Friday Five
1. I planned to swim last night. I even started writing a post about swimming. Then I decided to stay on the train and ride on by the gym. Took the beasts to the dog park. Don’t regret it a bit.
2. Speaking of the beasts… the other night Leland escaped from the backyard without our knowledge. We don’t know how long he ran around but at least he came back to the front door. This could have ended poorly… but at least he’s smart enough to come back home. His escape hatch is now blocked. He doesn’t even feel bad about it.
3. Thursday was a complete rest day because I woke up with a major kink in my neck. I called Smart Doctor Man because I felt like it was probably time to go see him again anyway. Then I tripped up the stairs and started spasming. It was about as awesome as getting stabbed repeatedly in the neck. That was pretty much the most painful appointment ever. I almost cried and threw up. I feel MUCH better now though.
4. In other “painful things that are good for you” news, I have a new toy: The rumbleroller! Its amazing and painful. I can’t even use it on all parts of my legs yet. It’s pretty dang amazing though.
5. I was all ready to DNS this weekend at Portland RNR… yesterday. Then my confidence was shaken when someone asked me why I didn’t just walk it. My answer was that it wouldn’t put me in a good mental place. They responded essentially telling me that was bullshit. Overall, I’m tired of going into races unprepared and walking part of it. Maybe that is bullshit. I really want to run though. I’ll give it a 10% chance that I wake up Sunday morning and decide to go to the race anyway.
Re-evaluating
I love goal-setting. A goal is a beautiful thing.
Sometimes I have to re-evaluate them.
I’m hurt right now and I’m stressed out by it. Some of the stress is just about getting better, some is the irrational fear that I’ll never run again, but most of the stress comes from all the races I’ve signed up for and the goals that go along with them. The other day I asked for advice from the internets about what to do.
Truthfully, my first reaction was “BUT I LOVE RUNNING AND I MUST RUN AND I WILL DIEEEE IF I DON’T RACE.”
And then I took a step back and realized that I was being ridiculous. If I was coaching someone in this same predicament, I wouldn’t let them race. I would make them rest. So I need to make myself do the same thing.
I absolutely love running. I wish I could bottle the feeling that I get when I cross the finish line and sell it because I would be a kazillionaire.
But running is not making me happy. I have all these races hanging over my head and I’m freaking out because I won’t to race them but don’t know if I can. I made some decisions today and I already feel better.
Portland Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon – DNS
Helvetia Half Marathon – Drop to the 10k
- Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon – Undecided
Hagg Lake Triathlon (Sprint) – On like donkey kong
Ragnar Relay Northwest Passage – Still on
Hood to Coast Relay – Still on
Pints to Pasta 10k – Haven’t signed up yet, but still planning on it.
Marine Corps Marathon – So far it’s still on, but there is the option to drop to the 10k if necessary
So, there you have it. My race schedule has changed somewhat this year but I feel good about it. The relief I feel tells me that this is the right decision.
Now some of that relief needs to head on down to the calf region.
Seriously, you searched for that?
Oh Google, you are amazing. You are an invaluable resource for us silly people to type our stupid and embarrassing questions into without letting anyone know what we are really asking.
(Side note: I googled Google’s market cap – it led me to Yahoo! Finance. Also, the market cap is $199.23 billion. Maybe it isn’t invaluable, but it’s really helpful.)
Anysquat, here’s what our friends have been searching for over the last 3 months:
Clay Matthews – Still the top search term that sends people to my blog.
Barbie Barbell – Put down the damn barbie weights and get to work!
What muscles do burpees work? – All of them. Especially your puke suppression muscles.
Last weekend I went to the beach with a friend – And?
Beast-mode Banjos – That can’t be good…
Ninja Hero – At your service!
Body Builder Cupcake – Only if they’re paleo.
Why cough to jump out of a moving car? – Are you planning on doing this? I feel like it’s a spur of the moment type deal…
Cute with reading glasses- Awww, shucks…
What’s the best rotation between sauna hot tub pool? – OMFG GTFO so the rest of us can just swim! NOT SOCIAL HOUR.
Why my dog have diarrhea? – Well, mine ate a pound of beef fat and puked. Could that be it?
