Fort Worth Zoo Run - 5K

Okay, I *have* been running, just not that much. It's been reduced to a couple of times a week and 3 miles at most, but at least it's something.

So today was the first race of my season. It was a 5K event at Fort Worth Zoo. It was also about a year ago this time that I entered this very same event for my first 5K ever so this event has some meaning for me.

Today was a pretty overcast day. A good day for running but that was offset with the moisture in the air which made it a tad humid.

I recall the same time last year I was pretty nervous, not knowing what to expect. This year's course layout was the same as last year's so I had some familiarity with it and knew what to expect.

I thought I did pretty good this year. I actually felt better this year than last year but what bit me this year were all the 5K walkers and people walking with strollers that had started near the front of the corral. This caused all the other timed 5K runners to waste energy slowing down, speeding up, dodging side to side, weaving in and out. It totally screwed up my pace at the beginning. Another thing that made it difficult to get a decent pace going at the beginning is the route for the first kilometer of the 5K. The first section actually takes you through the zoo itself, which doesn't have wide laneways. This made it a bit difficult with so many people bunched up at the beginning and getting squeezed together didn't make it easy to get a steady pace going.

Once we left the zoo, we made an ascent up a small, but somewhat steep hill into a residential area that someone separated people out a bit. The residential area was pretty flat and straight which made it easier to maintain a steady pace. It was here that I felt that I was actually going at a pace that faster than normal and felt like I improved over last year.

The last third of the 5K is a downhill descent that takes you back into the zoo parking lot and to the finish line.

I finished in 29:47 (officially) which is under 30 minutes, but significantly slower than I want to be. So, there's room for improvement.

My Nikeplus sensor is AFU and only said I ran 2.4 miles so it's time to recalibrate that.

Oh yeah, I pretty much abandoned the Pose Method/midfoot running for this race. My legs just don't have the strength to maintain that consistently over a long distance. I think I may employ that during training more and "regular" running cadence during events.

Holy Cramp!

Oh cramp.

Well, it was close to a leg cramp yesterday. My training using the Pose Method uses more of my calf muscles than I had used them before...so either I'm not using the Pose Method correctly or I just need to work out my calves more.

I was supposed to run 12 min intervals with 100 second breaks in between, which I did, but not without great difficulty. My calves were tight that morning and it was quite chilly but not cold enough to pull on the running tights. I did ample stretching and loosened up as much as I could and I started out on my run. By the time I had completed my 2nd interval, I had contemplated calling my wife to come pick me up because my left calf was just REALLY sore. It felt like a cantaloupe in my leg!

It became one of those moments where you either decide to call it quits for the day or you tough it out. I don't usually quote Lance Armstrong that often, and this may be a paraphrase, but it summed up what I was thinking: "Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever." I had stopped in the middle of runs before and regretted doing it.

This time I toughed it out the remaining intervals and I'm glad I did. By the time the 4th interval came around (albeit at a slower pace), the soreness had either worked itself out, or I couldn't feel it any longer.

First big run after knee pain

I had my first long run (6 miles) trying to do my best using the Pose Method and it went better than expected.

First, I went at a pace that was a bit faster than expected (overall 10:39/mile pace) and I went 7 miles instead of 6, mainly because I made a wrong turn and got a wee bit lost during my run.

Running with the Pose Method certainly helped me focus on form, posture and positioning during the run and take my mind off of the distance and the running itself. The miles just fell away before I knew it.

It was one of those gorgeous days for running - it was sunny, but cool enough where I didn't have to worry about over-heating. There was also a slight breeze that just made everything perfect.

I was worried about doing 6 miles as I had hurt my knee doing 8 miles last week, which I think was brought on by my running form deteriorating in the last 2 miles. When I hit the last mile, my arch in my right foot starting feeling really sore but it wasn't bad enough to make me stop. During my cool down, I could still feel my sore arch and I was still concerned about my knee.

I texted my wife to get a couple of ice packs ready and after my shower I iced down my knee and my arch hoping to avoid prolonged soreness. Thankfully, after a couple of hours with the ice packs, everything felt great again so now I'm aware of how my body reacts to icing down.

Tomorrow I start getting back to my regularly-scheduled training runs for a half marathon in 4 weeks' time.

(Re-)Learning How To Run

Today was my first run after taking the majority of the week off to rest up my knee due to Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, aka Runner's Knee.

It was meant to be a relatively quick jog at an easy pace, but it turned into a faster job than anticipated. It was pretty much at my medium pace over 5 kms. I guess I was just too excited about running after the injury.

I've also been reading The Pose Method book which promotes some common-sense approaches to running but describes them in a way that makes it easy to practice. I had quickly skimmed through the book and went through the basic drills so I was eager to try the method out.

Anyway, it was a good run and the Pose Method seemed to be fairly effective. I used muscles to run using the Pose Method that I wouldn't have typically used so the run was a different experience altogether.

The plan now is to