After the Wyckoff 5K

Last Saturday (Oct 18) I ran the Wyckoff 5K, which doubled the number of 5K races I ran (ever).  It was pretty cold that morning and I had to go by myself, because the kids had Saturday workshop and Ciaran had dance after that.  My reach goal was to finish in under 28 minutes.  I did a great job of pacing myself in the beginning, but I never really picked up the pace until the last 200M.  I ended up sprinting that last stretch, which means I had way too much in my tank.  I think I will make a note to pick up the pace at the half way mark, when I run the Bergenfield 5K in two weeks.

With the cold weather, it really hard to motivate and get outside to run.  I've been going to the gym, but the treadmill doesn't work well with Chi Running and me.  I either end up running too fast or too slow.  Oh well, good thing I'm not starting to seriously train until January.

Chi Running (after the honeymoon)

As I said in my last post, reading the Chi Running book was truly inspirational on that first run.  

So after almost two weeks or so of Chi running I've had mixed results, which is to be expected.  I went out and bought the book and have been reading it on and off since.  At first I had posted some really good times for me.  Then I think I got caught up in the whole speed thing and my form fell apart, which in turn made me slower.  After going back to the book and doing some serious reading, I realize that I need to slow down and focus on my form.  I was hoping to find a seminar locally, but being so late in the season, it doesn't look likely.  So it looks like it's just me and the book.

I've run 6 out of the past 9 days and spent the last 4 focusing exclusively on form.  This week is supposed to be a light week before the 5K on Saturday.  Form will be my primary focus for the two runs before the race, which should translate into speed.  Hopefully I will finish sub 28 minutes, but I'll still be happy with anything in 28 minute range.

Chi Running

On Thursday I discovered Chi Running!  One of my co-workers was telling me what she knew about and it sounded great.  On September 16th I posted a entry about how I discovered that shorter faster strides was the way to go.  Since making that discovery I've been consistently faster, but I never felt as good as I did that first night.  Until...

After getting home from working on Thursday, we did the usual dinner, bath, bed routine for the kids, but we got them in bed 30 minutes earlier.  I ran out to library as soon as they were in bed, came home and read the first three chapters (which is all background info) and skimmed through the beginning of chapter 4.  By this point I realized that Chi Running was very similar to what I had done on September 16th.  This book described in detail the mechanics and the state of mind I had on that run.  Even though I only skimmed chapter 4 (which covers the mechanics), I was able piece enough of it together to give it shot that night.  So without a lot of effort I was able to knock out 5K in 28:17 which is a personal best for me, then on Saturday morning I got down to 28:07.  I am confident that I will post a sub 28 minute time my next time out.

Tonight I plan on finishing a few more chapters, and reviewing chapter 4 again.  The possibilities are really exciting!  Just think, I didn't even get to the meat of the book and it helped me this much.  I can't even imagine how great this will be once I finish the book and really study it.  I'm even considering taking Tai Chi now!  Talk about drinking the Kool-aid!