Tag: sleep

Week 25- Speed Bump

Upcoming Races-

Rock to the Pier 10K
Salinas Valley Half Marathon

So, I may have underestimated just how much work and brain power I was going to need for this system conversion. I fell a little off the workout wagon last week. Ok, a lot. By the end of the week, my brain was fried. In fact, in a training class on Thursday I asked the dumbest question. Seriously- everyone turned around and stared at me. It took me a moment or two to figure out that I was basically confusing an apple for a granola bar. Total blonde moment. I’ve only been in the business for 10 years, I felt like an idiot. Grrr.

Combine work training with the heatwave and I had a serious lack of motivation this week. I kind of just wanted to sit ~~in my comfy chair~~ on the floor and do nothing.

Monday- 2.3 miles In an effort to adjust to the heat I bypassed the lovely 60 degree weather in work town and headed for the lake path. It was 94 there which wasn’t pleasant but it wasn’t horrible either. I was also crawling though. I probably walked more than I ran. I was truly surprised by how many people were out walking their dogs. It was too hot for them!

Tuesday- Rest First day long training session. Somehow I stayed awake throughout the whole thing! My hand cramped from taking so many notes.

Wednesday- Rest I had planned on running but by the end of the day I was just not feeling it. When work ran late, it seemed like a sign. I went home.

Thursday- 3.1 miles Second all day meeting. This is the one where I asked the ridiculous question. I also left this one early as I had a DR’s appointment in another town to get to. Traffic on the freeway was ridiculous, there and back- I was literally yelling in my car. By the time I got home I was so over it- I did not want to run. At all. I sat around for 30 minutes before forcing myself to change and at least attempt a few miles. It wasn’t an amazing run but it wasn’t horrible either. I was glad that I followed through though.

Friday- Rest I was so stinkin’ tired. I was having troubles finishing my sentences, I was very happy to see 6:00. Bring on the weekend!

Saturday- Rest I wandered around SLO with my mother and did some shopping. For once I managed to go to the Running Warehouse and Not spend any money. It’s a miracle! Can’t say the same for Banana Republic or Dick’s though. 😛

Sunday- 10 miles Once again, I got out the door too late. My stomach wasn’t having it and I didn’t start until 8:00. Still too late. In the first 1/4 mile I was distracted by a CHP who I thought was pulling over a car as they came off the highway and I was on the lack of shoulder in the way. In my haste to get out of the way I ran into a tree branch. Oops! 1/4 mile later I was passing the cemetery and was glad that I had made plans to meet up with my mom at the end of my run on the other side of town as I could tell they were preparing for a funeral. I always change my route if I know there will be a service- they don’t need me running by.

The temp wasn’t bad in the beginning but I was riding the struggle bus by mile 5.5. I welcomed the longer walk break in mile 6 when I walked with my mother for a bit but those last few miles were uncomfortably warm. I had hoped for a fast finish since I had the aid of a slight downhill but in reality I crawled mile 10.

15.4 miles for the week. Zero cross training.

This is shaping up to be a very low mileage year and it kind of bugs me. But obviously not enough as I haven’t made a drastic change yet. Grrr. I also don’t see it changing anytime soon as the busyness at work is only ramping up for the month.

Here’s hoping this week is a little more steady. I already know one of training sessions was postponed so we’ll see how that affects my schedule but I am keeping things very flexible. But I need to be flexible and steady.

I think I can, I think I can.

How as your week?

Has summer arrived in your area?

Week 21- Trucking On

Upcoming Races:

Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

This week was pretty good. My brain felt fried for part of it but eh, that happens sometimes right? I ran, I ate yummy food, I read and I tried to sleep. I had a really bad moment at work one day where I got a little frustrated with a situation but I dug myself out of that mood and moved on. Not to say it won’t happen again but I got past it for last week. And my coworker made me laugh hysterically- a customer asks her “so, any big plans for the 3 day weekend”. Her very calm, almost bored response was “not really, just having a baby’. I damn near spit out my water. I’ll miss her sense of humor while she’s on leave. 😛

Monday- 3.5 Miles Holy tight calves, batman. Ouch. I headed to the lake after work to get in a few miles and I was feeling good. Until I started running that is. My calves were so tight, I felt like they were going to rip. I crawled these miles and stopped to stretch about every 1/2 mile. Nothing seemed to help. I called it after 3 laps of the lake. They weren’t loosening up and it wasn’t worth risking an injury for more miles.

