Runfessions!

Today I am participating in Marcia's Runfession's link up! Be sure to visit her blog and check out some of the other bloggers who are Runfessing today!

Runfession #1: The band on my Garmin broke on vacation. That's the same day my plantar fasciitis reared it's ugly head and all of my training for the Via Marathon went downhill.

I plan to rig it with some duct tape. I don't want to buy a new Garmin. Even since it broke, I've just been holding it while I run or tucking it in my shorts. 

Runfession #2: After missing a week of training due to the PF I mentioned, I have been working on getting back to my training. Hansons says if you miss 6 days of training, spend the next week running easy, then jump back into training at the week you should be on. So since I missed week 5, week 6 should be easy, then I just jump in at week 7. It freaks me out to miss so many SOS workouts, but I have been following the plan exactly (until the PF!) so I may as well follow what the plan says to do if you miss days...

Runfession #3: That being said, running has been hard this week. Running a 9 minute pace (my prescribed "easy" pace) feels like a huge effort. My legs feel like they weigh 400lbs. I am carrying tension in my arms and shoulders. Even though I look forward to running, the act of running does not feel that great.

Runfession #4: I know I will start to feel better soon. Having so many "meh" runs surely means some good runs are right around the corner! I can't wait to feel strong and energetic again! Until then, my goal is just to take one workout at a time!

Runfession #5: And now for something completely different... this is how I dry my running shorts!

Do you have something you want to Runfess?

Currently!

Holy crap. it has been awhile!!! 

Here's what's going on with me!

(I would like to mention, Jelly is laying upside down on my lap right now. His belly is all furry and he's sleeping peacefully. I freaking love him.)

Current Book: He's Gone. I saw a list of books one should read if they enjoyed Gone Girl. This was on the list! So far, I like it! It's about a woman who wakes up one morning and her husband is just GONE. But I am getting hints that she is an unreliable narrator, so I think she may have something to do with it...

Current Podcast: Slate's Trumpcast. It's about... you guessed it, Donald Trump.

Current Guilty Pleasure: Staying up really freaking late and sleeping in. Normally it takes me until July to get into this habit. Apparently this summer, it is only taking me to mid June. I blame vacation for screwing up my sleep schedule. Colorado, this is your fault!

Total Number of Will & Grace Episodes We Watched This Week: 10. Time to go back to the library and get some more DVDs!

Current Need: To finish my puzzle!

Current Triumph: I cleaned the entire storage room in the basement. It was a HUGE undertaking!

Current Wish List: My garden would freaking grow!

Current Bane of My Existence: I've been having trouble falling asleep...

Current Most Annoying Celebrity: I freaking can't STAND Sunny Hosten on The View. Unfortunately, she is probably going to be a permanent co-host come the fall. She just comes off as sooooo hoity toity. Even when I agree with what she says, I HATE how she says it.

Current Indulgence: Well, we indulged a lot on vacation! Time to reel in the spending.

Current TV Show: BIG BROTHER STARTED YESTERDAY!!!! So that show is on 3 times a week and Big Brother After Dark is on SEVEN DAYS A WEEK!!! I didn't have much of a life before this. Now I really won't have a life...

Current Food: Summer means corn, fruit, pasta salad, and GRILLED CHICKEN.

Current Drink: I'm off wine and on margaritas!

Current Thing I Am Thankful For: Being home with healthy Paul and healthy Chrissy and Jelly!

Current Excitement: So school let out, then I only had 2 days off before vacation. Now I have had a week at home after vay-cay to just CHILL and BASK in the GLORY of being HOME.  Hang on, I am getting to what I am excited for. Now I have a lot of get togethers and events on my calendar, which I can truly be excited for since I have finally had time to CHILL.

Tell me something "current" about you!

Colorado: Day 4 (Land o' Lakes... and homesick!)

I have determined that from now on our vacations can only last 4 nights. I simply get too homesick and I miss the cats like crazy. Even though we had a fun day planned, I felt sad the minute I woke up and the feeling never really went away except while we were hiking. Thank goodness for hiking and nature!

