So, I had the pleasure of coming to NYC to assist Danny teach a workshop on Saturday in Manhattan. A great group of people enjoyed the day with us, and we were all thankful the weather held off and it didn’t rain!

I also had the pleasure of going for a run with Danny in Central Park this morning. After spending all day listening to his lessons yesterday, my head was full of ideas and things to focus on.

The weather was quite chilly and wet as we headed to the park. We were staying on the Upper East Side, and entered the park around 79th, took a tour up around the lake, then weaved our way down to Columbus Circle and then back up to 79th. Not sure how far we went, but it was a full hour and felt very good.

It’s fun to go running with Danny because it really teaches me to be accountable and make sure I’m really in form. I was focusing, as always, on keeping more lower abs engaged and kepping my crown nice and high. Those two focuses almost always do the ”trick” for me and really keep me in my body.

My right knee was  bit stiff starting out, so I kept focusing on not stepping past my hip and really allowing my pelvis to rotate behind me as I was running. After we got about 15 minutes into the run, my knee had loosened up.

We ran along the gravel paths most of the way around, which is more fun and scenic that running on the asphalt, and a bit more protected from the rain! As we turned around the south end of the park and headed north, we were facing a pretty signinficant headwind. By that time, my legs were starting to talk to me, and Danny had a great suggestion: “When the wind hits you like that, really let it take your legs out from you and blow backwards. Just imagine that the wind is blowing your legs behind you.”

The second I got that focus into my head, my ease of running improved immediately. I kept leaning into the wind, kept my core strong, and simply let the wind take my legs behind me.

It was a fun run, and compared to the last time Danny and I ran in Central Park together, I am pleased to say that I have learned a lot about myself, about running, and how to enjoy it all.

So, remember I last blogged about lovely crisp mornings here in Asheville? Well, I must have been mistaken. When I got finished with my short run this morning I was stretching and noticed that I was literally steaming from my head. Granted, I have a large forehead… It was steamy hot this morning, and very muggy. When I was doing my Body Looseners before I got started, I got attacked by mosquitoes (they love my blood).

Bless Carrier Park in all its flatness. I walked down there and did two laps around. It’s just over 3 miles if you go twice around, like a 5k. I don’t know how long it took me, and I don’t mind!

I started with these focuses: tall crown, engaged core, 90 degree arms. I have a tendency to pull my arms up, so it’s really helped me to start running by standing still and then falling, but setting up the 90 degrees first and then recognizing as soon as I start how low it is compared to how I tend to bend my arms if I don’t think about it. I also worked on a short stride and relaxing my pelvic region to let my legs go behind me to help out my precious knees. No twinge of knee pain whatsoever. !

I wish you could all see Danny run. Seriously, I don’t mean to gloat because I get to see him at his best, but the man is so beautiful when he runs. I sometimes find myself imagining his form when I go running and try to emulate it. I don’t think  I do very well, but it’s fun to try.

I tried to take it easy with my breathing. I recognized about 1/2 way through that I was “efforting” too much, and using my lower legs to propel. I immediately let off and let myself fall. I could tell my PRE changed very quickly and I was able to pick up the pace just a touch by relaxing more. What a gift!

I might go for another run on Sunday. It’s feeling so good again, I am totally reinvigorated and hopeful and mindful of what’s been going on with my body and trying to honor it. I do notice, however, that my PRE is much elevated compared to several months ago… so I take it with a grain of salt because I know what I am capable of. I just have to get out there again!

Standing over a bowl of cereal and a Sudoku puzzle after my run, I rolled a frozen juice can alternately on each foot to help out my plantar fascia. It hasn’t bothered too much lately, but I certainly don’t want to nuture it.

Bon weekend folks!

Imagine that! I went running again in the rain today, again.

Seriously, for almost a month, we’ve been having these crazy days of rain. I think the longest it’s gone without raining here lately has been maybe three days. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining, but literally every time I plan to run, I prepare to go running in the rain!

Took a 9-miler today and did it a little slower than my ususal 10″. I ran this route in Biltmore Forest. It’s a pretty hilly route, and actually matches portions of the Seattle course pretty well in terms of elevation gain.