Tuesday- Rest After the day before I was taking time to rest the legs. I made sure that I foam rolled that evening though. It was a long day at work with an early morning meeting so my brain was kind of fried so I just vegged that evening.

Wednesday-3.1 miles I had planned for running more in the morning but the weather had turned on me by the evening. I had packed shorts and a tank which was fine for Monday but today the weather barely hit 60 and the winds were gusting up to 25mph. Luckily I had an old race shirt in my emergency stash of clothes so I layered that over my tank but my ears were still cold. I made it to the turn around for 5K before I decided to bail. I hate cold ears. Cold ears turn me into a giant baby. I need to make sure I keep a Buff in my bag for rare days like this. My legs felt ok, if I could have warmed up my ears I think I would have kept running.

Thursday- 2.5 miles Cold and misty miles. Seriously, weather just pick one and stick with it! I was just better this time though- capris, long sleeves and my Buff. My legs were feeling fussy though so I kept the run short. I just did 2 laps of the lake before stretching it out. I figured out part of my problem may have been that my shoes were tied too loose. I was stretching on the parallel bars and my right shoe popped right off! Oops. I was also to meet someone I’ve been following on IG for the last year. We’ve run a bunch of local races at the same time but I’m slow and she’s fast so we’ve never met in real life. 🙂

Friday- Rest It was an open to close kind of day. I planned on riding the bike when I got home but yeah that didn’t happen. Slacker.

Saturday- Rest I went to SLO for some shopping with my mother. I feel like we walked miles. We didn’t but that’s how I felt. I may have spent more than I had planned. Which I had planned to spend zero but that never seems to work, does it? I meant to ride the bike that evening when I got home but I didn’t. I also briefly considered trying for my long late that evening but I was exhausted. That seems to be my current state. I discovered that Hulu has Eli Stone and that is how I spent my evening.

Sunday- 8 mile run, 5 mile bike I had planned for 10 miles as my last long run before Rock n Roll Diego. However I really didn’t want to get out of bed that morning. I pushed it later then I should have. The plan was to run 10 miles, have my mother pick me then we were going to lunch. I left later then planned and it was warmer then I wanted it to be. As I passed the cemetery, I paused and thanked all those that had served. There were a lot of flags on the graves.

While the first 5 miles were pretty good, I slammed into a wall in mile 6. My pulse was jumping and I was too warm. It was also uphill. I pretty much walked all of it. I decided to just run 8 and spend some more time stretching before she met me. Plus those last 3 miles were slow so they took me longer than planned. 😐 I actually ran more than 8 too, at some point my Garmin paused and it took me a while to figure it out. Boo. Later that evening I hopped on the bike just to get some miles in before dinner- the family bbq’ed on Sunday- once again, I really need to find my fan.

17.1 miles run, 5 miles biked. Another week of 5 workouts. Can I keep this up? Maybe get to 6 or 7? How about adding in some strength workout? Woah, that’s crazy talk for this Slacker. We’ll see how it goes. Especially since this is a race week so I shouldn’t be doing anything too radical during it. That wouldn’t be very smart of me, right?

Oh an I may have bought a shiny new Garmin.

How was your weekend?

Do anything fun?

Anyone make any impulse purchases?

