Running 101 : From the couch to my first marathon (10)

Run Straight.

I have nothing against the Bay to Breakers in San Francisco and the gay community in general, still, check your running form.

You will be amazed how many miles you can run with unbalanced body.

This is my natural stance. Really ?
I am right-wing kinda guy  ?

I am still looking for the root cause. Now that I am stuck at home, I have more time to think :)

I might now have a clue:

I knew for quite a while, but it never struck me, until this **famous day** in the showers of the pool. Looking at my feet, I noticed I always have my right leg going outward.

**TADA!**

Not surprisingly, I have been running like this for years, presumably to protect my weak psoas (See previous posts...). Now, I can only assume that this unbalance has a limit.

And I am paying the price.

Seems obvious, but not easy to integrate.

Back on the mat.

Hip strengthening. Yoga. PT exercises. Swimming. 

And running straight.

And I see already some results after one week. 

I went from 3 minutes to 8 minutes without triggering pain.

Without kidding, this is depressing. I used to run hours.

And I cannot go around the block without walking.

The only positive point, I am getting better at swimming, and Yoga.

Who knows, when I will be able to levitate, I won't have to run anymore.

ps:

I think you deserved one of the "few" nude pic of Bay to Breakers.

Running 101 : From the couch to my first marathon (9)

Athleticism is a mindset.

As I am stuck on the couch, nailed by injuries, I have a lot of time to reflect on this.
Easier said, than done.
Eric Orton said : "Athleticism is awareness of the body".
I am sooooo aware of my body pains that I am certainly a great athlete.

Me too, I want to "Train with Eric" shirt :)

Now, I am back on PT exercises. My Hip is bothering me seriously again, to the point I literally cannot jog in place anymore. Surprisingly, this time, the chiropractor session did not help. Was it so stuck she could not get to it ? Am I wrong believing this right hip is an unbalance issue ? How did I stuck my back this time - I don't remember anything bad. So many questions, why ?

Short term answers:
 - Buy new shoes. Because this is cool and (presumably related to me left knee pain).
 - Back on the mat with Hip alignment and strengthening exercises
 - Swim, swim, swim, as there is nothing else I can do.
 - Complain, complain and complain a little more that I cannot even suffer on the road.

I cannot believe I would miss suffering on the road that bad.

Running 101 : From the couch to my first marathon (8)

Reach your cool impossible.

I might be too much under the influence of the "born to run" or barefoot phenomena, but ...

I am only in the first 20% of this book, and need to share. You need to have quite a few miles under your shoes to understand the depth of this training plan, and physiology behind it, but it simply astonishing. Simple, but not simplistic.

Actually, I am fervent believer of "simple is beautiful". As a professional code developer, I see daily examples of over engineering. As if complexity was a proof of intelligence. The opposite, really. Simplicity, true simplicity, is extraordinarily difficult to achieve.

Anyway, if you ever want to get serious about running, and try to stay free of injuries, 

this is THE book.

The cool impossible.

I know mine.

What's yours ?

Hurricane season

Well, if Hawaii was really the paradise islands, there should never be hurricanes.. Specially for boat owners. Actually, they pretty rarely hit the islands with full force. And maybe it is good as well. it reminds us our place in the bug scheme of things, and our ant status compared to natural forces.

Guillermo, Last week.

Still, those could be real beast. 120 Mph of wind, 20 to 40 feet waves. Bringing havoc through their way and sinking ships for a laugh.

As Guillermo was actually really on track to hit Maui with decent remaining forces, we had to jump into an emergency mode to secure our boat.

Our mooring ball

The first step was to remove all the hardware that was sitting on top of the ball and already damaged our hull paint pretty badly in calm conditions. There is a weird current against wind at Mala, where we are moored, that force the boat to travel against the wind and sit on top of the buoy, which, in return, bang continuously on the hull. The strong fiberglass of the buoy is one thing - I am switching to rubber next week - but the metal of the hardware was actually pretty bad. 

Storm setup

I switched our pendant setup to a single line, 1.25" nylon, which is less resistant to chaffing, but stretch way better, and with waves, stretch is was matters.

I am not sure of the strength of my Bow cleats yet, then I doubled it to the mast.

Mast safety - just in case

Once the most important - the ground tackle is secure, you need to check everything else, specially, everything that can add to your windage, and increase the effect of high wind on your boat.

Removed the Jib

Number one contender is always a jib even furled. Ours is a 140, seems like a 200 or something when it lays on to the deck. To pack it in something that is moveable, it took me almost one hour. what a nightmare.

Securing the main

Did not have the energy to remove the main, I did it in the past, but that's complicated on the boat, because of the attach on the mast. I give up our windage, but secured it with lines to be sure it does not get tear off by the wind.

The good news is... Guillermo did not Hit.

The bad news is Hilda is already on track for another fright.

Rainbow colors,
this ain't as pretty though

Well, we rehearsed pretty well, it is almost routine at this point.
Until we get hit.

Running 101 : From the couch to my first marathon (7)

180 Bpm.
This is kind of a magic number.
For some of us that like to run by numbers, it is the ideal cadence.
Not For the heart, for the strides.
We could argue this is a good tempo for music as well, some would find it a little fast.

DC Rainmaker

The logic behind the 180 steps/minute is the same that behind the fore foot striking.

Lots of small steps, way easier to handle the concussions. Be light on your feet, run like a ninja.

Low effort, high cadence, low strain. A little bit like a high gear on a bike.

A good GPS watch, like the Forerunner 220 will give your cadence based on your arm swings, or you can use a foot pod, or a good song. Eventually, it will just feel natural.

And yes, 180, for the heart, is likely too much.

But that's another story.