Tag: Training

Run!, Training

Week 28- Too Many Tabs

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races-

  • Rock to the Pier 10K?
  • Salinas Valley Half Marathon

This week was so much better than last week but there were numerous points when I felt like an internet browser with too many tabs open.  Not just any internet browser- Internet Explorer.😛

The week leading up to system conversion was just as crazy as I anticipated and I didn’t make it to half of the training meetings that I had on the schedule.  I managed to have everyone else stick to the plan but me not so much.  Adding to the chaos, I was greeted Monday by a dead computer.  Yay.   With the computer change coming, I didn’t the point in bugging IT when they were already stressed to the max so I just stole pieces from other computers until I was working, haha.   This actually prompted someone to tell me that I was surprisingly positive.  😛

Oddly enough, this week, I was.   Don’t get me wrong, there were times I felt completely underwater but somehow stayed positive.  At least I think I did.  Maybe I should with my  coworkers.   I was exhausted but kept trucking.  Ran more miles than last week but still fell short in a big way.  Oh and that 10k?   Ha!

Monday-  Rest   I had an early morning conference call and afternoon meeting at the south end of the county.  The meeting ended early but instead of heading home, I headed back to the office which turned out to be a good thing as even with me, we still got out an hour late.    No running for me.

Tuesday- 4 miles First run in 4 days.  And a source of amusement.  I was a little accident prone this week.   How I did not cause actual harm to myself on this run, I have no idea.   It was a slow run but it was a nice stress release besides all the drama.  😛

Wednesday- Rest The day was chaos.  It was also my birthday.    Neither meeting really panned out.   My coworkers brought me donuts, Taco Works and Starburst’s.   Aww, they know me.   This system conversion is going to make my pants tighter. 🙂

Thursday- 3.6 miles  The tiredness was setting in. I was beginning to realize that Saturday’s 10K was not a good idea.  I really did not want to run.   I changed and headed for home town trying to talk myself out of running the whole way.   However I parked, changed into my shoes and told myself I could do a 5K.   I ended up running a little more that but it wasn’t pretty.   I was sluggish and stopped more than necessary for a short run but it was done.

Friday- Work We’re just going to call it that.   I think I left work after a long day a little after 7.  Maybe later.  It’s hard to remember.

Saturday- 4.2 miles trail  Ok- no 10K race because- 1) the thought of an early morning alarm made me want to cry, 2) the idea of driving to work town 12 days in a row, mmm, nope.   So instead my mother took me shopping for my birthday- new shoes!- and then we did a little trail run in the afternoon.  The trail is awesome and very friendly to tired Slackers like me.    I considered running 6ish miles when I got home to finish a long run but it was 100+ still and there was another fire so we had a smoke advisory.   Boo.

Sunday- Work  Here’s where the 12 days in a row would have come in.   I actually went in to work in running clothes with my shoes and pack in the car but we ended up being there so much longer than planned.  I also found that while I had managed to get a computer working for me during the week I didn’t come out so pretty on the other side of conversion.  A lot of my settings and links were unrecoverable. 😢 It’s cool, I didn’t need those anyway right?  Fingers crossed.  I returned home to temps of 104.  I still planned on trying for a few miles but I ended up passing out for a long nap instead.  Oops.

11.8 miles for the week.  Again so much better than last week but kind of missing that 10 mile long run.   I am hopeful for the coming week but I know that it’s going to be another intense week at work and that needs to be my top priority.     I think I can, I think I can.   I also don’t want to disappear into a hole.  I feel like I barely read or commented on your blogs last week- well I think I read them but I’m not sure what happened after that.  Like I said- I was kind of hazardous.  😛

How was your week?

Do you ever have accident prone weeks?  Moments?

Run!, Stomach, Training

Week 27- Ha Ha Ha

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races-

  • Rock to the Pier 10K?
  • Salinas Valley Half Marathon

So yeah.  This week was kind of a wash.  I was prepared for July to be busy.  I planned this week of workouts out accordingly.  It was a good plan, like I said I was prepared.  Until reality showed me otherwise.  Life just laughed at me.

Work was busier than I expected.  I wasn’t sleeping well, 5 hours a night if I was lucky. Then I got sick or exhausted, something like that.   Summer has fully arrived after a late start and temps have been above 100 in home town most of the week.    That brought power outages and way too many damn fires with it.

Monday- Rest I knew work was going to be crazy busy so I didn’t even bring my running clothes.  I was not wrong.   By the time I made it home, my brain was fried.  For it only being Monday, that should have been a sign.

Tuesday- Rest/Sick  The start of the downhill slide.  I was supposed to go hiking with my dad at a new trail but my stomach was a giant ass hat all day.  Nothing active happened.  I did enjoy some lovely 4th of July hot dogs with my family though.


