Highs and Lows from Last week- I Got Pretty Lucky

Highs and Lows

The short version

Highs
Watching the Boston Marathon live stream at work on Monday Morning.
Surprise weekend trip to Oxnard, CA.

Lows
I broke my phone
I lost a pair of running shoes.

The longer version

After getting wiped out by some sort of stomach bug the week before last, I ended up having to take a whole week off from running, and  I felt like I had to ease my way back into training.

 I was also bummed when I checked out the winning time for the 5k I was supposed to race.  The winning time was 22:00 even.   Hmph...  It's disappointing to know that I could have placed in the top three for a 5k.  But, there will be other races...

Monday 4/20-Rest, Can we back up and talk about the Boston Marathon?  Wow, Just Wow!!, is all I can say about Desiree Linden's performance last week.  It was so incredible to watch her set the pace for nearly 24 miles before she got dropped.  She still finished 4th overall and was the top American Runner besting Shalane Flanagan..

Photo Credit Boston Globe

Also on Monday, I dropped my cellphone and the screen shattered.  I'm eligible for an upgrade, and I honestly don't care about the latest and greatest Iphone/Galaxy S5.  I just want a basic smart phone.

Tuesday 4/21-  My first run, since I got sick.  I think I must have been really excited to go run,  and the first two miles were on a slight decline, because I did the exact opposite of a progression run, and I positive splitted the heck out of my six miler.  Here's the data. 

Wednesday 4/22 6 miles-  The weather was slightly cooler. (lol) and this run had a slight incline at the beginning with a downhill finish.  So my splits looked better today.  I ran along the Pittman Wash Trail and I love the fact that I didn't have to wait for any red lights.

After my run, I freshened up in a gas station bathroom.  Sometimes there isn't enough time to shower after my lunch time runs, so I make do with baby wipes and sink showers.  In my haste. I left my running shoes on the gas station bathroom floor..... I didn't realize it, until two days later.( I rotate my running shoes) so I wasn't looking for them until Friday....

Thursday  4/23- 3 miles is better than no miles.  Today was a very hectic day at work, and unfortunately I don't want to give out too many personal details about my place of employment.  I ended up taking my lunch break later than usual, I had to hurry up, run, and come back, But, I was happy to just get out  and get some fresh air.

Friday 4/24-Rest day, I was looking around for my Brooks Ravenna's and I couldn't find them anywhere.  Not in the closets, not at my desk at work, not in the car.  I wonder where they could be? I'm such a stooge. I was so certain that I left them in the shower room in the gym at my workplace.  By Friday evening I was going a little nutty trying to remember  where I left my shoes.  Also on Friday evening my husband decided that we should make a quick trip to Oxnard to visit family.

He didn't have to  twist my arm too badly.  I said "why not?"

Saturday 4/25- Rest- Road Trip to Oxnard- I'm from Ventura County and with good timing we can do the drive from Las Vegas to Oxnard in around 5 hours.  

We left at 8:30am, stopped for gas and snacks in Victorville and then we made it to our destination around 2:00pm.  We visited my husbands grandmother, mom, sister and her kids.  

After we left their home, we went to the beach to look at the ocean.  It was horribly windy and the kids hated having sand blown all over them. But, I really enjoyed it.  (I'm a bad blogger so I didn't get any pictures of the beach).  Here's one I found online of Oxnard Shores on a nice day.

Source

After the beach we went to my parents house for dinner and we spent the night.  It was so nice to see my parents, even for only a little bit of time.

Sunday  4/ 26  Rest- We got up early and got back into the car to head back to Las Vegas, I was hoping to squeeze a quick run in but, we were all pretty wiped out from all of that time spent in the car.  That night my son wasn't feeling to good, and he came down with a tummy bug.

Monday 4/27- 6 miles with some treadmill speed work thrown in.  I ended up staying home from work.  My kiddo wasn't feeling good.  When I got them both down for a nap.  I ran two miles to warm up and then I did 10 X 1 minute pick ups at 5k pace, with 1 minute active recovery.  My hard effort paces were between 9.0-9.2 (6:41-6:30) pace, and my recover efforts were ran at 6.4 (9:22 per mile ) pace.  I also set the treadmill on a 1% incline.  I wore my Brooks Pure Flows for the workout.  After the workout I threw on my ASICS GT-2000's and I ran a mile and a half to cool down.  I don't think I will be wearing my Pure Flows to race the 5k on Saturday.  I need a more supportive shoe.

Tuesday 4/28-  4 miles at recovery pace.-It was really hot, I also couldn't figure out how to play music on my new phone.  I also had a scare with a car going through a traffic circle.  They didn't see me- and I was lucky that I had enough time to run out of the way.  

Wednesday 4/29-Just a little over 3 miles, and a shoe update!   Over the weekend I finally realized that I left my shoes at the gas station.  I figured that they were long gone.   I wasn't going to head outside today because we are going to hit 93 degrees for the daytime high.  Anyway I decided to call the gas station and ask if they had a Lost and Found.  It turns out that they still had my shoes!!!  I use this gas station frequently to fill up on gas, but also to run, and freshen up in the bathroom. The clerk at the counter remembered me. and they held onto my shoes for me.  Talk about lucky!!

I promise to take better care of you.

Since I was already dressed to run, I ran a little over three miles and I just tried to ignore how warm it is getting.  I'm going to have to start bringing my hand held bottle with me on all of my runs now. :(

This  is kind of a weird taper week for me. I was hoping to get some longer runs in, but I want my legs to feel fresh for the 5k that I'm racing on Saturday morning.  I'm going to Race for the Cure.  I did this race in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012.  I also set a PR on this course, so I know that it's a fast course.  Race management has changed quite a bit over the years, and the turn out has gotten smaller.  I'm hoping for a competitive race.  

  I also hope I'm in good enough shape to break 22 minutes.  I don't think I'm quite ready to go under 21 minutes.  But, you never know.  

As always thank you for reading.