Tag: sore

Tempo Fail?

I think Jillian Michaels broke me. Ok, it was me but, ouch.

I did not run my long run on Sunday. Oddly enough, once I committed to that choice and stopped vacillating back and forth, I felt like it was the smart choice. That said I didn’t want to be a total Slacker and since I had been meaning to get back to cross training, I figured I would do a kettlebell workout. I think I must black out the memories of these workouts. I seem to do one about every six months and the kettlebell collects dust the rest of the time. I like the fact that it’s a short workout but you feel like you did something. Oh son of monkey, I feel it. Like I need to use the handicap bars in the restrooms just so I don’t fall on my face. Seriously, how can I be this sore?! I found out yesterday that I was likely going to get off early today (I work Saturday) so I was stoked. I figured I would hit the lake path for the first time in months and get an afternoon run in. I admit to momentary delusions of grandeur where I considered moving this weekend’s long run (10-12) miles to today and pushing today’s workout to the weekend. I have a busy weekend ahead, so I thought this could be doable. The effort it took to get out of bed this morning put a kabosh on that. My glutes and my hamstrings were screaming at me. Wow, I am out of shape.I ended up staying at work longer than planned but still headed to the lake. I like that my training plan sometimes gives me options on Tuesdays- speed vs power (hills). I didn’t feel up to hills plus the lake is pancake flat. I will probably do most of my speed work there once the time changes. It’s as close to a track as I can get during the week. You just have to dodge the dogs and bikes, kids and cars. 🙂 But I still love it. The first mile was rough. Like my legs were so heavy- I was shuffling my feet trying to warm up. So what do I do? Take it easy? Nah- I aim for a tempo. I never said I was smart. 1 mile warm up, 4 mile tempo, 1 mile cool down. So yeah, that didn’t go according to plan. But then it depends on how you look at it. My tempo miles were too fast if I base my paces off of my Surf City finish time but too slow if I base them off of my goal half marathon time. So, yay for middle of the road? Miles 4-6 weren’t that bad actually. Cool down was awesome! 🙂Once I completed the 6 miles, I used one of the workout stations around the lake to stretch out. For some reason I still wanted to move but knew I was too sore to run more. Instead of taking the short way back to my car I headed off to finish another lap around the lake. So with an added walking mile I pulled off 7 for the day. Not too bad for being sore, hopefully I can move tomorrow. 🙂I loved being back at the lake, come on daylight savings!!! There was actually water in it too! Hardly anything at all but more than the last time I was there in the fall. We need more rain like we had this weekend.

Happy (almost) Hump day!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who gets their butt kicked by a dvd? Pretty please?

Any YouTube workout recommendations?

Stand up!

After 6 days with no running last week, I was both itching for a run and nervous. It’s like I was thinking I would have forgotten how to run or something. After working at the Avocado Festival Saturday, I knew I had to be up early if I wanted to run before working the last shift at the festival on Sunday. Now with the exception of race mornings, I am not an early riser. At all. I love sleeping. But I forced myself out of bed and was running by 8:30. Not even that early, right? I was tired and my head is still a little rough so I had two route options- 3.8 or 4.2. 3.8 won and I felt like my legs took miles to warm up. That I could have handled, it was my damn lungs that were annoying. We rarely ever have humidity here so I didn’t bother to check it. Fail! The humidity was 70% that morning, some freak cloud system had rolled in overnight. The clouds left but the humidity lingered. Ugh. But 3.8 miles done. I checked the weather again at 3 and the weather was 102º with 9% humidity. I would have rather run in that.

I spent 5 hours working at the Avocado Margarita Festival on Saturday and 3 on Sunday. The weather was awesome in work town and the festival was packed. However I spent those hours in an old building. It needed a fan and the giant generator was right outside. It ran the entire time- so not helpful for my head. Even though after a couple of hours, I started to tune it out. It was still a good weekend and it was an amazing fundraiser and it sounded like everyone had a good time. 🙂

I worked in a restaurant for years and it was 95% standing and walking. When I started with my current organization I still primarily worked standing up. I was used to it so it was no big deal. When I was promoted and transferred locations almost 2 years ago, I went to a regular desk height counter and sat in a chair about 75% of the time. It was kind of the luck of the draw that that was the way the new building was set up. Surprisingly or thankfully, I only put on 6 8 pounds over that time. I kind of felt like I was in a hole after a while and said that it was harder for me to keep an eye on everything- I’m such a lurker. I would crack jokes that I either needed a stand up desk or a trampoline chair that I could bounce off. I found out Saturday that one customer compared me to Wilson from Home Improvement because the most he says he ever saw was from the eyes up. Then again he also thought I was a teenager when I saw him at the festival. Ha! A coworker used to say I looked like a Meerkat sticking my head up all the time from my computer.

