I'm not a professional runner, not even an amateur one. I'm just a guy who likes to jog to keep fit, and once in a while join a race to push my limits a little more. I have received no counseling on how to improve my running, except to try to go further and faster. This is especially true when it comes to my stride, which must be horrible. I run as I see fit, as I feel I should, and so far it has served me well and I can't complain.
Well, that's not entirely true. Sometimes I do feel that something is wrong, without being able to put the nail on it. It happened tonight as I was jogging home from work (again, a longish outing). For the first 40 minutes or so (out of 90 in the end), I couldn't find my rhythm. Usually, within 20-30 minute, I find the pace I feel comfortable for the day, and the rest of the jog is basically a breeze. But not tonight. For some reason, I had a hard time finding my breath and pace, and couldn't understand why. I hypothesized that it was due to all the barley tea I have been drinking recently, which somehow made me feel uncomfortable.
Then, after 40 minutes, after stopping for a quick pee, I realized that I was running with my lower legs, not my upper legs. From that point, I started taking longer strides, even longer than usual, and in no time I was running at a faster pace than usual, without really feeling exhausted. That was really an awakening, and I kept a healthy pace for the next 40 minutes. By then, I started to feel some pain in my upper thighs, as I was using muscles in a way they weren't used to. But I kept on going, knowing that my goal, the shrine nearby my place, wasn't far off.
I felt (and still do) quite tired after the run, but also happy to have discovered a stride that may be more efficient for me. I encourage you to try different strides once you are more comfortable with your jogging, you may find that one style is better suited for you. In general, longer strides require more energy, but end up being more efficient since you cover a longer distance with each step. Also, try not to lift your leg too much, as you spend energy lifting your legs.
2010/05/27
2010/05/26
Jogging Home
Finding the time to go jogging is often the main hurdle all of us face. One of the obvious solution is to wake up early to go out there, but speaking from experience, it can be hard to find the motivation. However, as I've mentioned before, I often then feel much energized for the rest of the day when I do get up early, but that's another topic.
Another option is to run after our regular day, which has the great benefit of relieving some stress. But instead of waiting to return home before heading out for the jog, why not run home from work? It needs some preparation, perhaps leaving your work clothes in a bag to pick up the next day.
Use Goohoo maps or any other service to find the best course, print it if you need to, and then it's time to hit the road. When I plan my runs from maps, I usually try to find places of relative interests, like riversides, parks and so on to make the best route. When I get used to the course, I often diverge from it just to spice things up; you never know when you'll find something interesting like a good gyouza place, a cool record store or a bar to go to in the future.
I ran home last Wednesday and it was a hard one. For one, the distance is fairly long, over 10k. Also, it was raining that day, not that it bothers me much (although it was very humid, that did slow me down). But mostly, I had been exercising hard the previous days (intense capoeira on Saturday and Monday, HHH run on Sunday) and my legs were feeling it. At times it was a challenge to go on, but I'm proud to say that never did I even consider abandoning.
I guess this is the main thing I have acquired through regular jogging, it's the resolve to go the distance, just like poker players learning to go all-in. This is something that has also benefitted me in other areas of my life. Following a program and going through with it can be very difficult, but especially satisfying when we succeed. And because of this, my hat goes off to the coolest guy ever, the inspiration for this blog, Simon. He went from basically never exercising to jogging 28 minutes non-stop. Great job.
Another option is to run after our regular day, which has the great benefit of relieving some stress. But instead of waiting to return home before heading out for the jog, why not run home from work? It needs some preparation, perhaps leaving your work clothes in a bag to pick up the next day.
Use Goohoo maps or any other service to find the best course, print it if you need to, and then it's time to hit the road. When I plan my runs from maps, I usually try to find places of relative interests, like riversides, parks and so on to make the best route. When I get used to the course, I often diverge from it just to spice things up; you never know when you'll find something interesting like a good gyouza place, a cool record store or a bar to go to in the future.
I ran home last Wednesday and it was a hard one. For one, the distance is fairly long, over 10k. Also, it was raining that day, not that it bothers me much (although it was very humid, that did slow me down). But mostly, I had been exercising hard the previous days (intense capoeira on Saturday and Monday, HHH run on Sunday) and my legs were feeling it. At times it was a challenge to go on, but I'm proud to say that never did I even consider abandoning.
I guess this is the main thing I have acquired through regular jogging, it's the resolve to go the distance, just like poker players learning to go all-in. This is something that has also benefitted me in other areas of my life. Following a program and going through with it can be very difficult, but especially satisfying when we succeed. And because of this, my hat goes off to the coolest guy ever, the inspiration for this blog, Simon. He went from basically never exercising to jogging 28 minutes non-stop. Great job.
2010/05/18
Some Running Outings and Big Announcement
Sorry for not writing more often recently. First my mom visited and that slowed down my jogging and my blogging even more. Since my last entry, if my memory serves me well, I have only been jogging twice, and those were all HHH runs.
The first was near Tokyo with the Samurai HHH, and one of my friend was the hare. The course went through some large parks in the Machida area and was very nice. I jogged the whole thing with another friend, Miss Bean, and we spent the trail catching up on events. She was recovering from a bad cold while I had not run in some time due to my aforementioned family trip (and I had not been eating/drinking very healthily, not that I often do)! But that didn't stop us from jogging the about 8k of the course. Following, we had a nice circle in a park, and my legs felt fine the next day for my capoeira lesson.
Then, last Sunday my wife hared a KFMH3 run in Umeda. The course was very interesting as she linked many places we had been to before in an interesting way. The second check really slowed us down, but then that's the purpose. The trail also went to some places we had never been too, including through a under-train-tracks tunnel and a big park by some big apartment complexes. We came back to the start, had some post-trail refreshment. At the circle, I made the big announcement, that my wife is pregnant with our first child.
Rain is called for the next two days, but I am considering going jogging regardless, probably after w*rk tomorrow evening. After all, rain is only an early post-run shower, especially when the mercury is in the 20s, Celsius, that is.
The first was near Tokyo with the Samurai HHH, and one of my friend was the hare. The course went through some large parks in the Machida area and was very nice. I jogged the whole thing with another friend, Miss Bean, and we spent the trail catching up on events. She was recovering from a bad cold while I had not run in some time due to my aforementioned family trip (and I had not been eating/drinking very healthily, not that I often do)! But that didn't stop us from jogging the about 8k of the course. Following, we had a nice circle in a park, and my legs felt fine the next day for my capoeira lesson.
Then, last Sunday my wife hared a KFMH3 run in Umeda. The course was very interesting as she linked many places we had been to before in an interesting way. The second check really slowed us down, but then that's the purpose. The trail also went to some places we had never been too, including through a under-train-tracks tunnel and a big park by some big apartment complexes. We came back to the start, had some post-trail refreshment. At the circle, I made the big announcement, that my wife is pregnant with our first child.
Rain is called for the next two days, but I am considering going jogging regardless, probably after w*rk tomorrow evening. After all, rain is only an early post-run shower, especially when the mercury is in the 20s, Celsius, that is.
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