Tag: sick

Golden Gate Half Recap

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Golden Gate Half to review 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!

Sorry this took so long!! When I left you last I was doubting my ability to run this race. After a restless night of tossing, turning, trying to ignore the crazies next door and likely running a fever, it was rough getting going in the morning. My first look in the mirror actually scared me! I got ready slowly, debating my outfit the whole time. I knew I was going to run the race but I also knew it wasn’t going to be a race. One last weather check had me wanting to cry- it showed a 40-50% chance of rain. Seriously?! I hadn’t recovered from the previous weeks rainy race. So I bundled up- capris over compression socks, arm sleeves and a windbreaker and my Buff® around my neck. It crossed my mind that I may be over dressed but I figured better to err on the side of caution right?
Due to the parking nightmare of San Francisco, I had picked my hotel based on proximity to the race. I had a short half mile walk to the race start. I was soon surrounded by thousands of other runners waiting for the race to begin. I was also officially confronted with the fact that the race started uphill. Ouch. I met up with another BibRave Pro- Brian– and we chatted. It was nice having someone to talk to pre-race, I usually try to just not freak out. 😛 The National Anthem was sung and the race started right on time.

This will be a little different from my usual recaps, I knew my only hope was to get across the finish line in one piece and not hate myself or running after. To that end, I never looked at my watch during the race. I didn’t even look at the splits for another 2 days. This race had nothing to do with pace or time. The odd thing was that I ended up predicting my finishing time within seconds. I had tried to give my mother a ballpark time just so she new when she and S should head down to the finish line. Nailed it! 😛

Miles 1-3

Outside of the hill right at the start, these miles were predominantly flat. We headed out through the Marina and the Presidio. The race had around 4000 runners but things felt really tight. It actually helped pull me along, looking back, these were my speediest miles. It wasn’t raining but the fog was so heavy it was misting and I realized my sunglasses were more of a hindrance than a help. I ended up carrying them for the next 8 miles. I just went with the flow and enjoyed what I could see of the sights. Parts of the course were parts of the SF marathon course so I thought I knew what I was in for. I was wrong.

Miles 4-5.5 ish

My calves were starting to tighten up a bit so I was thankful for the first hill. That was until I became so nauseous I was almost sick. Ok, new plan- walk all the hills. It’s cool. The course was very windy so there were plenty of times we could see the faster runners ahead of us, it was kind of cool. There was a lot of up in these miles so a lot of walking. There was a particularly long hill leading up to mile 5, we ran up it to a turn around before running back down towards the bridge. I passed Brian on my way up as he was coming down- he told me I had about a mile to go to the turn around. Damn I forgot the hill was that long. But that’s ok- I may have been sick but I could still rock a mean downhill- I kind of flew all the way the bridge.

Miles 5.5-9.8ish The Bridge

I was looking forward to running the bridge again as I was hoping I would be able to see more than last time. Unfortunately, it was just as foggy. We ran the walkways instead of the road this time and I liked that much better- it seemed less slippery. What I hadn’t counted on was the bottle necking. It hadn’t really thinned out so it was hard to pass people.. or be passed. Also, this was the race of selfies. I have never seen so many people taking pictures mid-race before. Dodging people became an art form. I was also starting to feel very tired. Once across the bridge we looped around Vista Point and down back under the bridge. #1- a downhill trail?!?! Sweet!! I ran like a 5 year old sprinting to the finish. #2- you can run under the bridge?!??! So cool!

Right after that we climbed what felt like the worst hill to me back up to the bridge. That could have have been due to my maniacal sprint down the trail though. 😛 From there it was back across the West Side of the bridge. It had finally thinned out so there was more breathing room. My Buff® was coming in handy though- I had it over my face and was breathing through it for most of this section. I felt like it had grown colder and I could actually see my breath.

Miles 9.8-11 Fort Point!!

Just off the bridge we looped under this side on a paved path. As we were coming down a small hill I could see Fort Point on my left- when I realized that I could see runners running up to the Fort and turning around I wanted to do a little jig. There was a field trip in 6th grade where we went to Fort Point and I remember loving it. I was so excited that we got to run by it. I even tried to photograph my excitement.

Miles 11-13.1

Once leaving Fort Point, we were on a dirt path along the bay. The last 2 miles were flat and I was starting to feel sore. I just tried to focus on the ocean to my left and Crissy Field to my right. I was alternating between running and walking and just kept making my way to the finish. We left the dirt path and turned onto Marina Drive and suddenly there were people cheering. We were close! Closer than I thought, I rounded a corner and suddenly the finish line was there! I had made it!

