Le professeur de trail
"Blues" simply because winter just won't quit! Supposed to be back in single digits by tonight. Come on spring!
I took yesterday off mostly due to lack of time. Wedding in the evening took all time away. Yes a Sunday evening wedding. Can't say I have ever seen that. Will try and hop on the bike tonight. Legs aren't feeling great. Hoping that loosens them up.
QOTD: What do you do with your arms/hands during your runs? Are you aware of your arm swing?
Have a great day!
My favorite day of the week is RUNday
Sometimes my arm swing bothers me. Not sure why. I will then spend a few minutes changing the angle at which I hold my arms, or change the force I swing my arms. It's all for not though. After a couple minutes I forget that and just run. I do find though, when not wearing gloves, that my hands get restless. I have a hard time just keeping them closed or open. Must be my ADHD - even during a run!!
'Blues' is a good theme for me today, too. No run planned and not likely to happen for the next day or more, due to a cold, and ice everywhere. It also looks as if we are going to have to call off our ski trip this weekend. I don't think we can, in good conscience, expose my sister and her family to our cooties. Especially since they are just recovering from their own. It must be Monday, right? Ok, I'm very thankful for these first-world problems I've got.
qotd: I pay no attention to my arms at all. I often carry lots of things in my hands (phone, keys, etc.) and it doesn't bother me a bit (though admittedly not very smart on the trail, with tripping hazards and such).
Spending the day at work until 8 pm so most likely no running. Probably a good thing. Did a hilly 9.6 mile run yesterday and cramped several times. Probably a result of using the hill climb feature on my elliptical. That works the legs pretty good.
QOTD: For general road running my arms down't swing very much. Many years ago I had read that too much arm swing on longer runs wastes energy. I trained myself to have limited arm swing. For trail running they may be all over the place depending on what I need to do for balance. The few times I sprint I pay attention to having a good arm swing mostly for coordination purposes. I almost always carry a water bottle so my hands are occupied. If I don't carry anything it feels odd.
Rest day for me, which is fine because the snow is still coming down in Denver.
QOTD: I have a tendency to hold my left arm strangely. The way I know this is because I used to get horrible pain in my left elbow 1-2 hours after every run. Used to joke with my wife that it was "runners elbow" as opposed to "tennis elbow". I don't seem to get it as much anymore, not sure it's just because my arm strengthed or what...
Off from work today as I have again been switched to having Mondays off. The Friday off thing lasted 2 weeks, I don't care either way as long as I have a 3 day weekend. Myself and a friend there had told mgmt. it wasn't going to work from a company stand point with me having Friday off but they knew better and 2 weeks later they figured it out. Clueless. So today I have a few chores to take care of and then when it finally gets warm I'll hit the trails for hopefully 12.
runtrail--nah, that's not 1st world problems. If you said poor me, I can't go skiing because my Bentley is in the shop that would be better.
QOTD--Arms? Never think about them. Way back when I did a lot of road racing I worked a lot on form and economy of motion. Daydreamer is right about wasting energy. I certainly don't run like a road racer these days but in general I think my arms still have minimal movement. Also I had mentioned here a long time back that when we were kids running and racing in the neighborhood one of the fathers was a cross-country coach and suggested when tight focus on keeping your thumb and index finger touching together with just real light pressure. Seems to help.
SRD. Monday is almost always an SRD.
QOTD: I like this question because I think about it from time to time. I used to have issues with my shoulders because of the way I tried to keep my arms at certain angles. Now, I let my arms hang loosely when I run, not hanging at my side but not stiffly at 90 degrees to the ground either. I pay attention to my arm swing going up hills. I still find that if I am not careful I can create an enormous amount of stress on my shoulders. I learned to relax my arms/shoulders on a long run with a friend in the mountains. This guy has won some races that I consider to be huge in the sport (Wasatch 100, 5 times being the most important of those), so I figured if I could do some of the things he did I would be headed in the right direction. Becoming friends with this guy was one of the most random chance things ever. We met through our work, not through running. It was really strange. Anyway, he taught me a lot of fundamental things that have helped me overcome a lack of talent. His arms were pretty much all over the place. I have learned a lot from him, even though our mindsets are different. He, in his prime, was out to win races. I just like to be out there and have fun.
LB2
Yesterday I ran the ugly mudder trail race (~10k). It was both super hard and fun. 3 miles up, 3+ miles down. We raced past the Reading Pagoda and some other weird tower up on the top of Mt Penn, then back down the mountain to the german club where the race starts/finishes.
