Tag: Training

Fall Teaser

Seriously, how is September half over?!! Actually, I might be ok with that if it wasn’t for the heat.

I love heat, I really do. I mean I use a space heater every day at work- every day. My favorite part of winter is bundling up in cozy sweats with a big fluffy blanket. But I am done. The heat kicked my ass this year. I never adjusted to it like I used to. It never felt comfortable. Normally I love 100* temps. Grrrr. Maybe it’s because I work in a town that rarely gets above 70. Or maybe because home town can have a 30-50 degree change throughout the day? Maybe I am getting old? Who knows. Monday it rained and it was awesome. When I started Tuesday’s run I was actually cold! It was awesome! I thought the temps were finally changing. I was starting to look forward to the 12 miler I need to run this weekend. Then came the news. The temps this weekend are projected to be a cool 100*. Waah.

Ok, deep breath, moving on. 😃

I like starting the week with my easy run, so that was the plan for Tuesday. I headed to the river path for an easy 4. The cooler air must have confused my Garmin because it said I had an elevation gain of over 550 feet for a 4 mile run. Yeah, um no. It’s more like 150. Luckily everything else seemed normal, I run this route often enough to know each mile point. Which is good since this turned out to be a run to remember. 😁

I started out with my usual walking warm up, but started running earlier. It was breezy and I was kind of chilled but it felt awesome. I laughed to myself that running more hadn’t really helped my first mile split but I was feeling good so who cared. I just kept trucking along and feeling good. No need for any walk breaks. Somehow my phone ended up on random and the song choices were amusing me. A song came on that I’d never heard before, I’m not even sure how it ended up on my phone. It was a little melancholy but I really liked it. I’ve been super stressed lately (and not hiding it well here on the blog) and something about it calmed me down and kept me running.

I did have to stop for a moment around 2.5 miles in. My stomach cramped pretty badly which wasn’t surprising considering I’d been eating Starbursts and cinnamon bears for 2 days. An older woman with a huge dog was heading my way and with my track record with dogs, I just decided to stay put until they passed by. No need to anger the dog right? Instead I scared the crap out of it. The dog jumped about a foot in the air when it saw me standing on the side of the path. What would it have done if I had run by?

That pause combined with the eerily timed song earlier had made me think. My fastest mile had been completed on this route in August 2014. I clocked in at 8:05. I suddenly wanted to beat that. Why? I don’t know, but I wanted to try. So I did. As soon as my watch buzzed for mile 3, I opened it up.

I knew I had a busy intersection in the middle of the mile so I my initial pace registered in the 8:20’s. It was feeling pretty good though. My goal was to pick it up just after the intersection. There was a line of cars so I skidded to a stop and paused my watch. The first car actually saw me so I was actually still sliding when they waved me on. In like a second I had slid, paused, un-paused and ran on. Half a mile left, time to fly. Except halfway down the path a dad was walking up with his toddler and a stroller. Between all of them they took up the whole path. I debated blasting through but the toddler was wobbling all over the path. Mowing down a toddler was not on the agenda. Another sudden stop and a pause to the Garmin. Didn’t people know I was attempting something here?!

Un-pause and run on. It was hard getting back into gear. My legs and lungs were protesting now. I ignored them and pushed on. I hit the end of the concrete path and headed for the dirt river trail. I almost ate rocks for dinner as I lost traction rounding the corner of the trail head. I got my act together and pushed on; I knew I was close. That was the longest 3/10 of a mile ever. But I did it!

7:48:9?! Holy crap! Would I have done better or worse if I hadn’t had to pause twice? I don’t know but it’s still awesome. 😃 I slowed to a walk but I didn’t feel like I needed to stop. I was breathing super loudly and probably sounded creepy since I was kind of hidden in the bushes on the trail. I walked for 1/10 of a mile before running it out for a total of 4.5 miles. I felt pretty good.

kind of a smile! not quite dead but kind of a ginger, too. ha!

So, while I may never ever do it again, I can say I got pretty damn close to my fastest mile ever back in high school. I really only had PE my freshman year of school but I was always stuck doing that Presidential Fitness test. I was so horrible at those. 😉 I’ve been thinking a lot about speed and my next half marathon so it was kind of cool to pull this off. I also think the cooler weather helped. The news just announced the predicted for Sunday has risen to 102 so hopefully the high from this run will get me out of bed early enough to avoid the heat.

Are you enjoying fall yet? Or still dealing with summer temps?’

Favorite part of fall?

Does pausing count?

