hey folks! good to be back on home soil… we got back from Ecuador at 4am on Sunday morning after a series of delays and an unfortunately junky airport-parking-dent-in-Liz’s-car-fiasco… but we’re home, we’re safe and getting back to 100%!

I am sorry to say that on my 14 day vacation, I didn’t run one minute. Not even the slightest. I had the best of intentions: in my suitcase I packed shoes, shorts, tshirt, etc etc, but never was I able to don the good ol synthetic clothes… no excuses necessary. Let’s just say that between seeing tons of family, eating at every chance, spending a great deal of time in the car, and overcoming some annoying minor health obstacles, I didn’t get around to it.

But I did today! I was a little freaked out to try and run because I was feeling a little bit puny still after recovering from some intestinal issues, but I am happy to say that I ran about 3 miles… the map says one lap around Carrier is 1.28 miles and I ran around it 3 times, so that’s 3.6, right?

I didn’t walk at all, I didn’t go fast, and I certainly didn’t feel awesome, but I did feel okay and I have to say that before ChiRunning if I had taken a 2 week break off running in any other time when I was training for triathlons, there is no way I could have run the distance/time I did today without stopping and would have most likely hated every step.

Thank goodness for ChiRunning. I feel great right now, and although my ego might be a little bruised (the last long run I had before leaving was so good!… argh) my body has responded well, both in my chi and in my muscles/bones. I am going to check in with Danny tomorrow to see what exactly my next steps should be between now and the 18th, but I am confident with some ganas and good visualization, dedicated runs and healthy eating I will be fine!

Here are some things I tried to focus on/felt while I was running today:

• keeping my chin down, always
• keeping my shoulder steady. I noticed they were getting a little crazy and when i straightened up and got them steady, I immediately felt like I had more energy for my legs. crazy.
• my breathing was fine but a little bit tight. I think it’s going to be like that for a few more runs before my body readjusts…
• I was trying to focus on not using my calf muscles, because right when i started, i noticed that my tendency was to push a little bit
• I kept a very tall posture, imagined a big balloon on top of my head pulling me up
• I tried to keep my feet behind my hips, though it was a little hard
• My overall feeling was okay, some parts were a little easier than others (when is any run not like that?!)
• I just kept refocusing my y’chi: when i looked around at other people or the road too far ahead, I got out of my body. When I refocused down to about 10 feet in front of me, I did much much better. It was more about getting my head in the right position I think than keeping the blinders on, because I did enjoy the scenery!

Okay folks… that’s all for now. Thanks for reading, hope you all had a nice holiday and an awesome new year. I know we did.

Scale: 6

so, I ran on Saturday, but it’s taken me 48+ hours to get around to it…. sorry for those of you who are breathlessly waiting for my next entry. ha!

Brynn and I ran together… (just struck me that we should have taken a picture at the end of our run!) we were a good pair: she’s been ‘off’ for the last two weeks of long runs because of cruddy nose/throat issues and I have been more or less lazy, so it was good to have the motivation to run with someone else.

the weather was beautiful and we met at Bent Creek about 12, so it was warm enough to not feel to terribly cold. I wore a lot of clothes, but lately my heart rate hasn’t been skyrocketing so I haven’t been shedding layers as a result. Actually, I didn’t even pull the gloves off for the better part of an hour!

Anyway, the stats are: 1 hr 59 minutes, 9.7 miles. We walked almost 2 miles at the end, to let the lactic acid keep moving and cool down. It was a great thing to do. The route we ran we a bit different than what I have done before, and required that both of us have different maps to decipher where we had ended up… It was fun! We stopped a few times to get food/munchies from our coats/shed coats/look at the maps, so we weren’t actually running the whole time and then we walked a little bit after each stop just to get moving a little bit more, but even with the stops and with the terrain which was probably close to 60% flat, 40% trail hills, we did darn good.

I don’t have any complaints about my body during the run EXCEPT that my right hip muscle is starting to talk to me again. I can’t figure out why it started to ‘flare’ up again, but I think it might be the cold and some pretty shoddy stretching skills. it hasn’t bothered me too much on Sunday or today, which is a good sign, but I’d like to just do away with my lame leg.

On Saturday night, after a good leg drain and mini stretches and a hot shower, my right leg was achy achy achy… almost like growing pains. I think probably from running but I am not sure why, but it could be because my left occipital ‘tendon’ was tight all day Friday and Saturday morning, tender and sensitive, so that may have been why: I was compensating for it somehow. That’s was Brynn’s diagnosis, and I wouldn’t disagree with her on that.

Anyway, the run was a definite 10. The weather was amazing, the trails were beautiful, there weren’t a ton of people, I enjoyed running with Brynn and exploring some new territory. It was really great.

So, I was able to do a little teaching on Wed, to a local guy named Joe… He wanted to learn more about ChiRunning and since I am getting out into the world to try to teach it, it was a great opportunity.

So after about 90 minutes of going through the basics, we decided to go out for a run in the pouring rain. It was fun and Joe did really well!

We did the same route I did on Tuesday, but we didn’t go into the forest. I was talking throughout the run, saying out-loud focuses for both Joe and myself:

• Ankles up, imagine the feet never dropping below the ankle until the last moment, this will help keep the ankles up and knees down.
• Remember the volleyball image in front of your body to keep the arm swing accurate.
• The shoulders are like headlights in a car: steady and forward.
• Remember to hold the core steady: that’s what will keep everything together. That’s what lets your upper body engage with gravity and your lower body to cooperate with the road coming at you.
• Head up Head up, imagine yourself (myself) as a puppet being held just above the ground by a string coming from my head.

It was a good run for both of us. I have confirmation from Joe that he was sore the day after, but it’s been a long time since he last ran, so we can give him a break 

I enjoyed teaching, and believe me, it helps to learn it myself. If any of you is thinking about ever wanting to teach ChiRunning, you should.

That, for me, was the 2 consecutive days of running, and now that it’s Friday afternoon, I wonder about going for a run tomorrow instead of Sunday so I don’t wait too long before my LSD. I am going to do my best to run the full 2 hours on Sunday. do my best.

Happy Friday, all!

now that I have gone for my run and gotten home and am warm and clean and fed, i can say that i had a great run today. went around the ‘hood near the office, mostly on the roads, but decided to tag a little extra in the Urban Forest at the UNCA campus… that was a really great idea…

it was about 4.30 by the time out the door to go run, and it’s getting dark early these days, so I figured I had an hour max to get home. that gave me enough time to do the run from last Fri that Danny and I ran, plus a little extra. I was feeling like I needed to be around some trees and earth and the forest was on my route, so it worked well.

