Tag: Training

Week 26- Goodbye June

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?

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 20- Oddly Inspired

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?

Week 19- Taper?

Upcoming Races:

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

Yeah, that’s it- lets call it taper.

This week was good, short and odd but good. I’m still sleeping poorly and stinkin’ tired, but that happens sometimes, right? One thing that didn’t help was I somehow screwed up my GERD medication. With the ownership change and insurance change at work, I tried to make sure I had all my medications stocked in case there were delays or issues yet somehow I forgot the most important one. Then when I went to refill it, I had no refills and the doctor response was delayed. Holy mother of heartburn people, my chest was on fire for 5 days straight. That sure helped the lack of sleeping, ha! Healthy eating went out the window quickly too, vegetables and fruits just made it worse.

I also got locked out of my blog on phone so I am behind on replying to comments. I’m catching up, promise!

Anyhow, with the race being on a Saturday which is odd for me, I had a plan for the week. Whether or not it worked remained to be seen.

Monday- 3.75 miles Wardrobe hell. In an effort to get over my issues and deal with the heat better, I ordered some new shorts. I love my Fancy Stride (Oiselle) shorts but let’s be real, I’m feeling a little too fluffy to wear them comfortably right now so I figured I would go or something with a little more give. Ha! I ordered the Roga from Oiselle because I have never heard a bad thing about them. Oh my freakin’ A! I spent the next 4 miles picking them out of my crotch with every 3rd step. I finally gave up on running and walked it back in when I realized I was running so damn oddly my knees were starting to hurt. Back to the drawing board.

Tuesday- Rest Instead of running in some crazy wind I decided to do battle with my hair. The brown is really hanging on! My roots are freaky light and the bottom is dark so I’ve been trying to lighten the bottom. I’m not winning. 😛

Wednesday- 1.15 miles The lack of sleep over the past 2 weeks was kicking in and I was super tired. It was about 20 degrees colder after work than I had planned for and my family started texted about all meeting up for dinner. It didn’t take much convincing to have me only run 1 lap of the lake path. That said, the short period of time I was running was pretty good. Then at dinner, my dad expressed his displeasure with choice of hotel locations for this race trip- Lompoc- my mother agreed. So at the last minute, I was changing hotels and cities for Friday night. 😛 Side note- everyone at work was happy I moved hotels too.

Thursday- Rest I wanted 2 rest days before the race. Plus a Saturday race meant that the road trip started on Friday so I had a few last minute things to get ready. Thankfully, my medication was finally ready so I was able to get that after work. Plus I had to finish packing.

Friday- Road trip!! I took the day off work and my mother and I headed down to Santa Barbara to do a little shopping before packet pickup. Per usual, I was able to have my carb loading pizza for lunch. This is becoming a staple. We shopped a bit before heading back North to Solvang for packet pickup. Ever been to Solvang? It’s so cute and Danish but the tourists are crazy! People were literally standing in the middle of the street to take pictures and glaring at cars trying to drive by. One woman kept waving me on at a stop sign and getting mad that I was messing with her picture but she was trying to wave me through 20 pedestrians, ummm no! I had been feeling oddly nauseous at varying points throughout the day so after bib pickup it was off to the hotel to get some rest.

Saturday- Race day! And what a great surprise to wake and discover that the lovely time of the month had come calling… again. Wait, didn’t I race like this 2 weeks ago?!?! Grrrr, so this was going to be fun. Recap to come. 😛

Sunday- Rest It felt weird having raced a half marathon on Saturday. I felt like there was something I was forgetting to do. Part of me wanted to run but I didn’t budget time wisely. I slept in later in an effort to try and catch up on all my missed sleep. Then there were all the usual weekend errands I didn’t do Saturday to get done before an early Mother’s Day dinner with the family. Since my quads were feeling the hills from Saturday, I decided the rest wouldn’t hurt.

18.1 miles for the week. Not too bad considering the measly 1ish mile run on Wednesday. Especially when you compare it to last week. 😛

How was your week?

Ever change hotels last minute?

How was your Mother’s Day?

Week 17- Surprise Race

Upcoming Races:

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

I had a plan coming into this week but was thrown an unexpected curve ball towards the middle that slowed me down. And left me craving burgers- seriously, I ate 3 this week. 😛 Maybe I should avoid the scale for a bit? Or should I just call it carb loading? Except that’s a bit excessive.

We got new alarms at work this week. Which would be awesome if we didn’t keep setting them off. Grrr. Speaking of work- a few weeks back I mentioned that I hit 10 years but I thought with the company change it would go unnoticed. On Friday, I learned differently-

Monday- 2.5 miles Since Sunday’s run had been such a hot mess, I kept this short. I also ran in the Sayonara’s again for the first time since the knee pain. I wanted to see what happened. It’s official, the shoes are toast. Even 2.5 miles was too far in them. Boo.

Tuesday- Rest Yeah, my knee was not happy. Sayonara Sayonara’s.

Wednesday- Rest Surprise! I recently randomly quit birth control for some heath reasons and it’s been an interesting ride. I’ve been taking it since I was 16 so I’ve been feeling a little all over the place. Wednesday was the start of my first real time of the month in years. And it jacked up my week. 😛 Plus sent me into a burger craving spiral.

Thursday- 3.55 miles This run felt so hard. I kept an easy pace throughout but it felt so damn hard and I was so tired. I blame hormones. I also changed the way I lace the Brooks to see if that helped with my arches. Why it took me so long to remember to do that, I have no idea. I did it with all my PureFlow 4’s, these would probably be similar. Silly Slacker. It was also insanely windy for this run.

Friday- Rest– This week just felt long and it was time to prepare for my weekend plans. I had some odd leg pain though. I have it every time I up my mileage though so I wasn’t overly concerned just more annoyed.

Saturday- RaceSLO packet pickup I needed to run 12 miles this weekend but we all know I haven’t been doing so well with following through with that. So I figured why not add a mile and run a local half on Sunday instead? Sounds like a great idea right? I did enjoy some amazing carb-loading though. 😛

Sunday- SLO Half Marathon- 13.1 miles Recap to come but let’s just say that my morning started like this-

19.2 miles for the week. Much better than last week if still a little rough in places. I have a work heavy week this week so getting in the miles is going to be tricky so let’s see how I do!

How was your week?

What did you eat this week?