June 21st, 2008
I switched my long run this week from tomorrow to today because there’s rain in the forecast tomorrow but not enough of an accompanying temperature cut to make me want to be in it for over a couple hours.
Took some Luna Moons, which is unusual for me, I don’t usually eat anything for a med-long run, but I didn’t eat any breakfast, so thought I’d test them out. Very tasty, but as usual with chewy things and me on the run, I had one near-choking experience. I actually felt pretty energized a while after taking them, but I’m so cynical about such things, never knowing if it was the Moons or some good songs on the mp3 player, or seeing cute guys running the other way.
Other than that, I just happened to be in the park at the exact moment the swimmer’s horn went off for the Philadelphia Triathlon, so that was fun to see a sea of bobbing heads take off. Was worrisome though when, on the way back, an hour and a half later, there were still about 4 people finishing up the swim. My heart was with them in battle.
Posted in Running
5 Responses to “A Hot 14”
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Hi Flo,
Greetings from the other coast. I’ve been reading you with interest, and empathizing, since I am also a late starter, training for my first marathon – San Francisco, Aug 3rd. My speed is similar to yours.
I too have been dealing with overstride and waist bend problems.
YMMV and all that, but I have been dealing with them separately. The overstride bit the dust when I increased cadence and concentrated on bringing the strike right underneath me. It felt weird for the first few days, but yielded an instant 15 seconds per mile improvement. It’s also a much gentler ride, with fewer aches and pains resulting. I am now having to relearn how to extend at interval speeds, to prevent the cadence getting to ridiculous rates – above 200 steps per minute.
The waist bend is a longer term project. It tends to happen late in a race when fatigue sets in. My club training leader, Karen, has me doing ‘core work’ – situps, pushups, front and side planks, ugh. It seems to be working, though, and I’m pleased with my newly muscled midsection!
Good luck with Steamtown, that sounds like a fun race!
Jim E.
Here are my running buddies: http://www.lmjs.org
Hey Jim, thanks for making yourself known!
I worked on cadence many moons ago, remixing a bunch of songs to 90bpm so I could run on the beat, and I agree, it instantly subtracted a chunk of seconds to my running. I typically keep a turnover of 180 still, so not a lot of wiggle room there.
I think I’m getting better at keeping my feet beneath me – I sure think about it often enough while running, lol. It’d be nice to get back to the form drills I started donig a couple months ago, but they’re hard on my ankles and I don’t want to anger the bursitis monster, so for now, I’m laying bets on core work as my main “helper”.
Looks like a fun running crew ya got there. Good luck on your marathon, too. So brave of you to do one on August 3…you are a hardy soul. I’m melting just thinking about it.
Oh, don’t worry about me melting – the climate here is somewhat odd – lots of cold fog in August, particularly on the waterfront and Golden Gate Bridge, Many runners wear an extra layer because of the cold!
Old S.F. joke: You can easily tell who the tourists are – They’re the ones wearing shorts….
Jim E
Love the new pic! You are such a cutie!
Jim, I feel better already, lol. Shows how much I know about SF, I guess it’s just the hills that’ll kill ya.
Pokey, oh pshaw, aren’t you a sweetie? Thanks, girl!