Last Tuesday I decided I wanted to do some hill work, but since there aren't really a lot of good hills nearby, I had the brilliant idea to run to Sac State (a couple miles away) and run up and down the parking garage! It wasn't all bad, but I don't think I'll be making it a weekly thing. For one, it's a little far to run there, do hills, then run back. Also, it's a little creepy at night, and because it's a covered garage my Garmin lost it's signal a couple times. In the end I did 5.5 miles total. Lucky for me I've found a solution to my hill woes and will be giving it a try this week!
Wednesday I decided to explore another area near my house, hoping to get in 4-5 miles. I took my dog, as I've been doing on almost all my runs lately, and we ran around the neighborhood with no set route in mind. We ran a lot of back streets that I wasn't super familiar with, and there were lots of people outside enjoying the warm evening which was fun. I even ran past my old elementary school! Definitely did not look the same as I remember. I ended up doing 4.5 miles, but it still felt harder than it usually does.
My silly dog and running buddy, Mocha!
Friday was a rest day since I was planning on doing my long run Saturday morning, but I still wanted to move for the sake of my sore muscles, so my mom and I went on a nice 2 miles walk along the American River. Question: Do you runners with Garmins use them for walks? Do you include walks in your weekly mileage? Just curious : )
Saturday was my first long run since being back home, and it was definitely a struggle : / I think the heat played a big role (it was already super warm by 8am when I started) as well as my uber sore muscles. Honestly, my body felt just as sore as it has after my marathons, so trying to do a long run was asking my body a lot. The night before I mapped out a route that was 12 miles and was a mix of the bike trail and the neighborhood of East Sac. I went through phases of feeling good then crappy, and especially because of the heat I allowed myself short breaks when I needed them. Part of the route took me past a big park and I decided to add an extra loop around it and then cut the route a little shorter than planned. My main goal was to get 10-12 miles in, so when I got to 11 at the Sac State bridge, I decided to call it a day and have my mom pick me up. Running all the way home would've added on just over a mile, and that was just not important enough to suffer through. I was a little disappointed that the run was such a challenge, especially with another marathon looming in the near future. I sort of just feel like I'm in a running slump lately, like I've lost my mojo. I don't know if it's the move, the heat, or what, but I need to have a good run asap!
In other non-running related news, I got back from my long run just in time to watch the U.S. get killed by Ghana in the World Cup! It was the first U.S. game I was able to watch so I couldn't help but be a little disappointed. Oh well! Saturday night I joined my parents and some family friends at "Pops in the Park", an outdoor concert series held at public parks throughout Sacramento. It was actually a really fun evening with great oldies music and lots of familiar faces.
This past weekend was also spent completely redoing my bedroom! After I went away to college, my folks basically kept it the same as it was in high school, which just felt too young and brought back to many memories of awkward years. The first step was changing the color on the walls - when I left for Santa Barbara my mom painted them yellow. While it wasn't a bad color, it just clashed with all the stuff I brought home, so I chose a light bluish green (Pale Cactus to be exact - I'm sort of the type of person who is swayed by the names of things!) that was much more appealing. Let me just mention that painting is A LOT more work than you'd think! My sore arms tired very quickly from holding a brush and can of paint : / My dad helped, though, and taught me a lot on how to paint, which was great! After that was done it was time to unload the last of my boxes and start putting things away, hanging things, and organizing all my crap. I ended up going through a couple drawers that literally had the most random crap from - I kid you not - kindergarten! Plus a bunch of embarrassing middle school/high school stuff. It was an equal mix of nostalgia and "what the heck was I thinking?" Anyway, after several long days my room is finally done! I'll post pics asap. Hope you all had a lovely weekend and stayed cool!
p.s. Congrats to all those who ran the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon this weekend!
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