Run Update [and minor Bike Update]

[cynic51]

Ok, so I ran a 5K. What's happened since?

Well, I was tentatively going to run another 5K on June 10, but I had just returned from a vacation where I had no real opportunity to run and I worked the cheese stand the day before so I passed on that. That leaves me with three races to reach the jacket that sort of justifies this whole thing

Comments

[cynic51]

I was a very serious weight lifter from about 1991 to 2002, first for football and then for boot camp prep. At my football peak I could squat press 500+ pounds ten times. One serious MCL injury later [see also boot camp] I became much more sporadic about working out in general - I've lifted weights for roughly 5 of the subsequent 10 years, although never with the same dedication or due to the knee with the same weight. It's been a more casual "I enjoy this form of working out" rather than "I MUST work out."

I also ran during the same period for the same reasonsl, although it was only toward the end that I started to know what I was doing and at no point did I really have good form or speed. The knee injury basically put an end to that until this year; even now I've more or less ignored a very low level of minor pain the day after I run.

I've never done any martial arts, although I've often considered it. The main reason I haven't (also the reason I never got into yoga) i that I didn't really think it did sufficient cardio. I'm fortunate enough not to have allergies or asthma so running is a good option so long as my knee holds up.

[tylik]

"One serious MCL injury later..."

*wince*

One of the things I'm working with right now is an excessively high pain tolerance - it was high before the spine stuff, and now, well, I walked around and taught martial arts on a fractured metatarsal for nineteen days. But post spine surgery I'm no longer in ridiculous amounts of pain most of the time, so I'm trying to get back more into noticing it. I mean, pain, it's important. Part of why I'm trying to be careful about getting back to running - I have some trouble with achilles tendonitis, made much worse by a tendency to ignore it and run anyway.

"I've never done any martial arts, although I've often considered it. The main reason I haven't (also the reason I never got into yoga) i that I didn't really think it did sufficient cardio."

For both yoga and martial arts, that really depends on how you train. When I was studying wushu, that was pretty much the best cardio I've ever done. (Actually, the best conditioning overall.) And you can get a decent workout out of Chen - and the Chen and Shaolin together are pretty good. (Especially if you have someone to spar with.) The problem is that what I'm focusing on right now involves a lot of internals, and that stuff isn't that intense. I can't scrape much more than 1.5 hours a day for my solo martial arts practice. If I could spend 3-4 hours a day, I could do serious wushu conditioning (which admittedly is more fun with other people), all my forms work and some running, but as it is it's my daily practice, my bike commute, yoga, and the classes I teach. And trying to do a doctorate in neurobiology. And living in a zendo.

Yoga... a lot of yoga classes are all gentle stretching and relaxation. I don't really do yoga for conditioning, I do it for alignment and biomechanics, but my yoga teacher is a high strung former dancer, and it's a decent work out. (Less for me than most people in the class, but I'm younger than most and train more. And she still does make me work.) I also tend to be hypermobile, so there are a lot of things where most people in the class are working on flexibility, and I'm working on stability. I've been to yoga classes that were really good cardio workouts... but I didn't feel that I had time to get the precision I wanted, and people in the class generally, while fit, weren't anything like impeccable on their forms.

[cynic51]

The MCL was fun. I fell about 20 feet and landed on my face and my knee. My face was undamaged. The MCL was strained about as far as it can go without tearing, which is nice.

I can see that we're going to have an interesting conversation when we finally end up in the same physical location.

[tylik]

While it's too early to make promises, today is looking hopeful. (Especially since the most likely reason for being unavailable is waking up with my spine in a snit.) I do have zazen, teisho, and threeish hours of teaching between now and then.

Thoughts on location? I'm near Coventry, which, of course, provides many options.

[tylik]

Oh, and I guess I should mention that I'm pretty-much vegan. (If not exactly by choice - I don't eat meat, that part is a choice, and I have a nasty dairy allergy.) Usually it's not that hard to work around.

[cynic51]

I haven't had sushi in several months, so if the menu at Pacific East gives you sufficient vegan options to choose from I'm all for that. Otherwise, I personally could eat at Tommys every day for months. I haven't been to High Thai'd but I love Thai food in general - the menu looks like it has vegan options, but I'm not an expert so you'd probably want to double check.

And if you'd rather just share a drink, there are a number of bars or coffee places, any of which would be acceptable to my tastes.

Call me at the radio station and we can figure it out (or to cancel). 216-368-2208; I'll be there from approximately 1pm to 4:15pm.

[tylik]

Pacific East would be great - it's a favorite of mine. Shall we say 5:00, as that's when they open for dinner?

(I'll try calling as well, in a bit, but I figured there would be a chance you'd see this first.)

My LJ icons are fairly representative, though this one doesn't adequately convey that no, really, I have almost no hair. I'll probably be wearing a black t-shirt and pants, and a bright blue and green cap.

[cynic51]

5:00pm at Pacific East sounds like a plan.

I myself do not resemble my icon at all :-) but I'm 5'8", have brown hair and am wearing cargo shorts and a grey running shirt with a green (or maybe aqua, I'm bad at colors) logo 'Hy-5' over the heart. I'll also probably be wearing black sunglasses.