It had been overcast and raining all day, but not cold. By the time I went out, it wasn’t that dreary dark, but it was like the sun was feigning presence at the last minute… so the light was this cool, eery orange color and the rain had basically ceased so I wasn’t fighting the weather. That was a blessing.

I did the body looseners before I started, and I am grateful for that, too. I swear by those funny little warm-up exercises, but it really does get my body back into itself and help my runs. I can honestly say that everytime I do the body looseners after not having done them, I am convinced again that they have mystic properties to aid in a good run.

I just felt good when I started and I felt strong and quick. I was working on keeping my head high and my ankles high. I am still totally nuts about keeping my 790s with good tread (I can already see some heel wear, how annoying!), so I was paying attention to getting my ankles up, but not thinking necessarily where my feet were hitting. I think it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword for me:

• when I think about my foot strike, or arms swing or whatever, my concentration goes there and I kind of veer off path a little bit cause I think I sometimes fixate… you know, it’s like driving during the evening and the drivers ed people always tell you not to look at the oncoming car’s headlights because that’s where you’ll go… but at the same time, when you’re turning, they always tell you to look where you’re going and that will guide the car where it’s supposed to go…

1. So my point is this: when I start thinking about something I am doing incorrectly, I keep doing it incorrectly, perhaps. And when I focus on the things I am doing right, I go there and do them right, which is not something to complain about.

But seriously, do you see what I am saying? It makes sense, it’s like this crazy balancing act to make sure my brain is going the right direction so that my poor ol’ body can keep up. this is a good problem to have, I like to problem solve.

Focuses/impressions for this run:

• The weather was lovely. I am such a sucker for perfect weather when I run. I don’t mind walking in any kind of weather, but running? It’s so much more fun when it’s lovely weather.
• I was keeping my head up and my ankles up and working my arm swing at 90 on the flats and 45 on the uphills.
• Because I was sore from the elliptical, I focused on basically ‘no legs’ on the flats and the hills and it seems to have served me well… not sore yet.
• I felt fast today. I realized this morning that I have sort of abandoned Danny’s guided runs for me (Tue surges, Ths hills, Sun LSD) but I also feel like I have a better understanding of my own body now and what I can accomplish, and there’s no doubt in my mind that I can finish the run, so that’s awesome… but Danny is the expert so maybe I ought to follow his advice a bit more closely until this race is actually in completion…
• Anyway, the point is that I felt fast and that’s what I was supposed to work on today and that is great, so I let myself go fast most of the time and then pulled back occasionally when I wanted to create the ’surge’… the crazy thing is that I didn’t want to slow down and felt like junk after I did slow down. So I just kind of went fast for the run…
• I don’t know what mileage I actually did, but I was in the forest for about 20 minutes and the whole run was 48 minutes and I think I probably did close to 5 miles and I had to stop at 3 lights, so my total running time was maybe close to 46 or 45 minutes, which makes that a fast run! And here’s the craziest thing about this, people: I wasn’t really trying or efforting to go faster, it just happened. it really does just happen. the whole Form-Distance-Speed thing isn’t hocus pocus, it’s real. I know a lot of you agree with me, and for those of you who aren’t there yet, keep at it. It’ll happen.
• In the forest, there were plenty of leaves on the ground, so I wasn’t going super fast or super slow, but there are some flat areas and some hilly areas, and although my heart rate for this run was up higher on ave (179 or so), my PRE was probably about the same as my most recent runs, and that’s a great feeling for my head (ie ego).
• Some of the hills I really was going creepy slow, but I didn’t care and my HR recovery was amazingly fast and I just felt darn good this whole run.
• When I got out of the forest, I ended up going like a jack rabbit through this crazy non-path that I blazed for myself and cut out of the forest at a non-entry, back onto my route (absolutely pure luck, I had no idea where I was exiting the forest) and when I got back on the pavement, the rest of the way is basically a false-flat and I just took it easy and used my arms and didn’t worry about the time of day or the sunlight, since I was out of the forest and back into the visible world again.

I was really happy when I finished tonight, and someone was certainly watching out for me with the weather. This was totally a 10 run, and I am grateful. I feel like I am having more and more great runs, and I hope I can keep this up.

I’ll be out of the country (Ecuador) for two weeks pretty soon and my running will probably take a hiatus, but I’m committed to doing some form of exercise and hopefully meeting up with some other ChiRunners in the city!

Thanks to all of you, over and over again for your support. I know a lot of you read this and don’t comment, but I appreciate all eyes reading this… I can feel it! got another week of runs to blog about and then I’m outta here!

it was cold again here on sunday, so cold that I went out to the shed to get a few things, and by the time I came back inside, i could barely feel my hands and apparently I had liquid boogers running down my nose that i couldn’t feel. lovely.

needless to say, i chickened and ran on the treadmill at the Y. Again, it was crazy busy and did a good 30 minutes (3 miles) and then did a little bit on the elliptical… my lower legs are sore from the elliptical… it’s been almost a year since I was on one of those machines… and now I remember why. I used to like them, but not so much anymore…

i wore more appropriate clothing indoors on Sunday and didn’t die of heat, but was still plenty sweaty. definitely felt like i was ‘efforting’ more than usual… probably the way it goes

anyway, it was a decent workout, and although i only ‘ran’ about 1/4 of what I was supposed to run, I did something. Hope I’m not damaging my progress by not having done two long runs two weeks in a row… having a hard time with the cold…

I didn’t really have any aches or pains while running, but I have GOT to do the body looseners. I feel like a slacker cause I haven’t been doing them lately. Bad Liz, bad Liz!

today is overcast and supposed to rain, but i am determined to run, so i’ll have something good to write about tonight.

Friday afternoons are a hard time to go motivate for a run… there’s last minute emails, calls to make, people to meet for happy hour… Anyway, I was on the brink of not going for a run. On the brink only, but finally I just got up from my desk and got changed into running clothes. I figured if I was walking around in tights at the office it would be incentive enough to get out the door–I feel silly wearing them around unless I’m running…

So Danny came with me, and we only did a short little run (he was running home and I was running back to the office, so we ran together for a little while with Mei Ling, and then parted ways.) It really was a short route, but so bitterly cold with the wind, I headed back a little early because I wasn’t wearing and ear or hand protection and no windbreaker. Duh, Liz.

I ran just short of 4 miles, 1/2 with Danny, 1/2 without. He and I ran pretty quickly to get off Broadway and into a more secluded area, so the first part of the run was quick and then I slowed down a little bit for the remainder. Either way, averaged around an 8.5 min mile pace: the cold is a good incentive to put a little umph in the stride.

