Running Shorts

So yesterday was (I guess you could call it) the first race of the fall schedule, the Hudepohl 14K. Meh...it was an ok race. I can't complain too much, being that I've only been getting back into training for a month or so. On the one hand, it's a little disappointing to be 2 1/2 minutes slower than last year, but on the other hand those two races aren't really comparable. Last year I was at the peak of my marathon training and had been doing a lot of race-specificity work. This year, I...have only been running mileage for a month after taking 3 weeks off with Achilles' issues. Time for trite, overused platitudes to make me feel better about running slower: You're only going to run as well as you train. That's super cheesy, but it is true. Last year, this race was an important part of the lead-up to the Chicago Marathon. I was prepared to run pretty fast. This year, this race is just a part of me getting back into shape. So really, I can't complain...

Basic health lesson: chocolate milk is one of the best recovery drinks post-workout. I don't remember exactly why (History major here), but I've read a bunch of different places that it is. So anyway, I got to thinking: If chocolate milk is the best recovery drink, then milk chocolate must be the best recovery food. I mean, right? Nutrition works that way, doesn't it? Yeah, sure, why not... So here I am after runs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBhxIyT8Slg

...And on the day after that last post, I overslept and didn't have time to run. Awesome. Off to a great start.

It's been a while...again. My bad. Only one post in August? Shame on me. Although, in my defense, not really much had been happening with my training; I spent most of August on the disabled list. I wanted to be careful with some Achilles' tendinitis, so I took about 3 weeks off before getting back into it a couple weeks ago. In that three weeks, I lost a fair amount of my fitness from the summer, so any shot at a fall marathon was and is now out of the question. But that's okay, I'm in need of a new mental and physical approach to my training. So consider this the start of that new approach. (And this time I need to stick to blogging.) The goal of this new approach is a spring marathon. Maybe the Flying Pig again (I did win free registration at a race a few weeks ago, so that's hard to turn down), maybe some other race. Hell, it's a long way off, but maybe it'll even be a fall marathon. The point is, I'm doing a long build up for the goal race - ...

This past week or so, my Achilles' Heel has been my Achilles' Heel. It had been sore for a while, then got worse during the Rock n Roll Half Marathon in Chicago two weeks ago. Then, over the next week, it started feeling worse. So now I'm not running. It's definitely frustrating not to be training, especially since this throws off a lot of what I had planned for the fall. My July turned out to be a horrible training month. And especially with Olympic track now on, all I want to do is get out there and run. That said...with the Tour just finished and the Olympics going on (there are events other than track), I'm trying to embrace my inner cyclist. Of course, I'm a wholly inexperienced biker...I've never actually biked to train; all I've done in the past x years is bike to class. But if I'm going to embrace the cycling culture while I'm out of commission, what I'm going to need is a bike this this:  Unfortunately, the bike I h...

The South 80 is a 1.5 mile loop in Mariemont around some community gardens along the Little Miami River. It's actually a brand new trail construction, and it makes a great 5 mile loop from my house. Since it's so new, it's mostly really well groomed and also about a sidewalk's width (which I like a lot better than single track trails). It's a your typical dirt trails, so a little uneven and rooty in places. But I hear rumors that Mariemont is planning on adding onto the trails here, with Phase 2 make about a 3 mile loop and Phase 3 making 6 miler. Depending on who owns the property and stuff, there's so much land down here that it would definitely be feasible, so hopefully those happen too. Another (better) photo of the trail, but without a runner so it's technically not a rave run.

[Insert Bare Naked Ladies here] It's been one week / Since I ran one day... Yeah I haven't run in a week. But before chalking that up to pure laziness, hear me out. Before this week, I hadn't really shut off mentally since November. Even the week I didn't run after the Pig was spent doing rehab stuff...I was anxious to get back to training, and I never really turned off mentally. I needed a break. My desire to actually train was virtually nothing. It was weird how it kind of happened all of a sudden...like, one afternoon I just decided to mentally check out. And you know what? It felt awesome. Not running has been great. I've had so much more time and energy during the day. I needed some time to check out mentally. But I think it's about time to get back into it. I don't think I'll have lost much fitness with just one week off. Let's just say, the mental benefits of recharging the batteries (so to speak) far outweigh the physical negative...