The first 5.5 miles rocked, and then I hit a wall. Before I hit my wall, my running form felt good, I wasn’t listening to music, and I had a big smile on my face. After the first downhill, my knee started to talk to me a little bit, which I knew to be because my stride was coming too far in front of me. On the next uphill, my knee pain went away immediately. Good lesson for uphills allowing my form to be more or less perfect (or as perfect as it’s going to get!). It’s a lot of uphill for the first half of the run and then a fair amount of downhill at the end.

The last 1.5 miles were okay, but I attribute it to downhills and water (I stashed a water bottle at mile 6).

I imagined writing my blog about my running experience, stating that it was absolutely blissful and amazing and I was so proud of myself… and I think I can do that with about 85% certainty right now, but I was honestly irritated with my (slower) time and sluggish finish.

When I was feeling good, my brain and ChiRunning focuses were all over the place, but mainly concentrated on

• tracking (big toe and pinky toe coming ‘off’ the ground at the same time)
• using my arms appropriately, depending on terrain
• barely using my legs on the uphill
• trying to get my pelvis to rotate on the downhills
• trying to breathe as calmly as possible, but without restriction

It’s so beautiful in Biltmore Forest that it’s hard to complain at all. The rain made the entire neighborhood look like a rain forest, and that was pretty special.

I would say over all, it was a good run. I stretched pretty well when I got home, and also did about a 5 minute leg drain, but I have a feeling I’m going to be a bit sore tomorrow. My knee hasn’t started any painful motions yet (last week by this time it had), so I think that’s a great sign.

Bent Creek is lovely. It’s a mainstay for me when I go running. I know the terrain, I know the parking areas, I know the hot/cold areas, I can get flats and hills, trail and gravel… It’s a great place to go running.

So I went out there today. My dad was in town for a couple of days, so on the way back from the airport, I decided to just go do my run @ Bent Creek. I did almost 8 miles (I think, this mapmyrun.com is great, but the maps aren’t always really clear.) In any event, this is the closest approximation I have for what I ran.

Started off running about 9.30 am, which was a little later than I like to start, but luckily it wasn’t too hot. I ran into a bunch of other runners (not literally, but there were a ton of people out there today). It was nice to see some smiling, happy faces on people running by. I hope I looked as happy as they did. Sometimes I wish I had a running buddy, but on the long runs, I really like to go at my own variable pace…

Since I wasn’t sure where I was running exactly (I was going for time, 80 minutes), I just tried to focus on my form, really thought about keeping my pelvis level, my chin down (crown of my head high) and not letting my feet land in front of my hips. I had bursts of energy here and there and used the downhills to my advantage and went quickly.

I would say overall I felt really great. I hate to admit this, but since last week (about 7.5 miles) I hadn’t run at all, not all week! So I wasn’t sure how today would go, but I think it went okay. The race in Seattle is hilly, so I am going to try to make my next long training runs on/near/including hills to make sure I can hack it.

Really looking forward to running the 1/2 in Seattle, though a little disappointed that I won’t be going faster than Houston. I guess that’s not the ultimate goal, because all I really want to do is finish the 1/2 marathon with a smile on my face…

My knee is talking to me a little bit this afternoon, but a little arnica creme and some careful walking is taking care of that.

I feel like everytime I write a new post, it’s about running in the rain.

So, guess what? I did my LSD run in the rain today… I ran this route, about 7.5 miles. Wasn’t sure when I left to go running this morning how I was going to do. Surprised myself with it, and am glad to say that it went well.

It’s a hilly route, and the hills are pretty steep. As I was running, I was trying to imagine any knee pain that might come about, and really thought about not letting my foot land in front of my hip. I was really working the uphills with my arms, trying to imagine that my legs were very small and not requiring lots of oxygen. When I got to the top of the hills, I kept running, kept leaning: it’s a great little trick to KEEP leaning into the hill as you crest them as you are running. Danny taught me that when we ran together months ago, and I can’t explain it, but it really works to keep your momentum going after finishing an uphill running section of a route.

