Perfect running form

One thing I need to start working on is my running form. I have always been a runner and I consider myself to be good at it. Before this year, I was running almost every day; I couldn’t get enough of it so it surprises me that I’ve never studied my form before. I just ran.

Last season, in pictures my family took from races, I noticed that I look sloppy when it comes time for the run. I’ve posted 2 pictures taken during the run at the RI 70.3 – look at how uncomfortable I look, esp. my flopped over hand! I don’t even know where my right arm is in that picture, it's non-existent. One goal for this coming season is to run with good form, even when I’m tired. I’ll need proof in the form of a picture, let’s hope I get it.

I bring this up because last night I went for a run and while heading uphill, I thought “I’m so tired, I hurt, I’m uncomfortable” so I took a second and looked at my form and everything was wrong, plain and simple. Yes, my hands were bent way over, very much like I have them in the picture, I was hunched over and my legs were dragging. I had done core excises the night before so my muscles were sore and tight – which is what I think played a big part in my exhaustion. However, tired or not, I shouldn’t let myself continue the habit. I need to start focusing on form because that, as much as anything else, is what will lead me to successful training and racing.

My Own Little Paradise

Unfortunately, Saturday's training got pushed out due to wedding planning...both sets of parents were kind enough to visit Newport for our tasting and to hash out some event details. Liz and I were a little worried about the menu because we have been looking for a good balance between healthy options, some vegetarian options, and overall quality. Now that we've tried the sample menus, we couldn't be more excited- everything was excellent and we found our perfect balance (only bad thing, we ate massive amounts of food to find that perfect balance).

This was the end of a much needed recovery week and having missed Saturday's ride, I was really looking forward to my 1 hour run Sunday morning. After a little wake-me-up coffee and some grub, I headed out to battle with the single digit temps. For very cold days, I have found a sweet gear combo for running (pictured) that keeps me toasty regardless of the weather. I pretty much buy everything on sale so I definitely don't recommend picking these up full price but if you live some where cold, you can't go wrong with the REI power stretch half-zip top layered with the Marmot Torrid fleece...if anything this can get too warm but is still pretty lightweight. I also run with the REI power-stretch tights that work pretty well- the company advertises running and biking but they let in too much air for cold-weather rides. Either way the run felt great and kind of let my mind wander. I was able to sift through all of the work, wedding, and tri stuff that have been going on and just run for a bit. It was one of those runs where you really don't remember much about your surroundings or anything going on.

This week's back to a swim focus........

A Mild Day

Since when is 37 degrees considered mild? And when was 27 degrees considered cool? I say anything under freezing point is cold. I don't know about today's forecast...weathermen get it so easy.

Running off the cupcake!

Last night I went for an 90 min run. Justin's in recovery so he joined me for 20 minutes until his turn around point for a total of 40 minutes for him. Last night was relaxing - I passed only 2 other runners while outside. I was alone in silence for most of the time which was perfect for unwinding and allowing my mind to go free. I've run my bday cupcake off and feel quite good. I'm horrible at taking the time to stretch post-workout, so the rest of the night my legs felt like I had just done a marathon. They were stiff, throbbing, and flat out hurt. Though I feel much better today, I'm stupid for not stretching but it's the last thing I want to do when a blanket and couch are calling my name.

A pic from my run: what is supposed to be stairs is now just a hill made of snow.

Delicious Birthday Cupcakes

Surprises are the best, esp. when they are ones you can eat! Justin brought home my favorite carrot cake cupcakes for my birthday today! I only get these one time a year so I'll thoughly enjoy it, thank you very much. Oh yea, he got some cookies, too. Yum and yum. Back to training tomorrow.

Weekend fun times

This past weekend, Justin and I headed to Ridgefield to spend the long weekend out of town. After work on Friday, we met up at the gym so Justin could swim and I could run before we sat in the car for 2:30+. I only had an hour run and temps were in the single digits so the treadmill didn’t sound too bad to me that night. On the drive to Ridgefield, the car thermometer hit the negatives and I most certainly got a picture of it.

It warmed up to 7 degrees on Saturday and we both had a ride in the plan. Ugh. Ok, I will not give myself a hard time for resorting to the trainer – it’s just too cold outside. Onto the trainers we go (we brought them with us). Justin kicked out his planned 2 hrs while I stayed on for my planned 3 hrs. Remarkably, it wasn’t too bad. The geniuses we are, we set up shop in the same room as the fireplace so it was much like riding in a sauna (maybe it wasn’t THAT bad, but there was a steady stream of hot hair the entire time).

I woke up the next morning beat. I was just tired and had absolutely no motivation to get myself back on the bike for another 3 hours, swim or run (which were all in the plan for Sunday). Justin neither. It was snowing that morning and a ride outside was not gonna happen. We both had off on Monday and with it being a holiday (no work); we switched the two days and let ourselves rest on Sunday. We spent the day relaxing, hanging out with my sisters, and doing much of nothing, it was great.

