So not much to report currently. For this weekend's run I'm thinking about taking Kami to run the path around Chamber's Bay Golf Course. Of course, that's only a three mile track, so I'm thinking I'll probably run from the house, and have Kami drive over and meet me at the course later. Hopefully with a roundabout path and about three loops of the course I should log about 20 miles for this Sunday's run.
Even though I've begun ramping up hours at work, my energy levels haven't been lagging; actually, if anything I've felt more energetic lately. Even now as I right this when I should be getting ready for bed, I feel energetic enough to get out and run a couple miles. Not that I will. I may have the energy, but my muscles are still recovering from last weekend. I read recently about using a pair of recovery tights after running to help speed up recovery, so I might look into that at a later point.
Three more days till I can sign up for Cascade Crest.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Sore Legs
So anyone who has been following my sporadic posting here may remember mentioning a book I was looking for way back in December '09 called "Phenomenon of Man" by Teilhard. I have been casually looking for it ever since then, but had never managed to procure a copy. I probably could have jumped on Ebay or Abebook and found an obscure copy somewhere, but I just couldn't bring myself to put that much effort into the search. Just the other night however, I was reading some novel or other on my Kindle, and it occurred to me that I hadn't yet checked the Amazon marketplace. Thirty seconds later (maybe less) I had myself a copy. It was so quick and simple it almost hurt my head. Amazing what we can do in this digital age now...
So Kami followed me out on another run this morning, this one taking us all the way to the other corner of Tacoma, along Schuster Parkway, and then finally home by way of cutting through Wright Park. I've run the route the other direction by myself before, but this was the first time I had attempted it in reverse. The hill coming out Old Town back into Tacoma proper proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated, but otherwise the run was enjoyable. Not that my aching calf muscles would believe that now.
Downtown Run Statistics
Well, that about sums up the day. Pretty much more of the same for the coming week- elyptical cross-training tomorrow, hill running Tuesday, recovery run Wednesday, weights Thursday, Tempo run on Friday. Not sure what I'm doing for this weekend's run yet, but probably something involving hills. Both Kami and I need more hill training.
So Kami followed me out on another run this morning, this one taking us all the way to the other corner of Tacoma, along Schuster Parkway, and then finally home by way of cutting through Wright Park. I've run the route the other direction by myself before, but this was the first time I had attempted it in reverse. The hill coming out Old Town back into Tacoma proper proved to be more of a challenge than I had anticipated, but otherwise the run was enjoyable. Not that my aching calf muscles would believe that now.
Downtown Run Statistics
Well, that about sums up the day. Pretty much more of the same for the coming week- elyptical cross-training tomorrow, hill running Tuesday, recovery run Wednesday, weights Thursday, Tempo run on Friday. Not sure what I'm doing for this weekend's run yet, but probably something involving hills. Both Kami and I need more hill training.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Returning Again
Well hello. I have returned to updating this blog once again following a severe bout of the running blahs brought on by injury, lack of employment, and my having gotten distracted with other interests. Not that I've really stopped running over the last several months, I just couldn't bring myself to take the time to actually write about it. I'll try to correct for that going forward.
A couple things have changed in my routine lately, the first being that I've introduced Udo 3-6-9 oil into my diet as a replacement for the fish oil tablets I've been using for years. I finally decided to cut the fish oil after I determined it was what had been upsetting my stomache recently. So far the only noticable difference with Udo is that I have to take it straight rather than in a pill form. I doubt it's as bad as Cod Liver Oil, but I keep imagining the taste to be about the same. Hopefully with imbibing it on a daily basis, I'll get used to the taste eventually.
Another item of note is that my wife recently purchased a bicycle, so she has been following me on my longer runs. This adds a lovely bit of companionship to my runs that had so far been lacking, but it certainly is a different experience having someone else along, and certain adjustments have had to be made. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
My running schedule currently is comprised of three 5-mile runs during the week, with a fourth longer run on Sundays (currently up to about 17 miles). Tomorrow I intend to introduce Kami to the experience of running through Downtown Tacoma, not to mention the waterfront, which should make for a nice change of scenery.
Alright, longer report after tomorrow's run, as well as some reflections on the reading I've been doing lately.
A couple things have changed in my routine lately, the first being that I've introduced Udo 3-6-9 oil into my diet as a replacement for the fish oil tablets I've been using for years. I finally decided to cut the fish oil after I determined it was what had been upsetting my stomache recently. So far the only noticable difference with Udo is that I have to take it straight rather than in a pill form. I doubt it's as bad as Cod Liver Oil, but I keep imagining the taste to be about the same. Hopefully with imbibing it on a daily basis, I'll get used to the taste eventually.
