Tag: stress

Silence Fell

It takes a lot to shut my brain up. Usually only sleep and even then not so much. I can never do just one thing at a time. I usually like to have multiple things happening at once because focusing on one thing just seems silly. My mother would tell you that’s how I avoid things.

Even running, my brain is never silent. I run thinking all the while how hard it feels. Or on good days, how easy it feels. I think about my shoes or how my shorts fit. Do I look funny in this outfit? What am I going to eat for dinner? Do I want to cheat or be good? How can I talk about this run in a blog post? Is it even worthy of that? Oh look, there’s that person who glares at me every time we pass each other. What did I do? How was work? What more do I have to get done tomorrow, have things been going ok or do I need to make adjustments? When’s that system upgrade happening again? I need to make sure we are ready. How’s my pace? Am I running too slow or too fast? And so on and so forth. For all the miles, all the time. I just can’t shut up. 🙂Thursday was kind of a funny day. I had finally listened to my soreness from Firehouse and rested on Tuesday and Wednesday so I was looking forward to getting in a few miles after work. I was feeling better but still sore- I think the trail re-aggravated my hamstring issue- so I was just aiming for an easy run as opposed to the speed work on the plan. Previously mentioned system upgrade started that day and I was supposed to attend a business mixer after work but I just didn’t feel I had the capacity to mingle. I was feeling very off, not cranky but not exactly sociable. I decided to pass on the mixer and just run. But I could not decide where to run. I wasn’t feeling work town so I headed to the lake path. However when I got there I just kept driving. Ok, guess I wasn’t feeling that either. I ended up at the river path and really wasn’t expecting much. 5 miles later, I was done. I stretched out some and went home. It wasn’t until later that it hit me, I hadn’t thought of a single thing during that run. No work thoughts, no blog thoughts, no body thoughts, no life worries, not even any running thoughts, nothing. I just ran. And my brain was quiet and calm. So quiet.

That’s not to say that I was unresponsive to my surroundings. I remember nodding to everyone I passed. I looked both ways before crossing each intersection and there were 10. I dodged a praying mantis and then a stink bug about 20 yards later. I recall wrinkling my nose and trying not to breathe deeply when the smell from the brewery hit me in the face.* I saw that the guy driving the lifted Chevy was likely to blow through the cross walk but I wasn’t even mad when he did. My earphones fell out of my ears but I just put them back in and kept running. Normally these last few things would piss me off and linger for awhile. I even changed my route and ran more on the trail than normal just because. It wasn’t really a conscious decision, I just did it. It was nice to not think. It really was. How do I make that happen more often? I don’t even know what prompted it this time. 🙂 I checked my splits the next day and was pretty pleased with what I saw. Don’t give mile 4 too much credit, gravity was very helpful. 🙂

Now those annoyances- my headphones. I recently purchased wireless ear buds because I was tired of getting tangled in my other ones. The new ones are worse. I cannot get them to stay in my ears at all. I know I have odd ears but come on! I have switched the little rubber pieces 3x. Ugh. *The smell- a local brewery is having a little problem so as a result there has been a yeasty stench wafting around town for the last month or so. Sometimes it hits when you least expect it. 😦

How was your weekend?

Any headphone suggestions?

Ever run yourself silent?

Adios October

How is it November already? I should not be writing an October recap yet. Oh and those Christmas commercials just need to stop!In keeping with my stepping back plan, October turned in fewer miles than before. Only 54.2 miles. I also ran zero races. That 54.2 miles were a mix of road and trails which is kind of cool. I also realize that my little 2.5-3 mile jaunts the last 2 weeks added to the decreased mileage. But I refused to give up the daylight until I absolutely had too, so I am ok with that. Overall, I would say that it was a good month of running. Yes I had some rough runs, but there were was an amazing one too. 🙂

October was kind of a giant stress mess and I maybe made a few poor food choices. I admit to stress eating especially since I was actively trying to run less. Couldn’t run the stress out so I ate yummy food. I took a day trip to LA for a doctor’s appointment at USC followed a week later by a day trip to Santa Barbara for notary renewal. I actually ate well both those days but both trips stressed me out. My stomach is still being a pain in the ass but I’ve adjusted, sort of. My doctor’s office called to set up a colonoscopy in December and I think I surprised them by how eager I was. 🙂 I just want answers.