Week 14- Stutter

I knew going into this week that schedule wise it was the toughest week of the month. My boss left for vacation so starting Friday I was flying solo and the weekend was the Avocado Margarita Festival and I was ~~conscripted~~ volunteering all weekend. With that in mind, I was hoping to front load my miles. Monday was Labor Day and I had Tuesday off so I was optimistic that I could pull it off.

Monday- 4 mile recovery run

I usually take the day off after any race but I was hoping to get in my easy run of the week. This was probably a bad decision. I’d waited until 6 but it was still around 90 outside. My mother was having an evening tennis practice so the plan was to run to the school, maybe do a few laps on the track and then go to dinner. It was utter crap. My legs didn’t want to work and my lower back was super sore and achy. 2 miles in and I was done. However I was 2 miles from home and 2 miles from the high school so I just headed to the school anyways. Somehow I managed to negative split the run but I have no idea how. It never felt any better. 13:11, 11:12, 10:23, 10:10.

Tuesday- Plan– Long run 10-12 miles- Real life- 3 miles

Maybe Monday was a sign or maybe I should have rested- who knows. We had a heat wave last week and Tuesday was a comfortable 103*. I just headed straight for the gym. I was hoping to get in 6-8 miles on the treadmill and then do a temp check. If it had dropped below 90 I was going to finish the run outside. Otherwise I was just going to stay on the treadmill. My back was still achy but I was hopeful it wouldn’t bother me. However, the ankle pain was unexpected. My left shin and ankle straight up hurt. Not ache but actual pain. I called it at mile 3. I’m too close to race day to chance an injury. Plus, it was only Tuesday.

Wednesday -Rest

The Wednesday black hole is back- I can’t remember what I did!

Thursday- 8 miles Stationary bike

Apparently I can’t tell time. Or subtract. I had a doctor’s appointment so I left work early. I had somewhere to be at 5:20 but hoped to fit in my long run or some speed work in between. I didn’t even get out of the doctor until after 3. By the time I got home, changed and was ready to head to the gym (another 103* day) it was almost 4:30. Color me confused, how did I mess up that badly? So I hopped on the bike for some intervals. 😃

Friday- rest

This day kicked my ass. It was straight chaos at work. At one point I straight sat down in the middle of floor behind my desk because I was just done. I ate cookies again to deal with the stress, oops.

Saturday- rest?

Avocado Margarita Festival day one. I slept in a bit before heading back to work town. It’s a good thing I left early because I got super lost picking up a coworker to work the first shift with me. All my fault- I assumed I knew better than Siri. I think he got his revenge though- the route to get back to where I needed to be damn near made me car sick while driving.

A little over 7 hours later and I was free! Haha. Being locked in a tiny room all day is draining. The constant hum of the generator wasn’t helpful either. I felt fried. The only exercise accomplished was walking to and from the event- about half a mile each way. My Fitbit tells me I moved way more than I thought though so who knows.

Sunday- 3.25 miles AM, 3.5 miles PM

I had a later shift at the festival so I squeezed in some errands in the morning. My alarm had gone off for a morning run but my stomach was expressing its displeasure with the previous day’s meals. I had a tiny window before I had to leave so I fit in some miles. It was warm but overall the run felt good. I wished I could have kept running but I had to make sure I could clean up in time. I mentioned the tiny room right? Had to make I didn’t stink it up smelling like I had just run. 😀. I discovered a new level of contortionist though- ever take off a sweaty sports bra just to put on another one? Crap, that was hard.

After another numbing 4 hour shift I was finally heading back to my car. Didn’t think about the fact that now I was lugging all the supplies we used back up the hill. Half a mile uphill with 40+ lbs? Sure no problem. Ha!

I headed to the lake path to get in a few more miles. I really wanted 5 or more but this run was the complete opposite of the morning run. Struggle from the get go. I was achy and stopped to stretch a few times. I also visited with lake cat quite a bit. 😃. I called it after 3 laps.

So while I didn’t pull off a long run this week like I wanted to, I still got in some time on my feet and the bike. More than I thought was going to happen by week’s end. It’s a hell of a lot more than I accomplished this week last year. 😛

Paleo- C

Honestly the week started out well. I derailed on Friday -cookies! Plus my boss put together a little care package for me while she is gone. 2 full size bags of the sweet potato chips, a big bag of pretzels and 2 bags of cinnamon bears. Covering all the cravings since I can’t leave the building. 😀. Saturday’s lunch was provided for the volunteers and I don’t complain about free food. Even if it was wheat bread. I met my parents at Olive Garden that night and had a few bread sticks. Oops. At least my chicken breast and broccoli was on point. 😋.