The plan was to get up very early to make it to Bear Lake (in RMNP) before the crowds. On a Sunday in the summer, Bear Lake gets so crowded that the parking lots fill up and you have to park a couple miles away and take a shuttle. Since Paul and I hate people and prefer to hike without large crowds, an early morning departure was imperative. Paul was also going to bring his fishing rod because we knew there would be some other lakes on our hike where he could fish.

But things started to go wrong. As soon as we hopped in the car to leave (7:00am), I asked Paul if he had his fishing license. He didn't have it and it wasn't where he left it. He searched the car, our hotel room, and even the trash. No license. It sucked. I felt bad for him because I really wanted him to be able to fish. I was also annoyed because time was ticking away. Sigh. I was so homesick. I would have flown home that morning if possible.

I told Paul it was no big deal and we could get him another license later that day. He could fish tomorrow morning before he went to play disc golf. It wasn't like today was the only day he could fish. He was okay with that, so off we went to Bear Lake.

We rolled up to RMNP and there was a line to get inside. I started to get mad. Don't you hate when people at toll booths just talk and talk like they are telling their life story and end up holding up the line???

We made it into the park after about a 5 minute wait (I know, can you believe it? Freaking ruined my day.) and made the winding drive to the Bear Lake parking area. Luckily, it was not filled up and we wouldn't be dealing with any shuttles that day. By now it was almost 8:00am but there were a lot of people around.

It was just a few short steps to the beautiful Bear Lake. We walked around it (less than a mile) and just soaked in the beautiful scenery and the peacefulness. There weren't many people on this trail so it was extremely calming and peaceful.

Then we hiked to Emerald Lake. On the way you pass Nymph Lake and Dream Lake. Both were very pretty. As you got to Dream Lake, it started to get snowy. Some of the trail was covered with snow and some wasn't. As we got close to Emerald, everything was snow covered and the lake was mostly frozen.

Guys, this lake was like from a movie!

Oh, and see those almost vertical snow covered cliff walls? There were people climbing up them. Yup. They looked like little colorful dots on the cliff just slowly, slowly, slowly inching upward.

The hike back was a lot easier since it was downhill. It was getting really crowded on the trail at this point, so I was glad we got started when we did. There were lots of kids and even babies in back packs. Paul and I were laughing because all the kids were dressed in neon colors and so was I!

When we got back to the parking area, it was a SHIT SHOW. Tons of people, shuttle buses, kids (ugh, kids!!), the works. We were happy we were leaving and not arriving. For some reason when I got in the car, I was in a really foul mood. It had to do with being homesick, missing the cats, and being worried about my PF that plagued me for the last 3 days. This foul mood followed me around or the rest of the day.

As we left RMNP, we saw a bear frolicking in a field!

We were a little hungry and tired, so we stopped by a cute little coffee shop in Estes Park. We enjoyed coffee and a sandwich in between a pond and the roaring Thompson River. There were a lot of ducks napping by the pond. Seeing them made me miss the kitties!

Then we walked around the downtown area of Estes Park. It was pretty crowded, but we still had fun going in and out of shops and looking around. We got a couple gifts for people and then headed back to the hotel for much needed showers!

That evening, we had dinner at Smokin' Daves BBQ & Taproom. IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! If you are ever in Estes Park, I highly recommend this place. I had what was basically a Rachel sandwich but instead of turkey, it was made with SALMON! OMG this was the most delicious sandwich I ever had in my life! It totally made up for the horrible salmon I had our first night in Estes.

Bellies full, we went back to our hotel to crash. The next day would be our last full day in Colorado, and we wanted to squeeze as much in as possible!

How many days does it take for you to get homesick?
Have you ever been to Bear Lake or Emerald Lake?
Did you ever see a bear? (Not in the zoo.) This was my first time seeing one not in the zoo!

Via Marathon Training: Week Six

Everything got messed around this week due to VACATION... and a rip roarin' case of PF!

Monday- REST. My PF felt A LOT better today (but not better) but I still wasn't about to run and slow the healing. I made an appointment with my chiro for the next day. I also did the ice/heat thing and stayed off my feet as much as possible! It was easy to do because we didn't have any hikes scheduled for today. (Still in Colorado.)