Week 18- Step Back

Upcoming Races:

Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13
Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

The beginning of this week was full of late work meetings so with the lingering effects of SLO being felt, I figured it was a good reason to use the time to rest. Otherwise I probably would have tried to run too soon. My left ankle was very sore and achy so taking Monday through Wednesday off was probably the smartest thing to do. But it was hard, I still packed running gear and took it to work every day. 😛

There was also the lack of sleep. What I didn’t mention was that pre-SLO, I only slept for about an hour. I generally sleep poorly before races but rarely that bad, I didn’t feel like it affected my race performance though. I was looking forward to sleeping on Sunday night… except I couldn’t. I managed less then 5 hours. Grrr. Monday night was more of the same as was Tuesday. By Wednesday I was running on fumes but it didn’t really hit me until Thursday when I was driving home from work. I started to get sleepy. Like so sleepy I had to change my running plans because I wasn’t going to make the whole drive home.

That’s not to say it was a bad week, it wasn’t at all- it was a good week. I just had some speed bumps. I ate some super yummy food this week and that’s never a bad thing, right? I did start a Random Friday post but dozed off part way through. Oops!

Monday- Rest Day 1 of the planned 3 days. I had a meeting after work so I knew running was very unlikely. Which was good because damn my ankle was sore.

Tuesday- Rest Day 2 but like I said I carried my running gear with me every day. Optimistic or in denial? My ankle was still achy. I stretched and foam rolled and planked that night.

Wednesday- Rest Day 3 Car show sponsor dinner. I learned last year that this would be a late night so there was no way running would be happening. But with an awesome dinner, who can complain?

Thursday- 3.5 miles I ran! But I damn near fell asleep on the drive there. I planned on running in home time but halfway there I realized I wasn’t going to make it. So I made an emergency right at the lake path and hoped the fresh air and a few miles would wake me up. Thankfully it did. As for the miles, I was sluggish and a little sore to start but once I got going things loosened up. I still made sure to foam roll and stretch really well that night. I also iced, just for GP.

Friday- Rest I worked open to close so I knew it was going to a long day. We were treated to breakfast which was yummy Acai bowls which almost turned bad. I took a bite of mine and it tasted off. I took another bite, nope- it still tastes wrong, tastes like nuts. Turns out they messed up my order and gave me the wrong base, which wouldn’t be so bad except the 2 main ingredients were peanut butter and almond milk. Umm, I’m allergic to nuts. I was just going to say whatever and have a cookie because you don’t complain about free food but a coworker took it back and the store corrected it to my original order. She’s awesome. (I can’t leave- I swear I’m not just lazy 😛)

Saturday- 6.2 miles My overall fatigue level for the week never really improved so I made the decision on Friday that I was not running long this weekend. I was doing 2 6 milers and I was comfortable with that. Rest is important too. A cold front came in so I was able to sleep longer and head out for an afternoon run. Running wise, it was awesome. Smashrun says it was my fastest run in 6 months. However it was freakin’ chaos- it was moments of running calmly interspersed with moments of running for my life along with some walking. It started out normally but went weird soon. I noticed that a tiny house I’d been watching had recently sold and the new owner had a dog. I wondered if the dog was nice because dogs like to eat me. 1/2 mile later I was running past a couple of parked cars when 4 pit bulls tied in a truck bed decided I looked like a good snack. I freaked out and jumped into the middle of the street. The owner said nothing and just looked me. Asshat. 2 miles later on my way back I stopped at an intersection because I realized I don’t really know a 6 mile route from my house and was wondering if my mileage was going to work out when I heard a loud BANG! It sounded like a gunshot and it was right near me. What the hell?! I know it wasn’t a gunshot because that is actually not an abnormal sound on my longer runs (rural area) but I bolted like a bat out of hell. I’m running neighborhoods, what is going on? Then is started raining on me. Seriously, just get me home.

Sunday- 6 miles Rest It was raining in the morning so I planned on running in the afternoon. At least that was the plan. I ended up super dizzy and nauseous in early afternoon and it lingered into the evening. I kept trying to force myself to get out and run but I am clumsy on a good day, who knows what damage I could do to myself if I tried to run while dizzy?

9.7 miles for the week. Perhaps more of a step back week then I planned post SLO but maybe my body was trying to tell me something. With a race next week, I chose to listen for once. Who knew?

