Smokin fast or smokin something...

This is a recovery week but as usual still contains some good quality workouts. Tuesday was my first trip back to the track since OC100K training. I only had to squeak out 8X200 meters each in 44 seconds....no faster! Kris joined me and it was great to have company. We did the first 3 together and I was hitting numbers like 44, 43, 42, 44 and my heart rate was getting near 177. That is just about perfect for me. Kris on the other hand was barely breathing hard and when she said she could talk to me during the sprint I called her a sandbagger. She decided to push it a bit and she saw numbers like 38, 36 and even a 34, very nice! I was able to easily maintain my sub 44 and my body felt good. I was actually surprised at the amount of spring in my step after Chuckanut 50K. I seem to have bounced back nicely, maybe it was the 2 days of 5000+ calories post race that sped up my recovery. Tuesday evening was a shakedown run while Alex practiced Baseball and again I felt strong.

I have to confess that I have been a big slacker in the gym when it comes to legs! I haven't done a really good leg workout in a very long time. So long I can't remember when. Why????......well truthfully it's because I haven't been able to perform the exercises without killing my legs so much my runs suffer and because I seem to get my hip in an uproar every time. My lack of understanding on how to perform the exercises properly is costing me. I decided I needed some help and a real education on how to become "one" with my leg muscles and their weakness. Mark agreed to take me through a comprehensive leg workout that he swears will make me very strong but won't jeopardize my running. So.....last night I met with him for 1.5 hours and he worked every single muscle below my waist in every angle. He showed me proper form and corrected me constantly. Muscles were shaking and firing that I didn't even know I had. My range of motion was horrible on my squats so we worked on that. I have some really bad habits! He also taught me how to breath correctly while performing the exercise. I was worked when I left! Given that I had a tempo run today I was anxious to see if I would pop out of bed or need to launch myself onto my feet. Surprisingly I felt good! Taking full advantage of my lack of soreness I did my tempo first thing this morning just in case I get hit later with rigamortis.

This was my first flat tempo run in over a month if you don't count Champoeg 10K. I had a 15 minute warm up, then 15 minutes in 3A or 8:48 pace, then .5 miles at M-Pace which is 7:48, then 20-25 minutes at 7:16 pace. The 3A and M-Pace portions were awesome and I felt like I was on fire! The AT portion at 7:16 was tough! I felt really strong but my leg turnover seemed slow and my heart rate climbed to 176. I just toughed it out and pushed as hard as I could. When it was all said and done I felt great, a real peaceful excitement to be back in control of my body. Leona Divide 50M will be my next event and I want to do well so I will be setting a lofty goal for that race. Anyone out there who has run the race and could give an idea for a goal I would be grateful to hear from.

Now for an update on my "practice" my yoga practice that is. I have been doing Yin Yoga and for those who know anything about Yin know that it's long sustained stretches geared mainly for the hips. Not a lot of places teach it around here so I have a couple of DVD's that are great and very convenient. The DVD I purchased has 3 really long practices and 6 shorter ones. Yin is supposed to be a cooling of the body vs. Yong that creates heat. Since most of this makes me roll my eyes Kris told me I am turning my Yin practice into a Yong practice.....ha, ha, ha. Just what you would expect from a type A personality, fidget, get irritated, roll the eyes and basically act impatient. I try to relax into the long poses but it's hard and hurts. Alex likes to cross his legs, sit in front of me and pretend he's the guy on the DVD giving instructions in a very meditative state. Then when the 3-5 minute pose is done he can help me get out the of pose! Good stuff for my tight hips and legs but I am still not drawing any chi from the earth like it promises. :) I guess that will take time too!