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Friday was Halloween and I did good candy wise. I only ate a few of little boxes of Nerds. For work, we did a CSI theme for costumes. Complete with a duct tape body outline on the floor. However I have seen some pics on Facebook from co workers at other locations, so I know that there is no way we won the contest. It started pouring rain a few hours before I left which while great (rain!!!) meant I was even colder than I was before. I just wanted to go home and snuggle up in my chair. But my friend was having a Halloween party so I changed into my second costume of the day and headed out.

You know that part in Bridget Jones where she’s shows up dressed for a Tarts and Vicars party but didn’t get the memo that the dress code had changed? Ummm, yeah that happened. I had texted my friend a time or two to check about costumes, I was so not feeling the festive spirit. So I made an attempt. I had an old button up shirt of my grandpa’s that I have been hanging on to for years. It was pink, that plus a pair of boxers and my pink ProCompression socks gave me a lazy girl version of that scene from Risky Business. The shirt and shorts combo actually covered more than most of my running gear so other than being cold, I felt ok. That was until I walked in and was one of the very few adults in costume. Ummmm, boo. If it hadn’t been so wet and cold I would have just let it be but after about 20 minutes, I went and got my jeans from my car. I had to work the next day so I did not stay long before heading home.

I decided to check where I was mile wise with my 2014 goal of 750. My speed goals are not going to happen and with the last 2 months of cutting back I was wondering what kind of damage I had done. So I pulled out a calculator. Ok not really, I used the app on my computer. 721.7 miles ?!! What? How did that happen already? Woo hoo!!! I can do this!!

So long October, time for November. Time for hitting the treadmill 2x a week. 😦 But I do have a race next weekend!

How was your Halloween? Ever show up somewhere under dressed?

How are you doing on your 2014 goals?

Anyone else annoyed by the early Christmas commercials?

August Recap-So Close

I came pretty close but fell just short. August clocked in at my second highest mileage month of the year. As cool as that it was, I was also a little irritated. I had been on track to finally break 100 miles in a month, but life happens. Taking 4 days off due to a headache that wouldn’t quit and then turning a 10 miler into 4– well that hurt the numbers.

August Totals-

Miles- 87.7
Races- 0

I also managed to make it back to the track twice. None of that was speed work, but the track is still my happy place. I ran the lake path, the river path, from home, around the track and on the treadmill. I realized that my long runs may have too many hills to be called a long, easy run but they definitely meet the slow mark. However I did run my fastest mile in August-

Beyond that, I finally had my doctor’s appointment, attended the company picnic, got a new boss and took a lot of naps. Seriously, why do I nap so much? My doctor’s appointment gave some lovely antibiotics, which are kicking my ass, and a referral to USC. Anywho, hopefully something works, I miss speed work.

I also had a very scary run in with some dogs. Last Friday, the customer that has 2 Bouvier’s brought them in. I forced myself to give them a treat. Granted, I kept the counter between us, but they still good have bitten my hands. Mission safely accomplished. However I have yet to run/walk down my driveway since then.

Coming into to September, I have 3 races scheduled, half marathon, 10k and 5k. With that being said, I am not going to try to hit 100 in September. In fact I am thinking that I will run very little the week after Ventura. I start volleyball again on Monday and a boot camp class next Saturday. I also am volunteering at the Avocado Margarita Festival over that weekend, probably on both days. So it seems to me like it will be the perfect time for fewer miles. But I also have Monday and Tuesday off, so my feet may be itching to run, depends on Ventura. How well I will be able to squat and bump the ball at volleyball will also depend on Ventura, ha! 🙂

August was rough and I feel a little run down, between work and my stupid stomach and a few weeks of rough runs. With that in mind I have not registered for my October half yet. I have two options. City to the Sea (which may sell out) that I have done the last 2 years and the Harvest Marathon. Harvest may win just because it is the end of October and literally down the street. However running goes in ebbs and flows and it will be awesome again, I just have to bide my time. And maybe cross my fingers. 🙂

What are you doing in September? Any races?

What about boot camp- should I be scared?

What’s something awesome that you did in August?

The Slowest Mile

Happy Sunday!

