Pre-Run Rituals and My Virtual 5k for Coffee Race

I woke up this morning and immediately remembered that I signed up to run a virtual 5 km race today.

I chose my breakfast carefully - 1 egg on 2 slices of light, whole wheat bread, and 2 cups of coffee.  I didn't want to have to wait more than an hour to let it all settle so I didn't want to eat too much.

I love the ritual of getting ready to go.  I am always pretty excited so take care to move slowly and deliberately.  I normally move quickly and sometimes bang my knees and elbows, or stub my toes... not when I am getting ready to run.  I don't want to forget anything so I pretty much do things in the same order every time out and I usually have a few sips of coffee to start my preparations.

Then:

Select my running clothes and lay them on the bed
Wash my face
Brush my teeth
Arrange my hair
Apply sunscreen to my face and my mouth
Apply either sunscreen or lotion to my arms and legs
Drink some water
Get dressed
Apply Body Glide
Put on my running/HRM watch
Put on my HRM chest strap, if I am going to wear it...  turn it on and panic for a split second when I see the 0 come up in the heart beats area.. then relax when I see a number appear
Turn off the HRM
Put on my Road ID bracelet
Put some kleenex tissues in my pocket
Put a full water bottle in the waist belt and strap it on, if I am going to wear it
Put on and lace up my running shoes
Walk around a bit to test the ties
Make a last trip to the bathroom
Put on my sunglasses
Head out the door

Today I ran the Virtual 5k for Coffee that I learned about yesterday.  I did the same 5 km route that I ran in the last virtual 5k I did which was last Tuesday, but in the reverse order.  Either direction there is a killer hill at the end so it doesn't really matter which way I start out.

I thought I was going pretty fast - wore my HRM today and for the last 3 km my heart rate was in the 98 - 99% range and the darn beeper kept going off to warn me I was working too hard.  Well, darn it, I already knew I was working too hard but somehow today I took comfort in the fact that my HRM recognized that too and the beeping seemed to me to be a cheerleader of sorts and I just kept going!

At about the 4 km point I would have loved to rip off the light cotton T-shirt I was wearing 'cause I was sweating so much and it seemed very heavy and hot... but, I don't run in just a running bra in the 'burbs, so I kept it on till I got to our driveway.

All the way up the last block I was sucking air and I thought that it was possible I might lose my breakfast... but I didn't, thank goodness, and I got to my finish line in exactly 36 minutes.  

Now that is not a 5 km PR for me, but in this hilly neighborhood, it is pretty darn good, and a whole 30 seconds faster than the last time I ran it, last Tuesday... but, it felt so very much harder!

But, all in all, a great run... I learned I can suck it up and move when I put my mind to it, and I am also getting conditioned to take walk breaks a lot less often when running now.

W2 R36 W4
streeeeetch 6 minutes

Do you have a pre-run ritual?

Do you get excited when you are getting ready to go running?

Have you ever run till you are sick?

Sunday Stuff

We went for a bike ride today... started out with the intent of doing a short ride to check out a new driving range in the area... (that is a place to hit golf balls/practise, for my non-golfing buddies)... that took only about 15 minutes so we connected to a nearby trail and ended up having a really hard ride for just over an hour and 15 minutes.

I love that the hill to get to this house is so hard to ride 'cause by the time we get into the driveway, my quads are shot and that means I will stretch for sure.  Which I did, for about 7 minutes.  It always feels so good to stretch out spent muscles.

A bit later I faced the fact that I have comitted to doing an upper body workout with my 8 lb dumbbells, and some hip and core work, 3 X per week, this month.  I decided I might just as well get at it before I showered and changed clothes.

I did 2 sets of:

•  10 reps each:
• bicep curls
• tricep kickbacks
• lat raises
• delt raises
• overhead presses
• upright rows
• pushups

Then I did:

• lying quad raises, 10 per leg
• lying hip abduction, 10 each of toes up, down, and level - both legs
• lying hip adduction, 10 per leg
• 25 bicyle crunches
• 25 reverse crunches
• side planks, 15 seconds per side
• full plank 30 seconds

I have decided what I hate about floor exercises is not being on the floor, it is the getting up and down... sometimes it makes me feel dizzy.

Afterward I stretched my shoulders for  a few several minutes, 'cause it feels so good to stretch spent muscles... echo?

There is going to be a run in my day tomorrow...  I just found another virtual 5km race on Running After Bugs and Bees....

Kitchen Fun, Hill Practice, a Bike Ride and Good News!

This morning's breakfast has become then norm for Saturdays since the blackberry season started a few weeks ago.  I love Saturdays 'cause The Captain makes breakfast... pancakes are just a bonus.

There is still steam coming off the egg here.

I made up a batch of Butternut Squash and Carrot soup, and while it was cooling enough for me to puree it with my immersion blender, I headed out to the street to practise my hill running ... I quickly read yesterday's blogpost to get a refresher and then off I went.

I walked a couple of minutes, then did about 1 block of slow running to warm up my legs and then the real work began.