Thoughts/observations:

• Didn’t do body looseners. Should have… I felt a little heavy and think the looseners would have helped me get a little energy moving through my body. I really should really try to do that before I go out for a run, no matter how short.
• Didn’t stretch very well. Again, should have. In the book, Danny dedicates a great deal of time outlining the importance of the pre/post run exercises, both mental and physical that will help create a good running practice. I have been a bad example of that lately. I think on the long runs I really do dedicate adequate mental preparation and body loosening and after-run stretching, but I could work on doing the same thing when I go for short runs, too. It would probably help me feel better about each run, no matter the time/length.
• My arm swing is back to normal, according to Danny, but I have as always room to improve my head position and ankle circles. I mean, before Danny even said anything to me, I knew that’s what it was going to be! I felt like I had pretty good form, but of course there is always room to improve. My long neck thing is just about being lazy, and I need to be conscious of it every time I take a step. It can be sort of exhausting and I know when I am tired, I start to slouch. Good thing to practice…. And with the lower leg position/movement, here are a few good tips from Danny about foot placement and ankle circles:

1. Every time your foot hits the ground, be aware of where it is in relation to the rest of your body: it should always be behind your hips every time it makes contact with the ground. If you were to look down and see your foot hit, it would always be behind your hips. With correct posture, this is absolutely possible at any degree of lean/speed.
2. Your legs should never be ‘coming forward’… instead, imagine that as your ankles come high (even in slower speeds), all the have to do is drop down vertically to touch the ground. If you visualize your foot this way, then it’s more difficult to be taking strides forward, and instead it forces your legs to always swing to the rear which is what they should be doing anyway….

I liked this last point, that the ankles (feet) can just come straight down after they’ve reached the top of their arc: no need to swing them forward. What I found when Danny was describing this to me is that my upper body really started to lean forward and lead my body. It felt a little strange, but I imagine it looked pretty good. This business of keeping my feet always behind my hips is what I know to be true, but what I have a hard time feeling in my body. I should videotape myself to see how it really looks. I should probably also watch the DVD again to get a good visualization. I have a hard time with this because my legs are long, but especially from hip to knee. My lower legs are pretty short compared to the rest of my leg, so in theory, it should be easy for me to get these circles correct and just let my ankles fall gently to the ground. I just need to practice practice practice.

On another note, I feel like I have hit a plateau in my running. I will probably take music with me today on the long run, and will hopefully enjoy it but it’s been a bit of a difficult task to get my legs out the door lately. Danny said it’s normal, and I know it’s normal, but I don’t want to be normal. I want to be better than normal. Who doesn’t? It’s just learning how to take things as they come, I guess, and be happy with the now instead of pining for the future or past.

Either way, I AM at a plateau and I am learning to just be gentle with my expectations. I know I can’t just not run because I don’t feel like it… I’ll fall off the wagon and then my race could be a disaster…  I mean, even with this Chi stuff, it’s okay to plateau. The point is to enjoy where I am. It’s been a cool ride so far.. it’s only 5 weeks away… WOW! Who else is running in the Houston 1/2? I’ll be wearing ChiGear, so if you see me, let’s run together for a spell!

Scale: 7.

oh man, i have to spill the beans. I ran on the treadmill Tuesday night. i feel like i am a cheater or a bad person or a fake or something. not really but sort of… haha! no wonder I have procrastinated on writing about it.

Danny wrote a good article about running on the treadmill… you can look at it here. Good tips for those of you approacing bitter cold running seasons…

It was getting dark before I got out of the office, and the Y is right across the street, so I went there and ran on the treadmill. Because it is CRAZY busy after work (honestly, they have to man the sign-in board and for about 3 hours, have a full-time person calling out names of next-in-line for the exercise equipment!) I only ran for 30 minutes, since they have a time limit during peak hours. Understood why they have the rule, but man, it’s crazy. In the reflection of the glass, I could see people lurking around the sign-in board like vultures ready to drop for some carcasses.

I was a carcass when I finished: had planned to run outside, so I didn’t have the best clothes: cotton tank, long sleeve tech shirt and loose over pants. I was sweaty when I was done, and felt like I had run much farther/faster than I in fact had. 3 miles in 30 minutes… again, nothing if not consistent!

I focused on the following things on the treadmill:

• leaning. I had to stand a little farther back from the controls than I was used to from my previous treadmill experiences, but it was fine because the lean kept me from going off the back end (I started imagining those hilarious commercials when someone flies off the back of treadmill and gets spit onto the ground… I didn’t want to become one of those laughing stocks. Have you ever actually done that?) This is a funny little YouTube video some of you may have seen… good little laugh to pick up your day.
• arm swing down. a couple of times i caught my hands floating up near my shoulders, and i could watch in the reflection of the glass to make sure that my hands didn’t come above the reflection of the treadmill.
• quick cadence. I set the machine to do a ‘random’ course which meant some ‘hills’… but I tried to just keep the cadence the same the whole time, even with the little bit of hills. It’s hard to keep a good cadence when you’re at the gym next to 10 other treadmills and loud music. I thought I had about 85 but then actually counted and I was only at 77! that was alarming and enlightening!
• heels up! I could see in the reflection that I had pretty good little circles going around with my ankles and feet. that was very satisfying…

I was surprised at how sweaty I got: sure it’s being indoors and having too much clothing on, but I wonder if the treadmill running was that much more difficult for me because I felt like I had run closer to 45/60 minutes rather than 30. Something to work on if I go over there again, eh?

Didn’t have any aches and pains and I stretched decently well afterwards, so no tightness or soreness today or yesterday.

Scale: 7

It was quite cold yesterday morning when I ran at 7.30, still in the ‘burbs’ of Denver. I managed a one-way ish run because my Dad and I were meeting up the road, so that was kind of nice. Even though I was supposed to do two hours, I ran out of time during my trip for 2 hours of uninterrupted Liz-time, so I did 1hr instead. Not bad, considering…

It was a good run, but man it was cold, and there was this slgihtly angled wet snow that poked my eyes so strongly a few times, I felt like pencil had been flicked at me! Really, I was running along and my eyes were just watering buckets. Some from the cold, some from the snow, and I literally had tears streaming down my face.

I took Kleenex to prevent my snot problem, and fortunately the few that I brought held up the test of runny eyes and nose.

I wasn’t sure how the roads were going to be because of the wet and the cold, but fortunately, it wasn’t slippery, just a little 1/2″ - 1/4″ dusting of snow which wasn’t difficult to run on at all.

The snow actually provided a great incentive for me to imagine the perfect foot fall and ankle circles. I felt like I had a really great form the whole time. No one can learn to run with their chin down and forehead in front better than when a flurry of wet snow is thrusting itself into your face. Talk about an incentive to keep your head down!

