Tag: sore

Week 19 Training Recap

Training for: The San Francisco Marathon

Focus- Training plan gets real. Stay strong with 4, if feeling good step up to 5 days.

Well, that was a mixed bag. This week was weird, not sure why, it just seemed off in some way. It also flew by. One moment it was Monday, the next it was Thursday. I can’t keep up! Like I said in Friday’s post, this was the week I most nervous about- the week marathon training got real. It started pretty well actually and ended with an oops.

Monday- 4 miles easy My legs were feeling pretty achy after SLO, so for once it was very easy to keep it easy. I always have a hard time with that. Well, truthfully, keeping any sort of consistent pace is hard for me- be it slow or fast. I had the day off of work so I headed out around noon. I had a doctor’s appointment in the early afternoon and I wanted to get it done before that. My legs were super tired but it felt good too get them moving. It was also my second run in my Skechers. Still doing ok.

Tuesday- ~~12 x 400~~ Rest When making my training schedule, I knew this workout might not happen. I knew that if I needed an extra rest day after SLO, it would be this day. I was hopeful that I could run it but of the workouts of the week, I deemed the tempo more important. My legs felt rough, I realized that I needed to run more hills after SLO. I should not have been that sore. I waited until the end of the work day but then decided the smarter thing to do was rest.

Wednesday- Rest This time scheduled. I ended up having a sponsor dinner after work that went way longer than I thought it would. But the food was good and the company hilarious.

Thursday- Tempo!!! 1.2 mile w/u, 5 mile tempo, 1 mile c/d I don’t know if I am more proud of the tempo miles or the fact that I actually completed a warm up and a cool down. 😝 Tempo’s freak me out, so to stack the deck in my favor, I headed to the lake path after work. I needed the odds in my favor for this first one. Once again, I was a rebel and ignored the path closed signs. I was more of lemming, I made sure that there were plenty of people out there breaking the rules too. I’m not sure I like the changes to the path that are in process. After my warm up, I started the tempo portion. I was trying to run by feel as best as I could, I only checked my watch twice for every mile. I thought I blew the whole thing when the first mile clocked in at 9:45, 30 seconds off my intended 10:18. Crap. I figured I would blow up in the second mile. But I didn’t. So I just kept running and tried to keep it comfortably hard and consistent. I counted each mile out loud and threw my hands in the air when I hit mile 5. Woo hoo!! I know my next ones won’t be this awesome but that’s ok. I needed this one.

Friday- Rest Oof. I worked open to close and it was a rough day. I felt a little ragged by the end of the day. Cue Pizza night.

Saturday- 8 easy miles. Hills for days!! SLO showed me that I have done a pretty good job of avoiding hills the past few months. I may have been putting in the mileage but the average elevation gain of each run was only in the 200’s. Oops. So I figured my easy weekend run could be all about the hills. Plus I may have figured out how to maintain the prescribed easy pace-hills! I ran what used to be my typical route last year but added every hill I could find. The run actually went well, it was also the farthest I have run in my Skechers and they did ok. I feel like my left foot could use more arch support but other than that, they were ok. I only took a few walk breaks which is kind of awesome. I just kept trucking up the hills. I was feeling pretty good after this run. 😊

Sunday- ~~8 easy miles~~. Oops. Entirely my fault, I let time get away from me. I set my alarm so I could run early but when it went off, I just couldn’t. New carpet is coming soon so my closet was repainted. I went to the movies (Captain America– amazing!) Saturday night so nothing was put away. I couldn’t even get to my bed as everything from the closet was on it. I tried sleeping in a chair but ended up sleeping on the floor in the closet. As awkward as it sounds, it was actually one of the best night’s sleep I’ve had in a while. My neck and shoulders disagreed and they took a few hours to loosen up. I was planning on running mid afternoon before any Mother’s Day dinner plans that we had but my car threw a temper tantrum. My automatic stalled. Then it wouldn’t drive without bouncing. Grrr. Dad, help! Between that, actually putting things back in my closet and dinner, I just ran out of time. Lesson learned- listen to the alarm.

So the week started pretty strong but hit a big speed bump on Sunday. Oops. If I was training for a half, I would feel good about this week. Missing Sunday’s 8 makes me nervous. On one hand, I am glad I finally got a good night’s sleep, so maybe they will balance out? We’ll see.

