Sunday, October 30, 2011

Vamos despacio porque vamos lejos

Mi amiga publico esta fotografia con un mensaje bastante impactante y reflectivo; muy apropiado para el mundo del ultramaraton.

Impacting and reflective message on this picture. Insightful for endurance sports and specially for my sport, ultrarunning. 

Barefoot run

Sunday 30: Twenty minute barefoot run and 20 minute rubber band workout at CCSF Football Field. Felt strong, thought about going a little longer but decided to take it step by step even if i feel great. Patience is also something that ultrarunners work on on a daily basis and unfortunately for us never master.  Not that is possible to ever master. I noticed that my balance is not there, so was my experience at yoga last Friday. Hard to believe that within a couple of days this kind of effect could take place on a body that is being exercised on a daily basis.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Sunday 22-Friday 28

Sunday 22: Nice night run to twin peaks. Don't know how long the run was or the altitude but it felt good            considering it's pavement.

Monday 23: Yoga today was incredibly good. Even though i had not been in the studio for about a week, i felt  like i was powering over every posture from start to end. Great day.

Tuesday 24: 7 Mile run to the mission, felt good.

Wednesday 25: Yoga again was fantastic. What a change in my body. The new instructor from Colorado mentioned how she was a runner who injured herself, knee problem, and cured herself with sitting postures in yoga.

Thursday 26: Montara run 1900 ft. 1:13 min. 42 minutes to peak. The run was great, my way up to the peak felt the same as always, in terms of time not effort, but at the end of the run i shaved a couple minutes from last time. My impression is that i pushed myself on the first 2 mile uphills, more than any other day, and then on my way down it was so much more relaxed. About two miles away from Whale's cove i felt like putting the pedal to the medal and i did for about a minute and it felt fantastic. Great run today.

Friday 27: Yoga with Andrea was, as always, hard and painful. I thought that because in my previous 2 classes i felt fantastic, it was going to be the same. Boy was i wrong. As soon as i finished the first half moon i felt like it was going to be a long and painful 90 minutes. At the end i was able to pull through every posture strongly with great effort and the rest is benefit.
In the middle of all the suffering I couldn't help thinking how similar this yoga is to ultrarunning. It is those painful moments the ones to focus on and know how to control to be able to come out to better ones. The trick is to learn to deal with pain and discomfort. We live in a society that has grown accustomed to making everything, if not easy, more convenient and we have stepped away from dealing with every day tasks naturally. So much that stuff like this seems impossible to do. No to say that Bikram yoga and ultrarunning should be easy tasks.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Montara Mountain Trail Run

This afternoon i had a nice 7+ mile run at the Montara trails. Although i ran faster than my last run there, i felt like i had to put a lot more effort every step i took. I ran up Pedro Mountain to the Gaming Gate in 45 minutes and down in 31 for a total 1 hour and 16 minutes. I should be recording the elevation instead of distance & time but i need to retrieve my watch's online password.

Even though i thought the running season was over at this point in the year, especially after i found out that the TNFEC 50M had no more room, this week I've been thinking of at least running the TNF 50K in December. I think it will be a great way to close the year and satisfy my hyperactive self. I am realistic and know that yoga is not going to be enough recreation. Maybe the ideal thing is to do different things to avoid being bored with monotony.

October 5-7


Some pictures and video i took at Western States 2011.
  • Wednesday Oct. 5: Yoga, is so good to talk to Katitte before yoga. Every time i ask her a question or make a comment, she responds with a response that makes me question everything. Today i shared with her, provably not a good idea, how the fried chicken i ate last week felt like a stone in my stomach the next morning in yoga. She responded by telling me how everyone in the world adapts their eating habits to whatever physical activity they do. As a person who practices yoga you cannot feel that brick in your stomach during class so you avoid having food like that as much as you can in the future. Your body is wise enough to tell you what you need to do to sustain your daily activities. 
  • Thursday Oct. 6: Yoga
  • Friday Oct. 7: Yoga, today i went to 6pm yoga and to my surprise Andrea was the instructor. Class today was so hard. I thought that because i did yoga Wednesday and Thursday, today was going to be, if not easy, less intense. I gave everything i had on all postures but couldn't handle the last stretching set. Can't believe how soaked in sweat my shorts were. I suffered but pulled through. I think Andrea's class could be the next step for me. She can really push me and i can use the challenge. Taking her class will be a great preparation for my races. After a week of her classes, any race will be a piece of cake.