I felt steady and strong and pretty darn good. I had a quick pace, and there was one longish uphill/downhill and that was a good test for my legs… At about minute 45 I had a little slump, which generally happens to me. It’s good to know, because at the race I’ll be taking gels at minute 45 and probably again at 90 minutes and then finish the race strong. Does anybody think it’s cheating to eat gels on a 1/2 marathon? Be honest…

When I started to kind of feel tired, I just shortened my stride and increased my breath exhalation as much as possible, kept my arms moving quickly and just focused on being satisfied. When I was feeling good, I was feeling full of breath, and my heart rate seemed to stick right around 170 bpm, which I was very happy with. I was really trying to use my arms most efficiently, and remember that crazy foot thing that I have going on…

I am happy to report my knees didn’t ache until the end and I am certain that it was the cold, not my form. My heart rate, as I said, was good. My brain was clear: I think the cold helped keep me alert and focuses, esp. with the chance of slipping very much on my brain

two slight aches; my strange right hip thing was back momentarily, and I believe it was the lack of stretching, the cold, hurrying around after the run with no leg drain and then sitting on plane/in car for about 6 hours… AND my poor calves are sore today. Again, tight from the same reasons, and also because of the snow. I think I had a good foot fall, but I was probably tensing a little because of the road conditions. Lesson learned.

The cold was kind of a strange thing to deal with. I get so hot when I run that it was a nice way to balance my body heat, but the wet snow stuck to my hat and my coat and towards the end I got a little chilly. I suppose that’s okay cause I was sweaty, too and slowing down.

My poor shins were bright red when I finished (3/4 pants, no full lengths) but it was okay after a little time in the car with the heat blasting.

Scale: 8… I ran 6.32 miles in 58.30 minutes. Not bad… about 9.15 pace? Ha!

Denver is about 5,280 ft. Hence called The Mile High City. That’s about 3000 feet higher than what I am used to running. When we came in August for my friend’s wedding, we were in Vail at 8,000 feet, and honestly, I felt like that was an easier run than this run! Strange strange.

I ran from my parents’ house down through this great public footpath the runs around this area of town. I found myself a little farther away from home that I anticipated, and came back on the main roads (actually not too terribly busy because no one was out driving that early on Thanksgiving.)

When I started off I felt a little bit like molasses. I think the altitude probably had something to do with it, but I just felt a little slow-moving. It was a nice temperature, and I was having a nice time remembering my days back as a little girl running around those same roads with friends, and riding bikes all the way to the mall to buy a smelly hand lotion or something.

I was really focusing on keeping a quick cadence and keeping my feet in a good line so I didn’t go and do something dumb with my heels/feet. I didn’t want any knee pain, and was trying to focus on keeping my ankle movement nice and round and sort of high. There were a few times during the run when I got a little twinge of pain in my inside foot (can’t remember which one) but I managed to make it go away by focusing on a really circular foot path and a mid-foot strike.

I got a new pair of shoes (WR790), and I am a bit obsessed with the visualization of trying to keep them with perfect tread for as long as possible. My older shoes, the MF800s, have a clear heel-wear pattern, but I can’t tell if that is from just my running or because I walk around in them, too. So my 790s will be street shoes, too, but when I run, I am going to be very careful about treading midfoot only. It’s kind of nice, and makes me very focused on getting my feet right. I think it worked pretty well.

I focused on keeping my head forward, chin down… that was easy since the air was quite cold and my eyes were watering like crazy! Between keeping my chin down and my ankles up, I think I did pretty well. I had no idea what kind of pace I was going, but figured it was about normal. Other than my little foot issue, I didn’t have any other complaints… other than the fact that I was having some serious snot issues. Sorry to be graphic, but does any of you have tips on clearing the nasal path before/during running? I took some Kleenex, but blowing my nose while running is sort of annoying. Forget about farmer’s blow, I get it all over myself!

I ran 5.22 miles in 48 minutes, which was right about normal. That was good to know, especially with the altitude change. Felt good for running, glad I went out in the morning to do it before the stresses of the day started and am so glad it was a good run. Stretched after I got back and did a little leg drain. No soreness at all!

Scale: 8

Really, I got up this morning, and can safely say for the first time in years, I want to go out and run.

What a moment! It surprised me, I really wanted to go out and do it, and I felt confident in my abilities and had no preconditions or expectations of what I needed to do, I just was happy for getting up early and out into the cold before the traffic and stresses of the day could interfere with my run.

Needless to say, the scale of this run was a definite 10! I only ran 30 minutes in the neighborhood, but there were a few hills, and a few little slick patches of frozen water and it was beautiful and cold and I felt great. It was about 3 miles in 30 minutes: I am nothing if not consistent!

My legs felt a little heavy, probably still leftover sore from this weekend (Ivan surprised me on Saturday with a Bikram Yoga class and then a massage/soak later in the day — talk about getting the toxins out!). I was okay with how they felt and simply body sensed that they were a little tight and awkward feeling, but nothing to worry about or beat myself up about.

I keep focusing on keeping my heels high and light, my arm swing at 90 degrees (it feels so strange!!), and my head forward. Like Alice Diffely’s tips for this past newsletter, I imagined my forehead in some one’s hand and it helped my keep my chin down and head forward. Pretty neat.

I took the time to stretch out really well after running: the heaviness in my legs was mostly likely from not doing a leg drain on Sunday after the LSD (gasp!), so I made sure to stretch well today, especially cause I am going to get on a place this afternoon and nothing is worse than cramped quarters with cramped legs. Agreed?

I’ll be in Colorado for the holiday, running Thursday morning (heck yeah, then I get to eat a little bit more cranberry sauce and pie!) and Sunday LSD. If any of you reading this is planning to run anytime, write a comment and we can maybe get together.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

… on Sunday was amazing. My birthday was on Saturday, so of course I was just happy the whole weekend, and I had a great run on Sunday with a new friend, Brynn. She ran a 1/2 in February in Florida and is training for her 1st marathon which is in Feb 09 in Florida…

We both needed to run about 2 hours and for both of us that was right around 11 miles… couldn’t have been more kismet: our paces really were almost identical and it was so nice to run with someone!

We ran in Biltmore  Forest, where I’ve run before, and so it was a familiar neighborhood and kind of fun to explore and get lost.

The first part of the run is uphill and we ended the same way, so we ended on a downhill which is SO good for the soul.

