ChiRunning

The ChiRunning workshop was very interesting. It left me sore for the rest of the week, but it was goood! The only downside was that we were outside all day long in very little shade. I was a little worried I would get shingles if I my face got sunburned. Fortunately I keep sunblock in the car and was able to stay mostly unburned. There were a couple of spots I missed, but I'm fine now. (S, unfortunately, got burned and is having an unpleasant reaction to something; I don't think I've ever had hives but Oh Noes! that much be uncomfortable.)

We started the day practicing proper alignment. We did one exercise where we stood as we normally do and had a partner pull down on our shoulders to see how stable we were. Now no snickering, but I was not stable at all. I said no snickering! Then we were to stand in the proper alignment. It was really neat to feel like I didn't move at all. As a massage therapist I know about proper body positioning and how people should be aligned so that our bones support us and not our muscles, but it's a little different to actually put it into practice. We also talked about how working on proper alignment helps to actually align your body. So if you are a pronator like me but you are focusing on proper foot/leg/body position your muscles will get stronger without specific strength training and your arches will get stronger. Just in the one day's work I noticed a difference in how my shoes fit. (I like people like Danny Dreyer who fit my philosophy; most people who "need" orthotics do not need orthotics forever if they strengthen the areas that are lax and create proper balance.)

Another exercise that really brought home to me how to change my foot landing from heel striking, which is what my current problem is and which is what's making my shin splints act up, was to do some heel kicks (or butt kicks) while standing and then to keep doing that while running. I cannot kick my foot all the way out to land on the heel when I get my feet up to my behind. Hooray! It was nice to be able to finally get my feet to land where I'm supposed to, which is right in the midfoot where your arches are. Your arches are your natural shock absorbers. Your heel has no shock absorbers. This particular exercise is what caused me to be sore all week!

We also talked about how your cadence should be consistent. It's recommended that your feet hit the ground 85-90 times per minute. You are more efficient when you spend less time in contact with the ground. We broke into groups and tested where our natural cadence is. I run at a cadence of 83. After the triathlon I am going to focus on getting my cadence up to where it's supposed to. I bought a metronome to help. It's a little loud, even on it's softest setting, so I need to find a way to muffle it a little.

During our lunch break we talked about running shoes, and how shoes are getting thicker in the heel as the shoe companies attempt to correct the heel striking, and yet people still heel-strike and the injuries have not decreased. He uses a neutral shoe or a racing flat. One of the assistants is gearing towards running barefoot and had on these really funky shoes to help prepare her for that. The shoes are really cool and I want a pair! I just can't tell whether I like the slate blue/green or the bright blue ones.

If you are experiencing running injuries I suggest you at least read through the book, even if you aren't interested in the workshop. I think it's good stuff. I'm looking forward to implementing it.

Souped Up Training Plan

You know the good thing about having my butt thoroughly kicked on Sunday? Revs up my inner "oh yeah? well I'll show YOU!" attitude.

I was pleasantly surprised to find I was not very sore on Monday. I was traveling back to PA so no workout time.

Tuesday I went to the pool and did a full 60 minutes in the pool. I really need to shop for actual groceries, but since I had no breakfast foods I resorted to a ProMax Nutty Butter Crisp bar about 2 hours before I got in the water. I was really exhausted afterwards, which I expected since I've only done 30 minutes before. I got a chocolate milk for recovery and also got a healthy salad (romaine lettuce, sunflower seeds, black olives, carrots, plum tomatoes, diced egg, and grilled chicken strips with a little bit of ranch dressing). I was dying for snacky foods, but I managed to resist.

Today I got up early and went out for a 5-mile run. I tried to push myself a little more so I did not set my interval timer on my Timex Ironman watch, but instead ran for 8.5 minutes then .5 minute walk, which I repeated until the last mile when I opted not to take the walk break. I was really hoping to complete my run with 12 minute miles, but I ended up being 12:40 minute mile average, ending at 62 minutes. I am glad I could push myself, but frustrated that I couldn't quite get where I wanted to be. I consumed an Acclerade Fruit Punch drink. I really wish they wouldn't add food coloring to sports stuff. It was ok. I just had some mango and will repeat the salad I had yesterday. Yum.

I am going to repeat the 1 hour in the pool practice tomorrow, and do another 5 mile run on Friday.

Monday & Tuesday workouts

TrainingPeaks Monday Plan:

• continuously swim 40 minutes
• run 25 minutes, with 5 minute warm up and 5 minute cool down

TrainingPeaks Tuesday Plan:

• Rest Day

PhillyTriGirl Monday Plan:
Fritter afternoon options away, leave office too late in the evening to do both swim and run, choose to do a run. Since I've been lacking in the running department, run a 5k with 5 minute warm up and cool down.

I figure this is a good time to try out my new Nike+ Sport thing to see how well it's calibrated vs treadmill. I don't have Nike shoes and I like my Saucony's, so I also got a RunAway thing to tie the transmitter to my shoe. Very handy!

I mistakenly have it count a 3k instead of 5k for my workout, but I just continued to run and let it count up to 5k. The Nike+ tells me I'm finished sooner than the treadmill does. It's not a great test anyway - I need to calibrate it on the bike path where the miles are marked, since I run completely differently outside than on the treadmill.

PhillyTriGirl Tuesday Plan:
Since I didn't get the swim in yesterday, I really ought to do that today. Which I may do, if I can get to the pool in time. If not, I'll just get a full AIS stretching session in.