Bridge to Brews 10k how many miles – Gosh, if only 10k races were some sort of standard distance…
Humanity died – That’s a little bleak…
Laura has a sexy bum- I promise you that this is not a plant.
When Worlds Collide
I’m a runner (kinda).
OK, I’m a frustrated runner.
I started CrossFit a few months ago thinking that I would do it for a few months to slim down and get stronger before heading into running season.
CrossFit
Then I got injured and pissed and crazy angry at running but CrossFit was there to loving snuggle me and hand me a kettlebell and tell me everything was gonna be alright.
I ran Sunday night, I didn’t love it. I started to feel better on the last mile but not good enough to keep going. I kept thinking about this Sunday and the Portland RNR Half Marathon. Back in good ol’ days of 2011 I was planning on being in kick ass shape and busting out sub 2′s like nobody’s business. Then I decided to DNS Eugene and keep my eye on Portland RNR. I knew it wouldn’t be a sub 2 attempt, but it would be a training run for Seattle RNR. I’d pick a pace group, run at a pace close to my long run training pace and get a shiny medal at the end of my training run.
Weee happy running!
After Sunday night, I’m not so sure. I’m not ready to declare that I’m not DNSing this Sunday. Part of my brain still thinks that I’ll have a couple great runs this week and Sunday will be a great training run and I’ll be back in action. Nevermind that jogging a half marathon after my dismal mileage attempts would be well outside the 10% rule for increasing mileage.
Monday morning I woke up and went to CrossFit.
An all running WOD.
Son of a…
5X400 with 2 minutes rest in between.
Because if you are frustrated with running, you should just add more running!
I did well though. I won’t say that I loved the WOD, because I felt like puking the entire time, but I loved it in that weird way that only fitness freaks can.
“Oh my gosh I thought I was going to die and puke and crap my pants all at the same time! Let’s do it again!”
My times were pretty comparable to last year when I did some track workouts, which is very encouraging. Granted, I don’t remember having to sit down immediately after each 400 
1:411:391:481:451:43
I’m not giving up on running. Sunday night I was pretty desperate and I’m amazed that I didn’t start harassing everyone via twitter for advice. Do I take a break? Do I scrap the rest of my spring races? Do I try to just run shorter distances right now instead of trying to build a base? I DON’T KNOW. Someone tell me!
Monday morning helped though (it was my own dose of Monday Morning Motivation, har har har). I can run and I will run. I just need to get over this hump.
But seriously, what would you do in my situation? Have you gone through this? I’m scared of making the wrong decision.
Monday Morning Motivation
Monday Mini Goals:
Last Week:
1. I have a stressful week ahead – I need to keep my stress in check. - Monday started out rough, but I’m feeling much better
2. Run 6 miles. - Excuse me while I punch someone. Aka, no.
3. Hit the pool at least once. – Boom, done. I even felt good.
4. Go to bed as soon as I feel tired (assuming this isn’t at work). – Yup.
5. Keep the kitchen clean. – Clean enough 
This Week:
1. Finish Game of Thrones if it’s the last thing I do.
2. Swim 1000 meters
3. Run 10 miles total
4. Finish all my draft invoices at work
5. Decide if I’m going to do that one thing in August…
My Week in Workouts
I think spring might finally be here. We’ve had beautiful weather and I’ve tried to take advantage of it (and my slight sunburn shows it). The other part I’m loving? When I leave for CrossFit at o’dark-thirty it’s actually not that dark! Hallelujah!
Monday -2 miles with Dad.
Tuesday -CrossFit
Wednesday – CrossFit (PR!), evening swim, and spin class.
Thursday – CrossFit and evening 2 mile run.
Friday – CrossFit
Saturday – Rest Day
Sunday – 3 miles on the soft track at recovery pace.
Other -
This weekend I went to Pendleton, Oregon, with my madre to visit family and host a bridal shower for my cousin’s fiance. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we had a lovely time with family. Here’s the weekend in pictures:
So pretty and green
More green
I'm a sucker for flags blowing in the wind.
Getting a little more deserty
Heading into Pendleton
Balloons for the part-ay
Bums - Dusty, Brandy, Katie, and Bella
Mmmmmm, dinner.
