Kaleo 5k

Wow, it has been forever since I posted something.  I will be posting more shortly.  I just wanted to quickly talk about a 5k I am running tomorrow.  It is called the Kaleo 5k (Kaleo means "strong voice" in Hawaiian).  The race was started in 2009 to raise funds for a Sheriff's partner dog called Kaleo.  He had cancer and the need $12,000 to save him.  He survived and the following year they had the race again for another police dog named Dante who also came down with cancer.  Now it is an annual run to raise money for retired police dogs and their care after their service to  us.  What a great cause!  I met Kaleo this morning after picking up my race packet.  He is one beautiful animal.  He is a European Shepherd, maybe Belgium.  He  has a very black face and very wolflike.  He weighs about 90 pounds.  My picture doesn't do him justice.http://www.ssdk9run.com/  There is a much better picture of him and his whole story at the website.

Cross Training Part I

Last week I finally got back to my cross training.  I had laid off for a month for various reasons, everyone came to my house for Mother's Day, a 5 day vacation, my son's 21st birthday and then finally my biggest excuse is I got out of the habit.  They say it takes 21 days to make an activity a habit, it takes about 21 minutes or maybe 21 hours to break a habit.  I had a little eye opener last week when my knee reacted to my three hill runs in a row.  Scared me all the way back to the Doctor.  He told me to keep running but to get back to my cross training. 

The reality of my situation is that in order to run I have to cross train and strengthen the weak muscles that are causing my knee pain.  Strength training is something that I will have to do for as long as I want to run.  They are two activities that have to go together.  The reality is that I lifted weights anyway. I did the elliptical on the days I didn't run.  Now I do exercises that specifically help me with running.  I am working on my  glutes, hips, and VMO.  I do strength training on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  I also do upper body work on those days.  Triceps/biceps one day, then chest/back the next and lastly shoulders.  I am also doing core work and riding a bike instead of the elliptical for the summer.  Tomorrow I start back up with yoga.  I have a DVD that is called The Athlete's Guide to Yoga by Sage Rountree.  I can program it do the poses anyway that I want, but I do the ones that Sage designed.  I will probably post more specifics later on the strength training.

I recently started cycling again.  I haven't gotten on my bike in at least two years.  I have a mountain bike that has never been on a mountain.  It's heavy but you do get a pretty good workout on it.  I actually started Wednesday.  I probably biked around 7 miles in about a half hour.  It's funny when you haven't been on a bike and you get on it and take off it sends you back to the first time you rode your bike as a kid.  You remember the freedom that came with having a bike.  The wind in your face. The ability to go far away if you wanted.  Be a daredevil and ride it really fast. 

I spent a lot of time on a bike in my 20's.  My ex-husband was into biking so I was too.  We lived in Santa Barbara and it was such a beautiful place to bike in.  We rode all over the hills above the city.  I got to be very good at climbing hills.  One summer we parked our car at Lake Cachuma which was on the other side of the Santa Ynez Mountains.  I was supposed to ride over them, but the road is a highway and very steep with a lot of curves and traffic.  I would have needed more time to train and truthfully I was scared to death to attempt it.  So we parked at the lake and rode our bikes to Pismo Beach which was about 75 miles away.  We got there late in the day, showered, walked to dinner and next morning rode back.  A week later I pulled the ligaments on both sides of my left ankle while playing soccer.  I was running to goal with the ball in front of me and stepped into hole.  I ended up in a cast for a couple of weeks and then had an ankle that was never the same.  I do ankle circles sometimes after running and hear lots of clicking.    I was grateful that my soccer injury came after the bike ride.  I would have been so pissed that all my training that summer had been for nothing. 

I have enjoyed being on the bike again even if it is only 7 miles and around my neighborhood.  I miss my regular training route in Santa Barbara.  It had a beautiful ocean view, down a twisty hill and then up a killer hill that puts Sierra College to shame.  Oh well, I can still see it in my mind while I bike around my new route.
Hopefully I will notice in a couple of weeks some improvement in my quad strength. 

Running Book Geek

As proud as I am to say that I am a Runner, I used to be proud to say I read books, lots and lots of books.  Over the years with a child and 90 minute commutes and jobs that consumed my time, reading took a back seat to all of that.  I have read a little in that time, mainly 2 or 3 books in a month and then nothing for 6 months or a year.

Recently I have read so many books on running that it officially makes me a running book geek and I can put that right next to my running podcast geekdom.  The reason for the book reading on running is the current state of my physical health.  I'm not ill or anything just dealing with a chronic problem with my IT Band which really is the symptom of my problem with patellafemoral syndrome or chondromalacia syndrome.

I took a break from the technical books to read a book called Mile Markers by Kristin Armstrong.  She is the ex-wife of a guy named Lance.  She lives in Austin Texas.  The book has 26.2 chapters with running topics like endurance, passion, and clarity.  I have really enjoyed the book because some of it really hits home.  I will never be the runner she is but I can understand her affection for the women she runs with whom she calls her sweat sisters.  I run with a mixed group of people, men and women, who make it fun to run and add another dimension to my life. 

