Trail Run

Today my group ran a cross country trail at Sierra College.  I ran two loops around it which is about 5.5 miles.  I had to stop and walk a bit because I am not in shape for climbing hills even short ones.  It's all good though.  Trail runs are fun and stimulating.  This was the first time in recent memory that I left my I POD Shuffle in the car.  I have been reading Jeff Galloway's Marathon Training Book.  I was reading last night about proper running form.  I had been running about 2 miles when I remembered I wanted to try out what he was talking about in his book.  He says to think of yourself as a marionette.  Head over shoulders, shoulders over hips, hips over knees and knees over ankles.  When I thought about that I probably added 2 inches to my running height.  I realized I was pushing myself down when I ran. 

It was kind of hard to keep that form going.  I then realized that my arms were swinging side to side across my body  instead of pumping up and down.  I started to have a sore spot in my left shoulder so I tried to relax both shoulders and not to clinch my hand.  Then I remembered how it was when I tried to learn how to play golf.  There was just too much fine tuning of your body in order to hit that little white ball.  I soon gave up as I had to see a Chiropractor every time I tried.  Anyway, sometimes running is like that.  So many little things you do wrong can add up to a lot of discomfort either right away or down the line.  I think that during the month of January I will concentrate on having better running form. 

Also, this week was the beginning of our training for a half marathon in March called Shamrock'n.  It begins and ends at Raley Field in West Sacramento.  At least I know what I am getting myself into this time unlike my first half marathon.  I am learning by trial and error what I can eat and not eat, and drink and not drink in the days leading up to a long run.  As time goes on, I will be posting those issues.

First Run of 2011

So today  my running group met at 8am for a trail run at Folsom Lake, yes as in Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues fame.  It was raining and about 45 degrees.  Runners are not wimpy people.  There were probably 15-20 of us out there running in the rain.  We ran on a single track most of the way through puddles and mud and over rocks and stuff like that.  Really it's like being a kid again.  I've gotten just as wet if not more wet playing soccer in the rain. 

I found this website, DailyMile, and am using them to track my mileage.  It was great to see that it works. Yeah, one less thing to worry about with this blogging thing.  I was getting all worried on how to track my mileage and really didn't want to keep up an Excel spreadsheet as I already do that with my running group and I make lovely spreadsheets at work. 

About half way into my run today, the ol IT Band started aching.  It had stopped hurting prior to the CIM (California International Marathon) where I was part of a relay team.  I took off the month of October and half of November to rehab my knee. I think I ran too many miles too soon and that activated the IT Band.  I took a month off again and worked hard on rehabbing with weights and the elliptical and only walks with the hubby and Joie my dog.  So now I have an achy IT Band, which is becoming a dirty word to me.  I religiously use the foam roller on it to the point I want to cry like a big baby.  I can never get the tension to release.  I follow up the foam roller with about 7 minutes of stretching the hamstrings, the quads, the inner thighs, the glutes, and the calves.  Sometimes it feels like I spend more time on the rolling, stretching routine then I actually spend running.

I hope to find an answer for the IT Band.  I may go to my Podiatrist and see if I have any problems with one leg shorter then another.  My brother has a significant difference in his leg length so it is worth checking it out.  I've read that differences in leg lengths can exacerbate the IT Band.  We'll see.