Sunday runs

I've decided I love Sunday mornings. Something about them just gives you the space to do what you need to do. Even though I usually end up working on Sundays, the morning always seem leisurely and pleasurable and running on Sunday mornings seems to work out especially well. This morning I managed an easy 7.5 even though I haven't gone that distance in at least a month. But something was working this morning. Weird since I didn't have any real dinner to speak of the night before and didn't go to bed particularly early or wake up particularly late. Maybe it was the yoga stretches I did after getting out of bed (a couple quick sun salutations and some cat/dog stretches) or the small oatmeal with honey, or the two cups of coffee (that probably helped), or the half hour of meditation. None of those (except the yoga) are particularly unusal though. Who knows? It's a continuing mystery. But I was feeling no pain or tiredness this morning as I ran along the harbour then through the 'hood to add some extra kms. The weather was perfect - that early fall coolness with an overcast sky and a slight wind. The city was quiet still. I stopped to watch a hummingbird take in the city's hanging flowers and, as I promised my sister, stopped to smell the wild roses along the harbour path. So my pace was a bit slower than usual I guess, but still, I was weirdly un-tired and only stopped at 7.5 because the lesson of July still hangs over me and I was clearly doing more than 10% over the week before. In any case, it was all good. Maybe it was the yoga stretches - although I know there's a debate over pre run stretching. (But at least my down-dogs are improving. )

Back at it - more slowly

Okay, so it's been a while since that last update. I haven't stopped running, I just had a bit of a slow down. As soon as I hit that 110+km mark I got knocked over by a nasty summer cold and I took a while to rebuild. But I learned something. Apparently if you increase your running distance you quickly you can drain your bodies resources and defences and become prone to getting sick. So there you go. Lesson learned. Nonetheless I did get back at it within a couple of weeks and have now got over 250km under my belt, I just limited myself to the 5 or 6 km mark in one run rather than aiming for 8 or 10. The thing is, it's weird how now 5 or 6km still feels like quite an effort and on some days I can't even get that far. But I'm told that's the mystery of running. Some days you can go for miles and other days the old body just doesn't want to go there. And it's next to impossible to figure out what factors into it: sleep? stress? what you ate? Dunno. But a small bowl of oatmeal and honey now seems to be my best friend before a run. And it does seem to matter if I'm running "in nature" or in the city, but unfortunately my access to nature has been severely limited in the past few weeks. However running in the city has it's perks. I've been able to cheer on strikers, say hi to the old folks walking the Cranberry Path, re-direct lost teenagers, chat with posties about how far I run and how far they walk, and generally find out what's up in town. So despite the concrete and what it may be doing to my knees, the city running really isn't so bad, I just miss the park. And with fall upon us and winter soon to come I'd better take advantage of the park while I have the chance, so let's hope October brings new opportunties for some running through the leaves....

100k and 10k more

Whoo hoo! Okay I'm finally making some tracks! So I've officially hit the 100k mark (since I started tracking my runs in May) *before* my birthday, which was the goal. And today I made my secret goal, which was to run a full 10k before my birthday. So I can chalk that one up too. Good old Shediac with it's long flat, often dirt, roads really helped. And the 10/1 run/walk ratio really worked as well. So I have one other secret goal but it's secret, so, if I make it, I"ll let you know...

Rain

I guess I've been really lucky so far and nothing but my own slowness has gotten in the way of my getting out to run over the past few weeks. But today, the day I was all prepared for, the day I had gotten everything ready for my run the night before, this was the day the skies decided to open up and pour forth. Now I know I'm not made of sugar, I know I won't melt if I go out in the rain and at first I thought "it's just a light rain, it'll get lighter, it'll be fine". Then I thought someone was pointing a garden hose at the kitchen window. No light downpour this. It was a full on gale. So there I was all kitted out to run and nowhere to go. My nerves started to get jangly. My body started to twitch. Heck I had woken up at 2:30a.m. ready to run, but decided that was a bit excessive. I kept waiting, I did yoga, I went through the 2 hour phone meeting I had scheduled. Still it rained. Finally, by late afternoon it cleared off enough to let me out the door. The day was saved. I did a 5.5k around town - having to dodge folks leaving work and catching buses and herding children. By I did it. My sneakers were pretty wet by the end but it was well worth it. I must have been doing something right cause this female British voice, somebodyorother Radcliffe, came on my I-Pod and told me I had just done my best time for the mile (9min 16sec - so not exactly sprinting, but good for me I guess). Well yay. I guess it was worth the wait...