Wednesday- Rest  This was partially planned.  I knew work was going to be insane after the 4th so the original plan was to rest.  I took running gear though since I had failed to run or hike on the 4th.   However my stomach was still being an asshat so running did not happen.  It was also 100+ at home when I got off work.


Thursday- 3.1 miles  I woke up with a sore throat and major headache.  Oh hell, no, I don’t have time to be sick.   It was a calmer day at work and I was hoping that a few easy miles would help run out the oncoming head cold.   I ran in work town as it was like 103 in home town.  I kept the miles easy- well they felt easy-ish but they were too fast.  I didn’t feel worse after the run but I didn’t feel better either.

Friday- Rest With my boss on vacation- I’m open to close on Friday’s so no working out.    Plus home town was 107.  And the air conditioner died.


Saturday- Rest I woke up feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.  Combine that with the 105 temps and the heavy smoke from the 3 huge fires burning in the county and I was not even attempting a run.  Instead I lazed around.  Did spend some time looking at refrigerators as a power surge on Thursday half killed the refrigerator.  Yay.  By evening’s end 3 more fires had started.

Sunday- 12 miles Rest I set everything out for a long run but when my alarm went off after the first decent nights sleep I have had in weeks, I just couldn’t do it.  I still didn’t feel great and I know the next 2 weeks are going to be crazy at work.  Being in sick is not an option.     Plus the sky was so thick with smoke, I had a hard time telling that it was actually blue.

3.1 miles for the week.  Ouch but it is what it is.  Moving on I need to be a little more flexible during the next 2 weeks as we move through this system conversion at work.    I am now a little hesitant about my 10K next weekend.   I knew July was going to be interesting so now to see what this week throws at me.😀

How was your week?

How do you handle setback weeks?

 

Run!, Training

Week 26- Goodbye June

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races-

  • Rock to the Pier 10K?
  • Salinas Valley Half Marathon

This week was odd.   I joked that I had to get all my stupid out before my boss left for vacation.  She’s gone the majority of July.   That and I was just freakishly tired last week for some reason.    I am cycling through new medications for my stupid stomach and I started a new diet which hit me harder than I expected on my first run of the week.

Monday- Rest  I normally run on Mondays but instead I went to the movies.  I saw Transformers.  Pretty good, the beginning jumped all over the place but it pulled it together.    Plus, my legs were achy so I figured rest would be good.

Tuesday- 12 miles bike I took my gear with the intention of running but those achy legs got worse in a bad way.  I ran across the street to get a soda and almost lost a shoe- my flats are slightly too big and I was trying to move faster than oncoming traffic and whatever it was it hurt.  What the hell? So instead I went home and got on the stationary bike.


Wednesday- 3.5 Straight up misery.  I felt good leading up to the run and had plans for 5 miles but once I tried to run, it was pure hell.  I could barely catch my breath and heart rate was through the roof.   Worse is that I was crawling.  I was having troubles maintaining even a 12:30 pace.  I could not get going, I was so tired and just not feeling it.   The only thing I could figure was that I actually hadn’t been eating enough with the new diet.   It hadn’t been intentional, I just hadn’t been hungry.  I also hadn’t had any meat but hadn’t supplemented it any way either.   Again, that hadn’t been intentional but I don’t think it helped matters.


Thursday- 3.5 miles  More food meant a better run that way but my legs were still pissed about something.  Everything ached from the knee down bordering on pain.  I also felt what seemed to be a giant blister forming on right heel.  I’ve never had a blister there so I kind of freaked out.  I called it after 3 laps of the lake path.  I foam rolled that night and slept in compression socks.   I couldn’t see a blister but my heel felt odd.   It was also my last run for June-


Friday- Rest I wore different shoes which made my legs happy, heel a little less cranky but made my toes feel pinched.  Oh come on!  So by the afternoon, if I was where customers and cameras could not see me, I was bare foot.  Luckily my boss just laughed.

With my legs being so damn odd all week, I went into the weekend knowing I was not running a long run.  I was splitting it in 2 instead.


Saturday- 5 miles  Why do I keep running in the afternoon in CA summer?  I need my head examined.  Once again, it was hot and I crawled.   It just felt so much harder than it should have, especially for the pace I was averaging.   I stopped at 4 miles and sat on the ground in a rare spot of shade just to cool down a bit.   Then I crawled the last mile home.   Ugh.