Diet wise– I’ve been kind of quiet. The weeks leading up to SLO were kind of a train wreck. Last week was hit and miss. Lunches and breakfast were on point but, ummm, 4 donuts happened last week. Giant miss.

How was your week?

Seen any good movies lately?

Should I be nervous about that missed 8?

2016 Firehouse 5K Recap

I love this race but I knew going in I was unprepared. I don’t think I’ve ever been prepared for this race. Even know what is coming doesn’t help. I thought I was last year but it ended up being slower than the previous 2 years. Oops. The last few months I have been more focused on getting in the long runs than I have speed work. I’ve done 1 speed workout this year, 1. Guess it’s a good thing this is not a PR possible race for me.

Packet pick up was a breeze. The town is on my way home so it was easy to stop by the day before and pick it up. New this year- no bibs just a shirt. Our county has odd rules about what makes a race versus a fun run and that can affect the permits. I was fine with not having a bib as they never really mattered in this race. The race is gun timed not chip timed and times are recorded via post card handed to you as you cross the finish line. The race is almost free ($25!) and the money raised by the firehouse goes to local charities.

Race morning dawned early and dreary. Cloudy but no rain, I’ll take it! Since the race is short and close, my dad usually comes too so we all headed out early. My legs were still feeling the cramps from Thursday so I though about running a short warm up but I was afraid it would hurt. The sun started to come out as we all lined up. After getting stuck in the back last year, I had learned my lesson and moved up to the front. After a few announcements from the race director, we were off!

Mile 1-

The race starts with 1/2 mile on neighborhood streets before we hit the trail. My legs were feeling pretty good actually and my lungs were happy which surprised me as I ran an 8:30 pace for that portion. Then we hit the trail, passed the one water station, and started climbing. The trail is single track and switch backs up the hill for a 1/4 mile. I ran 2, then walked 2 and repeated until we were out of that section. I passed some people and some passed me. My lungs were on fire. I ran without music and all I could hear was my breathing. It sounded more like panting. I also realized I was overdressed and lost the top layer. Then I just kept trucking. 11:22

Mile 2-

Just keep climbing, just keep moving. I passed a few people but then got stuck behind some people walking. I could have tried to pass but I honestly didn’t think I had enough in me to pass and then maintain. I wasn’t going to be one of those people who surges around and then comes to a stop. I stayed behind the pack until we hit the teardrop. The tear drop is a tiny out and back we run at the top. Except it’s not the top. There’s one more climb and it’s steep and short. From mile .6-1.5, we gained 500+ feet. I happened to see my lap pace at the top of the mountain and it said 18:something. What?!

Time for my favorite part- the downhill. I seriously throw myself down the mountain. Which is what trashes my quads but I don’t care. I did keep it a little calmer as there is a marathon looming in a few months though. ☺ I only skidded out twice. However the damage was done, I maybe should have passed earlier. 12:25

Mile 3-

More downhill- woo hoo!! At this point I was hauling but I knew there was one last hill lurking. I took a walk break on the hill but overall maintained until the last downhill where I tried to open it up. Unfortunately I was hung up behind some people and it took a bit until the trail was wide enough for them to get over so the person in front of me and I could pass. Then it was out of the park, back on the streets and trying to finish strong. I won’t lie, I was tired. The finish line seemed so far away. 9:45

Finish- 34:23

I felt like I was crawling to the finish but my watch claims I was running an 8:20. I crossed the line and my legs were shaking. I was smiling but I was whipped. I noticed that my index card said 52- so I was about 15 people further up in the field than I was last year. I put my name on the card and checked my watch as I left the chute. Well crap, I was slower than last year by almost 30 seconds. Yay for a course worst!! I am not mad, a little bummed but I love this race and just running it was awesome. I know a few places I could have shaved some time but it wouldn’t have changed how I felt about this race. I will be back for more pain next year. ☺

And major shout out to this woman-

Meet Peggy. She ran the race in full turn out gear. That would be bad ass at any race but this was a mountain! She does it to raise money to fight cancer. 4 days later and I am still sore. How does she feel?!

See you gain next year, Firehouse. Maybe I will be fully prepared. 😛

Friday, Finally

Friday– oh you are so pretty.

