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....