ICING ON THE CAKE

I made it 23 miles in my first week back and then my shin started to feel weird again, so I decided to shut running down for awhile. The good news is that after receiving 16” or more of snow last weekend, we now have a nice base for x-c skiing. When it comes to skiing, I started a new rule this year; if it’s below 10 degrees – don’t bother skiing. That’s mainly due to lack of glide rather than being a wuss, but I’m not positive. Anyway, now we just need to temps to warm up a little in order to get out and enjoy all that new snow.

Since I can’t run and haven’t been skiing, I’ve “made friends” with the local elliptical machine. I don’t know how fit the elliptical will keep me – I’m just trying to stop the weight gain at 8 pounds. I’ve actually been doing a decent job of including some strength training, drill, and stretching afterwards. The drills include stuff like lunges, butt kicks, high knees, straight leg march (I use the term “straight” very loosely), etc. One thing I’ve noticed about doing these drills is how far removed I’ve been from doing anything other than running or skiing. It’s been years since I’ve had a physical education class. I don’t play any other sports, like basketball, soccer, softball, etc. AND I CAN TELL!!! Holy cow, every non-running movement is new, awkward and incredible hard – at least at first. After doing them 3-4 different days, things feel a lot better. I’m not sure how much these types of things will help my running. Frankly, that’s not the reason I’ve included them. I’m doing them because I need to, if for no other reasons than increased coordination, better balance, increased range of motion, etc. It just makes me feel good. Increased power, improved running form, injury prevention, etc. will just be icing on the cake.

Not being able to run makes me think that R-cubed will have to until another time. Hopefully there will be other opportunities.

Quote of the Day;

“I don’t know how the creative process works, but it always seems, as I’m running, that thoughts start coming in; sentences start coming in.” – Robert A. Caro, biographer