It’s been a coffee and soda kind of week. This week has me like-

Tuesday for example- You know it’s going to be a rough day when you drop your brand new foundation bottle on the floor. The glass bottle. On a tile floor. I felt like I watched it in slow motion as it shattered. Yeah, that was fun.

Considering how stressed and ~~hormonal~~ crappy I’ve felt this week, I haven’t gone completely crazy with the food. But it’s cookie Friday and it’s the new bakery. I can’t decide if that is going to an uh-oh or a good thing.

Running has only been so so this week but I got it done. My right ankle is a little achy. Not cool. I think another pair of shoes and I need to break up. This is getting ridiculous. Odd aches aside, I’ve had some great scenery to enjoy.⬆️

I have a 5K on Saturday. I haven’t run a race in 2 months. I think I forgot how. I haven’t raced a 5k since September. I’m gonna hurt. Did I mention it’s up a mountain? And the forecast calls for rain? Rain on the mountain. Yay. Now I am glad it’s only 3 miles. But, in all honesty I love this race. This will be my 4th time running it. I need to remind myself of that when I can’t walk on Sunday. Or Monday. Maybe Tuesday.

How was your week?

Ever had the day where you should have just stayed in bed?

Bets on my ability to not eat all the cookies?

Week 5/ January Recap

Upcoming races- Surf City 13.1

Focus– I forgot to choose one this week. Oops.

How is it February? Seriously, how did that happen? Wasn’t is just Christmas? Or I don’t know summer? Anyways moving on. One plus about El Nino is that things have been warmer than usual but that changed this week. Brrrr.

Monday- Rest Mondays really work as rest days for me. Why do I keep trying to change that? I will say that I felt guilty for not getting in some miles on the bike though.

Tuesday- 4 miles Some very, very slow miles. I had an episode of Z Nation to get me through it. Though I do wonder if anyone can see my phone, between Z Nation and Blacklist, I feel kind of weird watching my phone at the gym.

Wednesday- 6 miles Stationary I woke feeling more sore from 4 treadmill miles than I had from my long run on Saturday. Grrr. Daylight savings, are you here yet? I ended up testing out the new Little Caesar’s on the way home so it almost ended up another rest day. But instead it was just a very late start and fewer miles.

Thursday- 10 miles I had to work this weekend so I was able to take a half day and I actually made it out of work by 1. With a storm predicted for the weekend I had planned on trying to get my long run in early. After last week’s successful though slow 12 milers, I was looking forward to it. I almost quit in the first 2 miles. Everything felt off, I was still sore, I felt uncomfortable in shorts, my throat had an alligator instead of a frog in it. Every time I started to run I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. What the hell?! Was I embarrassed to be seen in shorts or something?

I got to the top of the hill and just stopped. I stretched, had a conversation with myself and scrolled Instagram. Anything to get my mind off of my panic issue. I didn’t feel like anything was actually really wrong and I didn’t want to miss the chance to complete my long run so I reassessed. Pace meant nothing so I turned on the run/ walk interval on my watch and set off again. Slowly. At mile 5 I assessed again, felt ok so I continued on. Between walking and running my pace was holding around 11:30. Since I was moving slower than planned I ended up having to run through the traffic when the high school let out. Cuz I wasn’t feeling fluffy enough?!

When the run was finally done, I joked on Instagram that it was my slowest 10 miler ever. Except it turns out it wasn’t a joke- it really was my slowest 10 miles ever. It took me 2 hours to run 10 miles plus another 20 minutes of stopping for head games and a chafing concern. But you know what? I ran 10 miles. Trying to think on the shiny side here. ☺

Friday- Rest Woo hoo!!!

Saturday- 11 miles Stationary It was cold and the storm was looming when I got home after work. I had planned on getting in a run after I finished my errands but just couldn’t bring myself to go back out. Cross training and the comfy chair won.

Sunday- 4 miles The storm was predicted to clear by the afternoon so I was going to run then. While the rain did clear, it was freakin’ cold! I still feel oddly achy and sore, so I kept it slow and easy for 4 miles.

