Just to get moving.

This wasn't a night of any crazy experiences of training. It was mainly just to get myself moving and get the blood pumping. This is the kind of night when the clouds are warm and a nice 54 degrees. This was by far like the perfect weather to run in. I don't need to worry about being to cold nor do I have to worry about overheating. A part of me still wanted to downpour and the cold. It just seems to add that bit of excitement.

Tonight I am doing my foam roller. This is the best way to stretch all the muscle, even the ones you forget you using. http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/flexibilityandstretching/ss/FoamRoller.htm is a link to a website with a few foam roller stretches that I have done myself and a few i plan on trying out. Next time you go to the gym give it a go. When you are going over the most painful spots thats where you want to focus on because it is a tight muscle group.

Singing in the RAIN!

So if you live in Portland you would know how much it rained today. While most Oregonians dislike when it rains this much I must say it was refreshing. Why shower when it feels you got soaked while running? It was the kinda of day when you no longer know part of you became soaked with rain or sweat. This is the kind of rain the just makes the song "Singing in the Rain" by Gene Kelly rings through my head. It made me want to sing and dance. Well if you count running as dance, you could say I was dancing. I may not be the most graceful of running dancers but I am sure i enjoy it more than most.

I had a very tough work out I did 200's, 800's and of course my dynamic warm up. I never feel over-heated in this weather, that's for sure. During my 800's, I couldn't look out at the dark of the track because the rain was hitting me in the eyes. Sometimes I think of it as a challenge by the rain to see if it can get me to stop. This just makes me want to run faster and faster! I slowly was down to my shorts and my tee shirt I was pushing through the wall of rain. It would not be stopping this Portlander today.

Pulling me out of my FUNK!

I am so invigorated, ecstatic, rejuvenated and more! Running in the cold is the opposite of what I thought would pull me out of the funk I have been in the last couple of weeks but it was the opposite! This wasn't a particularly hard run but the cold and the dark (sounds depressing) woke me up. I don't feel like I am in a funk anymore. I had to push my self through the stiff joints but once I got going it was like riding a bike you may get rusty but you don't forget how. My stride came back and I felt free. No more stress from work and school. No more thinking about family. Everything seemed to fall away except for what was around me. The most important thing my feet meeting the pavement. I have found the cure to senioritis... running.

I also stopped by the gym and did core strengthening! The pain just makes me just want to stop as I do one after the other after the other but just think what your getting from all this pain and sweat... sexy abs. haha but in all seriousness I felt even better running up my gosh darn tough hill in the wet and cold on the way home... I felt balanced and at ease.

My coach.

I have noticed that I haven't talked about my awesome coach, Bob Williams.   When the summer started I went hunting for running groups but no body would let me join. There were various reasons, such as I was too young, I had never run a marathon before and so on and so forth. This was so infuriating! How was I supposed to have run a marathon and trained for one unless I had people to help me who knew how it was done? Finally a group told us of this coach, Bob Williams, who is an awesome coach. They told us that he was one of the best coaches for my age group in the nation. Bob Williams used to run with Bill Bowerman, one of the founders of Nike and a coach at U of O. After meeting with him, he got me on the path to long distance running. With him I learned it isn't always about the end result, but how you get there and what you learn along the way. There is the technical stuff, such as ways to stretch, how to hold your body, core strengthening and more. I have become a far better runner with Bob Williams by my side.  He has also introduced me to the spirituality of running.

Running on a sick day.

It is hard sometimes to get yourself to just move. During the summer it didn’t matter what time of day I went because I had no early morning school things. When is it smart to go out and run and when is it smart to stay at home and rest when you aren’t feeling well is still something I am trying to figure out. While writing this blog I feel crummy.  Sometimes this feeling is cured by pushing the boundaries you have set on yourself and showing what you are able to do. I think with time it is something you learn. Either through first hand experience or from something you read. One way of finding out whether or not your body is in the mood for a strenuous work out is by checking your heart rate. I normally only do this on track work out days but by doing it there i have learned how to relate it to my other runs. What I do is after running 800’s I stop and count my heart rate for ten seconds with the first beat being when you start counting. When you have your number, which changes for each person, you want to do a light jog/walk and then count your heart rate again. If your heart rate is not going back to where it should be, which is a little different for each person. I then run a few more 800’s and do it again. If it just doesn’t look like or feel like my body is recovering I cut my work out short and just cool down and go home in the hopes that tomorrow I will feel better. Today, however, I know I should just rest. 

The weather beat me...

I was not ready for that dry heat! I ended up running only a few days in the last week and not nearly as far. I think what really got me was the fact that I was not allowed to run to far away so I had to go back and forth on the same part of the beach or run on the evil thing named a tread mill.. I guess no one here would know my hatred for these things. I don't feel free or relaxed in side on a machine. Running helps you get away from the things that remind yourself of day to day life but on the clunking metal things one cant help but feel constantly reminded.  Before I said I wanted to explore Mexico in my running shoes but I was informed that it was unsafe to go far or at night (my favorite time of day to run normally). Next time I travel and run I think i might check in advance where to run and how safe it is.

Yay for laziness and sunburns. Time for running in the wet darkness or P-town!

Well I am heading to mexico!

I am off to explore what it is like in Mexico. I hope to run a long ways down the beach and and explore mexico in my running shoes! Wish me luck in the 89 degree weather! All you Portlanders and keep your snow because I get the sand!  :D

P.S. I get back in just over a week. That when my next post will be.