lovely morning
hey folks.
went running this morning. it was a lovely day, and I was glad I went.
It was also a bit rough, but I added a good hill and still managed about 3 miles in 33 minutes, so I felt okay about it! Danny wrote a pretty important article awhile ago about running hills. Read it here, it’s a great set of focuses/thoughts to get you through the tough ones.
The thing about running is that I can do it now and not feeling like I am dying. Really, when I was running along today, (jogging, really) I realized that I didn’t hurt. I didn’t want to die, I didn’t want to curl up and sit on a bench and not take another step. Even though my poor heart and lungs are feeling a bit creaky, I could still do it, I could still feel good about getting up early to go running, to see the sun rise. My muscles felt fine, and I just tried to take it easy.
Danny has a great video blog on avoiding heel strike when running, which he says is best done by not stepping past your hip. When he first told me about this last fall, I didn’t like it. It didn’t seem natural, but now, as I keep my core engaged, keep my head tall, and take small, baby steps, I can feel what he is talking about.
I focused on keeping my neck long, crown high, arm swing at a true 45 on flats, using an exaggerated arm swing on the uphills, and on some of the hills I ran sideways, as described in the book.
Here’s to never giving up running. I will get out there again soon.
Excellent job, Liz ! I’m looking forward to your half marathon - I’m very excited for you! After I did a half marathon, I skipped over the marathon distance and went into ultras, and have been primarily doing trail ultras since. It was great meeting you at Allegheny college in February - I’m still hoping you’ll shoot for my 50K (while some of your friends do the 50 & 100 mile distances) in October!
Keep it up Liz, congrats !!!
—Tom—