Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Athlete's Way


Sweat and the Biology of Bliss. I just started reading this book by ultra runner Christopher Bergland. He says it's all about making exercise a pleasurable habit and I agree. I'm at my best when I'm running for the fun of it, as opposed to running because I need to get the mileage or work on my speed.


When I finish, I'll have a complete book review.

One thing I like about the book is it is full of quotes from various people. Here's a couple I like:


"I would not talk so much about myself if there were anybody else whom I knew so well" -Henry David Thoreau (I guess he blogged before there was an internet).




"I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand." - Japanese Proverb


As far as my running goes. . . I got a run in yesterday and one today. They were both morning runs (6:30 am). I can run at night when it's 95 or in the morning when it's 85. I choose the morning.


Neither run was exceptional. 2.19 miles yesterday in 30 minutes. 2.96 miles today in 44 minutes. I'm having a difficult time concentrating. Or maybe it's letting my mind wander. As soon as I get close to a mile, I start to think negatively about my legs being tired or being out of breath. I'm blaming the heat in Arizona or the humidty in Ohio. The bottom line is I need to focus on something positive and keep running. I know that it's the last 20% of the run that makes you stronger.




I am once again a member of MyFoodDairy.com. It's a pay website that you can track your calories, workouts and measurements on it. Diet wise I've been on vacation all year. Time to start losing pounds, running longer and having fun.
Pool Run: I ran in place in my pool for 45 minutes straight. I had my HRM on and it read 99 average and 110 high. Not sure if pool running is really doing anything for me, but I am sweating a bit now that I'm out of the water. If anyone knows anything about pool running, advice would be appreciated.

5 comments:

RunninRobin said...

Looks like a great book! I may just have to pick it up :) Thanks for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

I have been looking for a good running book - thanks for sharing.

Unknown said...

are you running with those aquabelts or along the bottom of the pool. I hate the aquabelts, I do much better if I just use my own capcbilities to stay upright in the deep end and jog that way. however, if you can jog in the shallow end and realy push it, you should be able to get your heart rate up higher. I had a coach whose son was a NFL player and she cross trained him in the water. Also, high high knees!

pika said...

One piece of advice I got last summer was that if you're pool running, don't forget to drink water/sports drinks. You don't think about hydration because you're in a pool, but your body is still burning up fuel and you need to remember to hydrate the insides as well as the outside.

I know what you mean about focusing on the legs and such. Last night I started thinking, "Will my lungs ever catch up to my legs?" and had to stop myself from going there. Once I shifted my focus to the person 30 yards ahead of me and closing the gap, I was fine.

bigmike600 said...

Pat
Remember that we are in this long term. Little set backs or decreases in our running can only be viewed as small valleys that will one day be replaced by peaks in our training. You will be fine and once the temps cool off and we get into the fall season, I bet your running goes back to where it was. Glad you had a nice vacation. Sounds like your sister really enjoyed seeing you.