I didn’t take my watch with me today because I knew the route was about 7 miles and wasn’t concerned with what time it took, I just wanted to make sure that I got the distance running in for the week. Starting last week with 6 miles, each weekend LSD from now until the taper week will be one mile longer than the previous.

Last week was supposed to be 6 miles, but I couldn’t hack it and only ran 5… then this week I managed to run 7.5, and next Sunday is 8 miles. We’ll see how that goes.

I discovered something today: I get bored on flats. Yep, bored. My parents always told me when I was young that “anyone who is bored is boring” so I have always avoided using that term, but I couldn’t think of anything else.

I guess I could play with my Gears more, but on an LSD run, I just want to get through it safely and with enough energy at the end to make it home without walking. I suppose music might make flats are more tolerable… but thankfully the Seattle race is pretty darn hilly. Looking forward to it!

Hope you all are doing well and that your spring training is going well.

I can’t get over how lovely the mornings are this time of year… Brynn and I hauled ourselves out of bed this morning at met @ 6.30 to fit in a quick running workout before work.

We did this route, which we’ve done before… it’s around town and pretty consistently hilly. We ran it in about 26 minutes, and it’s just shy of 3 miles, so we had a pretty decent running pace.

Miraculously, my knee doesn’t hurt yet, as I think my Form Focuses are helping me get through these runs more mindfully and without hurting myself.

I don’t have a whole lot to report, except that running up the first hill, I was feeling my legs beginning to beg for air, so I shortened my stride and worked my arms harder… lo and behold, my legs chilled out and I felt pretty good. I was focusing on ‘tracking’ my feet so that big toe/pinky toe left the ground at the same time. I think that’s helping my knees. I also know I am trying very hard to focus more and more on not letting my feet hit past my hip. It’s such a strange sensation, but gosh my knees really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading, folks. Here’s to cool mornings! … and as Brynn said, “It feels so nice to get running out of the way and done with. And major bonus, I started work only 15 minutes later than normal!  Score!”

I like to have it out of the way, but I really actually do like the act of running, too…

It was an absolutely stunning day yesterday. I got out on my running route at 8.30 am, when it was still cool.

I ran this very hilly 6.16 mile route. It’s all uphill for the first part and then all downhill for the 2nd part. The downhill run is more gradual than the uphill portion, so I got a very sufficient cardio-aerobic workout in.

I went running on this route during lunch time in October. Just to show you the change in my conditioning level: at that time, I ran the 6 miles in 60 minutes (last ~.16 was a cool down walk), but when I went running yesterday, I pooped out at mile 5 at about 57 minutes and walked the last mile. Quite a bit slower, wasn’t it? I reread my blog about running this route last fall, and had described it as “glorious”. Unfortunately, I couldn’t say that yesterday.

I think I had eaten some funky food the day before and it was having an effect on my belly, so my running was compromised. The neighborhood that I ran in is lovely and a ton of Chi flows around Asheville, so I felt good about that… Overall, I felt alright, but certainly not great. I really tried to keep my arms pumping on the uphills, keeping my stride very short. Running on hills forces my stride to be shorter, which helps my knee. Good lesson there.

I felt great to have gone running yesterday, and managed to get in a good stretch afterward.

Here’s to the hills!

Howdy folks. The weather in AVL is lovely… and Brynn convinced me to go running with her and I am pleased as a pea to say: we ran 5.5 miles, it was awesome, and my knee really isn’t bothering me.

WHAT? I know, I can hardly believe it. I won’t say too much, cause it’s only going on 4 hours after running, but I really think it’s on the mend. I don’t want to or plan to go crazy running, but it is so amazingly joyous that it’s not stiff and slightly painful.

The run was good. I sucked air for a little while, but then just got in a groove and managed to keep my running form in good shape and astonizhed myself when I asked Brynn at the 20 min, 30 min and 1 hr marks how long we’d been running. I didn’t bring my watch, which turned out to be quite a blessing. Maybe that’s the problem with me. I should just always go running without a watch!

In any event, I was focusing on the upper-cut of my arm swing on the uphills and really trying to keep my feet nice and light, my chin down and the crown of my head light and tall to the sky. I also focused on aligning my body forward so that I didn’t have ’stray parts’ going in other directions than my y’chi. It worked wonders. I really like having a running buddy, too. Some days it’s nice to go out alone and just really get into my head, and other days I am so sick of myself I just want company on my running routes. Thanks Brynn!