Trail conditions were sort of crazy. For the most part 8-10" of unbroken snow. The race leaders broke trail and for the most part it was pretty packed down into a thin sliver. Odd thing about this is just past 2 miles in I found myself in a long congo line climbing up to the ridge line. I thought wtf... why are all these people walking and why isn't anyone passing? It was nearly impossible to pass though as once you stepped off the packed trail you sunk down into inches of snow. Anyway, turned out the front of the congo line was actually the lead racers. So the snow evened them up with the rest of us amateurs. Never have I been so close to the lead in one of these trail races and in fact it was a pretty packed field even at the finish. I finished in 48th place and only 2 minutes behind the winner. Ah, my chance of glory and I blew it. Ha. Fun day and cruising down the mountain after the big climbs was a blast. There was Yuengling lager too at the 3 mile point to fuel the downhill run.
Oh, and the race course is 99.9% trails with a few road crossings. Took one big fall. Yep, you guessed it. Not in the snowy woods with all the soft snow but on a road crossing of all thing. Smack onto the pavement right in front of the RD. Ha, he called me out on it during the awards.Today, likely just something short with the Lady over at Monocacy Hill.
QOTD: Don't really think much about arms or hands but do know you want to keep them and the shoulders relaxed as much as possible. Usually I am carrying a dog leash or water bottle in my hands so they have something to do. Not always though.
In dog beers, I've only had one.
Xtreme: Nice run. It must have been packed if you were 48th and only 2 minutes off the lead. Wow.
some call me Tim
Yow, Xtreme, sounds pretty brutal, but downhilling through 10" of snow sounds like a nice reward. All the treadmills were taken at the Y this morning (it's -7 and windy here) so I ran 7 miles on the tiny track, 11 laps to a mile and packed with seniors, which leads me to-
qotd: I count the laps on my fingers, thumb to index, thumb to middle and so on. In general I do tend to pull my elbows behind me slightly. An acquaintance who's a PT recommended this... I don't know if it helps, but when I'm getting it right it's a very fluid kind of feeling.
ME WEBLARG
sugnim
Howdy all. Monday's are rest days for me, but if I didn't have rehearsal tonight, I'd like to get out in that sunshine and repeat yesterday's 8 miles run in the hills.
QOTD: I generally carry a water bottle in my left hand and leave my right hand open. Sometimes I shake my arms or raise and lower them in an attempt to loosen up, but usually I just swing my arms at my sides with the elbows bent and my palms open and facing downward.
XT: Sounds like a fun race, except for the crowded conga line. I hope you only bruised your ego in that fall. They always seem to happen at the "easiest" part of the course and in front of someone!
So I looked up the Reading Pagoda and learned something today. I have been travelling to the city of Reading numerous times over the last couple years for meetings for work and every time I go downtown, my eyes are drawn up to that "thing". I never knew what it was or was even called to look it up. Now I do! (I suppose I could have just asked someone in Reading! duh!).
Congrats on the Ugly Mudder Snowfest. Sounds terrible but great all at the same time.
Sue
Hey it's me ...plan is 5 at lunch. Lot cooler here again (you know..50's) and very windy. Didn't run all weekend. Need to get serious about this...or not. Miss my morning trail, haven't run that in over 2 months...since the new dog. Love the new dog but one was so much easier. Walked them this morning and they are such a pain in the ass...
QOTD: Well during my walk this morning they went from being pulled left and right, then crossed over my chest, then front and back.....lol When I am running I usually have a dog leash in my hand that is being pulled forward..so usually controlled by that. In a run with no dog sometimes I try to be aware of making sure I am swinging them front to back with no side actions, especially when I am really tired.
Nice Job XTreme....2 minutes...crap!
05/13/23 Traverse City Trail Festival 25K
08/19/23 Marquette 50 dns 🙄
Nice job Xtreme!
Back in the US and at work, so going for a ride at lunch .... Achilles are still sore so giving them a running day off at least.
QOTD: I think about it. Lots of articles on IRunFar talk about the importance of a strong arm swing, etc. but I try (emphasize try) to be relaxed and keep it easy.
I ran a cold 3 miler today. Does not sound like much, but it was challenging in the snow.it was soooo cold at the end.
Qotd: funny you should ask the question today. As i ran trying to mantain my balance in deep snow one minute and chopped up trail the next, i was pretty sure i looked like a wounded bird flailing along. As a rule, i dont think much about my arms. I just work on keeping them relaxed.
January , 2022 Yankee Springs Winter Challenge 25k