Here are my memories/focuses:

• Took water about 1.5 miles into the route and then left it to pick up later, which was nice and I was glad to have it.
• I didn’t over-dress, and was glad for that.
• I ate a goo about 1 hour in so I wouldn’t bonk or crash. That little packet is a real life-saver.
• My heart rate didn’t get very high at all. I was very glad for that: Biltmore Forest is hilly, and I was really trying to just use NO legs on the uphills and exaggerate my arm swing. I think it really worked. Honestly, at the top of the hills, I really had no problem whatsoever and wasn’t out of breath at the top of the hills!
• My knees started to ache about 1.10 hrs into the run: I adjusted and focused on a smaller stride and really exaggerated my heel lift so that I felt like a silly fool with mini little steps, but it worked. Took the pressure off my knees. It was also because of my strange little foot flair that Danny diagnosed from last week… must have contributed some to the knee pain so I focused on a really straight leg all the way to my big toe.
• I was able to carry on a decent conversation with Brynn for most of the run, which indicated to me that we had a good pace, not too fast, but I wasn’t like speaking-easy either.
• Our total mileage was about 11.13 miles, and we did it in 1.58, which worked out to about a 10.30 pace. Not bad at all! I was thrilled with that.

We hope to run again together, and at this point, like I said in my other previous post, at this point I am just keeping a good base and will keep running about 2 hours every Sunday and doing maintenance the rest of the week.

Scale: 9

well, this is what happens when you have all-day meetings and a life-after-work: the blog doesn’t get updated on the day I run!

I ran yesterday and today, both during the day. yesterday I ran near the office for about 45 minutes (fairly flat, false flats, some downhills) and today ran with Danny in the Experimental Forest near the UNCA campus for 30 minutes (small rolling hills on trails).

It was really nice the last two days, not miserably cold like it was on Tuesday. But as I have been told, I can just bundle up and keep moving. The cold shouldn’t be that much of a deterrent!

My brain is fried today, so this entry is going to be short and sweet:

• Knee ache: I discovered that it’s because I do something relatively large number of people do: my foot tends to angle out from the time it’s behind to the time it comes forward (but hopefully always behind my body, right?!) and as my foot comes down, it hits on the outer heel, no matter how much I have tried for a mid foot strike… My knees were a little achy today, and Danny informed me very politely that it’s because of my foot placement. If my foot were really relaxed, it wouldn’t be torquing outward and putting pressure on my knee and then putting pressure on my knee again because of where my foot landed: simple story is to keep relaxed, try to imagine hitting my inside opposite calf with the raised foot, and keep the y’chi forward.
• I felt good yesterday and today aerobically. The runs today weren’t really super long or fast at all, but I felt like I had a good heart rate and I liked the way I felt when I was done. Nothing to long, nothing too short.
• Arm Swing: been really focusing on keeping my arms down at a true 90 degrees instead of hiked up around my shoulders when I am on the flats. today on the hills, it really helped to run behind Danny so I could mimic what he did. There’s great power in mimicry. How else do we learn anything as children?
• I want to make sure that in the next 7 weeks of my training that I don’t get injured, keep enjoying myself, make sure I can run 13 generally comfortably, and keep smiling.

I figure that at this point, I’ve got to try to stick with my training regimen, but I really just want to go have fun with the runs as much as possible. I remember when I first started, I wanted to follow the training regimen so closely, and I am glad I did, but somehow now I feel like I have the skills to know what I need to do, to let my body tell me what it wants to do.

That’s an exciting thing.

Yesterdays run: 7

Today’s run: 9

so, i’m not really into torture or anything.

i’m supposed to run today, and weather.com says it’s supposed to ‘feel like’ 27 degrees today at the warmest.

that’s crazy and i’m not into it. I’ll try again tomorrow when it says the warmest feeling temp will be something around 37 instead.

Danny ran this morning apparently. I’m just no superstar stud like that.

well, i can positively say that mapping/determining my running route the night before a run is a very good idea, especially when it’s 35 degrees F in the morning and the last thing anyone would want to do is go out and run…

today i did two loops out at Bent Creek. it was just under 11 miles, and I did the whole thing in 1 hr 50 minutes. Not a really fast time, but not exactly slow either… that was about 10 minute miles: the first loop was slower than the second.

because it was so cold this am, i really bundled up, but expected to loop by the car at the halfway mark so that I could discard some layers… wore full spandex pants, warm socks, thermal long sleeve, fleece gloves & earwarmer and a light windbreaker (that breaks into a vest, it’s great, you should get one… had it sitting around from my crazy cycling days)…

anyway, in the pockets i stuffed kleenex, chapstick and a coffee flavored hammer gel. i figured that for the longest run of my life i’d probably want some energy.

before i left the house, i had two spoonfuls of honey and a couple sips of water. did my body looseners at the house: the thought of doing looseners in the windy shade didn’t exactly appeal to me.

while mentally preparing for the run this morning, i wasn’t sure how far/how long i was going to go. i knew two loops around bent creek were around 10 miles and i knew that i could walk back to the car if i got done in my time-limit and wasn’t finished with the distance. i also knew it was familiar territory and pretty, so it would be a nice running environment.

i did two full loops of the run, but the last 1/2 mile I walked. That would make it just over 10 mile run… in 110 minutes, i am okay with that!

i focused mostly on the 90 degree armswing and keeping my chin down. I was able to work with breathing a little bit too, even through my nose, because i brought kleenex! …

my knees started to ache at about hour 1 (which is right when i got to my car) and i ditched my windbreaker arms and gloves… i sucked down the hammer gel sort of slowly and sipped a bunch of water (while jogging, i tried to not stop at the car longer than 30 seconds…) and ditched the bottle for my return trip.

i didn’t get cramps after eating the gel, which was a good sign, and something to consider as a regular thing during my longer training runs and on race day, if i need it.

so, like i said, my focuses were: arm swing and chin down.

the arm swing thing is really nutty. my shadow was helpful in keeping me in check, but i realized that when i took the water bottle a couple weeks ago in biltmore forest for my LSD run, i think that’s when i picked up the bad habit of running with hyper-bent elbows… habits are quickly learned, eh?

and with my head: i started thinking of using my head to lead my body, leaning from my for head and letting my forehead lead me. i got away from focusing on my chin because it was just messing me up. obviously, after all this time, if i don’t have my chin right, i need to look at things from a different perspective. I think ‘leading with my forehead’ was a good antidote.

so with my knees being achy at hour 1, i was trying to focus on leaning more and taking smaller strides. i was thinking of gathering chi instead of issuing it (see this article danny wrote about issuing and gathering), especially on the second half of the run.. my hip never hurt, i never got a sideache, i didn’t take music so i basically had a meditation for almost 2 hours. my heart rate was remarkably low: i don’t think it got about 174, and for the 2nd loop of the run, it was at 167-169 for a few miles…

i get a little leery about heart rate drops: when i was on the triathlon team in college, i got overtrained and for the longest time, couldn’t get my heart rate up where it needed to be for effective cardio training. granted, today being an LSD, the high heart rate wasn’t the focus (really does it ever need to be?!) but i wondered briefly if i was having a drop because of overtraining…

Nah, i got around the lake and for the next several miles back to the car, i just picked up the pace. it was crazy, i couldn’t imagine stopping or slowing down, and i didn’t want to! i got into a groove, and while i know i wasn’t going very fast, i was going fast than i had gone previously in the run… i kept going… and going… and going.

like the energizer bunny. even though my knees still ached, i didn’t have any other issues to stop me… i kept thinking of these places along the route where i could imagine stopping and then walking to the car. But then I’d get to that ’stopping’ place and just keep going. So I had planned to run for 1.40 or 1.45 and instead ran 1.55! An hour and 55 minutes? WHAT?!