My goal is to not stress eat over the next two weeks. Good thing the snack bags will eventually be empty and I can’t run to the gas station to buy more. I just need to make sure I don’t have crazy dinners as a way to decompress. Why is food so comforting?!

How was your weekend?

Ever volunteer for local events?

Would you eat an Avocado Popsicle? I saw those this weekend.

Week 13 Recap- Hell Yeah

13 out of 17 done! Hmm, my math seems off, I may have to check race day again. Not that I would complain about an extra week right now, though. 🙂

Monday- 9.35 miles bike

My neck was still feeling sore and stiff from Friday’s run in so I opted to not run that day. Instead I headed home and got on the bike. I’ve been testing out the resistance workouts on the bike and so far I like them. I was also thankful that I bought a recumbent- it made things easier on my neck. 🙂

Tuesday- Rest

My stomach was a total asshat all day so I ended up taking a rest day. The night before I had indulged in some candy and while I knew I was probably going to regret it, I didn’t think it would be that bad. Did you know sour straws were made of wheat? I had no idea! While I don’t necessarily have a wheat sensitivity, my stomach has never been too fond of it. Combine that with sugar and ouch. Don’t think I will crave candy for a while though.Wednesday- 3.2 miles

This run was thisclose to not happening. After a rough run on Sunday and 2 days off, I left work looking forward to running. Somehow, I drove past the lake without realizing it. Oops. Ok, I would head to home town. I stopped at Target along the way to pick up some prescriptions. Since I was getting a later start, I bypassed the river path and figured I would run from my old work spot again. Except there was road construction everywhere. Seriously?! It was almost 7pm and a primarily resident area. I was so close to just bailing but I had said I needed to get out of my own way, right? So I ended up parking at the bottom of my driveway and squeezing in a few miles before dark. I even saw one mile in the 9 min range. Sweet.

Thursday- Rest

Since I had a race on Sunday, I had a crazy idea of getting my long run done today. However, work had other plans. We were 45 minutes late getting out of work. By the time I would have changed and headed back to town, I wouldn’t have enough daylight even for 3 miles. Seriously, when did the days get shorter? I thought about the gym but Thursdays are pretty busy and I didn’t think hogging a treadmill for 2 hours would go over so well. Plus I wasn’t too fond of the idea of 2 hours on a treadmill. 😝

Friday- 10.1 Miles- Hell Yeah!

Confession- I ate a donut. 🍩 And it was awesome. Curious thing- so was my run. I worked the early shift so I was optimistic for a long run after work. Being Friday and a busy day at work though, I was doubtful of my follow through. I didn’t even think about the Labor Day traffic until I was on my way to the river path to run. Crap. I wanted 10 but decided 8 would be fine to if traffic was too crazy.I had woken the night before with a horrible charlie horse and I had felt it all day. I walked the first 3/4 of a mile just to make sure it wasn’t going to be a problem. Things felt good when I started running, better than they have in months. I told myself not to get cocky, I was only in mile 2! My goal was just run a nice comfortable pace and maintain it as long as I could. Which, let’s be honest, these days that is about 3 minutes. However, I just kept running, my legs felt good, my breathing wasn’t labored at all and things felt great! I had a lollipop route planned that I thought would put me around 8 miles when done. My math was so wrong. I figured it out around 4.5 when I hit a point in the route that I thought would have been 6.5. Oops. I had to decide if I wanted to go back up for another loop and hit 10 or head down and circle the river bed trail until I hit 8. I was still feeling good so I headed back up the hill for another loop.

I never really looked at my pace on my Garmin, I only recall seeing it once during mile 5 and it showing my ave pace in the 9’s. Slow down! Things were going well, I didn’t want to mess things up! 10 miles completed just as the sun was fading. 10 awesome miles. I ran the whole damn thing not counting the warm up and it felt awesome! I only started to feel sore for miles 9 and 10. Which was to be expected as this was my longest run in over a month but I still managed to pick up the pace a bit there too. In full disclosure- I admit that while I never walked or intentionally took a break, I did hit 5 or 6 stop lights. I was so freakin’ excited by this run. I was still smiling about it on Saturday. That one run will get me through another 2-3 months of crap runs. 😃😃

Saturday- 6 miles bike

I didn’t want to run since I had a race the next morning so I hopped on the bike. I kept things easy as I was a little sore from the previous day’s run. I also headed down to SLO to pick up my race packet so I would have one less thing to worry about on race morning. I missed the shirt deadline so this was a very small packet. I was kind of really worried about this race. I haven’t raced a 5K since July 2014 and I wasn’t sure I was even in 5K shape.Sunday- Central Coast Cancer Challenge 5K

Argh, nerves. After all you can’t have 2 good runs in a week right? Recap in next post. Spoilers on Instagram. 😃Overall, this was the best training week I’ve had in a long time. Like since April. While my mileage didn’t increase I finally feel like I put in 3 quality work outs, oh wait, I cross trained too- 5 work outs! Woo hoo!!! I also followed through with a plan and pulled off my long run before the weekend. Which for September I may have to do more often. Unfortunately, Fridays won’t be an option going forward. With my boss gone, I will be working open to close, so that will fill up most of Friday. So time to do some thinking!