As I came up the hill I made sure to keep my lean into the hill, swing my arms up higher and shorten my stride.

As the hill got steeper, I noticed when it became a real effort for me to strike the ground with my whole foot and decided at that point, to try the lateral stride.  I faced 10 o'oclock first as I am naturally left-footed, and did 6 strides in that direction, making sure to swing my right arm... which felt natural to me anyway.    Then I turned to 2 o'clock and did 6 strides in that direction.  It felt awkward and swinging my left arm felt very odd. 

As I crested the top of the hill I leaned into the natural Chi gait and then when I started down the hill, I slowed again, raised my torso to a more vertical position, engaged my core to keep my C shape, and used my heels to land on, peeling my foot off the ground to raise it to make the next step.

Then, when I got to the bottom of the hill, I turned around and went back the other way... I repeated this back and forth for 20 minutes, and then, deciding my legs had like had enough, I walked for a few more minutes and called it a done deal....

It was good.  And I enjoyed it and it felt great to be practising something specific and useful and it kept my mind fully engaged, too... I was so aware of the different motions I was making with the changes in the slope of the hill.

W3 R20 W3 and I covered 2 km up and down that hill!

I wonder what the neighbors thought!

So, for my review:

Gradual Uphills

• more upper body work, less lower body work
• swing arms forward and up

Steep Uphills

• lean with your uphill shoulder
• downill arm crosses your centreline
• body faces to the side, not forward
• decrease your cadence if you need to

Runnable Downhills

• point your toes as your legs swing forward to prevent dorsiflexion

Non-runnable Downhills

• no lean - keep posture vertical
• pick up your knees slightly
• land on the front of your heels and roll heel to toe
• shorten stride length
• increase cadence as your speed increases

When you find yourself surrounded by hills, think 'float and flow'...

The soup turned out to be delicious... I love making soup with the various squashes, pumpkins and sweet potatoes we are starting to see in the local farmer's markets this tiime of year.

I had a big bowlful for lunch with some sour cream stirred into it...

along with a fresh tomato and basil sandwich.

And then I got to bakings some cookies for The Captain... they were a bribe to get him to go for a bike ride with me this afternoon!

We rode hard for an hour and by the time we rode up the hill to get back to the house, I was done for.... my quads were like jelly again... I am thinking this is a good thing... exhausting these muscles a couple of times a week surely must be helping them grow and get stronger.

The Captain was so happy with the cookies, and so impressed with all my kitchen efforts today, that he barbecued lean beef burgers for dinner and made oven fries to go along with them.. delicious!  But he was too shy to let me photograph them...

Nose back in the Chi Running book for the evening.

And, oh my gosh, how come I keep forgetting to share this wonderful news... I won a pair of Recovery Socks on the giveaway that Jill had ... I am so excited as I have really been wanting to try them. 

Hills, the Chi Way

I was so pleased with my September weigh in at Weight Watchers this morning that I went a little crazy today with my eats.

We walked for about an hour to get to the site of the annual Greekfest (read FEAST) that happens to be one of my favorite food extravaganzas in this area and something we look forward to every year.  But I was pretty conservative and only ate one pork and lamb gyro with tzatziki and greek salad on it.  I didn't take the camera along, on purpose, so I wouldn't have to expose myself and my appetite!

Too full for dessert, we sat and enjoyed a bit of the live entertainment, and then walked for an hour back to the house.

I spent some time this afternoon, reading a few more chapters of Chi Running.  I have been having pain-free runs and walks since I started using this technique for both running and walking and I am convinced that it is for me.

I have discussed it with The Captain too and he just seems to naturally move this way - he has never been a heel striker like I realized I naturally am was before I made the effort to change. 

I think overstriding was my biggest mistake... My long legs want to reach out like a galloping horse does, and then I am not only pounding my heels into the ground, but that impact comes up my legs and drives into my knees.  It is also hard on the quads.

Today I was looking for information about how to run up hills.  There are so many of them in this neighborhood and they cannot be avoided.  I was sure that there would be a prescribed strategy and was not disappointed.

I made some notes ... sometimes when I write things down I retain them more readily - a holdover from my school days and also many years of studying throughout my career as a computer geek in the financial services sector,  I guess.

Here is what I wrote down...

Uphill Running

• increase upper body effort and reduce lower body effort

Easy to Moderate Hills

• lean into the hill
• keep upper body ahead of hips and feet
• don't step ahead of your hips
• keep shoulders ahead of hips and hips ahead of feet
• this prevents overuse of hamstrings
• swing arms forward and up
• shorten your stride length
• relax your lower legs
• keep your heels down
• avoid overworking lower leg muscles
• don't run on forefoot - too much energy spent working small muscles to do a big job
• use mental images
• imagine yourself floating up the hill like a you are a hot air balloon

The hot air balloon is a good visual for me as we did a sunrise hot air balloon ride one lovely summer morning, over Calgary, a few years ago and I can easily recall the feeling as we lifted off the ground and floated into the sky.

