KristenRuns

Easy run in Catalina. Big climb!

Fartlek run on treadmill after work. 1 minute fast and recovery as long as it took. Working intervals were between marathon and 10K pace. Hips feeling tight from a few days off without stretching.

a.m. Early easy run through the neighborhood on a warm morning in the 60s already. Heading up to almost 80 today. Hips feeling tight still and a little bit of pulling in hamstring. Went to ART, and Jonathan said SI joint on left side does not have much mobility - adding daily tennis ball rolling to that area.

p.m. Yoga class with several brand new beginners. Because my new year's resolution is to practice kindness, patience, and be less judgmental, I'm not going to comment about beginners choosing a level 2 vinyassa flow class as the first yoga class of their lives. ;)

a.m. Moderate/easy run in Balboa Park before work with Elizabeth.

a.m. Running form clinic - drills and a few strides.

p.m. Easy run after work in Balboa Park/Morely Field. It was a beautiful night. Best run in a long time. 

Lunch time - vinyassa flow level 1 & 2.

Joints need a day off from some good mileage so far this week, so no run.

Long run with Elizabeth at Sweetwater Reserver and River Trail.

p.m. 3 mile hike up Cowles Mountain in the rain. 1,591 feet over 1.5 miles on south approach. This is the highest peak within San Diego city limits.

p.m. Yoga for Athletes DVD.

Lots of evening foam-rolling and stretching during a binge watch of Salem on Net Flix. Legs are fatigued from Satuday's long trail run at a faster pace.

Vinyassa flow L 1&2 at lunch time. Taking it easy this week with the half marathon coming upo n Sunday. Legs still feeling a little fatigued from Saturday's long run. But hamstring is feeling much better from yoga and foam rolling yesterday.  

p.m. - tons of foam rolling and stretching during national champtionship game.

a.m. Leg/core workout with Brandon (lots of stretching, 2 x hanging reverse curls/plank on bosu and swiss/medicine ball throws/rockers, 3 x squats/step-ups/plyo step-up/swiss ball hamstring curl, 2 x sliding side lunge/lateral shuffle with band, marches with band).

p.m. Easy run on the embarcadero

a.m. - easy run before work in Balboa Park/Morley Field with Elizabeth and Simon.

p.m. - Vinyassa flow L2. Handstands!

a.m. - running form clinic

p.m. - 6 mile fartlek in Balboa Park

5 miles easy in Carlsbad with an awesome sunset over the Pacific.

90 minute power flow class. Challenging class. Some foam rolling and additional stretching to get the legs ready for the half marathon tomorrow.
 

I signed up for the Carlsbad Half Marathon months ago after one great run into my recovery from a hamstring injury. But, as usual, the recovery wasn't smooth, and there were lots of iffy runs for every great run over the last 3 or 4 months. I wasn't ready to race this half. I even tried, unsuccessfully, to sell my bib. But in the end I'm glad I ran the race.

I had vigorous debates with myself (and Penny) about how I should run the race. Training run? Best efforts? Fun run? Pace someone else? By Saturday, I had settled on a training run. 8:00ish with a fast 5K to fininsh, if and only if my leg felt good. Why risk a hamstring setback for a race I could not get close to placing or PRing in?

I stuck to this plan all of 1mile once the race began. I had memorized my splits from last year's Carlsbad Half, and I finished the first mile in exactly the same time. Miles 2-4 were also almost spot on last year's splits. That's when I knew I had to stop checking my watch. I didn't want to push myself into besting last year's time. So I ran miles 5 to the end watchless.

I went by effort and tried to be comfortable in my stride and breathing. My leg never hurt, not even a twinge of tightness on a hill. I also set my pace by trying to continuously pass the next person in front of me, one at a time.

The new plan of running comfortable also fell by the wayside in the last two miles. My leg was feeling fine, and I started pushing the pace a little bit more, as the next person in front of me got harder and harder to catch. It was a pretty hard effort at the end, 8 out of 10. I finished in 1:34:46, about 1 minute slower than last year, and my third slowest half marathon to date.

