Yesterday I tackled my mountain run. I call it a mountain run rather than hill repeats because it’s about 3 miles and 2000 ft. to the peak. So I pretty much run/walk up it and jog down. It’s great because there are all sorts of paths before the peak (at about 1500 feet) so I usually don’t summit and just jog along the rolling hills before I go back down. It is GREAT training for descents, and my quads are definitely on fire today. Time to invest in a rolling stick. Anyone wanna buy me one??

I wore these ginormous shoes called the Lone Peak. They are super rugged yet still low to the ground. They were designed with 100 mile races in mind; for the ultra runner who wants a tough trail runner yet still wants to have the flat and roomy feeling of a barefoot-style shoe.

I also wore my supercool AR50 shirt. I actually really don’t like the shirt, but it was laundry day.

Our gorilla is such a weirdo. He insists on wearing protective goggles everywhere.

Here are some view of the bay from my run:

It is such a difficult hike but sooo beautiful. You curse the mountain but love it at the same time. Almost like a Sour Patch kid–first it’s sour, then so sweet

Looking forward to more good runs this week!

It has been awhile since my last post for two reasons:

1. Running lately has been lame and uneventful. I don’t enjoy writing about how much running sucks, so I’ll keep those posts to a minimum. Hopefully I’ll have better material this week.

2. I went to a bachelorette weekend getaway. All the details to follow. NOT! What happens in Santa Barbara, stays in Santa Barbara.

Except for this picture:

Me and Victoria, the beautiful bachelorette

So today I’m back at it. Back at blogging, and back at work as well.

My work uniform (minus the shoes): the best part of working in a running store. Don't mind the dorky school photos in the background.

I’m working part time at a running store called ZombieRunner. It is a unique store because there’s a coffee bar inside that serves some of the best coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area. No joke. It also caters to trail runners and ultra runners so it has random but necessary products that not many running stores carry. I worked here for a few months in the fall and early this year, and it was what got me into ultra running in the first place. Wearing supercomfy clothes and running shoes daily is just one of the perks of the job.

Side note: I’m mentioning the store because it’s a great place to come for running gear, NOT because I want y’all to come stalk me. So please don’t stalk me. But if you come in to get some running gear and see me, say hi. I’m usually pretty nice.

As for training, last week sucked. I should probably be easier on myself, but I’m bummed that I didn’t get any good runs in. I know my next race is going to require all of my efforts, so I really must get serious about training. Just so I don’t set myself up for disaster, I’m going to give myself small, manageable, weekly goals.

For this week:

1. One long run over 10 miles. Gradually I’d like to do a 20+ mile long run every other week-this’ll probably be during peak training in May and June, with a few 50K races included as long runs.

2. One tempo run. This would be like 6 miles where I’m running at a good effort the whole time. I know, it doesn’t sound specific, but I don’t keep track of my pace very well.

3. One super hilly (like 2,000 ft elevation) run. This might be my long run, but if not, I want to get out there on the mountain sometime this week if even for 6 short miles.

I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to handle those goals this week. Next Sunday or Monday I’ll reassess new goals for the following week.

As for today, I was planning on doing a 6 mile tempo run on the treadmill but instead I’m going to play… softball??? I’m doing a friend a “favor” by subbing in for a female teammate on their coed team. I’m sure after today he’ll never ask me again.

Toodles!

If you read my blog because I’m witty, pretty, and an amazingly mediocre athlete, then skip this post. This one is gonna have some deep, deep life thoughts and might get a little cheesy and emotional.

Just giving ya’ll a heads up.

Have you ever reminisced about a previous time in your life, thinking, “that was when life was perfect….” Could’ve been high school or college, or when you were first married or first fell in love. (For my parents, I’m sure this was the moment I was born and will continue for the rest of their lives. I’m such a gem.) You remember feeling happy every day, having great friends, and making great memories. You might fondly refer to them as glory days. You wish that you could go back and be that version of yourself, and have that life again, if just for a moment.

You all know what I’m talking about right?

Well, I don’t. I’ve never had the feeling that “these days are the best of my life.” I hated high school, and was terribly insecure for the years leading up to it. My first attempt at college was a fail, and set me up for a lot more discouraging moments regarding school. The first time I moved out, it was great! But it was also lonely and scary. And when I finally went back to college, that was great too, but I never moved away and had the typical 4 year experience when most people make great memories.

My whole life I’ve been very introverted and introspective. I’ve only come out of my shell in the last few years or so, and sometimes still have to work hard to be social, and to not overanalyze things. I’m afraid of so many things: of being awkward, embarrassed, uncool, unfulfilled, dealing with difficult tasks, taking responsibility, and owning up to my mistakes. The list goes on. For too long I’ve stayed in my “comfort zone” because I’m afraid to commit to a career or say the wrong thing or fail at something. Basically, I’ve been afraid to be an adult. And I’m just starting to gain the confidence that comes with age and maturity.

All of this sounds kind of depressing, but it’s not. In a way, I’m excited that over the past few years I’ve tackled a lot of my insecurities. Tony and I have had similar paths with schooling and finding our careers. We’ve both struggled along the way, and are dealing with the biggest struggle of all at the moment. When we finally decided what we wanted to do in life (teaching for me, firefighting for Tony), life threw us some curveballs. For various reasons, it’ll be a little while longer before we get settled with jobs that make us fulfilled. The reason for all this rambling is because I know that my glory days are yet to come. I’m sad that I can’t reminisce on extremely happy times in my life, but I’m happy that I’ve learned a lot about myself and have become good at living in the moment and accepting live as it comes. I know that life may not be perfect, but I’m getting much better at living it.

