Tonight I went for my 6 over at the Santa Fe Dam (on the San Gabriel River, remember). As I walked to the 30.0 mile marker that starts my run, I realized I still had my watch on. A mistake? I decided, I would start it but not look at it. I did manage to get the whole run in without once looking at the watch. I usually take mile splits, but not today.
The picture is from Saturday's run in Aliso Canyon - me, Jeff and Jim heading back down West Ridge Trail from Top of the World. I don't know if you can tell or not from the picture but I squint a lot. All the tension in my face get transferred into my neck and down. I notice my shoulders moving up on the run and while I am the keyboard. Its something I have to continually be aware of. During a run when I get tired my head tilts to the left and down. I know all these things add up negatively on running form. Today I focused on keeping my head up and looking ahead, keeping my shoulders down and relaxed and keeping my eyes from squinting and scrunching my face up. I stayed loose, enjoyed the flow and just moved along. Six miles and everything felt good. I did check the watch at the end and was pleasantly surprised with a 9:15 pace overall. Tomorrow, I plan on running Bonelli. I will leave the watch at home. Really, I will.
-------------------
I got Bryan to agree to a bike ride on Sunday evening in Bonelli. We both rode, he picked the route. We went out about 7:30 p.m. and finished in the dark. I'm hoping he'll join me again tomorrow.
-------------------
A couple of fun clues in today's crossword:
17 Across: Cabot or Coe - Sebastian (Coe)
3 Down: Ruth or Zaharias - Babe (Zaharias)
I'm a geek, I know it. But you've got to find pleasure in the little things, right?
10 comments:
A "geek"?
Squinting? Yes. I notice it more in your profile picture though. We are our worst critics. *sigh*
It's funny how be judge ourselves. You're not nerved up are you?
I've been quite busy lately and haven't read previous posts Darrell, but I would say that Rob has rubbed off a bit with regards to leaving the watch at home. There are worse influences. Ha!
I think you made the right decision about keeping the 6 day weeks and not dropping the mileage. You're a distance runner, you should be running a lot of miles. Slowing down a bit, or dividing some daily mileage up into doubles while keeping the weekly mileage up is, I think, the best route.
But what do I know?
Good for you to leave the watch at home - just run by feel for a while. The bounce will come back eventually.
Wise move on leaving the watch at home. That could be the ticket.
Even wiser to self assess on the excess energy expended on sqinting, shoulders, tilting. Good for you!
Okay, dude, I know that many of the other serious runners disagree with me, but take it easy! The pain in your legs is your body's way of sending you a message- so listen! This is one thing I can honestly say I have learned now :)
Excellent run and excellent will power on starting the watch and not looking at it. You'll come back around just fine. I know it.
Slow running is an awesome way to keep going but not over do it. I took one of my light run days and turned it into a walk day so I can still get out and train but not kill myself for the next hard workout.
Cheers.
Rice.
PS. Cool photo.
Take the watch off, step away and slowly walk away Darrell. It's a good idea and will help you get through the 6 days a week of running.
Great pic Darrell- I used to spend way too much time mountainbiking in Aliso back in the day....strange that I never ended up running there though...some tough hills in that park!
Post a Comment