Tag: Training

Run To The Music 7

I haven’t shared a song since January! Really? Man, time flies.

Truthfully, I’ve wanted to post this for a few weeks but I was hoping for a real video to attach. But it looks like a lyric video is all I’m going to get. Boo.

This is one of my favorite bands and has been ever since their first single back in 2000 with Last Resort. I am reasonably positive I own everything they’ve released and they are one of the few bands whose entire catalog is always on my phone. I would love to see them in concert one day but I know they won’t be coming to our local fair- I can’t see them signing the good behavior contract. 😛 If they could be the headliner at Rock n Roll Vegas, my day would be made but I know I am not that lucky. 😛 One can dream right?

The new album seems like it might be a touch pop-ier than I would like but it has made it pretty perfect for running. So without further ado, here’s my new favorite running song-

Papa Roach- Born for Greatness

What are you listening to?

Week 16- Short

Upcoming Races:

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

I don’t know what it was about this week but every workout fell short from what I planned. This week was kind of all over the place…or at least my brain was. Maybe it was just me? Who knows.

I experimented with lunch and breakfast changes last week and they did not go so well at all. Boo, I am so over smoothies.

Monday- Rest After a weekend of running with minimal pain, I decided to give my legs a rest. They might have let me get in a long run without screaming but I didn’t want to push it.

Tuesday- Rest This is where things started to get odd. Work ran long and I was just so tired, I ended up heading home after work and picking up a pizza.🍕

Wednesday- 2.3 miles So not the plan. I was aiming for 4-5 miles and although I started off with sluggish legs, I felt like they were warming up. What was not on board was my stomach and things turned ugly in my second lap of the lake. Grrrr.

Thursday- 3.65 miles Again fewer miles than planned but this time I was ok with it. With all my shoe issues I decided to try running in the Nike’s and for some reason that was a sign to my legs to move. I was feeling out of breath in mile 2 and getting pissed off because I didn’t feel like I was moving that fast so I took a long walk break- almost 2 minutes. That’s not counting the 1 or 2 30 second walk breaks I had already taken. I figured out I was running too fast when mile 2 clocked in at 10:54. Wait, with all that walking- how the hell fast was I was running? Instead of fighting it I just let my legs do what they wanted to do. I ran like hell for a while and walked anytime I needed a rest. I was also singing and dancing to my music while running down the street. 😛

Friday- Rest It ended up being an open to close kind of day and I was beat after work. It’s always a great day when you’re told you shouldn’t go to lunch right? 😂

Saturday- Rest I planned on running to make up the missed miles from earlier in the week but I kept procrastinating. Run didn’t happen.

Sunday- 10 miles Ouch. I had prepped for a morning 12 miler. However when I woke up my stomach informed me that the only place I was running was to the bathroom. 😞 So I pushed my run to the afternoon. It was only supposed to be in the mid 70’s so I figured it would be ok. Ha! I was so hot and so slow. It was seriously the slowest 10 miles I have ever run. It shouldn’t have felt that warm to me but we haven’t been that warm yet this year with all the rain. I’ve only run in shorts twice and I guess I haven’t acclimated. I just kept moving forward- it took a lot of walking but I finally made it home. I did sit down outside the elementary school for a moment in a effort to cool off a bit. Grrr.

15.95 miles for the week. Grrrr. That’s all I got for this week. Maybe a run on Saturday would have made things better but it was almost 90 so maybe not. Time to put it behind me as I should be running a race next weekend. Which would be fine if I had a pair of shoes that didn’t hurt. The PureFlow’s start to aggravate my arch around mile 9-10. Seriously, barefoot running is looking better by the day.

How was your week?

Do anything fun?

Week 13- Free Pass

Upcoming Races:

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

With so much going on this week with the merger going through, having run Livermore and still not feeling 100% I decided to give myself a free pass this week. If I wanted to run, yay, if all I wanted to was sleep then I would sleep. The only thing I had to do was get through each work day- long as they were. And damn they were long. Plus my cough was in full force so customers occasionally looked at me like I had the plague. 😛 I needed running to be a stress reliever not to add to the stress that the week might bring.

Monday- Rest– I sort of had a vacation day. I say sort of because this was the week of all the conference calls and meetings so while I had the morning off, I had a meeting in the afternoon. I luckily could go to a closer location than normal but it was rough going from comfy clothes to slacks, heels and a blazer.

Tuesday- Rest- Work started an hour and a half early. Combine that with my commute and ouch that was an early morning. I had to use my Knuckle Lights just to open my gate! I also had a doctor’s appointment and something in the waiting room really aggravated my cough. I would cough uncontrollably, excuse myself to go outside, feel fine, go back in and it would all start over again. Finally after the fourth time, a nurse came and opened the door and something about that made the air in the room level out and I stopped coughing. I was so tired after that though so I just went home.

