Tag: Training

Week 5/ January Recap

Upcoming races- Surf City 13.1

Focus– I forgot to choose one this week. Oops.

How is it February? Seriously, how did that happen? Wasn’t is just Christmas? Or I don’t know summer? Anyways moving on. One plus about El Nino is that things have been warmer than usual but that changed this week. Brrrr.

Monday- Rest Mondays really work as rest days for me. Why do I keep trying to change that? I will say that I felt guilty for not getting in some miles on the bike though.

Tuesday- 4 miles Some very, very slow miles. I had an episode of Z Nation to get me through it. Though I do wonder if anyone can see my phone, between Z Nation and Blacklist, I feel kind of weird watching my phone at the gym.

Wednesday- 6 miles Stationary I woke feeling more sore from 4 treadmill miles than I had from my long run on Saturday. Grrr. Daylight savings, are you here yet? I ended up testing out the new Little Caesar’s on the way home so it almost ended up another rest day. But instead it was just a very late start and fewer miles.

Thursday- 10 miles I had to work this weekend so I was able to take a half day and I actually made it out of work by 1. With a storm predicted for the weekend I had planned on trying to get my long run in early. After last week’s successful though slow 12 milers, I was looking forward to it. I almost quit in the first 2 miles. Everything felt off, I was still sore, I felt uncomfortable in shorts, my throat had an alligator instead of a frog in it. Every time I started to run I felt like I was going to hyperventilate. What the hell?! Was I embarrassed to be seen in shorts or something?

I got to the top of the hill and just stopped. I stretched, had a conversation with myself and scrolled Instagram. Anything to get my mind off of my panic issue. I didn’t feel like anything was actually really wrong and I didn’t want to miss the chance to complete my long run so I reassessed. Pace meant nothing so I turned on the run/ walk interval on my watch and set off again. Slowly. At mile 5 I assessed again, felt ok so I continued on. Between walking and running my pace was holding around 11:30. Since I was moving slower than planned I ended up having to run through the traffic when the high school let out. Cuz I wasn’t feeling fluffy enough?!

When the run was finally done, I joked on Instagram that it was my slowest 10 miler ever. Except it turns out it wasn’t a joke- it really was my slowest 10 miles ever. It took me 2 hours to run 10 miles plus another 20 minutes of stopping for head games and a chafing concern. But you know what? I ran 10 miles. Trying to think on the shiny side here. ☺

Friday- Rest Woo hoo!!!

Saturday- 11 miles Stationary It was cold and the storm was looming when I got home after work. I had planned on getting in a run after I finished my errands but just couldn’t bring myself to go back out. Cross training and the comfy chair won.

Sunday- 4 miles The storm was predicted to clear by the afternoon so I was going to run then. While the rain did clear, it was freakin’ cold! I still feel oddly achy and sore, so I kept it slow and easy for 4 miles.

And that wraps up my last full week before Surf City. Since I am treating it like a very large, friendly long run I normally wouldn’t taper. But the treadmill and I need to break up and this soreness needs to go away so this may be a heavy cross training week. We’ll see. And that brings us to the end of January-

Double what December was and that was with 6 days off due to the flu. I am calling this a good base building month. I will probably continue to build into February. I’m currently trying to mash 2 training plans together. Excel is giving me a headache trying to merge the 2 books. Ugh. I get the feeling I may just have to start over.

How was your January?

Anyone have any Excel tips?

2016 SLO Marathon

Last post I shared that I was lucky enough to be offered the chance to be an Ambassador for the SLO Marathon again. Which is freakin’ awesome and I am looking forward to not only the race but all the awesome runners I get to see again. As with most ambassadorships, it comes with some challenges along the way. The first one was dropped last week- to share our resolutions/ goals for the 2016 race. Hmmm, there’s that word again.

I’ve spent some time thinking about it for the last week. How do I share a goal but stay true to my year of being goal free? Well, I am still goal free. That said, I feel like I have unfinished business with the SLO half. Let’s recap.

In 2014 I was looking forward to running a race that I had been trying to run for years but never made it happen. It was also my first ambassadorship so I was super stoked on that. I was excited on race morning but mentally I just wasn’t there. It wasn’t my fitness level, it wasn’t the hills; it was all in my head. Mentally, I blew up around mile 8. I finished the race in 2:10:32 which wasn’t bad but I felt like my legs had more in them, I just couldn’t stop the mind games. Not sure if you can tell by my smirk/smile but I was very irritated with myself post race.

I swear I was trying to smile not smirk

The Ambassadors!!!!

