Omnibus
Because I'm scheduled to do a long run this weekend and will most likely be brain dead for days afterward, I wanted to do a rather scatter-gun post while I'm still a little better than a typing monkey. A scatter-gun post is one that's lucky if it nails anything other than hot air. Or you could call it an omnibus--a vehicle for anything that wants to jump aboard.
One guaranteed running-related item is that I didn't run at all last weekend. Still, Saturday and Sunday had much to do with running:
Along with a number of other LMJS folks, I took a two-day coaching certification class. The food was great! (Oh, yeah, I think I'm supposed to report on the class here.)
The best thing I can say is that I was exposed to a large amount of very useful information about the best ways to train and about how a good coach can impart this information to others. A 100-question test along with certifications in CPR and First Aid stand between me and my coaching certification, but I'm trusting that these are challenges I can address and manage to meet.
The worst thing I can say is that the classroom was very cold, especially the first day. Also, coming away truly informed after spending two long days on my sit-bones was an exercise in perseverance--and not an exercise I performed with unqualified success.
In addition to my journey into education, I have gone on a couple of runs since the the March 6 half marathon
I ran. Last Friday's run, a modest 4.5-miler, was significant in taking place when, for the first time this winter, there was enough light to illuminate the ground before 7 a.m. This is a pretty lame photo, but it's a keeper because it shows the path through the bushes that I was able to take for the first time since last October. Next up: spring!
Monday I was working like a demented person on a freelance project with a tight deadline and I only managed a late-day walk around the neighborhood. Tuesday I made it out the door very early. I had an OK run--a run subtly informed by the coaching class input that's been roiling around in my head. Later in the day, however, my hip / leg / knee were barking. So loudly that I've scheduled a session with Dr. Jess for this Friday. I need to find out whether I'm hurt or merely adjusting to the heavier training load (the latter, I'm sure).
I took the above picture Friday. I am still amused every time I run through this gate--Berkeley's answer the the Arc de Triomphe, I guess. It seems mighty--imposing? industrial? silly?--seeing that it frames a trailhead that leads to a three-block path.
In other news, which might be running-related if you accept that any nutrition information is potentially running related, I read a pleasingly sensible article on weight loss in this morning's paper. It's refreshingly moderate on a subject that generates a lot of firm and ferocious opinions, the straw-man-ish argument over which is worse, fats or carbs. Unsurprisingly, the answer seems to lie somewhere that has nothing to do with either fats or carbs, but rather is all about energy (calories) taken in and energy (calories) expended.
And finally, on my walk* to work from the casual carpool drop-off area this morning in SF, I was surprised by a sun-bright sky dumping a hailstorm on my head!
It was so surprising. I and my normally comatose fellow commuters looked to the sky as one, and we all burst into smiles. Moral: Be sure to get out of bed every morning--you never know what you might miss if you don't!
*Walking is definitely running related. When I asked Warren, one of the instructors of the coaching class, what the best cross-training is, he said only walking really addresses the running muscles.
One guaranteed running-related item is that I didn't run at all last weekend. Still, Saturday and Sunday had much to do with running:
Along with a number of other LMJS folks, I took a two-day coaching certification class. The food was great! (Oh, yeah, I think I'm supposed to report on the class here.)The best thing I can say is that I was exposed to a large amount of very useful information about the best ways to train and about how a good coach can impart this information to others. A 100-question test along with certifications in CPR and First Aid stand between me and my coaching certification, but I'm trusting that these are challenges I can address and manage to meet.
The worst thing I can say is that the classroom was very cold, especially the first day. Also, coming away truly informed after spending two long days on my sit-bones was an exercise in perseverance--and not an exercise I performed with unqualified success.
In addition to my journey into education, I have gone on a couple of runs since the the March 6 half marathon
I ran. Last Friday's run, a modest 4.5-miler, was significant in taking place when, for the first time this winter, there was enough light to illuminate the ground before 7 a.m. This is a pretty lame photo, but it's a keeper because it shows the path through the bushes that I was able to take for the first time since last October. Next up: spring!Monday I was working like a demented person on a freelance project with a tight deadline and I only managed a late-day walk around the neighborhood. Tuesday I made it out the door very early. I had an OK run--a run subtly informed by the coaching class input that's been roiling around in my head. Later in the day, however, my hip / leg / knee were barking. So loudly that I've scheduled a session with Dr. Jess for this Friday. I need to find out whether I'm hurt or merely adjusting to the heavier training load (the latter, I'm sure).
I took the above picture Friday. I am still amused every time I run through this gate--Berkeley's answer the the Arc de Triomphe, I guess. It seems mighty--imposing? industrial? silly?--seeing that it frames a trailhead that leads to a three-block path.
In other news, which might be running-related if you accept that any nutrition information is potentially running related, I read a pleasingly sensible article on weight loss in this morning's paper. It's refreshingly moderate on a subject that generates a lot of firm and ferocious opinions, the straw-man-ish argument over which is worse, fats or carbs. Unsurprisingly, the answer seems to lie somewhere that has nothing to do with either fats or carbs, but rather is all about energy (calories) taken in and energy (calories) expended.
And finally, on my walk* to work from the casual carpool drop-off area this morning in SF, I was surprised by a sun-bright sky dumping a hailstorm on my head!
It was so surprising. I and my normally comatose fellow commuters looked to the sky as one, and we all burst into smiles. Moral: Be sure to get out of bed every morning--you never know what you might miss if you don't!
*Walking is definitely running related. When I asked Warren, one of the instructors of the coaching class, what the best cross-training is, he said only walking really addresses the running muscles.
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