Wednesday- 4 miles This day was equally as long. Work also started an hour and a half early again. I was tired after work but I wanted to try and run. Good lord that first mile was hard. I was so sluggish and just tired. I sat on a bench and regrouped and changed my run/ walk intervals from 3/1’s to 2/:30’s. It helped. I actually ended up pulling off 3 progressively faster paced miles after that.

Thursday- 3.5 miles Thankfully, this day had a much more normal start time. I was still tired and the first mile was still ugly. The next 2 weren’t speedy but ended up being very consistent- like they were the exact same pace. Don’t think I could do that again. maybe I should try sometime?

Friday- Merger day! Over an 11 hour day and I was toast. And with that it’s official, after 9 years, 11 months and 20 days, I work for another company.

Saturday- Rest- I thought about my long run but that’s as far as it got. I was so damn tired. So instead I ran some errands and ended the evening by going to see Power Rangers. I actually did a journalism project on Power Rangers way back in the day (8th grade!) so it was pretty much a given that I was seeing this in the theater. 😛

Sunday- 5 miles I had planned on a 10 mile long run where I met my mom in the middle but when my alarm went off I just couldn’t. I kept telling myself to get up but I was still so tired. It finally got to the point that there was no way I could get up, get ready and run to the meeting point in time so I texted my mom and bailed. Instead I headed out in the afternoon knowing it was likely going to be a rough ride. It was over 80 so I wasn’t even going to attempt 10 but I was thinking about 8. That thought last 1.5 miles. I was hot, I was wearing shorts for the first time in 5 months and they kept trying to turn into underwear. My stomach started to cramp and my knee was hurting. I sat outside the elementary school just to take a breather. I decided 5 was a good number.

12.5 miles for the week. Not great but for merger week and still being sick at the beginning, I’ll take it! I made it through the week so woo hoo!

Now, things should calm down a bit. Work may be crazy but the hours should normalize… I hope. I am hoping to bring the miles back up this week though. The only thing I think I have planned is a dentist appointment and I need my tires rotated. Those are easy, right?

How was your week?

Share something fun!

We Have A Winner

Disclaimer: I received Beachbody Performance to try as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

A month or so back I posted about my struggle with fueling properly in long runs and my proclivity for headaches at the end. I was testing out new hydration choices with calories so when I had the chance to try BeachBody Performance, I jumped on it. I was open to anything. 😀

From the website-

The Science Behind Beachbody Performance

Rooted in cutting-edge sports science, exercise physiology, and nutrition research, Beachbody Performance supplements feature key ingredients that are supported by the latest peer-reviewed science, athlete input, and top players in the field of exercise physiology and nutrition.

Beachbody Performance products contain state-of-the-art ergogenic (performance-enhancing) ingredients and phytonutrients that are scientifically shown to improve energy, stamina, strength, focus, and recovery. These key ingredients are included in the formulas at their clinically established effective levels. There are no artificial colors, artificial flavors, artificial sweeteners, or preservatives.

When it arrived it was like I had hit the mother lode- so much stuff!! I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I received-

Energize- pre workout (lemon)

Displaying energize_label_526x526.png

Hydrate- during workout (citrus)

Recover- post workout (chocolate)

Recharge- before bed (vanilla)

And a little guide, which was awesome since I felt a little out of my depth. Help me!

So let’s talk Energize. I’ve never used a pre-workout before. Never really saw the point. Poor, uneducated Slacker. I started off with a smaller serving but the first thing I noticed was that I really liked the taste- it’s very lemony. But I didn’t feel any different. Hmmm. I was expecting to feel a kick of something you know? Next time around, slightly bigger serving. Still yummy but I still didn’t feel any different. It’s when I was checking my Garmin app that I noticed something odd so I went back and checked the first run too. Well, heck check those paces- I haven’t hit those paces consistently in months. Who knew??? And it kept on delivering like that.

Moving on to Hydrate. I can barely taste the citrus flavor in this but from comments on Twitter I think I’m alone in this opinion. 😛 To me it’s lightly refreshing. I’ve run every run with it since I got it and guess what??? No long run headaches!!!! Not even after the 10 miler where I ran out water and the temp jumped 30 degrees. I expected one then but nope, all good.😀

Recover– now you are supposed to mix this with water about 30 minutes after working out but I prefer milk. I think it tastes better that way. Now Recover is designed to aid muscle recovery after a hard workout. The key ingredients are pomegranate extract and Branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). They are supposed to help support recovery and promote muscle repair post hard workout. So did I feel better after? I’m not sure, it’s hard to say. I know my calves have been less tight but I also have new shoes sooooo?

Recharge– I’m not going to lie, I had the hardest time with this one. I don’t eat or drink anything other than water past a certain time due to my GI issues usually so most often it was really hard for me to remember to drink this before bed on workout days. So very hard.