And that wraps up my last full week before Surf City. Since I am treating it like a very large, friendly long run I normally wouldn’t taper. But the treadmill and I need to break up and this soreness needs to go away so this may be a heavy cross training week. We’ll see. And that brings us to the end of January-

Double what December was and that was with 6 days off due to the flu. I am calling this a good base building month. I will probably continue to build into February. I’m currently trying to mash 2 training plans together. Excel is giving me a headache trying to merge the 2 books. Ugh. I get the feeling I may just have to start over.

How was your January?

Anyone have any Excel tips?

A Tale of 2 Runs

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I had planned on finishing this post for Wednesday night but I was exhausted after a planned hike that grew…by a lot. More on those adventures next time. 😄

I guess Monday was my first real, official day of vacation. I slept in. It was lovely. I was feeling a little sore (my feet) after Sunday’s hike/ trail run but I was looking forward to a run. Running outside on a weekday during daylight savings? Yes please! I wasn’t sure how far I’d get with my feet feeling bruised but they felt pretty good once I started running.

I headed for the river path in the mid afternoon. Seriously, I would love it if I could run at that time all fall and winter. How can I make that happen? Anyhow, my goal was to take this run super easy and shoot for 3-4 miles. I really missed this route, it’s like the perfect excuse for a progression run. I kind of zoned out a bit and just kept running. 4.5 miles later I was back at my car. I might have added more but 4.5 was literally 2 feet from my car. 😉 Even better was that I hadn’t needed any walk breaks. Last week, I struggled with a 12:00 pace on the treadmill and Monday I ran a 12:53, 10:38, 10:05, 9:29 for the full mile splits. Why is the treadmill so hard for me?! No walks breaks but I did come to a complete stop when I saw this tree. Because holy crap!-

In trying to temper the urge to #runallthemiles on vacation since I’ve been a super slacker for the past month or so, I rested on Tuesday. I met an old friend for lunch instead. Wednesday’s workout doubled in planned size and left me feeling a little achy. I was a little nervous for the Turkey Trot. But I was running with C and her husband so I was looking forward to it.

Thanksgiving dawned and it was 30º. Allrighty then. Then I tried to get up. Aaagh! My calves were so tight, they were down right painful. How was I going to run a 10K? No lies, I texted C to see if she was ready, hoping she would say it was too cold. No dice. I had ProCompression full socks under my leggings and I left my house in my pea coat and Uggs. I registered for the race in them as well. I didn’t change shoes until about 5 minutes to the start. 😝

Me and C. I really dislike this shirt but it’s the warmest running gear I own. 😦

This trot is super low key. You register on race morning, get your t-shirt and run your race. The course is an out and back on rural roads and the start/finish is literally in the Food4 Less parking lot. C, C-Hub and I had run the race before so we knew the course. My parents usually come to the finish but when I was shivering in my car, I texted them and told them it was too cold and they should stay home. They didn’t listen. The race seemed smaller this year but that could have been due the freezing temps.

It was go time and we were off! I was super tight and cold usually triggers my asthma so I was a little skeptic about how this was going to go. Thankfully C and her husband weren’t feeling particularly speedy either so we just hung out the whole race. My toes were numb, my hands were numb and my butt felt like it was frozen. We joked about turning around at the 5K mark but kept going. It was great catching up with them, I wasn’t able to run with them as much as I had hoped this year. C-hub kept us running and even thought I wanted to walk a few times, we kept running averaging between a 10:30-10:45. I felt so sluggish and my Garmin kept telling me we were running in the 11’s. Guess it doesn’t like the cold either. I was dreaming of a large, hot coffee from McDonald’s and started pulling away towards the end. I didn’t mean to but I was letting my legs do whatever they wanted to, they were still so tight. Mile 6 clocked in at 9:42. Finish- 1:04:49. Not the speediest but much better than I had been expecting and there weren’t any asthma issues. 😎

I also wore my Turkey Trot shirt for the rest of the day. And indulged in a few too many chips and a second slice of cheesecake. It was a great Thanksgiving. I am not fond of crowds so I will be avoiding anything Black Friday related. My original plan was to go hiking but I’ve put 25 miles on these legs in the last 5 days, way more than normal, and my calves are seriously pissed. So my plan is to take it easy, maybe take the puppy for a walk. If I can move.

How was your Thanksgiving? Did you run a turkey trot?

Favorite food of the day?

Are you shopping?