Tuesday Tempo Work and Things to Improve On

Found a great article about downhill running (something I need to apply in my own running) and the USA Half Marathon Championship field in Houston for this weekend. Two of my Big River teammates are running the full marathon in Houston this weekend - best of luck to Brian Lyons and Adam Macdowell!!!

Was thinking of a run a couple weeks ago, where Tim remarked about my form looking bad on some of my easier runs. I did a stride analysis at the O'Fallon Big River Running Store last year, and was shocked to see my messed up stride - basically I am slightly bowlegged, and pronate while running which at foot strike, correct at the last second - completely inefficient, and I'm wasting a ton of energy doing so. Also, I noticed that I have had a lot of lingering soreness with my IT band this winter, and noticed that I was slouching a lot on my form which lowers my center of gravity - this combined with me running more flatfooted in inclement, slippery conditions (to prevent possible slipping) has created a ton more of impact in my legs, which has inevitably led to a lot more soreness. Consequently, I have made an effort to try to correct my form - run more upright, legs more inwards, in efforts to learn a more efficient and safer running motion. This is clearly a work in progress, but one that will hopefully make me become a better runner in the long haul.

Tuesday, Jan 25 - 9 miles, 1 up, 2X3 mile at tempo (6:37 pace), 2 down. Shoulders of the roads in town are still blocked with snow and ice (unfortunately might be a while since the weather is so cold), so did our own warmups since I didn't want to run literally on the streets and run the Ebbets loop 10 times. Ate a couple slices of leftover pizza before, which was a huge mistake (need to address this poor diet thing immediately, just clogging my body with gunks of garbage), and could feel it in my warmup. First 3 mile set felt ok, but was tiring big time at the end. 3 minute rest, told Crystal to strap on her Garmin just in case because I didn't think I could make the 2nd rep (she is running sans Garmin to get better feel on her runs, so I was calling out splits). Second 3 mile set, felt better after the first mile, and just hit cruise control to finish it out. Cooldown, then home for a little stretching and bed. Splits: 6:36, 6:36, 6:31; 6:27, 6:36, 6:33.

Felt good about hitting this workout. Have a little cold which zapped some energy, but rallied to hit the splits. Crystal pretty much flew through this workout, a lot better than I did - she is in the final stage of her marathon training, and is in amazing shape. I am going to adjust my schedule to hit pace runs with her for the next 6 weeks to help her through this last stretch.

Things to work on: diet (has been atrocious with nonstop fried food, pizza, and beer), more sleep, and just taking care of myself more. They say your body is your temple, and I have trashed it every day this year. I hope to lose 5-10 lbs. over the next month by jus adjusting to a healthier lifestyle, then hitting it hard for the spring races and Boston.