Paleo- B

Overall I made better choices last week, candy and doughnut aside. I have zero guilt about that doughnut though, I give it partial credit for my run on Friday. 😊 My weakness right now is these chips-

Since I won’t be able to leave the building while my boss is gone I am hoping to use that time as a way to make me stop eating them. I still need healthier dinners though. I did enjoy my pizza cheat on Wednesday and it was awesome. 😉

This week will be tight, with work and the Avocado Margarita Festival but I am hoping to get a solid week of work outs in. The heat wave coming in is concerning. Triple digits are predicted for all week. Last week’s cooler weather was just a tease. I may have to be a little Thomas this week- ” I think I can, I think I can”.

How was your week? Is the weather cooling down in your neck of the woods?

How was your Labor Day? Anyone else race?

Do you have a snack food you just can’t stop eating?

Adios August

Goodbye August, don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Well, actually, on second thought…😝😃

I started August with such high hopes but unfortunately it seemed like life had other plans. Between work stress, getting sick, crazy heat and humidity, headaches, crazy drivers and car accidents, I was so happy to see August end. To add insult to injury I have some crazy, creepy bug bite. I felt something sting after my good interval workout last week. It just felt like I scratched myself so I ignored it. Come to find a huge red lump below my ear on Friday. It was so creepy that my coworkers are helping me keep an eye on it. I can’t see it really well and cannot seem to get a picture of it either, so they and my mom have been super helpful. It’s still a lump today. So long August!

But let’s get to the numbers-Not what I was hoping for but at least I am going back up in miles. Even if it’s a tiny bump (half a mile), it’s still up. I deliberately took the month off from racing as I was feeling achy and tired. I was having some leg/foot/shoe problems that I needed to figure out as well. Which led to buying new shoes. So far I am really liking the Pure Flows. My only concern right now is I am wondering how long they will last. I am afraid that what makes them so comfortable will not last long. Only time will tell. 😃

This look back made me notice some things. While my running was pretty consistent at 3x a week, my actual workouts were hit and miss. I thought I had done better than that. I never ran farther than 7.3 miles. Which if this was a non training period would be fine. However, I am training for a goal half marathon, followed a month later by another half and a week later by a 25K. This was not the month I needed. I have been doing some serious thinking about that goal half but have yet to come to a conclusion. Between the heat this month and my stupid stomach, I try to not even look at my splits. Looking for a positive spin, maybe I am base building for 2016?

So hello September. As much as I am looking forward to September, I have some serious scheduling issues. Every single weekend is booked. Between a work weekend, race weekends and Avocado Margarita Festival ~~conscription~~ volunteering, I have no idea how I will get my long runs. Well I do. Get out of my own way and get up early. But can this Slacker do that? Combine those weekends with my boss going on vacation for 2.5 weeks, which means I can’t even leave the building, and September will be busy. Can someone set up a Diet Coke delivery? 😄 My planner looks a little scary. I am trying to only look at 2 days at a time, 2 days is manageable and lets me breath. All that chaos aside, I am still looking forward to September. In denial that the year is 2/3 over but still looking forward to September.

Starting with this weekend- first booked weekend- 5k! But I have Monday and Tuesday off!!! Monday is Labor Day and I told my boss I needed a mental health day before she left so I asked for Tuesday off. 😉 I also haven’t raced a 5K since July 2014 so this could be a train wreck, we shall see.

How does your September look?

Any plans this weekend? Anyone racing?

Should #getoutofmyownway be my new motto?

Week 12 Recap- Crash

Last week I jokingly said that the week felt like a truck had hit me. Be careful what you say- this week a truck literally did hit me. But more on that fun morning a little bit later. So let’s get to it! I started the week with a fun doctor’s appointment where I got to swallow what looked like plastic toys and get x-rays taken. I would return later in the week for more x-rays.

Monday- 3.5 miles

Slog fest. After having a few days with no running I was really looking forward to this run. I had a seminar on Tuesday evening so I had to push the run up a day. Monday was the start of a heat wave but it was only in the low 90’s when I got to the lake after work so I thought it would be fine. I don’t know if it was the heat or if I was still feeling poorly but this run was rough. I felt like I never even got started. I wanted 4 miles but the idea of running past my car only to turn around was not appealing. I called it when I hit my car.

