Since the last post, I’ve increased my “longest run ever” to 6 miles, and encountered some new aches and pains, but am generally more comfortable running. I still hate it, but at least I’m feeling better while doing it.
The reason is form. I’ve been concentrating on improving my form, specifically minimizing my arm swing and focusing on making sure my arms and legs are moving in a straight line parallel to where I want to go. I’ve also been trying to increase my cadence and shorten my stride, but those goals are secondary to minimizing unnecessary sideways motion. I think it’s working, but it’s hard to tell without someone watching and critiquing me.
Two Tuesdays ago, we did a new drill at track training: the centipede. It’s kind of a reverse-paceline. We run single-file and the person at the end of the line sprints to the front and becomes the new point person. Well, when we did this, our schedule was a little out of whack. We were supposed to have a guest speaker on nutrition, but she got her times mixed up and was a little late. We usually do dynamic stretching, a 10-minute warmup run, whatever drill the coaches have planned for the day, core exercise, then static stretching. But this day, we did core exercises, listened to a pretty long talk about nutrition, then did our centipede drill without warming up or stretching. Add to this our unfamiliarity with the drill and it all added up to another big knot in my calf. That led to some issues with my right hip sending shooting pains down my right leg. Great. I’ve tried stretching and icing and using a tennis ball to work on the source of the pains, but so far the only thing that’s worked is “clam shells.” In this exercise, you lie on your side, keep your knees bent at a 90-degree angle, and open and close your legs as if they were hinged at your hips (which they are) and your feet (which they are not). Marc, the mentor who usually leads our Thursday buddy runs, said this exercise helped him with that issue. So I’ve been trying it and it might be helping. But I still have this pain, so I might schedule a visit with our sports massage people. Even if I have to pay out of my own pocket for a session or two, it might be helpful in the long run (no pun intended).
I’ve also been pretty scatter-brained lately. I have either forgotten my GPS or it had a dead battery the past few sessions. Today, I led an On Your Own run and remembered to A) charge it and B) bring it.
Speaking of the cycle team, I also helped them with their Calaveras ride. They needed someone to work the last rest stop and because I didn’t have to be there until 11:30 or so, I volunteered. It was good to see everyone from the old team and meet some new people. Cycle/Iron Teammer John Garza also rolled up on his Yamaha Royal Star cruiser. Maybe someday, we’ll go for a different kind of ride!
Anyway, since MapMyFitness doesn’t export workout data, I did some screen shots of my longest run to-date.
This Saturday, I should do 7-8 miles, but with my parents in town for my birthday, I am not sure when I’ll do it. I will ask them if they want to come with me to see what I do with Team in Training, but if they want to stay at their hotel or if I decide to skip the training and do the mileage on my own, that’s okay, too.