Running wild

So I have decided that if meditation is a science (and the Dalai Lama says it is and I'm not one to argue with the Dalai Lama) then running must be an art. I figure this is true because no system of analysis can explain to me why some days - often the days I think I won't be able to run very far - I can run on and on, and other days I can't. This morning I thought I'd go and do a "short" run in the park. My energy stores weren't particularly high and it was late morning before I could go so all of this - I thought - dictated I wouldn't go far. But lo and behold I get to the park, it is an absolutely perfect day (about 24 degrees with a fabulous breeze, the kind that makes sailors very happy). But still I think, I won't go too far, I won't push myself etc. etc. I try reversing my usual route but I get kind of misdirected and end up going up the NB trail, away from my usual route. Oh well I say, I'll go up here a piece and then double back, much as I hate to double back. But I start going and think, oh well, why not go until I hit 3km and then if I double back it'll be exactly 6km to the car and I can check out that path that supposedly follows along the road back towards where I park the car, but I can never find (the path, not the car). So the NB trail is perfect, the weather is perfect, I start coming back and who should be coming down the path but my bestest bud - who has already run some unspeakable number of kilometres. Should have known it was him right away from the Communist Youth League shirt. We check in on how far we've gone and where we're going, arrange for him to cover for me at a meeting and run off in opposite directions. I'm still thinking, yup 6km, that'd be fantastic really, I'll just veer off at that trail beside the road.... Funny thing about that trail beside the road. It's sort of like Brigadoon - it appears and disappears at will. It's marked in yellow on the little park map plain as day. I have been on it. I saw it during this particular run. But I can never quite figure out how to *get* on to it. In any case I missed it again and discovered myself back on my old loop and ended up running 8.25km in order to get back to the car. Felt great though. I had paced myself more carefully using a 10/2 run/walk ratio and maybe that helped keep me going, but the last time I did over 8km I didn't do any of that and none of the parameters of this run applied (except for great weather). So, it must be magic (incidently Sting's "every little thing she does is magic" was going around in my head, maybe the pacing was right) or art. It just happens...

Running to the beat

So being unable to get to the park I returned to inner-city running, which of course is getting more and more tricky with construction season being in full swing. (Although a really nice guy sawing through concrete and creating one hell of a choking dust did stop so I could run through without my lungs seizing up - this is Saint John, people are polite). Managed to pull off another 6km with only a couple very short - 2 min - walking segments. Tried running to music this time although I'm sure my choices would not pass muster with serious runners. I ran to world beat, delta blues, folk, some Jack Johnson, not exactly pick-up-your-feet-run music, but it worked for me. I did read in the Globe and Mail running segment (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/running/)
that there is a whole website dedicated to musical downloads for running/workouts http://www.podrunner.com - well actually, now I look more closely there are many websites with this aim. The music is chosen by the beats per minute to help you reach a certain magical 180 strides per minute. But the site I looked at had terrible music, the pounding, crashy, drum machine driven pop music kind that makes you think of sweaty workout rooms and over-excited aerobics instructors. Very un-Zen. I figure if I'm going to run I'll listen to music I enjoy and if that's some low, slow Delta blues then I can run to that. But there's other good stuff on the Globe page like a video on "Making Friends with Hills" (I'm gonna watch that one) and working up to a 10k run - I need that one too... But I'm sticking with my Delta Blues

Running in a fog

Well it must be nearly July since the fog has started to roll in on a regular basis. Forgetting, for a moment, the vagaries of fog in the summer I set out this a.m. armed with long sleeved shirt and a jacket in case it got "chilly". Note to self - when running, fog is warm and clammy. I swear I was steaming like a horse by the time I finished 5 k (appropriate really since the first 1k was me picking my way along a horse trail trying to avoid the little gifts the horses had left.) Of course now that the tide has gone out it's all lovely and sunny, but this a.m. it was a medium dense fog complete with what I like to call "frain" - not rain really, just a heavy mist. Glasses are a real pain under these conditions but I discovered, oddly, that if I take mine off to run I think I'm 10 feet tall and my legs get a lot heavier. Like a friend said recently, running is all a mind game, so clearly my mind thought that since I was 10 feet tall my legs must be really long and therefore heavy. In any case I returned to running with rained on glasses and my gait improved markedly. My friend also made the point that if you only look a couple of feet ahead of you, especially while running up hills, things go much easier for you. And indeed, I discovered this is the case. Just focus on the now the Buddhists would say, and the now in this case was the couple feet of dirt path right in front of me. Hmm. There's probably some meaning in that I should figure out. But for now I think I'll go enjoy the sun now it's back...