Finish- 2:30:17

The finish line was crowded and a little crazy but my mother and S found me fairly quickly after I was handed my medal and a water bottle. We moved away from the crowd and my mother, knowing how angry I was with the previous week’s finish asked how mad I was with this one. Not one damn bit. For once my brain and my body were in agreement- I was already pushing the limit by just being out there, whatever pace I could pull off was great. I walked when I needed to and didn’t berate myself for it, which is rare. I tried to enjoy the race and the course as much as I could.

Which brings me to- the course!!! People, this race freakin’ rocked! I loved the course. And I say that even with the 1200′ in elevation gain. To me, this race offered some of the best things to see in San Francisco and half of it was covered by fog and it still rocked. This is definitely a race I would like to run again someday. Maybe when I am healthy and can actually enjoy it? 😛 All the organizational details can be found here in my BibRave review.

This was my last half of the year. It may not have gone the way I had hoped when training but I am ok with that. I did the best I could that day and that’s all that matters. 😏😏😏

Week 45 Training Recap

Training for:

Golden Gate Half

It’s the final countdown! Race day was Sunday and I was hoping to get in a solid week of running before that. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The aftermath of the very wet Harvest Marathon took a toll on me. Boo.

Monday- Rest I was feeling a little rough so rest was awesome. I was also afraid to even attempt putting on a sports bra after the chafing hell leftover from Sunday’s race. Boo.

Tuesday- ~~45 minute recovery run~~ Sick. I didn’t even make it through the work day. I felt horrible and looked like crap so my boss kicked me out. I made the long trek home and took a very long nap that felt more like a coma.

Wednesday- 2.5 miles. I still felt wobbly but I wanted to try and get my legs moving. Putting on a sports bra was a little uncomfortable. Boo. I lasted for a slow 2.5 miles on what was most likely my last time running the lake path until next year. Good night lake.

Thursday- 3.6 miles Shouldn’t have done that. I wasn’t feeling so great but I didn’t want to only have Wednesday’s run before race day. So I headed out for a few miles after work. I told myself to stick to 3 miles but I allowed the thought that this was likely my last work run until next year get to my head. I ran on until the 2 mile point, not thinking about the fact that it was getting colder and the return trip was uphill. I crashed hard. Shouldn’t have done that.

Friday- Rest Felt like crap.

Saturday- Rest? The plan called for a shakeout run but I was feeling crappy and didn’t want to figure out the logistics of that in San Francisco. Instead my Fitbit says I covered almost 7 miles walking around San Francisco and it usually runs short so I figured that was enough.

My mom and I headed up to SF early and picked S up from college along the way. The plan was to hang out around the Embarcadero during the day, pick up my race packet and head to the hotel. The hotel was within walking distance of the start and then S and mom would come down to finish line on race morning. I started to feel worse during the day but I tried to chalk it up to a bad pepperoni pretzel. Wishful thinking. After finding dinner a nearby burger place, I still felt horrible so I headed to bed early. I also got a little bitchy. Sorry mom and S! I was tossing and turning, alternating between freezing and burning up. Then to make matters worse- a large, loud group of guys returned to the hotel room next to ours around 1:30am. They were the loudest, most obnoxious group of people ever. It sounded like they were slamming into walls. I can only imagine what the poor people below them heard. ☹ I just wanted to sleep. I was beginning to wonder if I should even race.

Sunday- Golden Gate Half….. could I do it?

How was your week?

Have any hotel nightmares? or chafing nightmares?

Would you have raced?

Week 42 Training Recap

Training for-

Paso Harvest Marathon 13.1
Golden Gate Half

I am not sure what happened last week. I am not sure if it was the lack of sleep catching up with me and I kind of felt like I was fighting some bug. I was feeling down but whatever it was, I fell off the motivation train. I kind of just wanted to hide in a dark hole and sleep. But life goes on right?

Monday- Rest Rest day!! And a day off, man that was nice. I was feeling a little sore form Sunday’s race so taking it easy was fine be me. Plus I had to take my dad to an appointment so I killed time in the best way-

Tuesday- 7 miles bike. I felt crappy all day, just sluggish and worn down. Sleep was rough which didn’t help. I had packed my running gear as my coach had me scheduled for 30-45 minute recovery run. By the end of work, I knew it wasn’t happening. I headed home and did a slow 7 miles on the bike instead.

