Tag: Training

May Recap = No Excuses Summer

May was a long, kind of rough month that also felt like it passed in the blink of an eye. But enough whining, lets move on to the numbers-

Races-

Run or Dye– ?????
Bands on the Run 10K- 59:28

May turned out to be my lowest mileage for the year so far. This was due to a variety of reasons but at this point I calling bullshit and saying that they were all excuses and poor planning on my part. Which leads into my summer plans-

#noexcusessummer

As of June 1st, I am done whining. This is going to be really hard so I may need your help. 🙂 What this means is that going forward I will do at least 10 minutes of exercise six days a week. Doesn’t really sound like anything at all, but considering all I do right now is run and sit on my butt, it’s a step in the right direction.

So I will run a minimum of 3 days a week, 4 if I’m feeling feisty. But I will focus more on quality than hitting a mileage goal.
The yoga DVD has made it’s way into the dvd player and will be done once a week, the kettle bell dvd should be done once a week as well.
Also on the plan is to start using the gym I pay for but haven’t been to in 3 months. And by use I mean something other than the treadmill 🙂

As for the no excuses, I have made a lot of them lately. Work was crazy, it was hot, my stomach hurt, I had the paper to work on, etc. Enough is enough. Work is going to be crazy until at least the end of the year, so I may as well get over it. The heat? As someone pointed out, I live in central California, it’s just a fact of life. I should be thankful that we don’t have humidity. I don’t know how anyone runs in that. My stomach? Well, realistically, it’s never going to work right, I’ve been told that, so why wait in vain for it to be perfect? As for the paper, it’s done and the class is done. Not my best work. 😦

There are 24 hours in a day and really I have next to no obligations. There is nothing stopping me from exercising before or after work other than my Slacker-ness. While it may be hot in my home town, my work town usually runs about 25º cooler. Granted, to run more than 4 miles I will have to find roads with actual shoulders but I’m sure it can be done. And if not, well then there is the nice air conditioned gym. 🙂

In keeping with this new attitude, Sunday I completed the yoga dvd and day 1 of the AB challenge that is floating around right now. After the race on Saturday followed by a 3 mile hike with my mom and the puppy that night, I gave my legs a break from running. We did the same hike as the Firehouse 5K race, it’s still hard just walking. But yoga equals exercise so day 1, done!

Monday was a vacation day for me, which was awesome. I had planned to run 6 miles in the AM and followed by a busy day of errands and helping my mother with her tennis banquet that night. I woke to find that day 2 was going to be a challenge. My stomach was horrible and there was no way I was running then. I did some thinking and knew I had a small window around 1:00 to squeeze in some miles, so I slept a little longer. By 1:00, my stomach was barely better but I couldn’t quit after a 1 day streak so I went out for a slow run. I kept it easy and walked every time it got a little worse. I came to a complete halt at 3.5 miles for a few moments but I pushed though. 4.5 miles completed! Normally, I would have blown off all exercise for the day.

I was supposed to help my mother hand out the awards during the banquet but the puppy was not doing well with the unusual crowd at the house. Finally to calm her down, I took her for a walk. It was supposed to be short, but she had energy to burn and maintained a steady pace for 2.5 miles. She never does that! So in a hap hazard way, I hit my mileage goal for the day anyways. 🙂 I only completed half of the ab challenge though, my stomach was in no mood to do sit ups or crunches.

Today was another vacation day, yay! I met a friend for lunch to celebrate her birthday tomorrow ( Happy birthday ML!). It was yummy. My stomach is still not happy so I was planning on taking it easy and doing the yoga dvd in the evening. Then I ended up helping my mother with tennis practice. It’s spring practice for fall right now, and she has like 30 girls out there. She likes when I come help because I am more of a drill sergeant out there. I lost count of how many times I yelled bend your knees. Even though that could have counted as my exercise of the day and Tuesdays are a usual running rest day, I couldn’t pass up a vacation day and not run. So I set out for 4 miles.

I don’t know if it was my stomach or just because I mentally think of Tuesday as a rest day but it was hard. I ran so slow. Then I got stuck behind a truck doing an awkward 5 point turn in mile 2 and a phone call in mile 3. Ok, I get it, not a fast run day, but still got it in. 🙂 So 3 for 3 so far! Let’s see how far I can go!

It’s back to work for me tomorrow. 😦 Plus I have to get a few miles for National Running Day! I might check out the gym equipment too. But seriously? How do you use that stuff?

What are your goals for June?

No really, any gym tips?