Well, I just didn’t want to stop, I guess. It just felt so good to keep running… i mean, ChiRunning really is the stuff that runners ought to be made of… injury-free and effortless running?

I had a few times during the run where various parts of my ankles/feet were getting talkative. i think part of it is that the terrain wasn’t concrete. I was running on gravel or wood chips for the whole run today, which is substantially different than running on asphalt, as you know. probably, my ankles and feet took some more twists and turns than they have all week. I kept my feet loose for the whole run, so the pain wasn’t actually pain like i had hurt myself, but more like twingey pain of something that’s been a minutely strained… i was able to body sense and recognize that i had some discomfort in my feet/ankles, but didn’t dwell on it and tried to imagine gathering chi from the ground to help heal those sore spots: facilitated by small stride and high ankles, i got the mid foot back in order and the pain went away.

when i got to the car, i stretched a bit, and had some water with supplements in it… got home and did a leg drain and some more stretching and soaked in Epsom salts in the tub. no sore muscles yet!

tonight, my knees are achey. we took a walk to a neighborhood pub earlier, and they were a little twingy starting off, and after sitting for awhile my knees are stiff… plan to massage some arnica into them later, but part of it might be the weather. do you think it’s possible for a 26 year old to have weather-congizant joints? I thought that was only for the advanced-aged folks.

overall: 10. thank you all for reading this and for being part of my journey to a ‘10′ run. i did it! and i’m sure i’ll do it again!

So, I ran yesterday with Danny. And we did hills. And he rocked it. And I didn’t

But you know… He’s Danny Dreyer and I’m Liz Frost and there is a distinct difference between us…

Namely: about 25 minutes into the run, we checked our heart rates. I was hovering around 180. Danny doesn’t wear a heart rate monitor, but he felt his pulse, and lo and behold! The man’s heart rate was barely 120 bpm. WHAT? I mean, talk about crazy. He barely broke a sweat! It had rained earlier in the day and was quite humid: I of course was the slobbering dog version of me, but a bit more red-faced and wet with sweat. Awesome.

We ran 48 minute in a loopy-loop around the neighborhood hills near the office. I’ve tried to recreate what we did, but it was random, so it’s approximate.

I didn’t really think of any focuses, but Danny sure guided me during the run… Here’s the latest on my form:

• My chin is way too high up… still. I need to work on it, ‘Like ridiculously low, more than you think is normal’ says Danny. Dang!
• chin down chin down chin down. annoying. After all these weeks and here I am still with my chin up in the air. Nicole had a really great idea the other day: what if I stand in posture and get my chin where in needs to be and then put of tape under my chin down to the top of my throat. Then, when I go out running, any time my chin starts jutting out, I’ll know because the tape will pull on my skin. That’s a great idea. I need to try it sometime.
• Downhills:I have decent form on the downhills, as long as I keep my chin down and keep my y’chi focused. My heel lift/rotation was good, i just needed to have the focus of this: the moment my foot touches the ground, imagine that it’s already moving to the rear, and that is being facilitated in part by the pelvis rotating backwards. I got a cramp at the bottom of one of the first hills: to much bounce. Danny said to keep my y’chi really focused by keeping my chin down and that will take care of bounce because it will focus my energy forward instead of up and down. It worked.
• Arm Swing: I guess my arm swing was more like 45 degrees instead of 90. When Danny pointed it out, I realized that I’d been running that way for a long time. Blargh. So crazy, it feels so different and I really had to focus on 90 when we were on the flats. Dang2!
• Breathing: When we got about 1/2 of the way through the run we were on a long uphill and I was feeling pretty labored and my HR was about 181. Danny listened a minute to me and then said, ‘You’re breathing too slowly. I know you’re trying to breathe out as much as possible, but you’re taking too long to do it. If your heart rate is that high, you need to double-time your breath. It’ll really oxygenate your body and you won’t get so fatigued.’ So on the uphill we started with ‘Out-two, in one/out-two, in one/out-two in one/out-two in one’. That really did help, and I couldn’t really do the out-breaths with my mouth and in-breaths with my nose because I was stuffy in my nose, so I just opened my mouth and breathed in and out with my mouth. Then on the downhills and flats, I breathed on this count as much as possible: ‘out-two-three, in-two/out-two-three, in-two/out-two-three, in-two/out-two-three, in-two”. Try it, it’s great.
• Uphills: the hardest for me. I hate going creepy slow. My big fat ego gets in the way. Plus, I have a hard time body-sensing what it means to virtually not use my legs, but still keep the heels ‘up’ and making circles. Then there’s the issue of arm swing. Danny said that he’s been really focusing on his arm swing when running up hills: to really get them back as far as possible with the 45 degrees, and then when swinging up the hill, to really SWING up with good force, and make sure that his elbow doesn’t go beyond the side of his body and then do it over again. His visualization is that there is a punching bag in front of you and you want to hit it, but your elbows can come forward of your body’s midline, so all the force of the arm swing has to be from the rear-most point of the arm’s swing to center and do it over and over again. The idea is that there’s already an upward for because your arm is at 45 but the force is coming from your elbow going from point to point with as much directed chi as possible.  And of course, there’s always the issue of a smaller stride. I’m somewhere around 5′9″ and I have a lot of leg to deal with… SO, smaller stride is difficult but essential.

Near the end of the run, my feet were starting to scuff a bit. I really needed to take smaller steps. Once I did that for a little while, I felt better and like I was efforting less. At the end of the run, we had a mini downhill, and Danny likes to always end a run as much as possible on a downhill really opening up as much as possible. It was probably less than 400 m, but you know when you end a run in good form. I think I did. It felt so nice to just stretch out and leg gravity take over. I kept my y’chi focused, my chin down, my arms at 90, my heels up nice and high, a quick turnover and a good pelvic rotation.