 I want to quote a passage from her book, but it is really a quote within a quote.  She quotes a trail runner friend of hers who came down ALS. This was written while climbing  Machu Picchu.

  "I am a seeker.  I am a wanderer. I am who I am.  Nothing more.  Nothing less.
   Life is a series of great paradoxes.  To find ourselves, we get lost.  To gain, we lose.  To know the light, we plunge into the dark.  To succeed, we fail.  Opposites seem forever linked.  Without one, we cannot define the other.
   Blessings to all who share these mountains, who share journeys---both guide and traveler.  Blessings to all of those who seek, knowing they may never find.  May you breathe in every moment and with it know that you are truly loved."   ...Dano Keitz

In Kristin's book I finally found the words to why I started this journey to run a marathon.  I was truly inspired by the people in my group who ran the CIM last year, both the veterans and the first timers; although that wasn't quite enough for me.  The greatest inspiration to run this marathon is still my brother Brett.  I can't cure him of his paralysis, but I can stand for something when I run.  Here is what Kristin wrote "Running for someone else makes me less willing to give up and more able to understand the pain and the fatigue, knowing that someone else is drawing power from my effort.  I look at it as an opportunity to carry a portion of someone else's burden, to cover some ground on that person's behalf, to try to lighten the load by shouldering some of it on my own back.  That's endurance.  That's what moves me to move."

She wrote what I felt but could not find the words for.  I highly recommend this book.  There are hidden jewels within it that as a runner you will recognize and feel not so alone.

Bay to Breakers

Bay to Breakers. Mere words cannot explain the experience of Bay to Breakers.  It is a race that is also Mardi Gras, a race that in Brazil would be called Carnival.  It was the most fun race that I have ever done.  Of course I had good company.  You really have to have an open spirit and a zest for life.  Obviously many people would be offended by the experience that is B2B. 

My day started at 4 am when I woke up in Berkeley at my brother's apartment.  We had watched the local news the night before and the forecast was thunderstorms.  My brother was half heartily concerned about me being electrocuted.  In fact, the opposite happened.  We had beautiful running weather for the most part.  We got lightly rained on for maybe 10 minutes.  I ran with my friend Rubi Lawson who had never run in a race before.  I thought that it was really brave of her to tackle a 12k for her first race.  We probably ran about half of it, maybe a little more.  We had a blast.  We saw far too many naked people.  I understand that the race had less of that this year.  I'm glad of that.  After you saw one naked  person that shouldn't be naked you had seen one too many.  We ran with two ladies that were on Naked Patrol.  They were not giving tickets out to people who shouldn't be naked but were encouraging those that they felt should be naked to shed their clothing and run naked.  It was hysterical to hear their whistles tweeting and watching them run down good looking guys. 

San Francisco is obviously a world class city.  In my opinion it is the only real city in California.  The homes and the buildings are so beautiful and that is not even getting into the views the city provides.  Alcatraz, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park...all exquisite. 

The costumes were incredible.  We saw clean and bad Charlie Sheen, coke smudges and all.  We saw Oompa Loompas and a pod or a herd of Elvii.  What is the plural of Elvis anyway?  Below is a picture of the Elvii and right next to them is Princess Leia, followed by the Royal Newlyweds and finally Hayes Hill looking backwards. 

 What is it that drives a middle aged man to run around naked?  I don't get it myself.  Gross, gross, gross. 

Several times in the race, we smelled something illegal being burned.  I think we almost had a contact high from the many times we smelled people smoking marijuana.  I'm glad my workplace does not do drug testing.  Personally, I think that Bay to Breakers is a race to do every few years.  I think if you did it every year you might get bored with it, but every two or three years would keep it fresh.  I definitely think that B2B should be on every one's bucket list of races.

Catching Up

I hadn't realized it had been almost a month since I last posted here.  Time flies even when you are not having fun.  I was making some headway on the treadmill in early to mid April.  I was running much faster then I usually run at about 9:15 to 9:30 per mile.  It's been very hard to keep up the form.  You have to really use your mind to envision how your body looks while running.  For me it is trying to get the feeling of my body being in alignment and that all the parts are clicking like gears in a watch.

My biggest problem is my right arm.  The arms are supposed to be bent at 90 degrees and basically swing like a hinge back and forth; although more back than forward is best.  My right arm will fall out of that form and lower to my waist and look like I am punching at something.  I also have the added problem of being super tense in my right shoulder.  I guess that comes from my keyboard sitting on top of my desk and my mouse being 8 or so inches away from it.  I knew my keyboard should be lower but it means getting a drawer and having someone install it and I just was lazy about it.  Now I will have to take action because really it interferes not only with running but is the reason my right shoulder hurts so much of the time.



