Random Thoughts......

Running is a road to self awareness and self reliance.

You can push yourself to extremes

and learn the harsh reality of your physical and mental limitations

or

coast quietly down a solitary path

watching the Earth spin at your feet.

But, when you are through, exhilarated and exhausted,

at least for the moment

everything seems right in the world.

-Author Unknown

Of Insoles and Joint Pain

I'd ordered a pair of insoles for my shoes last week. I thought that might help with the pain I'd been experiencing in the joint in the ball of my foot. It had started to cause ankle problems because I apparently was compensating for it.
So anyways, I learned that you really need expert help for getting the right ones. The ones I purchased nullified all the stabiltiy provided by my shoes. I ended up with sore feet and achey knees from a 3 mile run. Ugh!
I took them back to the store and was guided to the correct type. I'll be starting to break them in tomorrow. The guy tells me that it will take care of the joint issue and any and all pain. I should be aligned from head to toe. Cool!

10 Miles and Zoo Place

My plans were to wake up early on Friday and head out for my long run before the marine layer burned off so I wouldn't have the sun beating down on me. Now normally, Harley (the cat), starts her meowing around 6am. It's like having a cat alarm. Of course Friday she overslept, as did I.
Now all week the marine layer had been hanging out until at least 10am but Friday at 7am it was gone. I stumbled out for a cup of coffee and checked the temps on line. It was still only in the 60's so I suited up and hit the road.
I followed the beginning of the Floriday Canyon route. However on the return up the canyon I ran up Zoo Place to the top of the canyon and Balboa Park. It is a long steep hill. I did pretty good with it. When I got to the top though my legs were tired and trying to run on the grass in the park (the road is too busy) was a bit of a go so I took a little walk break.
Unfortunately, I hadn't checked the battery status on my mp3 player and it conked out before the 3 mile mark. It was a quiet run. Well actually there was a lot of birdsong.
The rest of the run went well although I did develop a rather major water craving in the last couple miles. Luckily I was near a cafe so I dodged in there a downed a couple of cups of water. Feeling refreshed I was able to finish out the run. I even had a decent pace for the whole thing.
When I got home I told Alex that I'd run up Zoo Place and he was suitably impressed. He'd been avoiding it with his bike. Of course the next day he rode it. :)

Florida Canyon

It was over a week ago I ran Florida Canyon and I've kept meaning to post the run but technical difficulties have gotten in the way. So here's the rundown on a great run. :)

The course was a out and back straight down Florida Street. The out part had mostly down hills when there were hills at all. When I got to the official 'canyon' part which is situated below Balboa Park and the San Diego Zoo it was a beautiful stretch. There were fields on both sides and the hillsides which featured trails. I stuck to the road in the interest of stability.

Almost as soon as I hit that part of the run I discovered nature! I startled a bunny and he ran just in front of me for a few feet before he darted into the underbrush. I could hear lots of little bunnies taking off as I passed by. The canyon was filled with birdsong as well. Unfortunately I did see a few dead things too...... a rat, a bunny and a bird.

On the return leg of the run I even saw a lizard sunning himself in the bike lane.

The 'back' part of the run began as a gentle incline. There were a couple steeper hills as I neared University Ave. Due to the heat of the day (80's) my cardio was not as good as it could have been and I did end up walking some of it. It was a 7.25 mile trip and my pace wasn't half bad considering the walking.

The main thing for me was that it was a 'fun' run. I think sometimes we need more of those instead of the constant pushing of the limits.

That said, Friday will be my 10 miler.......