticked me off.  At mile 11.75 and 2:18 in (yes, I checked my watch) the 2:40 pacer passed me- running.  Wait, what?  I know they started after me, what the heck are they doing??

Mile 13-11:29
This mile drove me crazy.  I was trying to not have an asthma attack but I wanted to run and be done.  This mile was mostly S-curving through the race track parking lot to pick up mileage as we headed back to the Fairplex and it was in full sun. Why????? I still walked portions but finally jogged it in to the finish. Where’s my snowflake?  Oh wait, it’s a wreath.😛

Finish 2:36:34

I met up with my mother at the end of the finish chute and we hung out for a bit.   It was a little bit of a party going on but in the end I was sore and wheezing and needed to sit so we headed back to the car.   

I knew I wasn’t trained or fully healthy going into this race so I am A-Ok with my finishing time.  It was even a little better than I thought it might be and still not my slowest.   This was a great course though and I wonder what I could do healthy- those hills spoke to me.  

Oh and the 2:40 pacer? Finished before me. 🤨

Oh- and I got a fancy finisher’s certificate from Athlinks!

Run!, Slacker

Week 48- Rambling On 46

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

  • Upcoming Races
  • Holiday Half 12/9 (Thanks Bibrave!)

Still no running going on over here, if anything things got way worse.    It’s been a few years since I was this sick and it sucks.  I miss running.  So let’s do a little ramble and catch up on the last week.

It was another week where I packed my gym bag with running gear but it never left my car.   Boo.  Wednesday had some of the prefect rainy day weather that we rarely get.   Yet I was attending an all day, soul sucking notary seminar.    And it was also the day I was the sickest yet.  I felt so bad for the others at the seminar- I just tried to sit in the back and not disrupt anyone too much.  Driving home was rough, the rain, my eyes were swollen and I kept sneezing and coughing.     Ugh.

I think I mentioned that we were being audited at work.  The auditor ended up only staying a day- so either we’re really awesome or super screwed.   😛 Won’t know which for a bit longer though.   I was sick and not firing on all cylinders that day though.

Good news, when I left work on Friday, I was starting vacation!  I don’t have to be back until December 13.  Woo hoo!  Now if I could just kick this cold.

I wish I had more pictures for this but I upgraded my phone over the weekend and while -yay, new phone!- I lost everything from the last 2 months.   Boo.  It’s supposedly backed up to icloud but no one seems to know how to get the pictures back so that’s cool.   

Hmmm, this ramble turned into more of whine/ rant. Oops.  See, I really need to run!

How was your week?