Scale: 7/8. I have a lot to work on, especially if I am going to be teaching people!

isn’t it true? it’s so true. what a saying. that’s what my run was like today…

–

before I begin, i must say: I haven’t ever really thought of myself as a ritualistic person, someone who has major set patterns or habits or rituals. (those of you who know me may say otherwise, but I’m talking from my perspective here.)

… that is, until now… I like to make sure I am well fed, hydrated, and clean before I write on this blog. There’s something about sitting down with a clear head and full belly getting ready to just brain dump everything here. Got a little music playing, sitting at the kitchen table, the house is warm enough, I’m comfortable enough, not hungry and ready to write. Amazing!

–

Today’s run was a ’speed play’ workout. Last week I did 15 minutes warm up with the 4 sets of intervals, followed by 10 mins in gear 3. Today was:

12 minutes warm up (I got bored), 5.5 sets of intervals and 9 minutes in gear 3. Not bad.

The weather was lovely again and so I just wore shorts and a tshirt and a hat. Didn’t overdo clothing and wasn’t hot, thank goodness, at the end of the run. Whew.

[note: went to a yoga class last night at the Y, and all I can say is that it kicked some soreness into my body: hamstrings, butt, quads, shins, shoulders, traps, back, core... not a bad soreness, but I definitely feel sore.]

I went up to WT Weaver, which is a road on the south side of the UNCA campus, and ran back and forth along the stretch of road there. It’s paved, scenic and easy to get to. Plus, it’s pretty darn flat. It’s only about a 3/4 mile stretch of road, so I was like a hamster. I think the guys waiting for the bus thought I was nuts.

Warm up: Like I said, I was sort of bored. I was trying to take it easy and just body sense, listen to my body, go slow, nice n easy… I didn’t feel so good. I can’t remember exactly, but I started with REALLY small stride, and was just trying to keep my chin down/neck long. I felt heavy. I think I ate too close to the time I went running, so I had a bit of a heavy stomach. No cramps (woohoo!) but just heavy. My calves felt tight and tensed, so I really tried to let them loose. Danny and I looked at some pictures yesterday, and I STILL do this funny jut-my-chin out thing. Annoying to say the least. I look at my pictures and I cringe, even though I know I am still in much better form than the beginning… but still!

–

I got into the warm up and at about 12 minutes I just figured I’d start on the intervals: (2 mins gear 2, 1 min gear 3, 1 min gear 1, start over do 6). While I was warming up I was back to the “we-wax” mantra and preparing to do the intervals totally relaxed.

I am SO thrilled to report that even in gear 3 at the end of the run, I had maintained a heart rate of around 179. Normally, when I am gear 3, I get up to 185. The AHA says my heart rate at my age at 100% usage should be 195, so I am pushing it a little bit, to maintain at 90% /185 …

Anyway, I know it’s not a huge jump, but it’s pretty darn substantial for a one-week adjustment. Guess what I did to accomplish that?! (relaxed)

The intervals were good, but because I was just going like a CrazyPerson back and forth, I forgot how many intervals I did. I know the timing was a little off, and I went long on a couple of the intervals sections, hence the 5.5 for the # of intervals. Did the math when I got done, and I am pretty sure I did 5 intervals. The first 2 were harder than the rest of the three. I really just let go…

And I discovered something about feeling that fallfallfallfallfall over and over again: I moved my arms with a little more vigor today to keep my energy consistent, and I think it helped a little bit! I tried to body sense what 50% upper body and 50% lower body usage and determine what that felt like. I think my arms have been lazy lately. So I focused on keeping them moving, quickquickquick, and let my body fallfallfall from my forehead (keeping core engaged) and it felt so darn good.

Honestly, a few times when I went into gear 1, I felt like I had to work more to keep myself upright than just letting myself fall.

I was thinking of my gear 3 like this: imagine a sprint race at a track at the Olympics. Fast forward to the last moments of the race after the winner crosses the finish line: not only TOTALLY leaning forward (”I won I won I won!”) but think about the relief that comes over their body and face when they’re done ‘efforting’. You can see their arms start to swing with gravity and not muscle and even sometimes their legs kick up higher and their shoulders drop and their faces relax…

So that’s what I tried to envision today when I was in gear 3: I just won the race! I just one the race! and now I can just fall! I can be so grateful and excited and happy and I just finished.

Really, it makes sense: even though I was in the middle of my run, every moment I was in the run, I was still present: immediately finishing one fall and beginning another. I was just focused on every time I fell, I was successful at it. I was the winner of that fall, and thank god my leg caught me and the other leg is so smart and is coming to catch me again!

I also imagined what it feels like to run down a hill, when you can feel the road almost coming up the back side of your body as you go along. So when there were minor uphills or even flats today, I imagined that I was running downhill just to help convince my body that I was running with ease. This assisted in that whole fallfallfall thing, and really it was a great run.

I took a long time to walk at the end, just to get that lactic acid pumping through and not turning to concrete in my body. I felt great by the time I got to the car and stretched a little there and a little more when I got back to the office.

Scale: 9. (didn’t start that way, but it sure ended that way!)

a moment to thank everyone reading this. it means a lot to me, and motivates me to get out and run.

your comments make me smile, and your all are always so right and honest and enthusiastic.

you make me keep writing, so thank you thank you thank you.

Poor Ivan. I woke up whiny and it’s 7pm and it’s still coming out of me!

It was a beautiful day, a bit chilly, but sunny and there is still color in this area. I didn’t decide what route I was going to run, so I was having a battle about it. I got on mapmyrun and came up with this one. Ivan had driven out there recently, and said that it was relatively flat and a good place to run a loop.

We decided that he’d go tour around and take pictures and meet up with my on various parts of the route and give me water and take pictures. (See below, comments regarding my form I’ve included.)

I didn’t want to run today, so when I got out there, it was sort of a forced march. Like a said: Wah Wah.

Who am I to be complaining? I live in a beautiful state, an amazing city, and charming house, have all the love in the world around me, an extraordinary job and perfect health. Why the hell was I complaining? I was laying in bed thinking how ungrateful I was and I wished that one of you blog-readers could offer up some advice right that moment that might make me feel better and get me out the door.

Ivan ultimately kicked me in the butt and said, “You need to figure out your routes in the evening so you can’t get so emotionally aggravated in the morning.” So true.

Anyway, I took the metronome and no water (Ivan was to provide a water bottle on the route when I saw him). I was fairly ‘light’ compared with last week (water, ipod, metronome, paper route)… It really was a lovely day and I didn’t have much to complain about.