It was a risky to push the hamstring like this. It was ready, or I got lucky, because I have no hamstring pain 24 hours later. I'm just experiencing normal post-race soreness, and happily, it is even soreness in both legs. So I know nothing is wrong. 

My gun time was 1:35:00, which I am taking as an auspicious sign of good things to come in 2015!

Brandon's yoga class. Sore in IT bands and muscles around ankles, shins.

ART appointment. Best I've been in 4 months!

Classic yoga at Yoga One. Legs sore.

Very easy on Ocean Beach bike path. Lingering fatigue from Sunday's race.

Easy miles early in nyc on Hudson river path. Haven't run on this path since trial w penny in January and February 2013. Fun to relive those moments today

Easy run in DC, Capital Crescent Trail and Georgetown.

a.m. - In St. Louis visiting friends from college this weekend. I've been neglecting stretching last 5 days due to work and travel to cities on east coast. My hamstring is a little off now. It'll be great to get home today and back to normal this week. Took the worst yoga class I've ever taken - at an unnamed studio in St. Louis.

p.m. - rolling and stretching all evening while watching Australian Open.

4 miles easy on treadmill late after a long day at work. Rolling and stretching while watching Australian Open.
 

Easy miles through Balboa Park after work. These easy miles felt hard. Low energy levels after a long hard day at work. Stretching while watching Aussie Open. Surprised that Kyrgios is staying with Murray through three sets...(DVR).

a.m. - easy miles before work through Mission Hills. Low energy again, running almost 10 min miles. Hope I'm not getting sick!

p.m. - my favorite yoga class, Vinyassa flow level 2 with Sarah. It's probably psychosomatic, but my hamstring feels healed again. Namaste.

p.m. - aborted mini-threshold workout. Wanted to do 3ish miles at half marathon pace, but just couldn't hang. It turned into a couple of mile repeats. Still struggling with fatigue this week. I have never felt this kind of fatigue before. It's also been a busy and stressful week at work, with a major filing due tomorrow. Rest day is in order tomorrow. Stretch/foam roll during the tennis.

Long run on OB bike path to jetty and pier. No problem holding 8:30ish pace. Big turn around from earlier in the week when I was struggling with fatigue...probably work stress over big filing on Friday. In the winter there are tons of migrating sea birds in San Diego, second only to the Everglades. This path is a great place to find lots of different species. Today I saw a burrowing owl! It's the first owl I've ever seen in person. I was pumped and ran a really fast mile after seeing it! 

13 mile bike ride OB bike path w/ Walter.

a.m. - 7 mile easy run in Balboa Park with Elizabeth. Legs (joints) still feeing Sat.'s long run a little bit.

p.m. - power yoga at Yoga One.

p.m. - 2 x 2 miles at half marathon pace (7:00). 1 mile in between at 9:00 (treadmill 2%). Total of 8 miles. I was planning on doing 3 miles at 7:00 but was out of gas after 2. After a mile easy was able to gather strength for 2 more miles at 7:00. Maybe I'm being too critical of myself - but this felt harder than I expected - too hard. Better than last week's attempt I suppose! And I'm just getting started with adding actual workouts to my schedule. +foam rolling and stretching.
 

a.m. - leg/core workout with Brandon.

p.m. - vinyassa flow at Yoga One

8 easy miles on OB bike path. Saw the owls again - they were in their same spots.

ART appointment. Lots of progress again. I'm "balanced."
 

a.m. 7 miles easy in Balboa with Elizabeth.

p.m. Vinyassa flow 2 at Hale Holistic with Sarah, my fav instructor. In yoga, I've been working on connecting breath to movement and have been experiencing new aspects. Calm breathing --> calm nervous system --> see more clearly.

Long run in Mission Bay. 16 miles. First 6 miles were a struggle. Felt tight in right calf and Achilles and bloody nose lasting 4 miles. Got easier from there and felt good rest of the run. 

Easy miles on treadmill after dark (in DC). right calf/achilles area feeling a little off, so I stopped at 3 miles and did a lot of stretching and rolling work on it. Felt a lot better after. Hope it's just muscle soreness from yesterday's long run...

Giving calf/achilles a break...hot yoga at Epic Yoga in DC.