Steep Uphills

• run sideways
• do a tiny crossover step so you can keep your heels down
• face toward 10 o'clock and do 6 to 8 strides
• turn and face 2 o'clock for 6 to 8 strides
• work your way up the hill switching back and forth this way 



Going uphill, facing 2 o'clock, left shoulder into the hill

• swing your downhill arm across your body reaching up for your shoulder
• shift to 'granny' gear
• shorten your stride
• slow down your cadence
• lean into the hill with  your uphill shoulder
• lean with enough intent to feel as if you're leaning your should into a door to break it open
• walk if you need to

Downhill Running

• switch the emphasis to your lower body
• neutralize the impact

Runable Downhills

• loosen your hips, stretch out your stride, and let gravity pull you
• relax everything from the waist down
• keep your cadence steady
• let your stride length increase
• lean downill
• regulate your speed with your lean
• hold your C shape with a level pelvis
• let your pelvis rotate more
• this allows your stride to open up behind you reducing the shock to your knees and quads
• relax your ankles
• don't dorsiflex your ankles
• try pointing toes as legs swing forward to avoid a hard heel strike
• relax your mind
• surrender to the speed, Grasshopper.

Okay, I love this reference to an old tv show called Kung Fu.  It starred David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a Shaolin Master, travelling in the wild West on a quest to find his brother.  His master called him Grasshopper.  I have a young friend I think of as Grasshopper.  But, I digress.



Non-Runnable Downhills

• if you find yourself 'putting on the brakes' a change of technique is in order
• control your speed with your 'gas pedal'
• let your lean revert to vertical to slow down
• take very small strides and peel up your heels with each step
• zigzag down the hill if there is enough room
• relax your shoulders and keep them low
• balance yourself in a vertical position directly over your heels and let your weight ride softly on your heels
• this will direct the shock absorption to the back of your legs
• as your foot comes down, roll heel-to-toe to further reduce impact

There will be lots of opportunity for me to practise this over the weekend.  The house we are staying in is on the crest of a hill... either direction from here is DOWN.  So, if nothing else, I can just go out and practise running up and down this hill!

Do you change your technique for hills?

Any advice or thoughts to share about this?

Please, Make the Noise Stop!

A slight change in plans today.

Last night I painstakingly mapped out a 6 mile route that I wanted to run today.  And I was excited about it.  I drank extra water during the evening to make sure I would be well-hydrated for it (and got up twice during the night!) and I dreamed about it.

But today when I got up, my confidence was shaky.  I was concerned that my quads might fail me when I was 3 miles away from the house and I would have to hobble home... after the 3 hour bike ride yesteday, they were like jelly, and although they felt okay this morning, I was worried about them.

I decided that 6 miles is pretty much the same thing as 10 km so I decided to run my recent 5km route twice.  That way  I would never get too far away from the house and I would still accomplish my distance goal today.  I could run it once and then change direction and run it the opposite way so it would seem different.

I set out just after 9 a.m. and loped along quite happily, checking my stride occasionally, making sure my feet were pointing straight ahead, checking my heart rate and trying to keep slowing myself down....  at about the 4 km mark I really started to notice the noise in my head... the chatter...

oh look at that cute dog
if I run a bit faster I can finish the first 5 km in 40 minutes
no I am not supposed to worry about speed today
I am thirsty, better have a sip of water
oh good, here is my turnaround point
hey buddy, don't you see me?  stop backing out of your driveway... and hey, you aren't supposed to talk on your cell phone while you're driving anyway!
this hill is steep I better slow down
do I need to push the WALK button at that interection or can I just scoot across the street
better push the button and wait
hurry up light
okay
nice car
oh I better get back on the sidewalk
nice that this walk is asphalt not concrete
I hate running on concrete
look all all the moms and kids in the park today
and lotsa dads too
school starts next Tuesday
oh the water spouts just came on, that kid is gonna freeze!
maybe I should stop at the washroom in the park
which door is the Ladies?
it's so quiet here when the soccer fields are empty
I saw those women when I was going the other way
beautiful sunflowers
hi doggie
maybe I should think of a song to hum
don't stop thinking about tomorrow... who sang that?   Fleetwood Mac,  I don't like Fleetwood Mac, why did I think of that song?
what else can I think of? 


and on and on and on it went.

I finished my 10 km (which I discovered is actually 6.25 miles) in 87 minutes and was thrilled to be feeling so good at the end.

I came in and made the best smoothie ever to drink while I stretched. 

Vanilla Almond Breeze, almond butter, banana, bit of Splenda

And I slathered some more Almond Butter on a Wasa cracker.... lovely.

W4R87W4
stretch 5 minutes

And NOW I am feeling my quads.

Do you have this kind of noise going on in your head when you run alone?


I know that if I listened to music it would stop... but I already wear a watch, a Road ID bracelet, a water belt and sometimes a heart rate monitor... do I really want to ad a MP3 player to all that, too?   Decisions....