Since it’s been awhile since I got home from the run, I am just going to itemize things, in no particular order, that I felt, experienced, or focused on:

• focused small stride, good arm swing (i think my shoulders have been swinging lately) at the beginning
• i only used my metronome on and off for the run: i was at about 87 the entire run, even when I was tired.
• after beginning the run, it was apparent that the course wasn’t as flat as I was anticipating and that was a little scary
• i am proud to report i didn’t walk at any point, but did stop for about 20 seconds to drink water
• based on the pictures, I think i was tired and not into the run. my form isn’t great but there is a good one with my lean showing very well!
• my knees started aching about 50 mins into the run and i didn’t like it, so I started to really work on just focusing on keeping everything perfect, keeping my form good and keeping my stride small, my arms swing correct, my core engaged, my lean going.
• i felt a couple of times perfectly relaxed and that was a nice feeling.
• i didn’t really focus on much of anything at a very intense level. I was admiring the leaf colors, but trying to make sure the cars driving on the road could see me, cause it was a 2 lane road and some tight curves on hills
• i was a little annoyed/excited about the hills so I just tried to really use my arms and think ‘creepy slow’. it worked.
• i got a mini side stitch about 1/2 way through the run but it went away. i just quit thinking about it, and it seemed to take care of itself.

… I was glad when the run was over. It is the longest I’ve run (again, I reset my record from last week) and I did it fast… probably faster than I should have, but oh well. It was 1 hr, 31 mins, 30 seconds and 9.5 minutes. That’s about a 9.30 miles, right?

that felt good for my ego, but then we did errands right after I did a ministretch at the car, and I think my legs turned to concrete. The rest of the day, I have been a bit achy, which I think is a byproduct of not stretching and then being on my feet for most of the day: quick trip to REI, cleaned house, washed dishes, and then made baklava. tsk tsk

Scale: 6. (One point I need to make: I am hard on myself, in case you didn’t know. When I started running about 3 months ago, I ran 12:00 pace and 3 miles seemed scary. I ran sub 10:00 pace for almost 10 miles and I am still alive….) duly noted.

I had a hard time motivating yesterday… it was a lovely day, and it was actually really warm, and i didn’t run until the afternoon, so needless to say, i was hot as hell. (sorry for the bad word)

really, it was such a lovely fall day, I felt like I should be riding with the top down in a convertible on winding roads and rushing through leaf piles. although i didn’t have a 600 horsepower engine to tour through the lovely hills of Asheville, i had my own two legs and a little engine that could.

sorry, that was corny!

and another note: [i mentioned above driving a car through leaf piles. Well, don't do it. My father, who went to University of Iowa law school years ago, had a mock trial his first year about this scenario: it's Fall time, and there is a car driving down the road in a neighborhood and sees a large leaf pile in the road near the sidewalk. He drives the car through the pile and strikes a child who's hiding/playing in the pile. Manslaughter. Tough lesson... anyway, my Dad told that story enough times that I will never drive through a leaf pile, and though I know it's a heavy thought, I felt compelled to share...]

But fall time is lovely and my run, although a bit warm for my taste, was okay. The neighborhood where I ran is near the Grove Park Inn, and quite hills, but the intricate curves in the roads made for unique driveways and cool home sites. I hadn’t ever been up there before, so it was nice to just take in the scene and work on my form on the hills.

Last week I was asking Danny about the hills and how I was having a hard time on the uphills. He said, “Well you want to try to go gear 3 down the hills and maintain that for a little bit on the uphills, but don’t let your heart rate go up.. Even if you have to go creepy slow up the hills, try to keep your heart rate down.”

Well, that’s all I was thinking about on most of the uphills yesterday: my new mantra, creepyslow creepyslow creepyslow. I love the term and it makes me smile. I think I did okay with keeping my heart rate generally pretty even. Problem is that on a lot of the hills, the up hills are long and my heart rate just does go up, and then the long downhills, my heart has time to recover and then of course it’s going to go up on the uphills. Alas, the dilemma of running for consistent heart rates.

My form on the downhills was focused totally on keeping my head forward and my core engaged. I know why people must ruin their bodies running downhills without keeping the core engaged: it’s like taking a hammer to you knee and banging it every time you take a step. Thank goodness for ChiRunning.

There were a couple of times when my speed on the downhills peaked and I was a little nervous. I was turning over at a healthy pace and I tried to keep my stride long behind me, without getting too overzealous. I didn’t want to do a face plant.

When I was on the uphills, I just keep thinking: no legs no legs no legs. I am not sore at all today, which makes me believe I did run with good form, even if it was creepy slow. Who cares?

Scale: 6/7. I felt great on the downhills and on the slight uphills/slight downhills and flats. The steep uphills were hard, but I didn’t get frustrated or cry, I just applied my tools and knowledge and finished the hill to thankfully glide down the next crest. Whew.

so instead of doing an additional run this week, I decided to splash around in some liquid chlorine. yummy.

i spent 10 consecutive summers swimming for the neighborhood pool league in the ‘burbs of Denver, so I am comfortable in the water and it was good to stretch out and exercise that way.

I only spent 30 minutes in the pool: did 200 warm up, then 100 working on stroke… then I used a kickboard for 100 m and used the leg floaters to do 150 m stroke drills and then a 100 warm down. nothing too intense, but it felt good.

The pool wasn’t super busy so I had my own lane for 3/4 of my workout, which was nice. I tried to breathe out all my breath, as it’s one of those things that stuck with me for those years of swimming as a kid and then at CU Boulder on the triathlon team: Breathe out all your air so that when you take a breath in, you get as much as you need.

This is the exact same principle that Danny addresses in ChiRunning: to breathe out fully so that you can breathe in fully to get maximum usage of the air… except that in water, for most people, it’s very easy to avoid doing that, but the problem becomes a question of hyperventilation, and it water, that’s a scary proposition.

I want to check out Total Immersion swimming… but a DVD or try to go to a workshop. For those of you who aren’t familiar with it, Total Immersion is to swimming what ChiRunning is to running: don’t force it!

Anyway, I felt appropriately fatigued, though I knew I could have swum longer, I didn’t want to.

As I was driving home, I remembered this amazing thing about swimming that’s different from any other sport: every single cell in your body is tired after swimming. It’s like with running certain things might be more fatigued that other parts of your body, but with swimming-(please let me know if you agree)-all cells and muscles are ‘used’ and though some workouts might leave your body less tired or more tired, the whole body feels it. It’s a delicious feeling and one a really enjoy.

Plus, swimming has always left me with a healthy appetite and there’s nothing like eating a big meal after swimming. When I was in college, after that 90 min swim workouts, we’d go eat pizza, beer and a whole pint of ice cream. YUM!

I noticed that my heart rate was much lower than when I run, but my PRE was higher when I swam: it only peaked about 130 during the whole time I swam, but I felt like I was exerting myself at about 6 or 7 on a scale of 10, which when running, (for now) gets my HR up around 170…