Wednesday- 6 miles Rest Yeah, I can’t really pinpoint what happened here. I felt better but not 100%; I was tired but what else is new? My family invited me to dinner and the tri tip was calling? Whatever it was, it won and I did not run.

Thursday- 5 miles The plan was to run 3 miles a little faster than goal half marathon pace plus warm up and cool down. I was still in a funk and had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen. I did try though. I worked a partial day and headed to the river path to attempt it. Yeah, it went about as well as I expected. I could not get my legs into gear. My splits for the speed work were 9:43, 10:35, 9:32. Ha! Not even close to a sub 9. But I ran though, right?

Friday- Rest Pretty typical Friday. Work was work and I admit I caved and picked up a pizza on the way home. Well, I ordered one but Domino’s messed it up so they gave me 2. 2?! That doesn’t help the waistline. 🍕😛

Saturday- Rest I worked in the morning and enjoyed a white knuckle drive home as everyone in CA forgot how to drive in the rain. It didn’t help that the fog was so dense, you could barely see a car length in front of you. Throw in the steep drop on both sides of the highway and that was fun. I meant to be productive in the afternoon but beyond laundry and posting my Bibrave review of City to the Sea, I really wasn’t.

Sunday- 8.1 miles– I wanted 10. I could not make myself get out bed any sooner. The day called for rain and I wanted to run in the only dry part of the morning. I love the rain but figured if I was still fighting something, running in the rain wasn’t going to help. I also had to run in the morning as my family had plans in the afternoon- my little brother turned 30!!! Man, I feel old.

Anyways, back to the run. It was kind of all over the place. Kind of like the weather. First it was cold, then it was super windy, then it turned unbelievably muggy and hot before starting all over again. Every half mile was a new adventure. Kind of like my pace. Mile 4 was a 9:30- oops! There were times when I felt like I was running tall, had awesome form and could go forever. Then there times when I felt hunched over and tired, panting like a dog. Can I blame the weather changes? Whatever it was, I was glad to be done.

So to recap- 13 miles run and 7 biked. I did get a long-ish run in so that’s a plus. I’ve done some thinking about how how my next races will be run but I will save that for another post. My hope is get in a solid week of training going forward. And to sleep more. Oh- I did receive my essential oils- after a battle, the post office lost them- so I have been trying those and will share thoughts soon. It’s only been a few days so I am still on the fence. 😛

How was your week?

Would the lure of food keep your from running?

How’s your weather? Has fall really arrived?

Week 37 Training Recap

Training for:

City to the Sea 13.1
Harvest Marathon 13.1
Golden Gate Half

A week of shoe issues, calf issues, wardrobe malfunctions and a long run attempt that knocked me flat. Yay?

Monday- 2.0 miles. Yeah, another run testing the new Brooks. I also wore the wrong shorts. This was a hot mess from the start and I could tell it just wasn’t going to get better.

Tuesday- Rest I was sore from the baby run. 😩

Wednesday-Rest Pizza night!! 🍕🍕

Thursday- 3.8 miles I was optimistically hoping for 5-6 miles. Fail. Everything hurt. Ankles, shins, calves. Which led to whiny thoughts then deep thoughts. Which prompted my last post and my concerns that my weight gain was affecting my shoes.

Friday- Rest I’ve closed the last 4 Fridays and I admit it’s making me tired. Crossing the street on my way back to my car, I felt twinges in my left shin. I was also feeling a little off so I decided right then that my planned 14 miler was going to be broken into 2 runs over the weekend. I was trying to be smart for once. I failed.

Saturday-8 miles The first run of the weekend. I overslept and was feeling a little weird but if I didn’t run every time I felt a little off, I would never run. I headed out around 9:30 but as the high of the day was only supposed to be 91 so I figured I would be fine. If only I had known how wrong I was.

The run started off ok. I was sticking to my 5/2 run walk intervals, wearing my Nike’s and compression socks and my shins/ ankles were feeling pretty good. Since I was only running 8 miles I decided to throw in some hill repeats. What was I thinking? I was huffing and puffing but I kept running. I did 2 hill repeats before running to the turn around point then back for another 2 hill repeats. I felt fine though mile 6 then things went bad.