2015 rolled around and I was able to train with a custom McMillan training plan. The race fell in the middle of all my stomach issues so I knew breaking 2:00 was unlikely but I felt strong and ready to go. Even though I had felt sick prior to race start, I felt great for the first 5 miles. I was beginning to entertain thoughts of a new PR. Then I went down, hard. As clumsy as I am on a daily basis, I had never fallen while running before. There’s a first time for everything right? Thanks to some helpful runners I was back on my feet quickly and running on. Maybe it was a delayed reaction from the fall or just my stupid stomach but mile 7 started with my stomach cramping in a very bad way. I pretty much walked the entire mile taking deep, slow breathes. Mile 8 saw another first for me- a port a potty stop. Despite all that, I was still mentally on point. I had reassessed that a PR wasn’t going to happen but even with all that drama I knew I could still beat the previous year’s time. But my stomach fought back and miles 11-13 were all survival mode. I was also cursing that there are no porta-potties at mile 12. Cuz who needs one with only 1 mile left?! I crossed the finish line in 2:15:06 and I was damn proud of that. It may not have been the time I was hoping for but for everything that day threw at me, I stayed strong and positive the entire race.

Half smile/ half grimace

raceSLO Ambassadors!!

So while I have no plans of setting a goal for SLO 2016, I do see it as a redemption race. Both years I felt like I had more to give and I would like to see that happen this year. I love the course- hills and all- and I can’t wait to see what I can do this year. 🙂

What about you? Do you have a race that haunts you?

Ever fallen while running?

Happy Friday!!!

Mid Week Musings 7

Maybe I should rename these mid week rambles? At least this one is actually going up mid-week and not on Thursday or Friday. 🙂

How is January almost over? Seriously I need more time!

Everyone’s posting their race schedules for the year and I’m over here like I should have bought a Powerball ticket. 😅 My race account is looking pretty sad. While I am wishing for the impossible- how about more vacation time too?

I’ve been given the opportunity to come back as a SLO Marathon ambassador for 2016! Woo hoo!!! More on that soon!

I’m not a football fan but Denver making it to the Super Bowl is making me nostalgic. Growing up we had one of those huge satellite dishes. You know the ones that had to move in order to watch a different station? Anyways, for whatever reasons we only got Denver stations. The Broncos and the Rockies were the sports teams popular in our house. Combine that with the Broncos being my grandfather’s favorite football team and I am feeling the urge to rock some blue and orange at Surf City. #nostalgicfan

Last Wednesday’s weird, sick feeling makes more sense now. My last visit with my gastro resulted in a new medication to try. New to me and him- he had never prescribed it before. I was the guinea pig. Oh boy. Other than any possible warnings about driving or sleepiness, I try to avoid reading the potential side effects of a new medication. I like to avoid any chance to think myself into a side effect and just give it a week or 2. But I have been having some issues and felt kind of off so I read all the documentation yesterday. I could check off more than a few boxes on the list. The most interesting one though? “Feeling drunk” What?! Once I made sure I read that right, some things from the last 2 weeks made a little more sense. Yeah- bye bye pills.

Last week I shared that my local pizza place knows me by name. Friday night I picked up a pizza on the way home and they told me I am their #1 customer. Ummmm, yay? I only ate pizza once last week by the way.

Another episode of Z Nation got me through a treadmill run tonight. A very slow treadmill run but it’s the miles that count right? I’ve found the only way I can run on the treadmill without any weird aches is to either run very slow or very fast. Tonight was a slow one. I felt kind of awkward watching a zombie show while running though.

Lastly, I’m sure most of you have heard about the dog that bandit-ed a half marathon but my mother made sure to share it to my Facebook feed today. With a comment that the dog is faster than me. Which is true. I still love the story though. ☺

Hit me with your random!

Are you watching the Super Bowl?

Anyone else remember those satellite dishes?

Week 4 Training Recap

Upcoming Races- Surf City 13.1

Focus this week- Long Run

4 weeks in and I already lost count. Oops. But I was just doing the numbers and this week was intense for a Slacker. 😃

Monday- 4 Miles Ugly, ugly run. It was the kind of run of that makes me feel like an imposter. I could not get it together. My head and body were in 2 entirely different worlds. I felt the beginnings of one of those weird asthma/ panic attacks. Maybe it’s a Monday thing? There’s a reason I usually take Mondays off. The last 2 weeks had rough Monday runs but how can I pass on running on a day off?

Tuesday- 11 miles Stationary bike- A recent obsession with Z Nation has been making these bike miles fly by. Who knew zombies would help me cross train?😀

Wednesday- Rest I had packed my gear to hit the gym and run but things went weird partway through the day. I just odd, just very not right for lack of a better description. I’m transitioning back to a lower carb diet and trying a new medication for my stomach issues. I think things just combined in a less than great way on Wednesday.

Thursday -12 miles Stationary bike- I was feeling better but just could not stomach the idea of heading to the gym and running on the treadmill. It was the last thing I felt like doing. I knew I had big plans for my long run this weekend so I figured an extra day off of the feet wouldn’t be horrible.😛