Another item of note is that my wife recently purchased a bicycle, so she has been following me on my longer runs. This adds a lovely bit of companionship to my runs that had so far been lacking, but it certainly is a different experience having someone else along, and certain adjustments have had to be made. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.
My running schedule currently is comprised of three 5-mile runs during the week, with a fourth longer run on Sundays (currently up to about 17 miles). Tomorrow I intend to introduce Kami to the experience of running through Downtown Tacoma, not to mention the waterfront, which should make for a nice change of scenery.
Alright, longer report after tomorrow's run, as well as some reflections on the reading I've been doing lately.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Off Season Continues
Now well into my second week of my mid-off season, I seem to be on the road to recovery with my various race-related injuries. I still am having some twinges in my leg, particularly if I have to walk more than a mile or so at a time, but it seems to be getting better.
I have been hitting the pool at the gym irregularly, and have been attempting a few walks with Kami, although have been less successful. I am just hoping at this point that my leg will have recovered sufficiently for the large group hike I am participating in at the end of this month. Still plenty of time for recovery, so I am very hopeful.
I was recently browsing at Half-Priced books while Kami was searching for more in one of her serials, and stumbled across several new Buddhist works that I hadn't seen before. Most were the usual dissemination of various Sutras or compilations of various philosophical writers, even a few Thich Nhat Hahn works that I had not run across before. However, mixed in with these various works was a small unassuming form caught my eye immediately. It was simply titled "The Teaching of Buddha". A quick glance through showed that it was only half in English, with what appeared to be Chinese for the rest of it. Normally I'm skeptical of such works, as they usually turn out to be early and rough translations of older Sutras, but after reading a few lines from the middle I knew I had something different here. Rather than risk it not being there upon my return I purchased it and brought it home.
Upon doing a little further research I discovered that it is a proselytizing work developed by the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism in Tokyo, and apparently is as readily found in hotel rooms there as copies of the Gideon bible are found here in the US. Furthermore, it turned out to be an extremely well translated compilation of selections from several dozen Buddhist works, and is quite possibly, no, make that definitively, the most comprehensive and accurate single volume on Buddhism I have yet to come across.
Furthermore, I also learned that the society will happily distribute free copies of this work to anyone that asks for them, in well over several dozen languages. I'm thinking I may take them up on this so that I can acquire a more recent copy that is solely in English. In the meantime, I have been devouring the contents of this volume almost fervently. If anyone is interested in a great primer work for all aspects of Buddhism, this is book to start with.
I have been hitting the pool at the gym irregularly, and have been attempting a few walks with Kami, although have been less successful. I am just hoping at this point that my leg will have recovered sufficiently for the large group hike I am participating in at the end of this month. Still plenty of time for recovery, so I am very hopeful.
I was recently browsing at Half-Priced books while Kami was searching for more in one of her serials, and stumbled across several new Buddhist works that I hadn't seen before. Most were the usual dissemination of various Sutras or compilations of various philosophical writers, even a few Thich Nhat Hahn works that I had not run across before. However, mixed in with these various works was a small unassuming form caught my eye immediately. It was simply titled "The Teaching of Buddha". A quick glance through showed that it was only half in English, with what appeared to be Chinese for the rest of it. Normally I'm skeptical of such works, as they usually turn out to be early and rough translations of older Sutras, but after reading a few lines from the middle I knew I had something different here. Rather than risk it not being there upon my return I purchased it and brought it home.
Upon doing a little further research I discovered that it is a proselytizing work developed by the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism in Tokyo, and apparently is as readily found in hotel rooms there as copies of the Gideon bible are found here in the US. Furthermore, it turned out to be an extremely well translated compilation of selections from several dozen Buddhist works, and is quite possibly, no, make that definitively, the most comprehensive and accurate single volume on Buddhism I have yet to come across.
Furthermore, I also learned that the society will happily distribute free copies of this work to anyone that asks for them, in well over several dozen languages. I'm thinking I may take them up on this so that I can acquire a more recent copy that is solely in English. In the meantime, I have been devouring the contents of this volume almost fervently. If anyone is interested in a great primer work for all aspects of Buddhism, this is book to start with.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Half Marathon Complete
I am not sure how exactly it happened, but all of July has come and gone since the last time I took to writing on these electric pages. Somehow I have been finding excuses not to record my running adventures (or lack thereof). Fortunately I can say that this was not due entirely to a lack of running, although there certainly has been some of that. Just a little bit after the fourth of July I sustained a bruise to the back of my ankle, and has this area would repeatedly become painful every time I attempted a run. Consequently my running essentially tapered off during the last half of July as I fought to find some balance between healing and keeping fit for my half marathon. As we rolled into June I started getting panicky that I couldn't appease both masters, and opted to halt exercising the entire week before the race (I was planning to do this originally anyway, but due to my reduced regimen preceding that week I wasn't comfortable missing any more runs).
