Run Day

  Today was a beautiful day for a run. I only wish my workout was longer. I started my morning at the dog park at Auditorium Shores with little Oskar. I let him run around and terrorize everyone else for about an hour. We learned that he was only scared of jumping in the water for about 10 seconds, then he got over his fear. I packed him back up in the car and went for a fast 4 mile run. I definitely pushed the pace and ran 7:30's keeping my heart rate in the upper 160's maxing out at 192 on the sprint finish. I got home and did my core workout for about 15 minutes.
  A good friend of mine suggested I take up yoga to replace my core workout. She followed the link on my page and saw that the exercises were the same in the yoga classes she takes. The classes are at Black Swan Yoga and it is a donation based co-op with a suggested donation of $10. I think I might check it out in a couple of weeks and try to conquer my fear of yoga studios. I am letting my dog inspire me to overcome my fears.
  I have not written too much about the gear I am using for this training season. So here is today's topic. For all three disciplines I use a basic Reebok heart rate monitor I bought online at Woot. Since today was a run day I will talk about my shoes. I recently received a pair of Nike Frees for Christmas. I have been running for a few years in stability shoes to correct the imbalance in my step. Recently I have tried to concentrate on running more forward. Leaning just slightly forward and striking the ground more with my forefoot instead of the middle or heaven forbid the heel of the foot. The Nike Frees are great since they offer virtually no support for your feet which means all of the cushioning must come from your joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles from your toes all the way up to your hips. It forces you to strengthen your weakness making you a better runner. It has not been as dramatic of a switch as I thought it would be. I love these shoes. The most I have run in them at one time was 16 miles but after a couple of months of running I have no new injuries and my old plantar issues in my left foot have almost all gone away.
That's all I have for today. I see my dog napping and that sounds like a pretty good idea.