Running away

Wow, I've fallen behind here. Another week has passed and three more runs. Monday I hit Rockwood Park again and tried going down the big hills first and then continuing the run, but it didn't seem to make much of a difference in terms of energy levels.

Wednesday I had a long and fabulous run in good old (read: flat) Shediac. I didn't think it was going to be a good run since I woke up in a "mood", didn't really feel up to it etc. But according to the Running Room folks if you get past the first 10 minutes you'll be able to keep going. And I did. Besides, in Shediac I could explore down old dirt cottage roads, look at Shediac Bay and when inevitably I had to move out of the cottage neighbourhood I explored up some of the newer roads and found some dirt trails running beside the highway. Before I knew it I'd done 6 k but I wasn't back at my own cottage yet, so I tried a short sprint to the water's edge then walked the beach back to the cottage path. I was enjoying breathing out all my bad mood (as we're taught in yoga), so I kept taking long breaths and then breathing out for a very long time until I hit the bottom of my lungs. I love that part, where you've got no air in you. It feels great. But I started to worry I would hyperventilate. Then my meditation self said, "you're just convincing yourself you'll hyperventilate, that's just a thought. Besides don't you have to breathe fast to hyperventilate?"
Anyways, it turns out, that yoga breathing is great for running - or so says John Stanton of Running Room fame. There was Globe and Mail feature on running yesterday and he's asked what the best breathing techniques are. Apparently we should be breathing like swimmers or yoginis - deep belly breaths not short puffs high in the chest.

So to continue the yoga theme after 7k, it was still so beautiful I did a little "yoga on the beach" in addition to my usual post-run stretches. It being cottage country on a Wednesday morning in June I figured no-one was around - the most likely person to see me was a doctor so I figured she'd understand. Anyways it was great, lots of hip-opening stretches and leg stretches, a couple sun salutations and I was ready to head back sans "mood".

Today I got in another 6k in Rockwood again, after some costume adjustments. What do people do with their keys and Ipod etc as the weather gets warmer and you can't wear a jacket to shove it all in? I finally jammed the car keys into the little pouch on my sneakers (made for one flat key not big old car keys with zapper attached) and then tied my shoelaces through the key ring for extra safety. Luckily my running pants had just enough room in the hidden pocket for the Ipod. I hope I don't have to carry anymore stuff.... Anyways, this time I managed two 15 minute stretches (the second, I have to admit was tough). The seven minute walk up the big hills this time, does make starting again hard but at least this time I had the company of some bikers who couldn't make it up those hills either. And this time instead of ending where I usually end I kept going around the Lilly Lake path which was pretty nice. Thankfully I hit the end of my second 15 minute stint just as another, final, hill loomed (okay I may have slowed down in order to make sure this happened...). I was pretty winded by then but since I've set a goal of completing 100k by my birthday in July I have to keep going! I'm over half way there so here goes nothing...

Running addiction

A very weird experience this a.m. - woke up just after 6 and though "great, now I can go for a run". This happened a couple of days ago too - although that time I didn't actually go for a run and today I did. Is this the beginning of an addiction? In any case, I did go for a lovely 6.5km run this a.m. - a really lovely Saturday morning. There was hardly anyone around but you could arleady tell it was going to be a very nice day. I only meant to go for a short run but on days like this once you get started it's hard to stop. And I had to make up for yesterday, when I went for a run but probably only made it about 3km - just didn't have the get up and go. And I even tried running my park route backwards so I'd start by going downhill. Didn't help. I kept thinking about chocolate milk (now that the ad campaign about chocolate milk being good for exercisers has lodged in my brain). Maybe I was hungry. Maybe it was the burger I had the night before (during what was supposed to be a vegetarian week). Maybe it was too late in the morning. Maybe it was because I had forgotten my I-pod and so couldn't check my distance every 2 mins. In any case, I thought I had lost the will to run. But oddly, this a.m. it was back. I ran uptown and along the part of the cranberry path that is still open, then down the Lower Cove Loop, said hi to the commissionaires waiting for a cruise ship to dock, ran down to Tin Can Beach and looked out at the Bay of Fundy, then back home. I even ran a couple of laps around the block because the I-Pod kept telling me I was "this" close to 6km and then to 6.5 (I like to end on a nice, definitive number). I guess this is part of the addiction: "I"ll stop when I reach....". Oh well, it's a good addiction to have so far and I"m keeping it. We'll see how I make out when I actually have to go back to work!