Monday morning I woke up nice and early by Reese, my sister’s dog licking my face. I headed downstairs and immediately hoped on the bike and started another 3 hour ride. Though temps were now in the 20’s, the roads were bad and I couldn’t get myself to even consider riding outside. Justin reminisced on the old days and went to the high school wrestling practice and got beat up by a bunch of boys ; ) We were on our way back to Boston by 2:30pm. Once back, we threw on the running shoes and went for a 40 minute run. We both overdressed and thought it was funny how once you experience REALLY cold weather, 30 degrees don’t seem so bad. We both missed out on our swim yesterday, but I’m not sweatin’ it. I was passed out on the couch by 8:30pm last night which is a sure sign of exhaustion.

Today is my birthday!! I brought my swimming stuff with me to work with the plan to go to the gym tonight. We’ll see if the plans change :-Z

Little Catch Up

So we've been a little slow in putting up new posts...I'll blame it on reacclimating ourselves with long work hours, long training hours, and still trying to maintain a life. Either way, I have to start off with this pic of Liz picking up her new winter steed. After doing a little research', which pretty much consisted of finding the cheapest bike with decent components that can hold up in a Boston winter, she picked out this beauty- it'll be thrashing through the snow with the best of 'em. She hasn't had the chance to take it out for anything more than a test ride but I'm sure she'll give some reviews once a few rides have been had.

As for training, I've actually come to kind of enjoy the cold weather. With the right gear- finally bought all the essentials- the weather isn't too bad, the trails are clear, and the air seems to be a little fresher. Or at least thats what I tell myself as the frigid air burns my lungs. Last weekend we decided to take off for a little 2 hr ride in the 'burbs. We assumed that since the snow had mostly melted in the city, the neighborhood streets would be mostly clear...we're dumb city folk. The temp was 25 and the wind chill much colder but it was the lack of road shoulders (still piled up with snow) that made the ride so difficult. We maintained high spirits though and being that cold just makes the post-ride coffee and hot lunch that much better. Plus it was sooo nice to ride without being on the trainer.

Last night, Liz convinced me to go for a 75 min run with her before meeting up with some friends for dinner (supposed to do a bike strength ride on the trainer) so she wouldn't have to suffer in the low-teens temps alone. The thought of the weather was much worse than the reailty as the run went really well for both of us. I think not having the pressure of hitting a certain pace or speed make the runs much more enjoyable and I start to look forward to letting my mind wander for an hour.

That's all for now but Liz and I went to a swim clinic last Sunday so we'll be giving the reviews soon.

It's soo cold

Brr...it's cold out here! Snapped this pic along the run route - I'm on a bridge, and that's ice/a little bit of flowing water to the left of the hand rail. The entire Charles River is frozen - pretty crazy. The cold weather keeps people inside, I like it cause I have the path to myself!

Manna rays = no ocean swims!

Hey everyone, Liz here! It’s been awhile but we’re back from Mexico and still trainin’ hard.

Well, not still, rather starting to train hard. Mexico wasn’t what we expected in terms of natural resources for working out so it wasn’t so much sticking to the plan but instead doing whatever, whenever, however we could do it. Our hotel was on a busy, narrow, windy, shoulder-less road which made for some fun and cautionary runs. It’s always nice to run on unknown territory cause you don’t know what’s around the corner and that seems to distract you from your actual workout. These are the best types of workouts, in my opinion. No biking for us while away, the co. we were going to bike through was not to be found, unfortunetely. As for swims...well...that's a whole other story.

The first day there we headed to the ocean for a 45 minute swim. We swam about 40 yards out to get past the waves and not even 10 minutes into it I look down and a manna ray was right below me (later we saw a 10ft manna ray 15ft from shore on the following day from the pool)! Sea life freaks me out – you’ll never see me swim as fast as I did that day, on my way out of the water (well, maybe the time I saw a shark in St. Croix, that was pretty freakin scary, it might be an tie breaker). That was that, I was done swimming for the day. I got the guts to make it back out there again, but I stayed closer to shore for a quick emergency exit, if needed.

At the end of the trip, nothing put us in a better mood than deboarding the plane and having 2 degree temps. welcoming us back. Because I slacked off on vacation, I am replacing my recovery week (this week) with last week. Yesterday called for a run. I was excited because it had snowed and rained all day and I was anxious to test out the Pearl Izumi Syncroseek III WRX shoes I got for Christmas. Water resistant and breathable…YUP! These shoes are awesome! I was running through puddles, snow piles and on ice just to see how they held up and at the end of the run, not a single spec of water made it through these things – awesome. Check em out: