There she goes, my beautiful world
I think I have injured myself. Strangely enough, I seem to run fastest when I’m in pain.
I have top-of-the foot pain and knee pain, in my left foot and left knee. Sometimes I’m walking with a pronounced limp. This is not how it’s supposed to be, but here’s what I believe is the strange part: it doesn’t hurt when I run.
A few years back I ran a raceit was a 5K in Golden Gate Park like today’s racewhere I … Read the rest
I came home from Sports Basement Friday with a pair of Saucony Kinvaras. The Kinvara is Saucony’s new «minimalist» shoe intended to be lightweight with a low heel, flexible sole and no support or stability features. With all the talk about the benefits of barefoot running (and the studies that suggest that fancy, high-tech shoes may actually cause more injuries than they prevent) running shoe companies are scrambling to sell shoes on the promise that their shoes approximate the experience … Read the rest
Not much to tell here. I had to go over to the ArtSpan office this morning and while I was out went to get a cup of Philz coffee. I’d actually planned to go to Philz first but I didn’t leave the house early enough so after I was done with ArtSpan I walked across through some new development off of Ninth Street and then over to the Mission Creek footpath.
The fellow who made my coffee suggested that if … Read the rest
Today running up Bernal there was not so much haze as the first time and no clouds at all in the sky. One would think I’d be smart enough to wear sunblock, but actually no. I’ve been ambivalent about my sunblock, which I used to be a huge fan of until I read about recent research which indicates that sunblock with oxybenzone may cause DNA damage and cancer, both of which I’d rather avoid. Not that running in the hot … Read the rest
This week’s Sunday DSE Runner’s club race was a four-mile loop up and around Twin Peaks. This is the first time this course has been run. The race directors are doing a fantastic job of coming up with new routes this year rather than sticking to the same calendar year after year.
It was great weather for a run. At nine in the morning when the race started the sun was warm but not yet hot. I think the same route … Read the rest
This ended up being a bit longer of a walk than I’d intended. It certainly pushes me over my target mileage for the week, but since it and my Friday excursion were both walks I’m not going to worry about it.
There was a stop here at Philz for my regular Sumatra with cardamom, but because it was so warm (85 degrees) I tried it as iced coffee. I also had a mint leaf thrown in to the mix. The … Read the rest
I didn’t race yesterday evening and since I’m supposed to take it easy I decided to finish out my week with a walk. Maybe a very short walk tomorrow, but no running. I want to be ready to run on Sunday.
As was suggested in a comment on an earlier post, I went to the original Philz Coffee to get my morning brew. A walk through the Mission on a sunny midmorning is a much more lively experience than … Read the rest
I like hill running. There’s nothing like a good test of tenacity when out on the road. The only trouble is that tenacity isn’t easy to come by all the time.
Bernal is the largest hill I’ve attempted to run up since I started running again this year. The ascent is nearly 400 feet from Cesar Chavez Street to the top of Bernal. I climbed that 400 feet over the course of seven tenths of a mile, which averages out to … Read the rest
Today is supposed to be a rest day for me, and I woke up with considerable soreness in my calves. I wanted an excuse to get out and just walk somewhere and not have to run. I thought about another trip over to Sundance on Third Street for a cup of coffee, but then it occurred to me that it’s not much farther to go to Philz. That settled it for me.
For the first time I was held up by … Read the rest
Long, slow distance, that is. It means exactly what it saysrunning for distance rather than speed. It’s what I’ve been doing since I started running again this year. Even when I’ve done short runs I have still limited the intensity. I believe that long slow distance is the way to become a better runner; as a coach once told me, «just focus on doing the miles and the speed will come.»
On the other hand, even the most strident advocates of long … Read the rest