Bands on the Run- Recap

This morning was the 2nd annual Bands on the Run. I passed on it last year, for some reason that I cannot remember, so I was looking forward to it this year. The premise is a 5K/10K/half marathon run mostly on the beach with music along the way. I had originally planned on running the half but made the smart decision to run the 10K. I was tired when I made the decision a few weeks ago and May truly kicked my butt. As I mentioned in my last post, I felt completely unprepared for today’s race. To compound matters, I broke one of my own rules last night and ate pizza for dinner and I mean I ate pizza. Bad move! Never before a race!

I picked up my packet yesterday and other than not being sure where to go, it was a breeze. They had everything ready to go and packaged, even the safety pins. As I got ready this morning, I felt predictably a little ill- my own fault- but I was trying to pump myself up. So out came the bright green and pink compression socks. The shorts I had wanted to wear were dirty-oops- so I randomly chose another pair. I was flying solo this race, so I had an available passenger seat. They make a great staging area. Please tell me someone else has done this?

After I arrived and parked, I was using the extra time to apply a little body glide. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye and a runner was getting something out of his passenger seat right next to me. A little awkward but we’re all runners right? He then sat on the curb to work on his feet and asked which race I was doing. Me, being my usual smart ass self said that I was lazy and running the 10k. Then he told me he was running the 10K, too. Open mouth, insert foot. 😦 I then slunk off to the starting line in shame. Fail!

no talent for an action shot during the race but how about one while I walk?

I knew that the chances of this being a PR race were slim to nil but I went in with 2 goals. Of course the first, the impossible goal was to PR. That would have meant 55:00 and below. The second more realistic goal was to finish under an hour. There were the usual pre-race announcements and a little music played and then it was go time. The 10K and the half started at 8:30. Somehow, I found myself near the front of the pack. Oops.

The race course started in the football stadium of a nearby high school before heading out to the beach. We crossed the starting line and ran about a 1/3 of the track before heading towards the parking lot. From there it was onto a side path that turned into a trail through a tunnel of cypress trees. 3/4 of a mile in, we hit the first band- the high school drum line. I admit I love drum lines so it was cool running through them. Then was the first patch of soft sand. Ugh. It was only about 150 yards so I ran slowly through it. However to get to the beach, you had to go through the dunes. I tried to run, I really did but I just kept sinking, so finally I starting walking and tried to flat foot it across. I had so much sand in shoes. After finally making it to the hard pack, we had 2 miles out and 2 miles back. This is also where the 5K runners went right and the 10K and half runners went left. As we split up we were serenaded by hula dancers. That’s not the right word, but what would it be?

I love running on the hard pack, but I just could not seem to pick up the pace. I was getting frustrated with myself. Mile 2 ran us past 2 guys with guitars. Coming up on mile 3, I still hadn’t seen the leaders pass me on the way back so I was trying to tell myself I could pick up the pace. Then they passed. I think there was a band of some sort at the turn around but I can’t remember. 😦 Turning around I was still kind of cranky but soon had to snap out of it. This was the friendliest race I have run. Everyone was smiling and waving to each other and shouting out props as the runners ran back to the start. How can you be cranky with that? Plus there was this-

I was tiring on the way back and I knew I still had the dunes to go across again. Dune sand sucks. Literally and figuratively. It pulls your feet down and leaves you with sand in shoes as a parting gift. Once again, I walked most of it. I felt goal B slipping away around mile 5 and I became irritated with myself again. I pushed on back through the cypress tunnel and the side path and I was finally back at the school. I took a short walk break before rounding the corner to the football field and running the last 2/3 of the track to the finish line. I honestly hadn’t been paying attention to my watch other than mile splits, so when I rounded the track to the finish line I saw that the clock said 59:00. Seriously?! Run!!! I hauled butt down to the line. Official time- 59:28.

I walked a bit of the track cooling down before heading to the grass to stretch out. I also wanted to lose the 5 pounds of sand in my shoes. While I was dumping the shoe sand into the trash, a guy came up and asked what time I had finished in. Apparently he had used me to pace himself through the race. Really? That’s a first. I think my socks made me easy to spot. 🙂 I was thinking about my time while stretching and I think this is my second slowest 10K. 🙂 I headed over to check the race stats just to see before heading home. Ummm, what? I placed 2nd in my age group. Sweet! I hung around a little longer before heading home. The wind was picking up and I was a little chilled.

A few things I loved about this race- the volunteers all wore shirts that said “I’m with the Band”. Any spot in the trail sections that might trip you up, a branch, a root, a rock, etc. was spray painted fluorescent orange. Thanks for looking out! The drum line- seriously, I got to run through it twice. The start was well organized and the volunteers very helpful. The giant timing clock rocked-

I’ve had time to think about it and I could have run faster. I know I said I felt like I couldn’t but I felt fine after the race, a little too fine. There was more left in the tank, I just need to utilize it better. The difference between me and the woman who placed first in our age group was less than 2 minutes. It is ok to get a little winded in a race, I think I forgot about that.