I am happy to say that this gambit appears to have paid off, as I managed to have a very successful performance at the Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon, despite a number of factors working against me, besides my ankle. The weather for the race yesterday was absolutely abysmal, waffling between drizzling fog and outright rain. I am sure I have mentioned this before, but my running performance usually dips dramatically in rainy weather. Fortunately it cleared up as the rain continued on, becoming just marginally cloudy, which made for much better racing weather.
At the start of the race the temperature was also so low that despite keeping on my warm up gear until the last second, I was shivering a worrisome amount. I knew that I would warm up once the actual race got started, but I also knew that there would be an unbearable patch between when I had to hand over my extra gear to the gearcheck booth, and the race's start. I can't recall having seen (or felt) such a cold day in August before.
Because of my leg and other factors, once the race began I didn't push as hard as I normally would. In fact, I stayed well below my training speed, and hung out a bit behind the pace leader for the 1:50 time. This was actually quite a nice way to spend a good chunk of the race, as he kept up a fair bit of banter and took my mind off of my other concerns. However, once we hit the halfway mark, I realized that I was too full of energy for that point into a 13-odd mile run, and that my leg had settled into a happy state of numbness. I kicked up my pace by about a mile an hour faster than I had been going and took off, using my heart rate to guide my speed. At this point though we were well along the Scott Pierson trail, so I was in familiar enough territory that I knew what to expect ahead. I kept up at that pace until about the last two mile, where I kept speeding up until I was basically flying toward the finish time. My official time was a little under 1 hour 44 minutes, which in hindsight could probably have been even less had I started out at a bit faster pace, but then again I might have hurt my leg even worse and not finished at all. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm very satisfied with this race's results.
So now that the race is over and I'm good and sore (not just in my ankle, but everywhere), I'll be starting my mid-off season. Basically means no running for the rest of August, but I will be hitting up the bikes and pool at the gym. Also, Kami started an evening walking routine some time ago, which has gotten to be a nice excuse to be outside a little bit more this summer. I suspect that odds of running into us down by the waterfront for the rest of this month will be pretty good. Then once September gets here it'll be nonstop training until the Seattle Marathon at the end of November.
Good times ahead.
I am happy to say that this gambit appears to have paid off, as I managed to have a very successful performance at the Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon, despite a number of factors working against me, besides my ankle. The weather for the race yesterday was absolutely abysmal, waffling between drizzling fog and outright rain. I am sure I have mentioned this before, but my running performance usually dips dramatically in rainy weather. Fortunately it cleared up as the rain continued on, becoming just marginally cloudy, which made for much better racing weather.
At the start of the race the temperature was also so low that despite keeping on my warm up gear until the last second, I was shivering a worrisome amount. I knew that I would warm up once the actual race got started, but I also knew that there would be an unbearable patch between when I had to hand over my extra gear to the gearcheck booth, and the race's start. I can't recall having seen (or felt) such a cold day in August before.
Because of my leg and other factors, once the race began I didn't push as hard as I normally would. In fact, I stayed well below my training speed, and hung out a bit behind the pace leader for the 1:50 time. This was actually quite a nice way to spend a good chunk of the race, as he kept up a fair bit of banter and took my mind off of my other concerns. However, once we hit the halfway mark, I realized that I was too full of energy for that point into a 13-odd mile run, and that my leg had settled into a happy state of numbness. I kicked up my pace by about a mile an hour faster than I had been going and took off, using my heart rate to guide my speed. At this point though we were well along the Scott Pierson trail, so I was in familiar enough territory that I knew what to expect ahead. I kept up at that pace until about the last two mile, where I kept speeding up until I was basically flying toward the finish time. My official time was a little under 1 hour 44 minutes, which in hindsight could probably have been even less had I started out at a bit faster pace, but then again I might have hurt my leg even worse and not finished at all. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm very satisfied with this race's results.
So now that the race is over and I'm good and sore (not just in my ankle, but everywhere), I'll be starting my mid-off season. Basically means no running for the rest of August, but I will be hitting up the bikes and pool at the gym. Also, Kami started an evening walking routine some time ago, which has gotten to be a nice excuse to be outside a little bit more this summer. I suspect that odds of running into us down by the waterfront for the rest of this month will be pretty good. Then once September gets here it'll be nonstop training until the Seattle Marathon at the end of November.
Good times ahead.
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