Tuesday- REST. I didn't sleep Monday night. I literally did not go to bed. I wasn't tired and we had to get up at 1am to get ready to go to the airport. I managed to sleep for about two hours on the plane. When we got home, I carried my suitcases inside, then immediately hopped in the car and went to my chiro for torture ART. He did my PF and my calves. He said my calves were "a little" tight. ART on my PF hurt so bad that I was sweating and had to get a shower when I got home. I had no energy to lift or anything like that due to lack of sleep. Instead, we just cuddled the kitties and relished the fact that we were HOME!

Wednesday- Lifting back, hip/glute exercises, stretching. Paul and I hadn't lifted in a week. We DEMOLISHED Planet Fitness. Seriously, we were there for almost 2.5 hours. My feet hurt a little in the morning. When I put on my sneakers to lift, they didn't hurt at all. By the time I was done at the gym and took my sneakers off, they felt borderline normal.

I am taken very seriously at Planet Fitness due to the fact that I write my workouts on Christmas notepads.

Thursday- Lifting chest/shoulders, hip/glute exercises, stretching. I did this workout at home but still used my Christmas notepad! I was sore from my workout yesterday, but since I lifted different muscle groups, I reconciled it in my head that it was okay to lift two days in a row. The PF story was the same today- hurt a little in the morning (just a little) and then felt completely normal throughout the day. All good signs! You may be wondering why I haven't run yet. I am trying really hard to be sure it is either gone or almost gone and won't come back before I run again. Pain wise, I could have totally run these past couple days... but it may have made the PF worse or come back with a vengeance. I am trying to be patient. 

Friday- REST. (Sort of.) Again, I was trying to be patient and wanted to get one more chiro appointment in before I ran. Resting wouldn't hurt anything but running might. It was really hard not to run today. It was sunny and warm out. I missed running in my hood. I missed everything about running. But i told myself tomorrow would be my day to me run. Just be patient. I call this day "sort of" a rest day because I did stretching, hip/glute stuff, and some core work just to get a little bit of a sweat on! I couldn't lift because I was still really sore from the past two days! I went for another chiro appointment and he went even harder on my PF! Said he could feel improvement. I was literally yelling out and had to apologize to him for being so loud and possibly scaring his other patients. He joked that I was probably bothering the people getting acupuncture next door...

Saturday- 6 MILER!!!!!!!!!!!! After 7 days of absolutely no running, I felt like a baby fawn as I started out on this run. Seriously, I was all wobbly and discombobulated. It took about 2 miles for me to feel normal but I was sloooooooow. I wasn't trying to go fast or anything but it was one of those runs where even if I had wanted to go fast, it wouldn't have worked. I had one speed: sludge. It was bright and sunny, 80 degrees out, and I was so excited to just be RUNNING around my hood. I had a Survivor podcast and life was good. My feet did not hurt but I was anxious with every step I took. By the time I was walking for my cool down, they still didn't hurt. Right after my run, I took Paul to the gym so he could lift. While he lifted, I stretched, did hip/glute/core stuff, and gave my feet some extra stretching/rolling TLC. Again, I kept waiting for the shoe to drop but it didn't. Holy crap, is this whole PF horseshit over? I put on my compression socks and sneakers for awhile, then iced. I held my breath all day waiting for my feet to start hurting... but they never did!

Sunday- 6 MILER!!!!!!!!!! I averaged about an 8:30 pace on this scorching hot run. My right foot felt completely normal. My left foot I could feel a tiny pull in the arch. I risked it and went for a run anyway. The feeling did not get worse during my run and actually felt better throughout the day. Whew. I think I am on the upswing.

Wow, I only ran 12 miles this week. My marathon training is going awesome. Not.

Here is how I would grade myself on my training goals this week...

Training Goals:

1. Rest days = complete rest! A
2. Walk 1 min per mile run. A
3. Stretch after each run. A
4. Foam roll when needed. A
5. Glute/hip exercises 5 days per week. A
6. Stick to the prescribed paces. A
7. Practice proper hydration and fueling. Read as much as I can on the topic. F
8. Alter training if I feel potential for injury. A

How were your workouts this week?