I was doing ok on the treadmill with Mike there to tell me when I was falling out of form.  When he released me to run on my own, things changed.  It was strange to run on the ground again.  It was hard to keep up the form and I began to feel tightness in the ITB again.  I had a terrible run about 2 weeks ago and came home very disheartened.  I decided to quit running until maybe May or June and give my leg a break.  I also decided to no do anything for awhile so I didn't run, I didn't do the elliptical, or yoga, or strength train.  After about 5 days, I felt better and decided to try and run again.  What the heck, right?  I had trouble on the first attempt but I think I was dehydrated and maybe that ice cream sandwich at work wasn't the best idea an hour before my run.  I went out on Easter Sunday and ran 3.71 miles and did ok.  I only stopped a couple of times to put myself back into my correct form.  I also ran at 9:55 pace which is faster then I have run in along time.

Tonight I have hills to run which may or may not be a good thing with the ITB. We are running at Miner's Ravine trails so I can always run on the trails instead of Picches Hill.  My ITB and calves are tight so I will do some dynamic stretching before I leave to warm up.

I now have a picture of my inspiration, my brother Brett, on this blog. The picture was taken Easter Sunday so it is very current.  I'm going to stay with him in a couple of weeks when I run the 100th Bay to Breakers race in San Francisco.  I'm running that with my friend Rubi.  It will be her very first race.

Relearning to Run

Is it possible to forget how to run properly?  When we were children we could run all day.  We could do that because our body naturally fell into the proper alignment.  It seems that most of my knee/ITB problems are that somehow along the way I stopped running like a child.  Now I am learning how to run properly.  I've been looking into Chi Running since I first heard about proper running technique from a seminar I went to at Fleet Feet Midtown that was put on by Dr. Justin Lau.  He didn't call it that but I had an idea that was what he was talking about. 

It turns out that proper alignment is as easy as falling down.  Imagine standing tall with your shoulders, hips, knees and ankles in a straight line. Now imagine falling forward and letting gravity propel you.  This is just the start of Chi Running.  The more you look into it, the more it feels like learning to swing a golf club which I found incredibly hard to do.  These are the things that are now running around in my head when I attempt to run properly:  straight line from head to ankle, lean forward, shoulders relaxed, elbows at 90 degrees, hands firm but relaxed, landing on the midfoot,  feet taking small quick light steps as they sweep the ground away and behind you.  If you want to go faster, then lean further forward but with the same cadence in your feet.

I didn't want to invest in a book that I might not get anything out of so I checked out the book "Chi Running" by Danny Dreyer from the library.  I haven't read too much, most of what I have learned has been through watching a couple of videos on youtube and listening to a couple of podcasts of people that have tried it and detail what they have learned in their podcast.  By the way, if you haven't checked into podcasts, you really should.  I listen to a lot of them while running and walking and they are a lot more interesting then listening to music all the time.  You can go to ITunes and select podcast and then search for what ever interests you.  I like one called ITunes Celebrity Podcast.  Usually it is musicians that talk about music and other musicians that inspire them both today and in the past.  I've listened to ones from Clint Eastwood, Jeff Bridges, Cindy Lauper, and many others.  I also listen to running podcasts.  One I particularly like is called Running with the Pack.  The two people that do this one are from Penn State so you get to hear about things that go on on the East Coast plus they talk about new products they have tried, races they have done, all sorts of stuff.  I diverge, sorry. Anyway check them out and maybe I will do a post on podcasts soon.

I hope that I can get my running technique corrected in the near future so I can start training for some longer runs.  Right now I have the Bay to Breakers in May to do and am hoping to be ok by then even if I have to run/walk it.  It's only 7 miles and it should be absolutely wild.  I'm doing it with my friend Rubi who has never ran in a race before and trains only on a treadmill.  She is a fun lady so we will have a blast.

Tonight I am practicing my chi running as chi walking because I can't run until I get the technique mastered.  My ITB was really inflamed from the last run I did over a month ago, which was an 11 miler so I am being cautious.

Here is a link to a fun Chi Running Video.  I hope you like it.

Perspective

I admit that complaining feels good or whining like in my last post.  Sometimes though, things happen that put your life back into perspective.  That happened to me last week.  I hadn't talked to my brother Brett in a couple of weeks.  My Mom called me to talk to me about a couple of things. One of them being that my brother Brett was really sick.  He had been running a fever and had what they thought was a bad cough at least that is what he and his attendent thought.  He had been sick for over 10 days already.  He went to the Doctor and had a chest XRay.  The news came back that he had pneumonia.  This news absolutely floored me.  Pneumonia is dangerous in a healthy person yet alone a person whose health is compromised by their disability.  When my brother broke his neck, he lost about 50% of his lung capacity.  He sleeps in a hospital type bed which was in an upright position because he felt like he was drowning in the fluid in his lungs.  Thank God the antibiotics kicked in and did their job. 

My knee problems don't mean a lot when put into the perspective of losing your life.  This is why I have really been so upset with my knee troubles.  I really want to run a marathon for him.  Everyday is a challenge to my brother and others with disabilities.  He has moments when he feels bad for himself.  He also has perspective.  There is always someone in worse condition then you.  Brett has limited use of his arms, but he can feed himself and do other things with them to make his life more independent. He had a friend that could move nothing below his chin and moved around in a wheelchair that he blew air into a tube to make it move.  Perspective.