ALEC: First Day Back on Pavement

Ran in Golden Gate Park yesterday. First day back on pavement since my strain. The first interval was tough. Running on pavement is so different than running on the TM. Was planning to run around Stow Lake but found it cumbersome with so many walkers/tourists. Found a path that led me down to the road that circles Stow Lake and then found a dirt path that took me down to running along 19th Avenue. Then turned back into the park running on pavement. On this run I was listening to Wayne Dyer's interpretation of the Tao. The 43rd verse (the water course way of the Tao) starts..."The softest of all things overrides the hardest of all things. That without substance enters where there is no space. Hence, I know the value of non-action..." Wayne speaks about learning to relax and stop pushing. He states that he has heard marathon runners "just letting their legs, arms and torso just be...shutting down mental interference and instructions...and they always cross the finish line". When I hit the dirt path along 19th Avenue, I took this to heart and just let my body move in the way that it needed to without concentrating on how fast I was running and mental commentary. When RunKeeper announced my current pace, I found that I had actually increased my speed without even thinking about it or pushing myself to do better. Now, that's progress...spiritually and physically. As I hit 45 minutes, I wanted to keep running but heard, once again, LW's voice saying..."steady, steady, steady". Meaning, be disciplined and steadfast...not egoistic and pushing. So, I only ran an additional 7 minutes (forgot to turn RunKeeper back on at the end so it didn't track my total time/distance). The waterfall pic attached to this post is from the end of my run. I have never seen this waterfall before in all the years I have been to GGP. I am sure there are a lot of things at GGP I have not seen. I plan to run different parts of the park so I can really appreciate every part of it. Stretched at the boat house at Stow Lake and then went to look at the cost of bike rentals (want to rent a bike and get used to riding along traffic...to be discussed at a later time). All of a sudden I felt like I was going to faint. I think I did not eat enough before my run (burned 419 calories) and didn't drink enough water. Got a burrito and headed home. Overall, a very good day and run. Legs feel okay this morning, for which I am grateful. Run on, everyone, run on!!!

PS - Remembered to bring kleenex this time...so necessary :)

ALEC: Totally Pumped

So, I never made it to train yesterday as my lunch with a long, lost friend went longer then expected (thanks to the always "unneeded" traffic delay on the Bay Bridge in the middle of the day)! But this morning, I was out the door by 10:15 and on my way to the gym. I had already decided that if I was going to get back to my initial run/walk of 35 minutes, I would try it on the TM (treadmill) before running on a hard surface again. I started with 2 minutes of rowing, then alternated lifting (chest and back) and elliptical training for 6 minutes total (2 minute intervals). The logic is to warm up my legs before stretching and starting the run while getting an upper body workout in too. I've been reading up on how important it is to keep the upper body strengthened, especially strengthening the back for good posture. After finishing my lifting/running warm up, I stretched my legs for a good 5 minutes. Then headed upstairs to start my run. That same short burst of fear of injuring myself again shot through me as I hit the top of the stairs, but I was determined to see what I could do.

I did a two minute walk at 3.5 mph then ran three minutes at 4.0 mph. Walk for 2 minutes then 3 minutes at 5.0. Repeated the same intervals and then a 2 minute walk. During the walk interval I decided that I would see if I could run 4 minutes on the next interval, paying special attention to how my right ankle/calf was feeling. I was also paying special attention to my posture and making sure that I was relaxing my feet as they hit the TM and not tightening up my toes, etc. As I came upon minute three, I continued on and before I knew it, I was at 4 minutes. I felt good and calm and decided to keep going. Breathing seemed fine and the right ankle/calf seemed to be doing good. Long story, short, I ran a 10 minute interval at 5.0 mph. Walked 2, then ran 4, then ended with a 2 minute walk. I was ecstatic!!! Not only did my right ankle/calf feel fine, I ran my longest interval yet and probably could have run longer but didn't want to push it, even though I was feeling good. So, lesson for today...warm up and stretch appropriately before starting the training and know how far to push oneself but have the discipline to know when to stop...knowing that there will be another day to..."run on"! Feeling very happy today!!!

Love and peace to you all!

PS - You know it's been a good run when you look down at the sides of the TM and it's covered with drops of hard earned sweat :)

ALEC: Day 7 - Angst

Today is my longest training day, thus far. One hour. My legs are feeling stiff and sore. I was feeling angst (or anxt from the more modern dictionary) all day yesterday knowing that Saturday's are my longest training days and I wasn't sure if I could do it. I texted Angelina this morning to ask her for her advice as I'm not sure when to keep pushing or not because the last thing I want to do is injure myself and interrupt my training. Her advice was to give it a go and see how I feel. To take the time to warm-up and stretch. So, I will move forward today. I think I will run on the treadmill (even though it will be a beautiful 71 degrees in SF) so that I have a little more give as I pound the "mill". Will report back after the run.

Still need to get to the running store and get new shoes. I am wondering if that's why my legs are not doing so hot.

ALEC: Day 5 Training

So, I missed yesterday's training. After having felt like I had a good run on Saturday and that my legs felt like they were getting stronger and better, I woke up yesterday morning with a major pain in my right foot. I could tell that it was coming from my thighs and calves and kept stretching and rubbing my foot all day. I decided I better hold off on training until it felt better. Last night my left foot and legs started hurting. So, I did what any athlete would do...I ran for the Ben Gay...LOL. Luckily, I think it did the trick, as my feet and legs feel better today. So, today, I will run what I should have yesterday, which is 35 minutes. I'll be off the schedule of having two days rest (should have been today and tomorrow), but I think I'll be fine. I'm driving a friend up to Santa Rosa today to visit his mom and have decided to run at Howarth Park or Spring Lake. It's supposed to rain today (can you believe that) but the Bay Area weather is always so unpredictable that I figured I might as well train in the rain so that if for some strange, strange reason it decides to rain on September 25th, I'll know how to dress and what it feels like to run in the rain.