Overall, goal 2 was accomplished and it was a good race. The weather was great and the course amazing. It will definitely be on my list of races to run again.

Thoughts on running through dune sand?

What about drum lines?

Someone Kick Me

I had good intentions about getting in some really good runs over the long weekend. You know what that saying about good intentions? Yeah. I had hoped to run a few miles Sunday evening after the hike but it didn’t happen. There was some drama with the mother’s puppy and that made a perfect excuse. Monday was a day off from work, perfect opportunity to get in some miles, but nope, saw Godzilla instead. May has been a pretty off month for me; I am kind of nervous for my race on Saturday. I feel completely unprepared and it’s just the 10K. I am so glad I didn’t sign up for the half this time around.

I did get in a few miles after work on Tuesday. But honestly, starting in 96º was not the best idea. 4 miles turned into a 5K, a slow, hot 5K. I ran at the lake so I am still walking the construction section and I was so thankful for those walk breaks. I even tried to take a picture to show how hot I was. I felt like I was panting like a dog, ugh.

Speaking of dogs, my mom had a banquet thing for tennis, so I hung out with the puppy for a bit after my run. She got hurt on Sunday trying to protect her yard and had to go back to the vet Tuesday. She does not like her medicine. Plus she is sad that she can’t play with her toys for a few weeks. 😦 We just chilled on the patio. She would doze off next to me, then wake up to see if I was still there. It was kind of cute. 🙂

I once again hit the path for a few miles tonight. 4.5 sluggish miles. The goal was a nice, easy pace of 10:00. Pace met, but it didn’t feel easy. I don’t know why running feels so hard lately. I haven’t even run over 6 miles since my last half marathon. Apparently May is synonymous with Slacker. I was very happy to see the walking sections tonight as well. But sooner rather than later, they will finish the construction and I will no longer be able to rationalize the walking so easily. Wah Wah. I really need to kick this- whatever this is.

Ok, it no longer be called a lake — Ok, it can no longer be called a lake

Tomorrow I hope to get to packet pickup for the race on Saturday. It’ll be tight with work but I think I can make it. Less stress for race morning then. 🙂 Is it too much to hope that this race will be the kick in the pants I need? And a cookie counts as carb loading right? Now if I can just hold myself to 1.

How has your week been?

Anyone else have a rough month or so of training?

What are your weekend plans?

Simple Saturday

I have probably mentioned a lot that I have been super tired lately. I even took an unplanned nap after Run or Dye last weekend. It seems like all I do lately is go to the doctor. So there has been a little change in plans. I had planned on running my third half of the year on May 31^stbut have decided that it would probably be smarter to step back to the 10K. Especially considering that I have 2 papers due in the next two weeks and should really spend some time on those. See, I am a Slacker! I feel bummed missing the half but I decided to use the time to work on training better and to work on my form. I am signed up for a half in July that I am super excited for. NikeC is going to run it too! Woo hoo for race buddies!

The half in July is part of the same event that I ran a 10K in last July. In fact Rock to the Pier was my first race recap on this blog, awww, nostalgia. They also have a Rock’n Around the Pier half and that is what I am running this year. 90% of the race is on the beach and I can’t wait. This year also has a little added excitement to it. Due to the tides, the race starts at 6:30 but high tide is expected to start rolling in before 8:30ish. So, the website warns that the half marathoners will get wet and may have to navigate some rocks at some point. It also states that if runners don’t hit the turnaround point (10K) by the 1:20:00 mark, they will be bussed back to the finish line. Yikes! I’m still looking forward to it though. 🙂

So small but yummy... and dangerous — So small but yummy… and dangerous

Friday was a usual scheduled rest day, and unfortunately the cookies were victorious. Seriously, no will power. Did I mention they are from a french bakery? However it has been a week since I had candy. The only time I have a problem with candy is the beginning of the year. My favorite candy is SweetTarts and I especially love the small ones. For Valentines day and Easter they make special bags of hearts and bunnies. It’s a problem every year. I only eat the red, orange and purple so I usually delude myself until thinking its ok. It’s not. Thankfully, Easter candy is all gone and I’m not really a chocolate person so I am in the clear until next year. 🙂 Maybe by then I will have the strength to resist.

Today was a work day for me so no sleeping in for me. The drive was pretty, no fog in sight and I kind of wished I had a real camera. I passed classic cars going east for a car show and hordes of bikers going north for the Criterium. Plus Saturday work town was gearing up for the AMGEN tour next week. Everyone had a bike, I’m jealous! I have been looking into borrowing one but no luck yet. That’s ok, I still have time. Once off work, I headed home.