Anyways, back in February I figured it could never hurt to ask, so I asked my boss if there was ever a chance. It took awhile and had to go through a bunch of levels but as of yesterday, I have a counter height desk!!! Woo hoo! I did a little dance when I saw it after construction and I may or may not have hugged the counter. I also have more drawers now. 🙂 Now I just have to work on keeping it looking neater than the “organized chaos” that it was before. I swear I knew what was in every pile, but now they are visible piles.

I am working my way back up to standing all day, so my legs are a little sore. Between that and volleyball yesterday, I am crazy stiff. My calves are tight and my abs are sore. I feel like I ran more than usual playing last night and I was serving a little harder than usual. I suppose it’s good news that I use my abs for my posture rather than my back right? I know I am going to be a little achy this week adjusting but I am still so excited about it. Such a nerd, I know.

We’re almost halfway!! How is your week going?

What about you? Do you sit or stand for work?

Any fun events coming up in your neck of the woods?

A long week and a rough run

Quick recap of the week so far-

Monday– 2.5 miles
Tuesday– Kettle bell workout
Wednesday– 4.5 painful miles
Thursday –Rest- Business mixer-exercising my lack of skill at small talk (and another power nap)
Friday-11 slow miles
Saturday– 4 mile recovery walk- with the puppy!

How can a 30 minute workout DVD cause so much pain? I followed through like planned and completed the kettle bell workout on Tuesday. I felt pretty good when I was done, but the next morning I was super stiff. It was awkward just getting out of bed. My thighs and hamstrings were so sore. I also wore taller wedge heels than usual all day at work Wednesday. My run let me know just angry my legs were with me. My hamstrings were pissed. That lovely achilles issue from February’s race made a reappearance as well. I decided to run that new route from last week again and I hoped my legs would warm up. Yeah, not so much. I took quite a few walk breaks and even stopped to stretch out twice. Even though it felt miserable, I went a slightly different route to get 4.5 miles in. Overall the pace was good for an easy run; my legs were just super cranky. I didn’t feel injured just super sore.

Luckily, thanks to a business mixer, I had a great reason for Thursday to be a rest day. The mixer was at an Inn that I admit I never knew existed before but it’s actually super cute. It’s in a 100 year old house with pretty grounds. We were lucky enough to get a tour. Which was doubly good because it was less time that I had to think of decent small talk. Parking was tight so we parked at church and were driven to the Inn by trolley. That was fun, I hadn’t been on a trolley since high school. However my legs were still sore and climbing on it in heels and a dress was a little problematic. 🙂

I volunteered to work on Saturday for someone so that meant I was able to go in later on Friday. For some reason I was not feeling the idea of my long run this weekend. I needed to get in 10-11 miles but the idea of running that on Saturday or Sunday just seemed unlikely. I don’t know why. Since I was going in late Friday I figured I would run it Friday morning. When I went to sleep Thursday night I was looking forward to my run the next morning. After another night of less than stellar sleep and some stomach issues, I ended up trying to sleep for an extra hour before heading out for 6 miles. I started out slow making sure I wasn’t going to be sick again but I never got into gear. I felt like I was crawling and I walked way too much. It was also hot! I checked the weather before I left and it said 59. It lied. It was off by at least 20. Sweat and sunblock were dripping in my eyes. It was the kind of run that makes you wonder why you do it, ugh. Friday happens to be scale day, so just for kicks I re-weighed myself after my run. I lost 3 lbs. on a 6 mile run, oops. I even ran with more water than usual. Never trusting that app again.

So what does a crazy person do when they have a horrible, no good run that falls short of their mileage goal? They go to work, make it home by 7, change and get back out there. This time I used the same method I did last Sunday and met up with my mom and the puppy every mile or so. My overall pace was even slower than the craptastic run but I was ok with that this time. 5 more miles done to bring the total to 11. Long, slow run done before the weekend, sweet!

Today, I covered a different location than usual so I had a shorter commute. Awesome! I met my mother for lunch at a local burger place. I was planning on taking it easy today, so I indulged with a tri tip sandwich, so yummy. After a trip to Target and another power nap (I picked up some Epsom salt at Target I will be trying soon) I ended up heading out for a walk with my mom and the puppy. My mom wanted to check out the newer-to-me path. She really liked it and so did Zoey. Zoey was very intrigued by the horses across the street at one point. It was a good 4 miles, the pace has really picked up with the puppy. We were just under 15:00 per mile tonight. And that includes her stops to shove her nose in whatever plant smells interesting. I still don’t think she will ever be a runner though.

Work is done, all my errands are done, so other than some lovely chores tomorrow -can we still call them chores as adults?- I am hoping to have a relaxing day. I should complete the yoga DVD again but we’ll see how it goes. I have stuck to my plan so far and only taken 2 rest days since June 1st. But does a DVD really count?

How was your Saturday?

Anyone race today? Or racing tomorrow?