My 24oz water bottle was almost empty and I was slowing down significantly. My town doesn’t believe in water fountains. They are either turned off or locked up. A little over a mile from house I passed an elementary school. The gates weren’t locked!!! Hallelujah! I felt like a creeper opening the gates but I really needed water. I was loosing steam though. I barely made it up the last hill- I had to stop halfway up, I couldn’t catch my breath. I normally love running the downhill and the flat on the way back to my driveway. I couldn’t do it. I hit 8 miles about 1/4 mile from my driveway and just quit. I crawled back. Once confronted with my driveway, I almost just gave up. I was seriously thisclose to just sitting down partway up and hoping someone drove by.

That wasn’t the end. Once I made it inside, I started overheating. I was still sweating so I wasn’t freaking out about heat stroke but something was not right. I tried taking a cold shower, chugging water and I had my brother bring me food. Then I tried napping. Every time I tried to stand up, everything kind of went black and tunnel like. I kept going back to bed. I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon sleeping. I knew I had the Avocado Margarita Festival to volunteer at in the evening. I finally managed to get up without the world spinning and I headed towards work town. I treated myself to In n Out hoping it would make me feel better. Not really. Boo. I left work town around 8 and was glad to see my bed when I got home.

I don’t know if it was too hot- only in the 80’s, not hot at all- or if it was the fact that I did hill repeats for the first time in months. Or if I actually had a touch of something. I later found out a coworker had similar issues on Saturday as well and they didn’t run. They ended up doing nothing but sleeping after their festival shift.

Sunday- 10 miles bike This time I listened to the off feeling I still had. I had woken up at 7 with a pounding headache so I rolled over and went back to sleep. I woke up at 10:30! feeling a little more human. After running some errands I decided my 6 mile run was not a good idea and decided to just ride the bike.

13.9 run miles for the week. Ouch. Let’s just chalk it up to a rough week and move on. I wish I knew what set off Saturday’s issues because I never want to feel like that again.

Have you had a recent wardrobe malfunction?

Would you eat an avocado Popsicle? Yes, it does exist.

Lions and Smoke- Weekly Recap

Part of me thinks the universe was trying to tell me to take a break and part of thinks I am just trying to rationalize how slacker-like I was this week. Ohhh, it was bad. So bad. But life happens right? You gotta roll with the punches right? Ok, that was a little cliche. So let’s just get to it.

Monday- Sick. I actually called in sick to work. I had felt poorly all weekend and Monday morning just wasn’t happening. Lots of rest, water and sleep.

Tuesday-Rest I told myself I was well enough to run so I packed my bag- I wasn’t. My subconscious must have known better as I forgot my shoes. Then came the air quality warnings due to the Chimney Fire. I found out from my mother that even the schools canceled all outdoor sports practices due to air quality. Ok, I get it.

Wednesday-Rest I had to stay late at work for phone issues so I knew I wasn’t running. Boo.

Thursday- 4 miles I ran!!! Mile one was too slow and mile 4 was way too fast but I got out there. I still wasn’t feeling the greatest and I was moving a little sluggish. The smoke in the air made things rough. My legs were also freaky sore. I stopped to stretch a few times on the run. I was glad I got the run in though, it felt good to be moving. I remember thinking that there were fewer people out and chalked it up to the smoke.

Friday- Rest And backslide. I woke with a very sore throat and some tightness in my chest. Boo, smoke. I used my inhaler on the way to work. Things got a little better while at work as work town is a little farther from the fire. That didn’t stop the sky from glowing when I left though.

Saturday- Rest. I had laid out all my clothes to run the night before and I was really hoping for 10 miles. Surprisingly, marathon training made me like long runs. But I felt worse Saturday morning than I had on Friday. Boo. So I lazed about all day and the ended the day at the movies.

every parking lot is full of fire trucks

Sunday- 8 mile stationary bike, 10 pushups and a plank attempt. My clothes were still laid out to run but yeah. I was exhausted and learned something about my running route. Mountain lion sightings?!!!! Oh hell no. Apparently there have been a few sightings and the game warden has been out. Seriously?!

Ok, enough is enough. Smoke, lions and sickness? I’m done.

So yeah, this was an interesting week. I am over it and moving on. And now debating if that running route is public enough to chance running. I mean there are houses on one side, right? Hmmm.

How was your week?

What creatures do you run into?

Seriously, how awesome was the men’s marathon?