Friday- Rest Cookie Friday also won. #lowcarbfail

Saturday -12.4 mile long run!!!! 3.8 mile puppy jog Who got up and ran 12 miles in the morning?! This Slacker did! 12 miles is like my white whale. I chase it but never hit it. I think I have run maybe 2 or 3 12 milers tops since I started running. Maybe. And they were all miserable. With Surf City 2 weeks away, I really wanted to get a 12 miler under my belt. Both for training purposes and just to say I could do it. I had mapped out a route that was incessant loops or hills the night before. The plan was to meet up with my mom halfway and she would join me for a bit. My route would then double back to where she parked and we would head to lunch. Except when I texted her at mile 3, she said wasn’t meeting me. Well, crap. I had planned on getting more water from her plus now I had to change my route mid-run. Mid-run math always make my brain hurt. I knew I had to make it home so I was either going to end up short of 12 or over but I wasn’t sure which way it was going to fall. I tried to keep my pace as steady as possible aiming for between 10:45-11:15. My overall average pace was around 11:03 but my miles were all over the place. Mile 5 saw a 9:20 and mile 7 an 11:55. Oops. Mile 5 had me running across the bridge and hate the bridge so much that I usually speed up. Mile 7 had a long slow climb and I started having odd feelings in my toes. I also knew there was no way I was going to have enough water. Grr. Mile 9 had some drama with loose dogs too. It was one of the busiest streets in town and chocolate lab and wiener dog were running lose. A lady was trying to catch so I stayed with her for a bit. She then went on to follow them in her car and I ran on. I hope she was able to help them.

Ok, total #firstworldrunnerproblem moment. I was looking forward to seeing 12 miles on my watch, I needed to see it. Except my battery started to die. Seriously?! Finally I decided I didn’t want to risk losing my data so I stopped it at 10.2 miles, saved it and then started it over. It ended up lasting the whole run and I am glad I didn’t chance but I missed seeing that 12. 10.20 and 2.2 just doesn’t have the same ring to it. Plus I still ended up half a mile from my house when I stopped my watch the second time.

Sunday- 5 miles Stationary bike– All right, first 20 mile week in a long time had me feeling sore. I chose the bike over running as I didn’t want to push my legs too hard after a 16 mile Saturday. Plus I wore the wrong shoes on the puppy jog, so I was feeling familiar aches in my knee. 5 steady miles were freakin’ hard. But better than nothing right? Oh and I took a nap. 🙂

I am kind of proud of this week turned out. Running, cross training and I only had pizza once, I’m calling it a winning week! ✅👍🏽👏🏽 Question is, can I do it again?? Luckily I am only aiming for a 10 miler next weekend so I am hoping for 3 days running and 3 cross training. Which means I will have to go to the gym and use the treadmills. Grrr. I am counting down to the time change.

How was your week?

Do anything fun this weekend?

Do you have a white whale?

Week 3 Training Recap

Upcoming Races- Castle to Coast 8.2
Surf City 13.1

After a week of being sick, this was a much better week. So let’s get to it!

Monday– 3.7 miles Ah, yes bloody mile Monday. That was fun.

Tuesday. 10.65 mile Stationary bike. As I am just getting back to riding the bike I meant to keep it short and easy. Oops. It’s back in a position where I can watch tv while I ride, apparently that makes a huge difference. 😝 I zoned out while being irritated with Pretty Little Liars. Why do I keep watching?

Wednesday– Rest-Doctor’s appointment #2 of the week. I ended up home earlier than normal and seriously considered a run but there just wasn’t enough daylight left. I thought about the gym but once home I just couldn’t bring myself to change and head back out.

Thursday– 3 miles I should have run on Wednesday. Thanks to hormones, I had had a horrible migraine all day. The last thing I wanted to do was head to the gym but I did. After everyone’s great tips on my last post, I was prepared with Vaseline, band-aids and an extra sock. The plan was to start with one and keeping trying all the options until I hopefully found one that worked. I also made my shoelaces as loose as they could be and still keep my shoes on. The Vaseline idea reminded me of something my grandmother used to do when she would go for a walk, so that is what I tried first. I kept it super slow and paused the treadmill every mile to check my ankles. Why is treadmill running so damn hard?! Other than a little twinge every now and then, the Vaseline seemed to do the job. I was concerned that I only tested it for 3 very slow miles but I also didn’t want to push my luck so close to race day. But 3 blood free miles were a win in my book.

Friday– Rest– like always. 😃 And doctor’s appointment #3.

Saturday– 8.2 miles- Castle to Coast I did about as well as I expected but more on that in my next post.

Sunday– Food and Talking…errr Rest. Blogger meet up!! I headed down to SLO to meet up with Ashley of RatherBeRunnin’ and Heather of SLOluckyruns. We met for brunch/ late breakfast and it was kind of awesome. 😝😝 I think the restaurant might have been a little miffed though. We talked for over 3 hours! But what do you expect when you get 3 runners/ bloggers at the same place at the same time? There was so much to talk about! Then I headed back home for a bit before heading back down to SLO with the family. It was my parents 35th wedding anniversary today and the brother and I treated them to dinner. 😄

Looking at it, I am calling it a pretty solid week. I still don’t feel 100% from that stupid cold last week (fell asleep almost every time I sat down) but I worked out 4 of the 7 days. I had hoped to ride the bike today but after sleeping in and then all of the socialness, I just ran out of time. Which is perfectly fine, don’t people trump miles? Moving forward I just want to keep working on building my base back up. Which will hopefully include 3 running days and 2 bike days.

How was your week?

Did anyone race? It seemed like a very race heavy weekend. 😏

Favorite breakfast food?