Easy miles on the National Mall in DC. Saw the Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Memorial, Washington Monument, and Thomas Jefferson Memorial. Very cool run.

Calf/achilles felt okay. It didn't hurt, but it's not normal. I struggle to even find the words to describe how it feels...

LOOOONG day. No time to workout.

another long day...no time to workout

Easy run in the park after work. Gorgeous night for a run. After being in gray and cold Washington DC all week, I feel extra lucky to live in San Diego!

Easy run on Ocean Beach bike path. Ran to visit to the owls. They were in their same spots. It was 84° during my run today. It felt like an oven, after having been in the 30s all week in DC.

I almost didn't run this race because I had a very stressful week of work and travel last week to the east coast. Plus, I haven't done any "key" workouts since the last race that I ran - the Carlsbad Half, where I posted one of my slowest half marathon times to date. A few running buddies eventually prevailed in talking me into it.

I ran the race last year, and it was fantanstic - professionally run, easy parking, big warm up area, waiting area inside, lots of bathrooms. The course is great too - most of it is along the ocean (Del Mar, Solana Beach, and Cardiff by the Sea) and flat. There are two noticable hills - one early and one midway through the race. I love the last two miles, which start with a short but steep downhill, and it's then flat all the way home.

My goal was to match last year's time - 1:09:55 (7:00 av pace). This felt like a big ask, given aforementioned lack of up-tempo workouts and the slow time I ran at Carlsbad (7:15 av pace). To my surprise, I ran an awesome race and beat last year's time by over 60 seconds - 1:08:44 (6:52 av pace).

What happened?

First, strategy-wise, I went out a lot faster this year (-40 seconds in first two miles), and I ran the two hill miles slower (+20 seconds). Saving energy on the up hills allowed me to run the last two miles faster (-15 seconds). The miles in between were overall a little bit faster too.

A second factor was that I ran with another runner basically the whole race. He was trying to run 6:50s...the elusive 6:50 pace (-->sub 1:30 half marathon)...I said I'd run 6:50s with him. We stuck together the whole race, and I put the hammer down a little more in the last mile, narrowly beating him. I might not have decided to run 6:50s without him.

The biggest difference between this year and last is my stride. I've been working on my running form, almost weekly, in a clinic hosted by my ART person. We do sprint drills, and he evaluates our strides. I've been working on strengthening and/or stretching areas to improve my stride power and efficiency. The benefits of changing my running form have been enormous. I am getting faster without even working very hard for it, and I am hoping that better biomechanics will mean a reduced injury risk.

quads are SORE! 40 min elliptical; 60 min yoga w/ Brandon and Walter.

a.m. - easy run through Morely Field and Balboa Park with Elizabeth. Quades hated the downhills.

p.m. - vinyassa flow at Yoga One.

am--quads still very sore from race. core workout at gym with Brandon.

am--easy run on Ocean Beach bike path to see the owls. Only one was out this morning. The other must have been in its burrow or out hunting. Quads still very sore.

vinyassa flow at Hale Holistic

Long run--18 coastal miles on the 101. Solana Beach to Del Mar (Torrey Pines) to Encinitas (Swamis) and back to Solana Beach.  I felt pretty good on this run until the last couple of miles. Contemplating a spring marathon. I'm ~ half way trained for it anyway... The 18 miles felt pretty awesome; I only got tired in the last 1.5 miles. 8 more miles, on the other had, would be pretty tough!

Elizabeth's birthday run! Trail run in Rancho Penasquitos canyon with Elizabeth, Vera, and Simon. Legs felt good, even after 18 miler yesterday.
 

ART appointment--for calf this time. Diagnosis was a shin splint and lots of calf tightness. Probably due poor mechanics--not fully extending right leg.

p.m.--vinyassa flow at yoga one.

a.m. tempo run with Elizabeth on OB bike path (no owls today). 9 miles total with 4 miles of tempo progression 7, 6:50, 6:45, 6:30. Felt pretty easy today. Great workout. Calf a little sore from ART yesterday.

p.m. gym. Core / legs with Brandon. Reverse decline curls,very small decline crunch + twists, bosu ball/swiss ball front plank, bosu ball side plank, hanging leg lifts + twists, lower back leg lift on swiss ball, step ups, front squat, wall squat, one leg squat on unstable thingy, swiss ball leg curls, one leg dead lift on unstable thingy, side squats w/ slide thingy, mountain climber action on slide thingy (2 or 3 of each)

am--easy run OB bike path (one of the owls was home) + 5 short hill sprints. At times, shin splint bothered me a lot. form drills with Kyle.

pm--vinyassa flow at Yoga One.

am--easy run in Balboa Park with Elizabeth. Shin bothering me.