Sunday- 5 miles Every run has been rough lately so I expected more of the same. I slept in and headed out around 10.  The first mile was with my mother.  Once I split off from her I made sure to follow the 2:00 run/ :30 walk intervals on my watch to be nice to my legs.    Mile 2 clocked in as I was going up a hill and I laughed.  10:38. Ha, what?!  Was my watch broken? Yet, the miles kept coming in like that.  What was going on?  I was taking my walk breaks every time the watch buzzed.  I was trying to be smart after the odd week I’d had.   Yet somehow I pulled a speedy 5 miler for me these days.  Then Smash Run tried to bring me down by telling me it was still my 41st fastest 5 mile but whatever Fred,  I’m still counting it as a win.  😛

17.1 miles run
12 miles bike

5 days, 5 workouts, that’s not too shabby.  Especially considering how scatterbrained I was all week.   Dude- there were some serious blonde moments.  I even lost a dress in my closet at one point.     Now, let’s see what July brings.

How was your week?

How did June treat you?

Run!, Training

Week 25- Speed Bump

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

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?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Run!, Slacker, Training

Week 20- Oddly Inspired

Fallon @ Slacker Runner

Upcoming Races:

  • Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1-June 4

I planned to take it a bit easy this week post Wine Country Half but other than some soreness in my quads on Sunday and Monday, I was feeling pretty good.  I’ve been fighting some achiness in my left leg though so I am trying to be smart for once with another half in a few weeks.

Work was busy last week, meetings galore and more to come this week.   Thursday started an hour and a half early- damn that was a long day.  Guess one plus to no longer being salary is that I actually get overtime for crazy days like that.   😛


Monday- 3 miles   I had new shoes- Adidas UltraBoost X to break in so I was looking forward to my run after work.    These are different than my past shoes in that they have a ton of arch support.  I took these miles slow as my feet were not entirely on board with the change.  I had to stop and listen the shoelaces as they felt super tight.  By the end of the run my left foot was on board, my right was still protesting.  I wasn’t worried about it though because it always takes me a while to break in new shoes.


Tuesday- 4 miles  AMGEN rolled into work town so we closed early and got the heck out of town before the chaos got too bad.   I had big plans for a Tuesday 10K at the lake but when I got there I didn’t want to run there.  So I drove to home town and the river path.    was still looking forward to the extra time to run but my legs were not on board.    They were stiff and just felt like boards.  I gave them until mile 3 to warm up.  When I still had dead legs at that point I called it at 4 miles.  It wasn’t happening and pushing it wasn’t likely to be beneficial.

Wednesday- Rest  After the dead legs of the day before, I figured I’d listen to my legs and take a day off of running.  I planned on some cross training but yeah, that didn’t happen.


Thursday- 2.6 miles I had 2 meetings at work and it ended up being a 10 hour work day.   My last meeting was in home town though so I rushed home and changed super fast to get out the door for a run.   It was in the 80’s but it felt ok.   I wore the Adidas again but this time with thinner socks to see if made a difference.  It did but it wasn’t all good.  On the flats and uphills, the shoes felt great but on downhills I was sliding all over the place inside the shoes.    That said, my legs felt great and I felt like I could have kept running but I forgot why I don’t run my neighborhood around 6- the elementary school is a death trap.  😕

Friday- Rest Friday brain had definitely set in.   I planned to cross train after work but again, that didn’t happen.


Saturday- 3.1 miles  I planned a low key weekend hoping I could catch up on the sleep I’ve been short on for 3 weeks.  I knew that may mess up my long run but  I was ok with that.    I woke with my alarm, turned it off and went back to sleep.   Oops.  I headed out around 3:30 for a short, slow run.  It was mid 90’s when I started so I my only plan was to take it slow and just start acclimating to the heat.  And to force myself to wear my Stride shorts.  😛   My legs felt great but yeah it was warm out there.  I wanted to run more but considering 70’s killed me at SLO, I forced myself to keep it short.

Sunday- 8 miles bike  Did you forget I had a stationary bike?  I kind of did too.  Last time I was on it was December.   My bad.   I stayed up late reading on Saturday night which meant an early morning run did not happen.  I still thought about heading out for 6 miles around 3 but it was 95.  Combine that with a sudden re-occurrence of the damn achy left leg and I chose another option.    However, I haven’t gotten my fan out of the shed and didn’t use the air conditioner so the room felt like a sauna while I was riding.  😛

Miles- Run 12.7   Bike 8    Ok so the miles don’t show it, but hot damn people, look at this week!  I worked out 5 times!  Do you know the last time that happened?  Because I don’t.   Surprisingly, I also feel like I caught up on a little sleep and I checked a few things off of my to do list.  Say what?!  I don’t know what came over me last week but I kind of like it.   Will it continue or was it a one time fluke?  I’ve been struggling with motivation this year and I’m kind of over it.   I just want to run… and I need that feeling to last longer than this week.  Oh and I wore shorts 3 out of 4 runs!  It the little things right?

How was your week?

What’s your weather like?

Anyone race?