Archive for April, 2009

Don’t Run on Concrete

Posted by sheila in Tips and Advice on April 29, 2009

Interesting thoughts in this blog article on why running on a concrete surface is bad for you:
Running On Pavement

No Comments

First Run in my FiveFingers

Posted by sheila in Training on April 28, 2009

So when I was in Boston last week, I bought some of the Vibram FiveFingers KSO style shoes. My intention in buying them was to use them for running. Advice from the RunnersWorld.com Barefoot Running Forum suggests transitioning to these shoes from regular running shoes very gradually.

So today I went out for my first run in these shoes. I wanted to do 4 miles today, and I thought I’d do the first half mile in the FiveFingers and then switch it up to Read the rest of this entry »

, , , , , ,

No Comments

Big Sur International Marathon Blog Review

Posted by sheila in Race Events, Races, Reviews on April 28, 2009

Here’s a nice review of this race. Photos make the scenery look fabulous. I am definitely doing this one some day.

{ i * h e a r t * r u n n i n g }: Big Sur Marathon Race Report

,

No Comments

Triathlete Swim Workout from Active.com

Posted by sheila in Training on April 28, 2009

So here is a swim/speed workout from Active.com that I might try out in the coming weeks as I prepare for my first triathlon. I’m about 6 weeks out. Will be doing the San Dimas Express Tri on June 7th.

One of My Favorite Fast Swim Workouts | Active.com

It does look kind of hard. Well, tomorrow I am going to do my first swim workout in a couple of weeks, and I just hope to get in 1000 meters at any speed, really.

,

No Comments

L.A. Area Trail Race in June

Posted by sheila in Race Events on April 28, 2009

Well, I will not be doing this event this year, but perhaps another year…

VALLEY CREST HALF MARATHON

Here’s a race review by someone who ran it

Quadrathon’s Blogspot: Valley Crest Half Marathon

Seems like a challenging event. Plenty of uphill/downhill…

, ,

No Comments

Injury Prevention – Exercises for Runners

Posted by sheila in Training on April 27, 2009

Here is the first in a series of videos on the RunnersWorld.com website, that shows exercises to do to help prevent injuries. These look like some I’d personally be interested in try. Lots of core, balance, and leg-strength emphasis.

The Prone March (Never Get Hurt, pt. 1)

The rest of the series should appear on the page when following the link above.

,

No Comments

Vibram FiveFinger Shoes – I got some!

Posted by sheila in Tools and Gear on April 27, 2009

So quite a while back, I had talked about the FiveFinger shoes. Well, at the Boston Marathon Expo, Vibram had a booth and I got to try some on. Got some advice, got some pointers on where to buy them for less (City Sports in Boston).

So I bought a pair. Got them for $60, which is pretty good (they were having a sale: a buy 1 pair of shoes, get the second pair for half off…my mom bought some sandals and we split the $40 savings on my shoes).

Here are a couple of YouTube videos on the shoes:

YouTube – Outdoor Retailer ’08: Vibram Five Fingers

YouTube – 5-Finger Shoes?

I got the KSO style. I tried on the Sprint, but it rubbed my feet a little bit uncomfortably in a couple spots. The KSO style felt more comfortable for me. The “Classic” wasn’t recommended to me, since it doesn’t have a strap to keep it from coming off while running, and the Flow wasn’t available at City Sports, but given that it’s for cooler weather, I don’t think I would have wanted that anyhow.

I’ve worn them a bit the last few days, and done some short sprints in them (couple hundred yards, maybe?). My plan is to start running in them. But according to the Barefoot Running forum at RunnersWorld.com, one wants to ease into this slowly. So probably I will just run a half mile in them tomorrow and see how it goes.

, , , ,

No Comments

Tough lady athlete

Posted by sheila in Communities, Race Events on April 26, 2009

I’m following @smellycents on Twitter. She ran the Boston Marathon on Mon. Apr. 20, 2009 and today she just ran the Big Sur International Marathon in 3:52. Big Sur looks like a heckuva tough course. In a week she’s running the Eugene, OR full marathon. Wow. I’m blown away.

Here I am, 6 days after having run the Boston Marathon myself, taking it easy and recovering. I’m not saying I’m sitting on my butt. I did run 3 miles on Thursday, and 6 miles yesterday. Today I took a leisurely bike ride with my spouse and daughter. Oh, and I started the hundredpushups.com program. Today I completed Week 1, Day 1, column 2.

,

No Comments

100 Pushups?

Posted by sheila in Training on April 16, 2009

So here is an interesting website with a pushups program:
http://www.hundredpushups.com/

Maybe after the marathon I should consider doing this? Similar in concept to the beginning running program I did, as well as the “swim a mile” program I did. Basically, start out at a low number of pushups, do workouts three times per week to do more pushups, increasing at a slow number per week. Eventually you can do 100 pushups. Might take longer than 6 weeks, but hey…probably not much longer. Depends on whether you have difficulties and have to repeat any weeks. You’re still getting stronger in any case.

, , ,

No Comments

Good Training Article from RW

Posted by sheila in Training on April 14, 2009

Here’s a nice article, posted back in 2007 but still seems useful to me…

Trick Yourself Fit

General workout strategy for the basic races… 5K, 10K, half-marathon, marathon.

Breaks the training down into different phases: Base, Build-up, Peak, etc. Gives the different types of workouts: Speed, Hills, Distance. Gives suggested paces, and link to a really nice pace-calculator/training/predictor tool.

Hmm, I just ran a 22:49 5K on March 9, 2009. Hah, race predictor says I could do a 3:38 marathon. I just love those predictors. LOL. As if.

Anyhow, I am going to train to PR in the July 4th 5K in Huntington Beach so, this training program may be useful for that.

,

No Comments