Practice Updates 4/22/2009

Hi... so I have missed a few practice up-dates, I am sorry. I will try to re-cap in this blog. All Saturday practices up until March went smooth. I felt good after each run and was excited for training.

March 7th 2009 - 8 Miles Run @ Appian Way, LBC

The day was beautiful. The run takes you from Naples through Belmont Shores on the running/ bike path. Today was the first day I felt a hip problem. It started around mile 6.5. I ran through the pain but on a scale of 1 - 10 it was a 7. I could not have run much farther on the pain. I went home that week and googled what could be potential problems. The most common causes were either, wrong shoes, weak back, tight Hamstrings, or too long of stride. I had just gotten new shoes 2 weeks before so I hoped it was not the cause.

March 13 2009 - 10 Miles @ Russian Hill, SF

I was in SF for my Alumni weekend. Alyssa Jones and I started a run from mission hill towards the Golden Gate Bridge. Alyssa made it about 6 miles... great job. I continued to run and ran across the bridge and back. At mile 8 I started to get my hip pain and had to walk. I walked most of the last 2 miles. This made me really worried. I had started to stretch more and do back strengthen exercises. I was still hoping my shoes we not to blame. The rest of the weekend went well in SF... I won a signed Gasol jersey at a silent auction for $140. Go Lakers!!!

March 21 2009 - 12 Miles @ Palos Verdes, LA

I stayed at Jamie Czesak's mom's house in PV. We had a great little BBQ and swim. The dance party was even fun. I woke up to meet my team and the southbay team at 7:15AM. I focused on not taking large strides in my walking intervals. This seemed to work. I finished the run with little hip pain!!! I can keep my shoes, yeah! The run was beautiful but a little hilly compared to everything else we had run so far. After there was a potluck but I had to bounce because I was playing in a rev-coed tournament in LA I had to get to. I did snag a power bar that was amazing, I haven't been able to find where they sell it but it was citrus flavored.

March 28 2009 - 90 minutes @ El Dorado Park, LBC

This was a fun easy run on or recovery week. It was only about a 9 mile run. I had no hip pain!!! I received a t-shirt for raising $1500 that I gave to Scott because it was too large for me. After the run I played in a grass tournament with Jamie Czesak that we won. It was a beautiful day.

* Story: Scott was running with the shirt I gave to him in north county SD. Several people that crossed his path yelled, "GO TEAM!" Scott yelled back, "yeah... go running." He was thinking people must be really excited to run here in North county. After the 4th "Go Team" he realized it was his Team in Training shirt he was wearing. If you run with team in training you yell "Go Team" to other team in training people... helps motivate.

April 4 2009 - 14 Miles @ Appian Way

This run was good. It was Linda, Rahul and I. We ran from Naples, through the peninsula, to the end of the bike path, and back. I did well till the last mile. Linda was talking and when she talks while running her pace speeds up to a sprint (at least it felt like it). I fell a few steps behind but I still did well. I didn't want to push too hard because I wanted to keep make sure my hip didn't start hurting. After the run I became a little stiff in my legs and a girl asked me if I was alright. Hahaha... I just ran 14 miles for fun, no I am not alright.

April 11 2009 - 16 Miles @ Bolsa Chica

This run was amazing. We ran at a little faster of a pace because the 2 guys that run in our group made it today and the sped up the pace. We ran from Seal Beach to Brookhurst St and back. It was a beautiful day but started to get a little warm at the end of the run. We finished in a little over 2.5 hrs. Go Team!

April 18th 2009 - 18 Miles @ Bolsa Chica

This run was the hardest for me so far. There were only 2 of us running, myself and another guy, James. It took us 3 hours, which is a fairly good time. At mile 15 I was hitting my mental wall. I wanted to stop and I was questioning why I wanted to do this. James kept me positive and talked about nothing for the last 3 miles to keep my mind off running. We got back we stretched and jumped in the ocean... it was amazing. I can tell now 26.2 miles will be all a mental game... mind over matter. I will be the little engine who could.