Feeling Better Bee-lieve It or Not, Running Movie, Santa Dog

Last night I tried the remedy of Sam Adams and fudge.  Yeah, the fudge is just for fun.  The Sam Adams...yeah, just an excuse, maybe.  I've always found that when I'm suffering a cold, some hearty beer makes me feel better the next morning.  If it's a coincidence...dems da breaks!

At 8:30 this morning I got up and my head was less-stuffy than it has been for ten days.  I decided I'd run my regular four-mile route.  I felt okay at first, my head certainly cleared up, though I'll save the details on how for your imagination!  I really ran out of gas after about mile 3.  Man, being sick sucks, even if you give yourself "good" medicine.  (Should medicine have been in quotation marks there?)

Anyhow, I'm going to try a little something here.  I'm going to try and embed the file created by my Garmin 405. 

The day was BEAUTIFUL, 73 degrees, warm sun and a nice breeze.  I opened up the house to let some fresh air in.  Of course a few bees found their way inside.  I normally leave them bee (sorry), but one was in the kitchen and I killed it.

I took a nap and woke ready for an easy ride.  So I suited up and hit the road.  About 7 miles in I feel something sharp on my leg, like I brushed against some thorny weeds or a cactus.  I swipe at it with my hand and here's what comes off.

Yup.  Karma.

I'm not allergic, but used it as an excuse to cut my ride about 5 miles short.  I'm still a bit sick, so I needed a reason to turn around anyway.  I had actually been thinking of where a good spot might be.  How's that for timing?

On facebook today I came across a link posted by Chris McDougal about a running movie.  I thought it looked interesting and decided to pass it along.  It's called Racing the Rez, and you can watch the video about the movie and its trailer at the link.

Running with Cousins

Tonight we (Brianna and I) ran with our cousins, Sarah and Alyssa. We did about 3 1/2 miles and had a great pace. Poor Alyssa does NOT run (yet) and looked miserable. But, being Alyssa, she was upbeat and happy and fun to be around.



The route we took is a portion of the de Anza trail that runs parallel to the Santa Cruz River. It's soft ground, well shaded and meanders. There are some fallen trees crossing the trail that must be jumped over and some pretty cool views of the surrounding mountains.

Today was supposed to be a recovery run. I'm not sure what happened, but Brianna was keeping pace. On the way back she took off like I'd never seen her do. We were booking! It was so much fun. The dog was BEAT, as were the two of us.

Here's the pace-setter today:



In this pic, a bit blurry on my face (you're welcome), you can see my cheap toe-shoes. I love these things.

It's so fun to run with my daughter and cousins.

And here's the route we took: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/34631194

Anyhow, here's to running. :D

Balance

One of the problems I have had to deal with is knee pain from running. I read Chris McDougal's Born to Run, and it struck a chord with me regarding shoes and running form. Since then I've tried a couple of things.

First, I got some $7 aqua socks from Wal-Mart. I ran the Warrior Dash in those. I ran as far as a 6 mile road run in them. I never had any foot problems. I did, however, have a lot of muscle pain from the ankle to the knee, all around the leg. Also, the muscles in my feet were screaming at me.


I then switched to a cheap set of Fila Skeletoes. They're knock-offs of Vibrams 5-fingers. However, I found them on sale and had a coupon and left with them for $40. I've run quite a bit in these with no problems. However, I would not suggest running near cactus in them.

It's been about two months of running in these types of shoes. I can definitely feel the benefits in my balance and my flat feet aren't so flat anymore.

But what about, "Can definitely feel it?" If you expect it, you'll probably notice it...if you expect it enough! That's the loop hole for snake-oil salesmen.

Well, I keep daily weight with a Wii fit. The Wii fit measures your weight on a balance board. The balance board measures pressure directionally and has a lot of ways to check your balance. This morning, which isn't any longer unusual, I had 100% perfectly distributed weight from left to right. That's because of the toe-shoes.



Beneath the red dot is the trace of your movement as you stood while the balance board recorded things. It's perfectly still. I'm not bragging saying, "Look at my balance!" But, I am saying that I've obtained real results from working out my feet! It's taken some shorter runs and a lot of muscle pain, but the pay off is there.

And the pay off is in running too. I have barely a fraction of the previous knee swelling and no knee pain. I run more lightly on loose terrain (I've broken both ankles and this agility is a big deal).

What's the down side? Well ... the shoes.

Today's Run

This afternoon I took my daughter, Brianna, on a nice run. I used iMapmyrun software and unfortunately it didn't work for a good portion of the run! DOH! Anyhow, in a three mile run we climbed almost 1000 feet and in four total climbs. OUCH!

It was a neat run because the area had been burnt thoroughly from a forest fire about a month previously. We ran into some signs of illegal immigrants and smuggling, found an abandoned (and luckily closed) mine and some amazing vistas!

Here's the map of the run, though it was cut short by about a half mile or so.http://www.mapmyfitness.com/routes/view/34540468


Here's Brianna standing in front of a nice flower growing from a charred rock.


Today I wore some new trail running shoes and am I glad I chose those over my most typical choice, some toe shoes. The terrain was ROUGH. I can't wait to do it again.

I plan on taking my daughter running 5 or 6 times a week over the next few months. She's in cross country and wants to improve. I need a running partner. Plus, it's great fun to spend time together and explore the high Sonoran Desert.