Week Two Wrap-up

I had a great long run with my dad on Saturday. We ran over the new Folsom Dam bridge and then onto the American River bike trail. It was my fastest run since I started training. We did 7.71 miles in 75 minutes. That came out to an average pace of 9:44. Like I said in a previous post, I always run faster with my dad. He pushes me to my limits. The last two miles of the run were difficult for me. My quads were screaming and had I been by myself, I would have walked. Dad, however, would not allow that as an option. He talked me through the pain and eventually it subsided and I was once again cruising along.

About a year ago my dad bought a book called "Chi Running", by Danny Dreyer at Jamba Juice. It was a new approach to running which Incorporated the fundamental principles of Tai Chi. He read it and started following it. Within a short amount of time he was noticing dramatic improvements in his performance. In the 2009 Boston Marathon he was able to take 19 minutes off his previous time by using the Chi running techniques. I too have been reading the book with the hopes that its ideas will assist me with my race. While I am not using it so much to better my time, I am using it to help delay the onset of fatigue. My dad was using our run to help me practice the chi running form. It was awkward at first and I kept going in and out of the rhythm. Towards the end, when I was tired, my dad kept telling me to relax my legs to let them revive. It was hard, but once I was able to, I did find it to be helpful. I will continue to practice the Chi form on my future runs as I think it will help once I get the hang of it.

Here are the numbers for this week:

Planned miles: 19.5
Actual miles: 21.64
Avg Pace: 10:06
Calories: 2838

I am pleased with my average pace for the week and I like that I exceeded my planned miles. This week I will continue to work on my Chi running and concentrate on my strength training. I look forward to another great week of training.