Fartlek run on treadmill (in Chi -10 degrees).

Shin splint bothering me. Taking a few days off running to see if I can clear it up. Besides, it's raining in San Diego. 45 minutes easy on elliptical.

Still resting shin splint, why not? 30 min stairs and 30 min elliptical

Yoga for Runners Intermediate DVD. Forgot how hard the lunges are! Today I begin a 11 day work trip to east coast and then London.

In DC where it is snowing/raining so I was confined to the hotel gym. Did a test run on TM and shin splint still present. Decided not to run any further and risk making it worse for a crap TM run. Did yoga and core work instead and a litle uphill TM walking 

Snow day in Washington DC. 45 minutes on elliptical. Leg and core work out.

Spent rest of March traveling for work--London, DC, NY, rince and repeat--and generally not exercising.

3 miles easy in Mission Hills. No shin pain!

3 miles easy with Elizabeth in Balboa Park. No shin pain again.

Vinyassa flow level 2 at Hale Holistic.

I was running late and basically sprinted the 1.5 miles from the office to the studio while carrying my yoga mat. Shin ached some afterwards.

This week I was in NYC and did about 30 minutes elliptical and 30 minutes of weights most days.

skipped exercising to go to Frye Shoe store in Soho and Papatzul for dinner. Worth it!

4 miles easy in Central Park. About 1.5 of this was walking.

Vinyassa flow level 2 at Hale Holistic.

Ride with Elizabeth from home to Cabrillo National Monument (including tide pools). Tons of hills and wind. Hard ride!
 

5 miles easy in Mission Hills, about 2 miles of this was walking. California wildflowers in full bloom on the canyon floor!

Core and leg workout.

Yoga for runners - intermediate DVD.

Easy miles (only 3 of the 4 running) in Central Park after work. 9 p.m. and tons of people out running. NY is truly the city that never sleeps. It's now the next morning, and I can feel something in my shin bone. What is that something? It's not painful or sore. It is just present.

30 minutes on elliptical. A little upper body weights. It's the next morning, and it's unfortuante to report that the shin did not like the elliptical either.

Bikram yoga. I always say this after I'm done...never again. But eventually I go back. It's a huge challenge to make it through 90 minutes of yoga at 105F and 40% humidity. My only thought was "survive."

Yoga at Exhale studio in NYC. A flow class with some "core" thrown in at the end. $40 for 60 minutes!! I guess I'm paying for the real estate (Central Park South). Still, enjoyed the class and felt great afterwards.

I've not been working out most of May. I've been in NYC and DC for work most weeks and have been very sick. Cold, allergies, ear infection, and lung infection. Hoping to start training again when antibiotics are over. Gives my bone injury (tibia--maybe a shin splint, maybe stress reaction or fracture) extra time to recover too.

All done with antibotics, over the cold/respiratory infections, and hopefully tibia is all better too. Now if only things would slow down at work, things would be great.

First run in ages, so getting back to it slowly with Pfitzinger program (http://www.runnersworld.com/race-training/coming-back-serious-injury).

10 min walk / 5 min run / 5 min walk / 5 min run

Spinning class at Evolve. Moderate effort and worked a little bit harder last 10 minutes. Problem with spinning is that if I put on too much resistance my knees start to hurt, but if I don't put on enough resistance, then I don't get a great cardio workout. I'm sure it's a user error...

Vinyassa level 2 class at Yoga One. Lost some of my flexibility. Still able to do all the balancing poses.

Was supposed to run today. Felt like yoga would be more beneficial. Vinyassa level 2 class at Yoga One. Almost entire class was hip openers, which was awesome!