Absence Makes The Heart Grow Fonder?

Sorry for the delay in updates. I have wiring issues from fingers and toes, I haz no internets wherever I goes! Between cranky computer issues and training/work I have not been able to post!

On Sunday I ran 6 miles. I like to run on the bike path in the Valley Forge Park, partly because it's is nice and flat, and partly because the bike path is marked every .5 mile. I wish I were faster. I at least was consistent with my time for the Jingle 10k race - 78 minutes. I bought some Muscle Milk the week before and finally tried it out. I put some in 1 of the flasks on my fuel belt, and kept the other 4 flasks water. I have come to the conclusion that muscle milk is kind of gross, even if it is chocolate flavored. Soy protein is just not something I think I will ever like. I do love water; 4 7 oz flasks is only just enough for 6 miles when I have to provide all my own water. I knew I should have filled the 6th flask! Fuel belt is still comfy, for those who were wondering. I also still love Jelly Belly Sport Beans for a quick jolt of energy and an easy mental reward. Much tastier than the Muscle Milk!

Six miles of running is really hard on my knees. For one thing I stink at stretching, even though as a massage therapist I yell at my patients when they don't stretch. On the plus side, I am taking a whole stretching seminar next weekend (Active Isolated Stretching) so I will not have that excuse for much longer. Also, running is just not kind to the body. I need to do better with pacing; I got slower and slower with each mile. All in all I was proud of myself, but for sure pretty exhausted and sore.

Monday was a rest day, because I forgot my swim suit at home and did not have time to go retrieve it.

Tuesday I got to the gym and had the intention of working on the bike, but I started on the treadmill to warm up and just kept going. I used the one treadmill that has quick buttons to jump between "jogging" at 4 mph and "running" at 6mph so I could easily go between the two. I generally run on a flat path as I am averse to hills, but since the treadmill is a wee bit easier on my body I decided to try to do interval training and increase the incline. I started at 5 minutes of jogging (=14 min per mile) at zero incline and then did 1 minute of running (=10 min per mile). I dropped back down to jogging, but increased the incline to 3, jogged for 5 minutes and then ran for 1. I repeated this for another cycle, except I kept the run at 2 minutes before dropping down to jogging. At this point I got bored (about 20 some minutes in) but I was close enough to 2 miles that I just decided to get to 3 miles and then quit. I lowered the incline, played with the speed, got t0 3 miles and quit. Drank some more water, did 5 useless minutes on the Stair Master (I have always hated the stair master, but thought I should do more than just run for some reason probably because I am insane), drank more water, and eased my way down to the locker room to change into my swimsuit.

I brought my mask and snorkel this time, hoping it would help with the swimming and breathing problem. Unfortunately all I discovered was a) I had to keep my face down for if I tried to look ahead at the wall water got in the snorkel, and b) I was doing hyperventilation breaths. As my legs already were a bit tired from the run it was fairly useless, as workouts go.

I do have a swimming-related question. Why, when I was the ONLY person in the pool until some guy came in, did he choose the lane right next to me for swimming? I chose that lane so I would be away from people, not to swim right next to people! He was a much better swimmer than I, so after a half-hearted attempt to try to get 10 laps in I just gave up. I think I sort of managed 8 or 9 laps.

I stopped by the library on my way to work and picked up a few books on swimming. Hopefully I'll learn something before tomorrow's workout. I'm going to bike first and then swim. Silly gym schedule so is not working for me. I would much rather swim first, but the pool is still only open from 12-3. Oh well, students return next Monday so the schedule should be more accessible soon.

I weighed myself on a friend's scale today. I need to get a new battery for mine. I was somewhat pleased with the result, but I have no idea what I was before I started training to know if I'm having much weight loss. Don't really care what the scale says, as I can clearly see more muscle definition in my legs!

Hopefully the phone lines (DSL) and computers will cooperate tomorrow. Stay tuned!

My First Brick Workout

I haven't been on my bike since before Thanksgiving, so I was way overdue for a bike ride. Thanks to Global Warming, it was a balmy 50+ degrees out. With the weather so mild I ended up in my regular bike shorts and my new Super Grover short sleeved jersey instead of worrying about my awkwardly padded long bike tights.

I am a slow "athlete". I sometimes get discouraged as cyclist after cyclist passes me and quickly is out of sight. I have a hybrid bike, with pretty fat tires, and it's just not speedy. Even so, I managed to pedal almost the entire 10 miles, ending up with about 5 minute/mile. Felt pretty good as I got off the bike at my car.

I don't know yet how long one should plan for a transition time, but I managed to put my bike back on my car rack, lock it in, take my helmet off, and add the fuel belt I got for Christmas (thanks sis!) under 2 minutes. Which I thought was pretty good.

And then came the run. WHY do people do this? The first mile of my 3 mile run was extremely hard. My legs just did not feel like they belonged to me, and instead I had some weird rubber stilt type appendages in their place. I got a new watch so that I could plan out my run/walk intervals, but since this was the first time I used it apparently I didn't push the start properly to have it count down! I don't know how long I was oddly jogging before I decided I did something wrong, but I did get it to count down properly after a bit. I think I averaged about 13 minutes per mile, which is a bit slower than what I can sometimes do, but my first time running post bike.

All in all I am pleased with my first brick workout. Tomorrow -- first time in the pool!