Overall I was astonished, happy and proud about our run today. We ran the 5.5 miles in about an hour, which included a few stops (@ lights) and a quick detour to pick up som moxa sticks @ the acupuncturist. All told, we rocked the run today!

PS. Ivan and I were dog sitting this weekend for Katherine and Danny (the dog is Mei Ling, no jokes, please) and my friend Rachel’s dog, Nuna. They are freakishly alike, and they had a great time playing. We took them for a hike on Saturday and this is how they were the rest of the afternoon:

Mei Ling (darker) and Nuna (lighter) in the backyard

everyone knows that!

My friend Brynn and I went running for a quick second around Biltmore Forest neighborhood, a lovely area with little traffic and pretty lawns. We took it easy, and I felt pretty good. I wasn’t sore after running: we only ran about 22 minutes, but it was long enough to feel productive, and short enough my knee didn’t talk back. I stretched after the run, and did do the Body Looseners before running, which I have been negligent with. I think the knee and hip circles are going to be really restorative for me knee, and I have intention to make more of a habit about doing them, even if I don’t go for a run. I was also thinking of ‘tracking’ like I wrote in a previous post, about being able to lift my foot off the ground while running, making my big and small toe come off at the same time. It’s a good focus.

I honestly can’t figure out what is the cause of my funny little knee issue. I don’t want to induldge in the “what if” scenario because I think it is a bit gratuitous: if I go there, I’ll probably let it hurt more. Sometimes I think of it like a yoga posture: if you look to the ground in a pose that’s balance oriented (all of them) you’re probably going to head ‘down’, ie fall down. So, if I use that same thinking and just recognize that my knee is in a strange place, honor it, and give it appropriate but not gratuitious attention, I believe it will heal itself.

But just as a word of warning for those of you who are expecting me to be running in Seattle with some crazy results: It may be a really slow run for Lizzie. I am just really looking forward to getting out there and running and having fun. Certainly the warm weather that’s creeping into North Carolina is giving encouraging rays of sunshine to the mornings to motivate some healthy movement.

Happy Friday you all.

So, I’m back in AVL now, but was in NYC this morning. I was in the City with Danny for a workshop yesterday, which was a great success. We didn’t have to leave till mid-morning so I figured if I could get a run in, it would be best to do it in the morning (good), in Central Park (better), with Danny (best!)… So we ran!

We went out early when it was still dark out, so I tricked myself into thinking it was cool out. WRONG. Humid and I had a long sleeve tech shirt on and boy oh boy did I learn a good lesson this morning: Underdress, Lizzie, underdress.

We had planned to jog to the park and then do a circle all the way around the park… We were thinking somewhere around 6 miles, and we’d shave off a little bit in the park or just walk at the end if the time was met. Today was my first 1.15 hr run, and I was very glad to have company, esp. Danny.

I didn’t realize CP is as hilly as it is. Immediately Danny had me getting my chin down and relaxing my legs, taking smaller steps. Surprise surprise. After a little while into the run we notice all these crazy mile-marker signs and at some point big water stands and it was clear there was a race that day (timing couldn’t have been better!) … apparently it was a training run for the ING Marathon. So for those of you who were doing that training run this morning, sorry we didn’t run together.

My hip was sore (probably from the long travel Fri evening and then more or less standing around all day on Saturday at the workshop, though I tried to stretch)… and then my right knee started to act up. After the run, we diagnosed that most likely, I am not picking my foot (feet) up enough, and so my leg is coming down and creating a force-force impact with the road. Antidote: pick up my ankles. No shuffling anymore.

Overall an 8. I had a hard time on some of the hills, I could feel some major lactic acid pulsing through my legs and we ran by water table. I grabbed some water and sipped. (Ever run in a race and get water all over your face? Try pinching the cup closed so there’s one little spout opening and sip on that till you’re through — no mess! Danny has all these tips, it’s like he’s the Martha Stewart of running)

Total mileage: 7 miles in just under 70 minutes. Darn fast for me.