Walk 5 min / run 5 / walk 5 / run 5 / walk 5 / run 5 / walk 5.

I felt a sensation in my shin in the spot where there was probably a stress fracture/reaction. Could feel the sensation occasionally a few hours after the run. Very disappointing that this injury is not completely cleared up after basically 3 months of no running.
 

6 min run / 3 min walk (4x)

Spent June building up my run/walks. Will be back to regular, but easy, running in July (hopefully)!

Easy miles in Chicago - river, lake, bean (cloud gate). Great day for a run.

7 min run / 3 min walk (5 times)

10 min run / 2 min walk (3x) in Central Park. Felt really good!

3 x 11 min run/4 min walk in Central Park. Rain started during the last 11 minute running segment, and I ran a little bit too fast. Towards the end of that segment, my shin started feeling "soft." Continues to feel soft next morning.

5 miles in Central Park on a hot (for me) morning, 85F. 3 running segments of 12 minutes, 16 minutes, 10 minutes with walk breaks between. "Aware" of the tibia spot toward end of run and for 6 hours or so after the run. Feels okay next morning.
 

50 min spin class, high intensity!

50 minutes spinning at Evolve - moderate intensity.

Vinyassa flow level 2 with Sarah at Yoga One.

Vinyassa level 2 at Hale Holistic

50 minutes spinning

3 miles easy in Mission Hills and trail. About 30 minutes of running with a couple of walk breaks on technical parts of trail and traffic lights.

Vinyassa flow at yoga one

50 minutes spinning

Vinyassa flow level 2 at yoga one

leg/core workout at gym

Easy, continuous 3 miles in the neighborhood 

Easy miles on Hudson River Path NYC

upper body / core workout

legs / core market.

Easy miles in Central Park

20 mile bike ride along Hudson River Path, across George Washington Bridge, and into Palasades Park in NJ (and back).

Vinyassa level 2 at Yoga One

easy miles in balboa park and core workout at gym

advanced vinyassa at hale holisic

yoga workshop at hale holistic.
 

4 miles in Cardiff = sunburn!

Hot yoga at core power yoga in Hillcrest where I waterboarded myself with sweat.

45 minutes on stair climber (aerobic level 13)

upper body: 3 sets of assisted pull ups; 3 x cable rows super set with pushups; chest press machine.

Yoga

Legs and core

Easy miles in Balboa Park. With a couple fartleks.

Upper body 3 sets of assisted dips, 1 set shoulder press, 3 sets handstand push-ups, 3 way plank, upright rows.

Easy miles around my parent's neighborhood in Normal, IL. So hot and humid!!!

At my parent's house this weekend for my neice, Perla's, baptism. It was an honor to be chosen as her godmother!
 

easy miles in balboa. 2 hill sprints on cedar

Upper body workout: 3x assisted pull-up, push-up, curl to shoulder press, chest press. 3 way planks (2-1-1, 1-30-30, 1-30-30, 90)

Legs and core workout 

Easy miles in Balboa Park w fartlek. Upper body workout--3x flies, shoulder press, cable rows, push-ups, 3 way plank. Yoga

Classic yoga at Yoga One

Vinyasa at little yoga studio. Handstands!

6 miles easy  funny hot morning in Carlsbad. Felt great!!

Hot fusion yoga at core power. An hour felt like an eternity!! So hard...

Spinning class. Forgot to check miles, but it's always over 20. Hard effort today. Wanted to wear myself out for flight to DC today. 

Vinyassa L2 at Yoga One

3 miles easy + 3 hill sprints (on Vine St.)

legs/ core

25 min stairs at L14; upper body (3x assisted pull ups, push ups, cable rows, dips, handstand hold against wall + planks). Yoga.

Easy miles (8:50ish) hard by soooooo HOT! Still, feels great to be out on the roads again for decent length runs!

2.5 miles easy to gym 

upper body workout (pull down, push up, handstand, leg lifts, curl/military press)

2.5 miles easy to home

5 miles easy in Central Park. During the run, my doctor called with my MRI results. Stress reaction in tibia. :( I'll be booted as soon as I get home from this business trip in 2 weeks.