I did go and see Guardians of the Galaxy 2- Freakin’ awesome!

Oh- who watched Breaking 2? What did you think? Kipchoge was so close!

How was your week?

What was the last movie you saw?

Week 46 Un-Training Recap

Training for:

Nothing! I have no scheduled races for the remainder of 2016 right now. That is so weird! After the last month of feeling stressed and sick, slightly injured and seriously bitchy, I knew what I was going to do post Golden Gate Half.

I was taking the week off. I didn’t even do that post marathon. Mostly because I had crazy high hopes that marathon training would bring me speedy fall half marathons…which didn’t happen. Actually I don’t think I’ve taken a solid week off all year long. Which is odd for this Slacker.

I had plans, I really did. I was going to get on the bike to keep the legs loose and blood moving. I was going to try more of my yoga app. I was thinking about busting out the kettle bell, maybe attempting a plank or 2. What happened?

Nothing. Not a damn thing.

Well, I gained 5 pounds but let’s not go there.

I slept… a lot. Turns out I really wasn’t feeling well. The week kind of passed in a foggy haze. I took Monday off as a vacation day to recover from the race and had Friday off due to the holiday. You’d think all that extra rest would have helped me feel better but no such luck.

Granted part of that fog may be due to drastically cutting back on my caffeine and sugar intake last week. I also finally had an appointment with a neurologist last week so maybe my daily headaches will be coming to an end? Fingers crossed?!?!? The appointment made me laugh though- at one point I had to do the “one foot in front of the other walk” down the hallway and I fell into into the wall. Ha!

A week off is enough though. I’m feeling equal parts twitchy and nervous. That first run back is always so hard. Combine that with the fact that I know it will be on a treadmill and boo. I also have that same old shoe conundrum again. My Hoka’s are ok but not great. They aggravate a weird soft spot in the bottom of my left foot. Also, by the end of the Harvest Half, I felt like my toes were bruised and bloody. They weren’t but they sure felt like it. I admit that I no longer look forward to shoe shopping. Now it just stresses me out. Grrr.

Ever take a week off? Or more?

What did you do?

How was your week?

Harvest Half Recap

Disclaimer: I received an entry into the Harvest Marathon 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!

This race has been a long time coming for me so I was excited that I was finally going to run it. I’ve wanted to run it for the last 4 years but always ended up working an aid station during the marathon instead. Which was great but it wasn’t the same as running it. When the opportunity to run it with BibRave came up I was tempted but I had plans on race day. But I made it work! Woo hoo!

The race is a fundraiser for local schools and it has great potential. This was the first year without the marathon as it was canceled due to a few issues. 😢 Packet pick up was Saturday and went smoothly. You can read all the little details in my BibRave review. I admit I was nervous wearing BibRave orange in Bearcat Country (high school arch rival is the Greyhounds- orange!) but I had nothing to be worried about. My Bearcat coaching mother disagrees. 😛

The race is a big loop through back country roads. It takes you past numerous vineyards and farms and is very scenic. I drove it the day before and loved the sights. I was less enthusiastic about the hills. But it’s Paso and Paso doesn’t do flat. It is a quiet race- there is very little crowd support outside of aid stations and the finish line. Also the roads are not fully closed so it is entirely likely that vehicles will drive past you a few times or sometimes fly by doing 50ish. All of my early half marathons were similar so I am used to this but it can be alarming if you aren’t prepared.

Race morning-

I slept surprisingly well considering my recent insomnia struggles and usual race nerves but woke an hour before my alarm feeling freaky nauseous. I laid there and hoped it would pass. It did but I felt like I had been run over by a truck. Uh oh. I was suddenly thankful of the late start of 8:30. Once at the start I debated arm sleeves or a windbreaker. The skies looked ominous but the weather app said that rain was hours away if at all. The high school cross country coach said no rain was coming and it wasn’t cold so I decided to just go with my tank. We all lined up and it was go time!

