Shoe love
I swam at Barton Springs last night, almost empty at 7pm, did a nice steady mile working on stroke, form, breathing and finishing strong. Turns out there was a formal blessing for Barton Springs by 6-genuine Tibetan Monks going on at the pool, all the local news crews where there, and so it seemed like a bit of a demonstration swim as there were a ton of people sat on the grass bank watching.
After the swim while I was drying off at the pool, along came one of the monks splashing ceremonial water into the springs, he looked at me, I smiled back and he sprinkled me with the water too and proceeded along the edge of the pool. Can't help to have good karma. I found this pitcure of me and the boys on the Statesman website.
After the swim I changed into my run gear and the new built up shoes. I figured the advantage of running around the roads outside Barton Springs is that it was a loop, if I got into problems I would be no more than a 1/2-mile from the car.
I took the first lap steady, getting used to the built-up shoe is a weird thing, but it seemed easy. The biggest surprise was the hills. Going up has always been hard, even small ones, imagine that your stride is 2-inches shorter, it makes running up hill a frantic short-stepped cadence effort, not today, although it was only a slope, it was easy. Then it came to going down hill towards the open air theatre by the springs. Again, normally going down hill requires running seriously with the brakes on and leaning back, otherwise you get the feeling of over balancing and falling over, not anymore, I ran comfortably down hill.
I was just winding up the 2nd loop when a cyclist came off the trail, much to my surprise it was my friend from work Jeff, I slowed while we talked and as Jeff went on his way, I picked up the pace and finished the 3rd lap hard. Very, very pleased, no real pain, going down hill was a joy and fast. This morning my right ankle is a little stiff but thats nothing.
The big news is I did a negative split for the final lap. I've not in memory done this since the accident in 1978, or the surgery in 1992. Normally as I run my kness and hips stiffen up making it difficult to go faster even if my muscles have the strength. Now, this might just be coincidence, but it might just be a good sign.
Stats: Distance 3.61-miles, time 31:44, lap-1-10.19, lap-2 11:10, lap-3 10:14
FREE TIBET!
After the swim while I was drying off at the pool, along came one of the monks splashing ceremonial water into the springs, he looked at me, I smiled back and he sprinkled me with the water too and proceeded along the edge of the pool. Can't help to have good karma. I found this pitcure of me and the boys on the Statesman website.
After the swim I changed into my run gear and the new built up shoes. I figured the advantage of running around the roads outside Barton Springs is that it was a loop, if I got into problems I would be no more than a 1/2-mile from the car.
I took the first lap steady, getting used to the built-up shoe is a weird thing, but it seemed easy. The biggest surprise was the hills. Going up has always been hard, even small ones, imagine that your stride is 2-inches shorter, it makes running up hill a frantic short-stepped cadence effort, not today, although it was only a slope, it was easy. Then it came to going down hill towards the open air theatre by the springs. Again, normally going down hill requires running seriously with the brakes on and leaning back, otherwise you get the feeling of over balancing and falling over, not anymore, I ran comfortably down hill.
I was just winding up the 2nd loop when a cyclist came off the trail, much to my surprise it was my friend from work Jeff, I slowed while we talked and as Jeff went on his way, I picked up the pace and finished the 3rd lap hard. Very, very pleased, no real pain, going down hill was a joy and fast. This morning my right ankle is a little stiff but thats nothing.
The big news is I did a negative split for the final lap. I've not in memory done this since the accident in 1978, or the surgery in 1992. Normally as I run my kness and hips stiffen up making it difficult to go faster even if my muscles have the strength. Now, this might just be coincidence, but it might just be a good sign.
Stats: Distance 3.61-miles, time 31:44, lap-1-10.19, lap-2 11:10, lap-3 10:14
FREE TIBET!