Tuesday- Rest

So yeah, that run was apparently too hot. I felt a heat headache coming on Monday night and tried to head it off by sleeping with an ice pack. No such luck. By the time I got off work Tuesday-late- I felt like my head was going to crack open. I had no idea how I was going to handle a seminar. Thankfully my mother wasn’t feeling well either. Since I was getting into the seminar with her when she decided to not go I was thankful. We went to pizza instead. Comfort food for the win. #paleofail

Wednesday- Rest

The week’s speed work was on tap. However the events of the drive home changed that. I was just a little too shaky after. So comfort food again- a yummy quesadilla. #paleofailagain

Thursday- 6.61 miles -Intervals 😃😄🎆

Predicted temps were 105* so I knew I was headed to the gym. I knew I was going to have to make some adjustments to the workout due to my stomach but I was hoping to get as close to the plan as possible. I took my warm up super easy. Partly because it takes me forever to find my groove on the treadmill and partly because I was trying to ignore the fact that nature was calling. I have to drink less after 4 pm, seriously. Finally I just got over myself and used the restrooms before starting the intervals. Might as well take advantage of the gym right? The plan called for 3 minute intervals at 10K pace. I have no idea what my 10K pace should be- my PR is over a year old. So I figured I’d wing it. I set the treadmill to 7 which computed out to 8:57 a mile. Ok not bad, I figured I would see how I did. The first 3 intervals went well so I stepped the next 3 up to 7.1. Which according to the treadmill is an 8:37 pace. My math doesn’t agree with that but oh well. The 3 intervals were going well but I could tell I was tiring by the 6th one. So I did one last interval at 7.2. Boom. Just kidding, couldn’t help myself. 😃 I only managed a 13 minute cool down as my stomach cramped pretty badly. But it let me complete the majority of the work out so I’m still calling it a win. This was pretty awesome run. I felt strong for the first time in months. Now if only that feeling could stick around.

Friday- Rest

I had my last set of x-rays that morning so I was taking care of that before work. Apparently life decided I hadn’t had enough excitement during the week and I was in an accident getting off the freeway. I stopped at the red light at the end of the off ramp and the truck behind me didn’t. 😂 Seriously?! I was in disbelief for a moment- did that really just happen? It did- we pulled off the road and did the exchange of information bit. He was super apologetic but I was kind of still in disbelief. The irony of the timing of my previous post going up was not lost on me. His all metal truck was fine and my car was drivable so we went our separate ways.

I headed to the doctor for my x-rays. I also called work and let them I was going to be later then planned. I then took my car to my dad to have him check it out before I headed to work. I know he couldn’t see everything but as a former mechanic I knew he would know if there were any trouble spots. My bumper is pushed forward, as well as a hole in it and my trunk is jacked up. Other things sound odd but I am thinking optimistically. I then started a claim with my insurance just in case before I finally headed to work. I’m not sure how much use I was though. 😐

Saturday- 5.5 miles bike

I spent most of the night before sick due to too many comfort food meals (pizza again Friday) and I woke up super sore. I had really wanted to do my long run that morning but there was no way. I tried to ride out some of the stiffness on the bike but no luck. My stomach didn’t appreciate it either so I just decided on a rest day.Sunday- 7.1 miles

I slept like crap again, so I was late getting out the door. I was still sore but thought I could run it out. Ha! Plus while the temp started in the 60’s it jumped drastically by the halfway point. Like 20 degrees. Really, I would call this more of a walk. I averaged a 13:00 minute pace. I was thisclose to calling my mom to come give me a ride. Since I say a long run is anything over 7 it’s not a complete fail but I am not sure if it was helpful. Slow mile better than no mile right?

Overall, this week had its high points and its low. Way more drama than I would have liked. I need a vacation. The last few weeks have been hit and miss with running. If I hit a speed work out I miss the long run and vice versa. I really wanted to hit both this week. I didn’t say it in my last recap but that was a huge goal for me this week. I feel liked I missed it again. Yes, there were extenuating circumstances but I feel like I fall back on that excuse a lot. I need to get out of my own way, but more on that in another post. Now I have to figure how to structure this week as I have a 5K on Sunday. That is freaking me out a bit.

Paleo- C-

That may be aiming high considering how much “comfort food” I ate this week. My stomach did not appreciate it by week’s end either. I know what I did wrong though so it’s fixable. Lunch and breakfast is still on track.

How was your week?

Ever been rear ended? Should I just stay off the roads?

Anyone racing soon?