Miles 1-3 9:43, 9:50, 10:17

The plan with Coach Jenny called for an easy first 8 before bringing the last 5 miles in at goal half marathon pace. Sounded good to me. I was trying not to look at my watch and run by feel but I was winded 1/2 mile in. I felt like I was working too hard so I checked my watching expecting to see something in the 8:30 range. Nope. 9:45. Crap, that shouldn’t feel this hard! My calves were also doing their lovely tight thing and the first 3 miles are flatter than I would have liked. Boo. I was running in the dirt on the side of the road any chance I got. Then, 2.5 miles in the skies opened up. Seriously?! It didn’t take long before I was soaked. It wasn’t pouring by any means but you got wet fast. And I was getting slower. I pretty much slammed into the wall at mile 3.5. Well crap.

Miles 4-7 10:50, 9:59, 11:16, 10:49

And the walk breaks started. Mile 4 was one of my toughest miles and I don’t know why. I ran past the second aid station and tried to pick it up but I failed. Why faster for this station? It was manned by my mother and her tennis team. 😛 Mile 5 was a long slow downhill and my legs were finally starting to loosen up. Second wind maybe? Nope. Mile 6 starts an out and back to add a little distance. I hate out and backs. And this one was all rollers as far as the eye could see. Plus whatever downhill you had on the way out was a climb on the way back. But I’m weird and even though my lungs hate hills, my legs don’t and mile 7 was almost 30 seconds faster than mile 6. Third wind???

Miles 8-9 11:05, 10:30

Haha, just kidding. My lungs were not happy with the constant cloud cover and rain. I knew the road to mile 8 was really pretty and I had been looking forward to it. For some reason, I remembered exactly where every mile marker was and it gave me something to look forward to. Mile 8 was in front of Graveyard Vineyards where I had just learned that there is a literal graveyard in the front of the vineyard. Mile 9 gave us a decent downhill and I tried to pick up the pace as I knew what was coming.

Mile 10 12:26

It’s the climb!!!! I knew from the drive yesterday that there was a long climb. Yeah, mile 9 to mile 10.2 was all up. It started slowly and then just kept increasing in slope as well. I was toast. It was still raining and I was starting to realize that I was having a giant chafing problem with my sports bra. I could feel it with every step. Stupid rain! I rounded a corner only to find more climb. Oh come on!

Miles 11-13 10:48, 11:39, 10:43

Yay! The crawl was over, I knew there was only a 5K left and the rain stopped! Let’s do this! Except that enthusiasm lasted about .25 of a mile. I didn’t feel overly tired but I had nothing. I don’t even know how many times I walked in those last 3 miles. A lot. I was actually passing people but I was still irritated with myself. I had just picked up the pace a little past mile 12 when I passed my mom and her team again, apparently they had moved stations and were now traffic control. With a mile left I told myself to run it in and I would at least be faster than City to the Sea. Haha. I am glad for small races because my proclivity for cursing like a sailor was in full force as I berated myself…out loud. Finally the finish line was in sight and I could be done.

Finish- 2:21:06

That did not go like I had hoped. At all. The course was awesome. It really had a great amount of up and down for me but it wasn’t my day. I don’t know how much of it was the rain (very rare here) and my lungs. If it was the weird nausea in the morning ( I did actually get sick and miss some work) or if I am just burnt out from a crazy year. I also don’t want to make excuses though, for whatever reasons I was not all there on race day and my race effort shows it.

The rain screwed with a lot of us. I have never chafed this bad in my life, clothing hurts. I wasn’t the only one either. I saw more than few blood stains on shirts. We’re in a drought, what is this water stuff?? I can count on one hand how many times I’ve run in the rain and that includes this race.

I initially delayed writing this recap because I needed some time to think about the race. Then I actually did get sick and missed some work which delayed this post even more but I think the extra time helped me accept the race for what it was. I think I can finally admit that speed is not my biggest adversary, my head is. Half the battle is knowing who you’re fighting right?

This was my kind of race though and I will be back. Redemption in 2017?