Down Hill from Here

So I managed to squeeze in another run today despite the fact that a deadline loomed (unfortunately the deadline is in Europe so that brings it forward by 6 hours). But I perservered and went for a run after determining that the work really could be done in a few hours - and probably the work would be done better if I ran first (or so friends who run tell me). Back to the park and its fabulous trails and somewhere in the middle of a 5 km I realized that if I had started at the other end of the loop I could have avoided a big walking break where I struggled up some pretty nasty hills. No really, they're like 40 degrees on a protractor. Straight up really. Instead, I could have been running down those hills and then faced a much gentler incline on the other end. However, this leads to the question - run full force down the hill with gravity or put on the brakes? Somewhere I thought I had read that you should just go for it, that it would take more energy to put the brakes on. But another running friend said running full force down a hill is pretty hard on the knees - and I already have trouble with my knees. I like this trail, I want to keep running it, so I need to figure the hill thing out.



Otherwise, it was a decent run - not as far as previous runs, I forgot to put honey in my muesli or something - but there were big yellow butterflies and little blue cabbage moths to look at, so all in all a good thing...

So I'm now convinced that it's true: running on a lovely trail is far more envigorating than running on city streets. Well, at least that was my experience today. Went out to Rockwood Park (one of the biggest urban parks in Canada and only a 5 min drive from my house) on a whim and just started following one of the trails. Managed to log in 8km (I somehow managed to stop my I-pod/Nike Plus running monitor for a good 10 minute stretch so I may have done more). I surprised myself by running a full 20 minutes before doing the walk bit. And I really had to walk then not because I was tired but because the hills were going straight up at that point. But after that I still managed another two 10 minute running spurts with walks in between - past two lakes, a hawk, a lady slipper....

Anyways, running as meditation - or at least contemplation meditation - makes much more sense in that context. There's a Runner's World article on that: "Transcendental Steps" - apparently the spiritual leader of Shambala Bhuddism is quite a runner. Who knew?

Yay, another run has been completed. 6.77 km this time. Been using the run/walk scheme laid out in Walking Fit : 10mins/3mins run/walk, repeat three times. But this a.m. I tried the 5k loop (plus some) laid out by a fellow Saint Johner and ran into that age old problem in the Port City: hills. Lots of em, in the wrong places. So my pattern was more like 10/3 followed by 9/5 (that was a series of really steep hills I just wasn't going to run - did I mention that Saint John has the steepest main street in Canada? Just so's you know.) followed by an 8/2 and a break for errands. But I made up for some of it by running around the park by my house a few times just to meet my goal time of 40 minutes - which ended up being 45 and the illustrious 6.77 km. So 7km must be around the corner... Yeah, I know, I'll get my come-uppance soon. I was dragging butt when I got started this morning (should have eaten honey with my yoghurt, it helps) and now my legs are feeling it (despite the stretching exercises and 1/2 hour of yoga I did afterwards). Meditation group tonight should be interesting - sitting on the floor for an hour. Hopefully I"ll be able to walk home...

Thanks Bud

Okay, so I purloined the title idea from younger brother Bud at runningwithBachus. Thanks Bud! So on his recommendation here begins my running/healthy activity blog and perhaps other siblings will join in...

So this a.m. with all the equipment (IPod, NikePlus gadget, Running Room jacket, new running gear) from sibs Bonnie and Shaun, I logged 6km running through uptown Saint John - with a short stop in at the AIDS Saint John office to do my Presidential duty. At this rate I should definitely be running the 5km AIDS Run that we hold concurrently with our annual AIDS Walk in September (with help from the Running Room). Unless of course the sisters of Charity want me to walk with them - in which case, I will walk. When nuns tell me to do something I generally do it.

The uptown is a bit tricky to run in now with all the construction going on but soon, I hope, they will complete the bridge repairs and open the "Cranberry Path" that runs along the harbour and makes a great running path where you can see seals and ducks and boats and all that harbour stuff.

Anyways, with much encouragement from Bonnie I am now trying to complete 10 runs in four weeks. Using the walk/run combos laid out in WalkingFit magazine (this week 10mins running, 3mins walking - repeat 3 times) and the stretching sequence they recommend. On alternate days I'll try for a combo of yoga (following my lovely week long yoga sojourn in Byron Bay Australia) and stretchy band exercises (again grace a Bonnie). Really, it's a good thing I'm on sabbatical with all this exercise to do. I'll let you know how it goes. And then of course, there's all the food research I have to do this summer....