So some issues I have encountered-

How the heck do you easily transport it? Since I run after work during the week, I’ve been taking the entire container of Energize and Hydrate to work on Mondays and bringing them back home on Fridays. I also took both containers to Livermore with me. Not exactly convenient. I could probably premix in water bottles but I have a tendency to lose water bottles. While I love the taste of the Recover, I do have troubles mixing it completely. Whether I mix it in the blender bottle or in a cup with a whisk I have issues. Again, that could just be me. Also, my commute gave me some issues with the time frame. Energize is recommended to be used 30 minutes before exercising. Which is great if I run from work. If run in home town and drink it on the way there, I inevitably arrive needing a restroom and hometown locks those all up. Similarly, Recover is usually later than 30 minutes post workout because of my commute. However those are issues very specific to me.

So what are my thoughts overall?

I really like the Energize and Hydrate- I will keep buying those. As for Recover and Recharge, I am still on the fence. I have quite a bit left of those though so I have more opportunities to to see if I can work out the kinks there.

Have you ever used Beachbody?

Do you use a pre-workout?

How about a recovery drink?

Weekly Recap 11-Slap Happy

Upcoming Races:

Livermore 13.1 -March 26!!
Destination Races Santa Barbara 13.1- May 13
Rock N Roll San Diego 13.1 June 4

So yeah, last week was odd. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good week. I got a lot done at work, more things were completed in preparation for the merger- those all turned into funny situations too. I got in a good run and a creepy run. My stomach was a total asshat at the beginning of the week and I was abnormally tired but I was in a super good mood most of the week. Maybe I should have realized that was a sign of things to come but I’ve never been too good at actually listening to my body. I mean for crying out loud Friday’s post went up unfinished! Sorry about that by the way. 😞

Monday- 4.25 miles– I love daylight savings. I headed to home town after work and was able to run this entire run in full sunlight. I took it really slow in the beginning as this was my first run in the new PureFlow’s. From there I ended up running a nice (for these days) progressive 4 miles- 13:22, 11:04, 10:37, 9:06. I say these days because that same day Timehop also reminded me that 3 years previously I set my unofficial 5K PB of 26:35. Which is a far cry from the 11:00 ave pace of this run.

Tuesday- Rest/ Detox Yoga– I got so damn tired on the drive home from work that I stopped at Target and wandered around it a bit in order to wake up. My stomach had been horrible since Sunday so once home I tried some yoga to help ease some of the pressure.

Wednesday- Rest- Stretching/Foam Rolling– My stomach was still being a total butt face and work went a little late so I just decided a low key night was in order.

Thursday- 3.5 miles- Creeper alert! I headed to the lake path after work and was hoping for 5 miles. There were more people out taking advantage of the extra daylight. My legs were a little sore. I’d worn flats a couple days this week plus breaking in the PureFlow’s with 4mm drop made for some sore calves. Not enough to deter my run though. What did was the creeper in the gold Thunderbird who slowed while driving past me then parked blocking my path. Cars park on the path all the time so I wasn’t totally weird-ed out yet, only halfway there. When I ran around the car, which reeked of pot and engine grease, as I cleared it- it revved the engine. It then peeled out, spinning dirt everywhere, slowed while passing me again before squealing it’s tires again as it turned up a street. All right, peace out, I’m done. It might have had nothing to do with me but I wasn’t taking that chance. I managed to find a group of Eagle scouts out for a stroll and put myself in front of them. I tried to stay near their group while I got back to my car but I also didn’t want to turn into the creeper.

Friday- Rest- I worked open to close and towards the end of the day I was getting slap happy. I was having troubles putting words together properly. Which should have been a sign. Some people get cranky when they are getting sick, I get slap happy. Yet it still didn’t dawn on me until that night when my throat really started hurting, my nose stopped working and pressure built between my ears. Oh crap.

Saturday/ Sunday- Sick My alarm went off for my long run on Saturday morning but I could barely move. Seriously, my face hurt where the ends of my hair touched it. My whole body ached there was no way I was running 10-11 miles. I shut it off and thought maybe I could run in the afternoon, ha! I barely moved all day. I may have watched more than a few episodes of The Iron Fist on Netflix. Sunday rolled around and while I hurt a little less I was nowhere near running shape. Boo.

So yeah, 7.75 miles for the week. I am trying not to freak out while I type that. I have Livermore Half in just 7 days and I really wanted another double digit run before race day. Plus that weekly mileage looks sad. This was not the week I had been planning. I’d actually planned on moving back to running 4x a week but instead I ran just twice. Grrr.

And now I still can’t breathe and my eyes are crossing as I finish this recap. So with that I will sign off.

Tell me about your week?

Do anything fun this weekend?