Yet another running thread...August 17-23

[indigoiis]

Ran 4.3 at lunch downtown... a bit sloggy since I am riding and running both a lot these days. But certainly a fine run regardless.

[Deborajen]

Got in a nice 5K tempo run today. It was 74 degrees when I got home from work this evening - amazing since it's usually in the 90's this time of year! It was overcast when I started and then coming home (headed west) the sun came out and I really felt it. That last mile I had to settle for run/walk intervals, but the pace for that mile was only 30 seconds slower than the first 2.1. I've been running for 7 years now and it amazes me that I can take walking breaks (sometimes walk 1/4 to 1/3 of the time) and it doesn't slow down my pace much - if any. I'm a slow runner, but not that slow - ?

[yellow]

Deborajen, did you see this article in the NYT a while back? Walking is not all that bad and apparently can make you faster! Just what I needed to read! (Of course I take walk breaks often on mountainous runs. It's faster than trying to run up a 30% slope.) My attitude is that the sun will always come up tomorrow, even if I take a little walk break. I'm getting slower as I get older, but oh well.

Susan, your dedication to The Program is admirable. I can't seem to stick with anything more than a couple of weeks these days...

I've been kind of slacking...went on vacation and only ran once in 10 days (yikes!) and am currently in one of my bad-back-flare-ups. PT for 2+ months made no difference and it seems to be getting worse the more I back off of everything. My doc and I have a plan! Or I should say he has a plan but I'm still pondering it. So in the meantime I'm running a little bit, trying not to drive my husband crazy, and trying to stay positive. It is what it is! I am still planning to complete my Mt Whitney run 09/09/09 but I suspect we'll do more walking up than I originally thought we would do. I was probably being optimistic thinking I would be able to run once we got above about 12000' anyway

Run on!

[Jolt]

Yesterday's run was a little over half an hour around the neighborhood, wearing huaraches (the sandals that the Tarahumara in Mexico wear when they run their crazy distances) that I made. Not one of my best runs; not sure if it was the sandals (it did feel a little weird running in them) or just an off day. I have realized that it is much easier for me to maintain good form on rough trails than on roads--why is that? Today's run was a little different--a friend of mine was having day surgery at a hospital about two miles away, so I decided that I would run there to keep her mom company in the waiting room and see her when she came out of surgery, then run back home. The route involves going up and over a huge hill so it was a good workout--when my friend was ready to go home, her mom dropped me off at the top and then I ran the rest of the way back home (mostly one long downhill!). It was a much better run than yesterday and I might start doing more runs with a destination (like errands that are not very far) to change things up a bit.

[skhill]

The circus is in town, and my run this morning took me over a viaduct that overlooked the parking lot where 6 elephants are staying. What a delightful surprise! I just had to stop and watch them from above for a few minutes.... What a great incentive to get out and run-- you never know what unexpected moment of beauty or adventure or oddity you'll find...

[Jolt]

I just got this month's AMC Outdoors magazine yesterday and was quite pleased to find an article about the benefits of going barefoot and strengthening the feet. Looks like it's catching on...