So, although I can’t reminisce about better times, I can tell you the moment that my life became infinitely better.

The moment I met this guy:

Ok, SO CHEESY! I’ll be back to my normal self next post

Today was NOT a good running day, so I’ve decided that running is super-lame and only super-uncool people do it.

*sigh*…

A few reasons why my run sucked:

–I got winded really easily. Why does this happen? Some days I find myself losing my breath even when I’m keeping a slow, steady pace. What gives? I don’t get it. I’ve been running for 15 years and I’m in fairly good condition, so why am I getting winded when I’m not even running fast? And how can I train to prevent this from happening?

–My knee was kind of hurting. Not throbbing or intense pain, but since I wasn’t feeling too hot in general I decided not to run through this knee pain for the sake of a crappy run. I was a reminder that I cannot take my knees for granted. Tony is in between knee surgeries  and constantly reminds me that I should be thankful for my physical health. I owe it to him and my knees to take better care of myself. SICS (Stretch, Ice, Cross train, Strength train); it’s the new RICE!

–My stomach was bugging. Which could have been because I ate some of this yesterday…

"Chicken and Waffle" sandwich: French toast bun, pancake battered chicken breast, bacon, and sweet potater tots

Or because I ate one of these last night…

Tony's has the fruit. Mine has the Fruity Pebbles

Or it could have just been because I was running by this:

Hey Bay, why so stinky??

Don’t mind my fuzzy finger.

Either way, it was a disappointing day “back in training”. I went to the gym and biked for an hour, hoping that would make me feel like I put in work. It didn’t.

So today, it’s back on track with the healthy eating. I’m going out of town this weekend for a bachelorette party, so I’m going to attempt to eat as cleanly as I can until then.

Tomorrow I’m running 10 miles, no matter how long it takes. It’ll either be on the treadmill (with 2-3 episodes of One Tree Hill to keep me company!) or on a steep trail by my house that I haven’t run in months. Easy or hard, but 10 miles either way.

Hope no one else is having a case of the Mondays!!

Because I’m not sick of talking about it! Besides, my life is pretty boring during this recovery week so rather than blog about what I ate, I’ll share some shots of me in action.

My boyfriend Tony likes taking videos on his iphone. The other day we were watching a movie and I started laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. Tears were coming out of my eyes and I was grabbing my stomach while making these funny gasping noises. Of course Tony got it all on video without my knowing. Fortunately, he’s a certified EMT and I can only hope he would have stopped video-ing to resuscitate me if I had passed out for lack of oxygen.
Anywho, here are some videos from last Saturday.

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I’m not sure what order they’re in. They’re kind of boring; I didn’t stop for too long at the aid stations. Tony was telling me there was a cheesy motivational guy at some of the aid stations but I think he was really talking about himself. You can hear him yelling at me in the background.

On another, exciting note, I won an AWESOME giveaway from Bryon Powell at irunfar.com. I’ll be getting some Mountain Masochist II’s (shoes), a running outfit from Mountain Hardwear, Clif products, sunglasses from Ryders Eyewear, Drymax socks, and a bottle of Udo’s Oil. I’ll probably post a million photos when the package arrives because I love getting new running gear. This is perfect timing too, seeing as I’m unemployed and training for my next 50M.

Yay for winning!!!

In case you didn’t read the title, my third goal is to get faster. I’ve always just accepted the fact that I’m a middle/back of the packer. Even in high school I wasn’t very fast. Some of my best cross-country times were at an 8 minute mile pace. I never did track either, which might have helped me speed up. Instead, I did diving. I mean, running sprints vs. chilling by the pool? Really. C’mon.

So goal #3 (and my last goal for now) is to get faster. I’m pretty sure it’s possible. I don’t expect to win any races, or speed up to a 5 minute mile or anything, but it would be nice maybe to qualify for the Boston Marathon some day. Speed might also help improve my ultra-distance times. I mean, I shuffle along in distances longer than 26 miles, but if I my natural, base speed was faster, then wouldn’t I shuffle faster too?

If you’ve been reading past posts, you know I don’t do well with structure, especially when it comes to training plans. I try to use them as guidelines, but I mostly just do my own thing. So although I am going to try harder to hit some specific mileage by attempting to follow a training plan for my next 50 miler, I don’t have any specific plan to increase my speed. I will, however, incorporate speed work with tempo runs, fartleks, and the occasional sprinting intervals that I kinda make up on the spot. The idea will be to do 2 days of some kind of speed work a week. I think that is something that I can stick to.

Since running my first 50 miler last Saturday, I’m taking a week off from running to just relax. I did a little gym workout today (walk 15 minutes, row 10, bike 30) and my muscles are feeling good. I wanted to run, but I know my knees are going to take awhile to recover and I want to play it safe.

I have no interesting pictures of my day, so I’ll leave you with 3 relaxing photos and one random cute kid pic.

Tony's nephew. Can you tell he dresses himself?

To all the runners out there: How do you recover/reward yourself after a big race?