The weather was mid 70’s and breezy, so I headed out for an early afternoon run. I read a quote on Twitter the other day and for some reason it was a light bulb moment. I can’t remember who tweeted, I can’t even remember who originally said it (but it was some famous runner) or even the exact wording- blogger fail! But it said something like this-“if you don’t take your easy runs easy enough, it will make your hard runs easy”. Or in my case- races. Easy means eeeasssy; which I already knew but sometimes reading it from someone more talented helps.

I am still working on my form so today was going to be an easy day. I determined that I had to warm up before trying to focus on my legs. I tried to do it from the beginning and just felt like I was running with a limp. So I went back to the old way with a short walk for a warm up. Once I felt warmed up, I went back to working on actively using my right leg. It’s harder than it sounds. 😦 I felt like there was an army drill sergeant in my head- right, right, right. I’m not even sure I am doing anything, other than I am sore in new ways. And oddly enough, the first 3 miles were a bit faster than I thought. Focusing on my legs meant I focused less on pace and somehow that made it seem easier? At least until mile 4, I hit that last hill and felt tired for the first time, I walked a bit. I finished 4.5 miles and stretched. I was a little hot but nothing a little water couldn’t fix.

After that I took Zoey for a walk. I haven’t taken her for a puppy jog in a while. She didn’t bark at any cars, well except for a Directv van, guess she was mad at them for some reason. 🙂 She was feeling pretty lazy though, she kept lying down on the first mile. She’d trot along and then just plop down on the ground. After we turned around, I took her to the school so she could play in the grass. She was very excited and wanted off the leash but that wasn’t happening. Then we headed for home. She was a very good puppy. 🙂

All in all, it was a pretty good Saturday! Now I really should do some research.

How was your Saturday?

Does anyone know what quote I am talking about?

Anyone have a race?

Such a Slacker

I feel like I was just posting the Run or Dye recap then I blinked and now it’s Thursday. 4 days without a post, total Slacker! I really did mean to post but this week ran away from me, so here we are. On the upside, tomorrow is Friday!!!

On Sunday, I enjoyed an overly warm uncomfortable run. 4.5 miles in 48:08-ouch. I won’t say it was hot, because it was only mid 80’s. It actually nice outside, until you started running that is. 3/4 of a mile down the road, I realized I had misplaced my water bottle. How does a person do that? I pushed on to complete the 4.5 miles but took so many crawl breaks. I felt nasty sweaty at the end but I was done. I also found my water bottle. On top of the dryer in the garage. Oops.

Monday was a pretty good day at work. To keep things lively and stay upbeat on a busy day, a coworker and I had a little transaction battle. It was a close one but I lost. 😦 I don’t usually do that many anymore so it kept me moving. After work I met my mom and the puppy at the lake for a few miles. It was a nice little warm up, I walked a little over 1/2 a mile with them before running. The first mile was slower due to the walking but my legs felt pretty good so I decided to do a little speed work. I managed to pull in a decent progression run for the night.

I was a little sore on Tuesday so I kept it as my usual day. I knew Wednesday was going to be a busy day so I had thought of switching days but decided against it. I lucked out actually because since I work on Saturday I had the chance to leave early on Wednesday. I had a doctor’s appointment in the later afternoon but I thought I could squeeze in a run. I headed to the lake aiming for 3.5 easy miles. I wanted to run an average pace of 10:00-10:15. I also wanted to concentrate on my form.

I noticed awhile back that I relied heavily on my left leg. All of my issues are usually on my left side. I wanted to work on my form but didn’t want to try anything new before the SLO 1/2. I figured that would be a bad idea. 🙂 So after my first mile, which was a little fast, I focused on my right leg and its turnover. Apparently I can’t do two things at once. I couldn’t maintain my planned pace and focus on my form. I ended up being faster than planned. What was weird was that it felt easy. Too bad that doesn’t happen all the time. If that pace could become my easy run that would be sweet, but that’s likely farther out.

And I found this branch in my shoe... — And I found this branch in my shoe…

After my doctor’s appointment, I headed to a tennis meeting with my mother. She likes to drag me along when she can. She always ropes me into filling out the draw forms for her. Wow, 7 team coaches trying to get their players seeded? There were a few times I though there was going to be a throw down. I just kept my head down and kept writing, trying not to laugh out loud.

I’ve been feeling super run down and tired lately and that translated into a rough morning today. It took me a little longer to get going. I figured if I was so tired that I was texting my boss for an extra 45 minutes then I was not running tonight. Boo. Well, more time for an update then! Tomorrow’s a planned rest day, so fingers crossed, I can also avoid the temptation of cookie Friday. Especially since I ate a donut yesterday. Ok, 2 donuts. But they were so good. 🙂

How has your week been?

Any temptations you’ve avoided or embraced?

Happy Friday!!