Hanging out at Hamley's
Headed back to the real world, Instagram style
Loved this weekend
At Least It Was Nice Out
#Pavementfail
Running has been going really well for me over the past few weeks. I’m finally somewhat almost maybe OK with having to start over with running and it feels good to complete 2 mile runs without pain.
I thought Thursday would be a great day to reunite with my ol’ pal, the Esplanade and running on hard pavement. 3 miles door to door, mostly flat, and along the river. It’s a nice quick loop with tons of runners and bikers (and puppies!)
Half mile in…
STAB STAB STAB STAB
Mother Eff.
So I stopped, I shook it out, I massaged a little bit.
OK, lets run a little bit more.
STAB STAB STAB STAB
OK, I kept it together a little better than Mr. Banner, but I’m still mad. I did 2 miles instead of 3, and they did not feel good. So… more time on the soft track for me.
If you’ll excuse me, I have a date with The Stick.
Get it together legs.
Smoothies, Sticks, and Sprints
You know what we all need? More alliteration in our lives. I’m going to start working more alliteration into my emails.
I apologize in advance, coworkers.
Well my friends, I finally joined an elite club. Ladies Who Smoothie, or LWS for short. If you frequent healthy living blogs like I do, around this time of year you start to see smoothies of every color pop up on a daily basis. I’m not usually one to follow food trends (no, I’m not going to create a “pumpkin” version of everything) but I think smoothies are something that I can and should get behind.
Why?
Because I’m so dang picky. Seriously, I am very weird about some of the foods I will eat. (Sonya, quit laughing). There are many fruits that I like the flavor of but can’t (ok, won’t) eat because of the texture. So I’ll throw it into a blender, turn it into (tasty tasty) mush and then I’m good to go!
Lookin’ nice and sweaty, Freeman. Why you ask? Because I’d just finished another 2 miler with my dad. I’ve been running a little more consistently and my legs have felt about 95%.
I had slacked off a bit with using the stick, foam roller, and lacrosse ball, and a half mile in my legs let me know how they felt about it. I started getting some crazy tightness on the inside of my calf but was able to calm it down and finish my run with no pain. The pain was only about 1/3 as intense as what I was feeling before, so that is promising.
Post run, while my poor dad just wanted to leave, I sat on the curb and sticked out the demons.
I’m a quick learner.
I’m not the only one getting in some good running these days. Everyone’s favorite backseat driver has been hitting the intervals hard and is ready to PR this year. 
He is also working hard to beat his current PR of number of “piles” per trip to the dog park, but he can’t seem to get over 4. (Yeah…)
Here’s his workout from tonight. He really enjoys going in circles – soon he’ll be ready for the track.
Monday Morning Motivation
Monday Mini Goals:
Last Week:
1. Swim. Stop being so afraid of the pool. – I swam twice. I even did some of my drills, and what do ya know? I felt better!
2. TMI, but use my neti pot everyday. – Oops
3. Put together my training plan. – Done! Now June 25 just needs to get here.
4. Date night with the hubby. – Saw the Avengers and loved it!
5. Smile more. – I need to poll people about this one.
This Week:
1. I have a stressful week ahead – I need to keep my stress in check.
2. Run 6 miles.
3. Hit the pool at least once.
4. Go to bed as soon as I feel tired (assuming this isn’t at work).
5. Keep the kitchen clean.
My Week in Workouts
I felt great this week! Here’s how it worked out (pun intended):
Monday -30 minute swim and 2 mile run with Dad.
If only it had been pretty outside...
Tuesday – Crossfit
Wednesday -Crossfit
Thursday - Rest day
Friday - Crossfit (Fight Gone Bad) and 2 mile run with Dad
Look how fast I ran...
Saturday – 4 mile run
Ugh, so ugly...
Sunday – Beautiful bike ride! A personal record on the bike today – 15.39 miles. My legs held up well, my “sitting region” is another story. I will feel this tomorrow. 
My biggest hang up on the bike is riding in traffic. I tend to only ride on weekends and head out towards the business parks so that I can avoid heavy traffic areas. Today I stuck to some wider roads and headed out west. My fear of traffic will lessen with time when I get more confident in the saddle. Seriously, I have been known to say out loud to myself “I have a right to be here. I have a right to be here.” Calm down, Laura, no one wants to kill you.
Well, except for this guy.
