When 5 Miles is Not Just 5 Miles

Distance: 5.66 mi (18.05 total miles this week)
Pace: 9.35 min/mi (Avg weekly pace: 9.86 min/mi)
Location: Raley Field to the Capitol building to midtown and back
Week Locations: Treadmill, my neighborhood, El Dorado HILLS, See above

The Relay, or what I'd like to call 200 miles of running bliss, is less than a week away. You might have seen some variation of it. There usually is one in every region taking you from different terrain to different terrain, touring the state. Some crazy person decides they want to assemble a team of 12 people to go two sleepless, non-stop running days only to end with a buffet of room-temperature beer (unless you have a fantastic cooler), is how it gets started. The race I'm doing promises to be an absolute eye-candy route from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. The team to look out for? Team "Trans Fatty Asses." That should give you an idea of the mis-fits our team is made of and the sense of sick humor we have. No, I exaggerate. We are a pretty diverse group of runners ranging from sub 7-minute milers to folks like me and I couldn't be happier with the team I've gotten.

So this is what I'm training for. I'm Runner 3 rounding out legs 3, 15, and 27. I'm not so worried about leg 3 or leg 27 (though leg 27 comes after 2 days of no sleep), but leg 15 is rated as a "hard" leg. Although not far in distance, the leg has me climbing 225' in 2 miles then descending 480' in 4.5 miles. Even though this falls far short of the 1000'+ climbs a couple of my teammates have to endure, I am new to this hill thing. With the exception of the Lake Tahoe Iron Girl Triathlon I did last year, I climb all of maybe 30' running around the Sacramento area? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't frightened. But more than frightened, I'm excited! I'm excited for the opportunity to train for this unfamiliar challenge.

Team "Trans Fatty Asses" Van 1 decided we wanted do some hill work this past Thursday. When asked how many miles we should do, I bravely said 5 miles and got a look of "are you sure?" And this is where I learned that 5 miles, is not JUST 5 miles. You see, the Fricks live in El Dorado Hills and the name of the city is quite literal. I can't tell you how low we descended and then how high we climbed but the muscles I worked doing it, I did not know I had. We were running in a man-made trail dodging branches and jumping rocks. It was one of the most fun and also most challenging runs I've done.

We were rounding up the last mile of the run when Mr. Frick and I started chatting about how to improve our pace and he mentioned something about running hills. Naturally, I did what any 20-something would do and Googled it. You see, I've tried a lot of things to improve my pace, from mediocre strength training, to forced cross training to running intervals but I've been stagnant around this 10 min/mi pace for my long distance runs. My leg 15 can best be described as a mixed hill. The ups will challenge my calves, posture, coordination and endurance. While fatigue will undoubtedly set in, the downhill is where I have to worry about strain and injury. It is in downhill running that the runner will experience the most impact to their body, thus increasing the strain on your ankles and knees. Paying attention to my posture by leaning into the hill and my opening my stride will get me through. And the opportunity lies in learning to run efficiently (a term we economists love to hear). Remembering not to use all my energy and fighting the uphill will allow me to take full advantage of the downhill, which is what will improve my pace.

This race will be an adventure. I don't think I'll ever experience anything like it again (even if I do this race again) because of all the unknowns. I'll keep my phone on me and will tweet about the entire team's race just to give you an idea. Follow me @cristina_wong.

Credits to Brian Mac Sports Coach and Coach Jenny of Runner's World for the training tips.

The hills are my best friend...

16-minute TED Talk - Christopher McDougall

A friend of mine shared this video that I just had to pass on. I love what this guy has to say about running and how our bodies are made for running. I love the connection he makes with running and freedom. I just have one issue, though. I have a thing with my feet. I could never do barefoot running only because I cannot stand the feeling of "things" touching my feet. My feet hate textures. I hardly even walk barefoot in my house. I ALWAYS wear socks. Yes, even when it's 106 degrees F in sunny Sacramento. I want in on this, I really do...but...

Yoga and Running

Distance: 2.96mi
Pace: 9:19 min/mi
Location: Treadmill at the clubhouse gym

There are many perks to working at Intel. One of those is the company's emphasis on "work/life balance". Thursday was the Health and Wellness Fair at the Folsom campus and among the day's many seminars was a Yoga and Meditation class. I had taken a couple of yoga classes before but this was the first time I'd seen it coupled with meditation. It makes complete sense, though. Yoga makes you focus on yourself, on your breathing, on your balance and control. All this prepares your mind and your body for meditation. Now I know I'm about two reincarnations away from being a master Yogi myself, but I was able to gather that yoga and meditation requires mindfulness. And so long as we're on the subject of mindfulness, I wondered if yoga can help me be more mindful about running.

So I decided to do a little Google research. As it turns out, yoga really can compliment running, well. What I found was something that my body had known all along but my mind had missed. I never realized how the tens of thousands of steps pounding on pavement, or worse, on concrete, can create some real imbalances for my body. This repetitive motion of lifting my legs and feet off the ground only to thrust it forward a yard or so, forces three to four times my weight of impact on my feet with every step I take. This repetitive motion of fast steps that I love was tightening and shortening my muscle so much that without opposing movements, my skeletal system was out of balance. This of course leads to kneeaches, backaches and sometimes even headaches.

Enter Yoga. Yoga forces me to focus on my body and what is happening to my body; and if I am aware of the impact I'm putting on my body, I'll know where rebalancing is needed after my long runs. As I become more aware of my body, I'll also be better prepared to respond to the messages my body sends to me during my races to prevent injury later on.

Okay, so that's enough of the new age stuff. On to the physical benefits. Yoga is also a great way to cross-train (something I have a lot of trouble with, but more on that later). Practicing yoga helps to balance strength, increase range of motion and coordinate your breath. It remains to be seen how much yoga will play a role in my training but I believe in its benefits. I also feel a whole heck of a lot better after every time I do it.

Namaste.

Credits to "Yoga Journal" and "Running World" for this self discovery session.