I took Thursday and Friday as rest days. I had planned for a 8-10 mile run on Saturday. Yeah, that didn’t happen. Call it another rest day. Which was not so good because my lunch may have looked likethis-

Saturday night I was up late reading again, oops, so my alarm was quickly slapped in the morning. I had a BBQ to attend for work in the early afternoon. The weather was amazing and the view of the ocean from their back yard was awesome. I would have taken pictures but I felt that wasn’t cool doing that at an executives home. My ride had to be back early but even the short amount of time in the sun was too much. I guess when they put warning labels on medicine, they mean business.

I headed to the gym hoping for 8 miles but knowing that 6 was more realistic. Ha!! 4 very sluggish miles were all I could do. I warmed up with 1/2 mile walk then alternated between a 6.00 run and 3.8 walk. It was rough from the start. I never hit a groove, and it was all I could do to complete the 4. This not feeling well crap is beginning to make me cranky. I tried my Garmin again on the treadmill. I thought I turned off the GPS but apparently not. So I present to you the slowest mile, and actually it’s not even a mile-

Nice. Splits- 12:43, 10:56, 10:33, 10:41 — Nice.
Splits- 12:43, 10:56, 10:33, 10:41

So it is looking like I will end up with a 2 week taper for Ventura. I can’t decide if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. It’s closer to how I trained last year but I feel anxious missing that last long run.

Work has been a little stressful these last few weeks. My boss was offered a position at another location so now I have a new boss. So far it’s all good and I even took 2 full hour lunches last week, I almost didn’t know what to do with myself. Overall though, it still leaves you feeling a little wonky. I admit that I make poor food choices when stressed, so last week didn’t help that. Combine that with less running and I feel like even more of a Slacker than usual. It’s temporary and I will get back on track. Think positive right?

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! Do anything fun?

Ever have a training flub this close to race day?

Shaking it Off

Yeah, I went there, sorry. 🙂 I actually did not like this song the first time I heard it and now I think I’m obsessed. I got through my last few runs with Theory of a Deadman and Rise Against and the last few days have been Taylor Swift on repeat. I feel like I am all over the place this week and it shows even more than usual in my music. I may have played this on repeat tonight while driving from work town to run town. There may have been a tiny bit of car dancing involved, but there are no witnesses.

The last two weeks have felt a little scattered. I’ve been a little stressed by work, a little stressed by my stomach and just life in general. How do people with kids do it? After an unplanned rest day on Tuesday and a planned one on Wednesday, my feet were feeling itchy to run. Because I had a business mixer to go to after work tonight, NikeC and I moved back gym night. I wasn’t sure what time I could get there and didn’t want to make her wait. I figured I would try to get in a quick 3 miles after the mixer if possible. I just hadn’t figured out how I would change yet. 4:45 rolls around and I just didn’t think I had the mental capacity for a mixer plus my stomach just hated me today. I was just tired, and I wanted to run. I felt mentally tired and I just wanted a few miles to quiet my head. I needed to run it off. After a discussion with a few people, we decide to bypass the mixer and attend next month’s. I was relieved and looking forward to running, I was thinking of now trying for 5-6 miles.

It was a happy thought for about 2 minutes. At 4 minutes to closing, I happened to be looking at the door as IT walked in. What the frak? If they drove all the way out, it was not going to be a quick visit. Ok, reassess, I had to stay but I would still run it would just be a little later. I changed into my clothes anyways and then just waited. I got cold, so I put my blazer back on. Running shorts and a blazer- the new business casual?

It was hard to be productive since the systems were taken down. I caught up on some blogs on my phone, checked twitter, and posted some randomness to Instagram. Then I was over that. So I got some Clorox wipes and started cleaning. I finally headed out around 6:45. Even though it’s summer, I am not a fan of running at dusk. Just seems like too much room for error there. And of course, I was wearing dark running clothes because I had really wanted to wear the new shorts that came in the mail yesterday. Flowers! But a visibility fail.I got to run town a little after 7. Just as I parked, my mom called and asked if I wanted to do a late dinner. No! I was running. I walked a half mile warm up before running. Between dusk and my stomach I only got in 2 miles but they were kind of awesome. They weren’t the fastest or the best and my ankle kind of hurt but I was just glad to be running. It was a good little reset. And tomorrow is Friday!!

Ever had one of those days or weeks where you just needed to run it out?

Do you wanna rock a blazer and shorts now? Haha.

What are you doing this weekend?