When a runner can't run...

Well, I'm supposed to be doing school work but noticed I have not posted in over a week! The usual franticness (yes, it really is a word) of school and work have officially set in. To make things even more stressful (or shall we say exciting?) my overall ability to be my usual resilient self (some may argue this point) has been somewhat compromised by my lack of running this past week. Oh, yes, 4 weeks into the year and my left knee starts complaining to me. Can you believe it! I am so bummed but I am not going to let this get the better of me. We (that is my mind and my body) are going to think positive and believe that all that soft tissue will calm down and get strong very fast.

Let's go back one year. Too many hours spent in front of a computer working and studying did not stop me running. However, they did inhibit my ability to fit in swimming, cycling and all the 'maintenance' stuff that I obviously took for granted in terms of my physical function. Eventually, a serious bout of patellofemoral pain in my right knee kept me from running the Honolulu marathon. Not too bad considering I've been pretty much injury free up 'til now. Regardless, this put me back to the old run/walk plan and set me on a path of religious physiotherapy. The past year has been a painstakingly gradual approach to increasing running distance.

Despite my efforts to be smart, my left knee (feeling somewhat left out I suppose) has presented itself with this lovely syndrome. After a fantastic snow shoe run last Thursday, my left knee put me in slump of self-pity as I felt the familiar sensation of the joint 'giving way' , swelling up and providing sharp tastes of pain. Determined not to let the dreaded 'syndrome' fully show itself, I made a quick trip to the physiotherapist and I'm back to a rigid schedule of boring core and stabilizer exercises. No running for 5 days but snowshoeing is okay.

So, snowshoeing it is. Got up for a great run to Dog Mountain again last Friday night. Woohhooo - knees felt fine. I love it up there when the night is clear and you can see the city lights. I truly feel alive. Otis was feeling particularly spunky in his reflective coat (see pic). After a great night of romping in the snow, I slept soundly for the first time all week. Got up to Cypress again on Sunday for a solid hike up the peak trail. Nothing vigorous but it felt great to be breathing in all that mountain oxygen on such a beautiful day. Tomorrow is day 6 so I'm going to try running home. Wish me luck for pain free knees.

Canine Capers in the Trails

Woof! It’s Otis here…I’m stepping in for my owner today. She’s occupied with reading lengthy text books and journal articles. I’ve already tried a million times to get her to play with me with my stuffy toys but no luck. So here I am!

My owner and I get into the trails most days - mostly UBC and North Van and when I'm really lucky, we go up to the top of the mountains and run in the snow. That's my fav but the car ride is a real drag...... anyway, one of the things I’ve noticed about you humans is that you always run in straight lines. You ALWAYS stay on the trail and you generally run at pretty much the same pace. You never bother to chase wild life and man, you don't even bend down to check out the great smells! Well, I want to tell you, you’re missing out – there’s a lot you could learn from a dog like me… I want to tell you how to make your trail runs much more fun. Check it out.

1. First, pull you’re your owner to the trail head by pulling on the leash as hard as possible – show her where you want to go. Enthusiasm counts for something!
2. Sit nice so she lets you off leash and you’re free to sniff around.
3. Make your mark at the next bunch of bushes where that other dog (must be a terrier) keeps trying to claim the trail. Share the trail man…….
4. Chase as many squirrels as you can…the more you chase, the more likely you are to catch one. I haven’t caught one yet but I dream about it. One day!
5. Lie down in the middle of the trail until the pretty chocolate lab comes up to you wanting to sniff your butt and then – bam – spring up and chase her down. Yahoo!
6. Run into the bush and chase more squirrels
7. Pee again. It's really cool when you're in the snow!
8. Sniff….sniff…sniff……….ahhhh yeahhhh…sniff…
9. Go back to your owner, heel beside her for about 50 meters or so and she’ll give you a treat…sucka!!!!
10. Pick up the big log in the middle of the trail and run as hard as you can until your mouth hurts so much you have to stop.
11. Try to persuade your owner to throw the stick so you can chase it. If you wag your tail really fast it usually works
12. Don’t forget to take water breaks…stop at the nearest creek and chug back as much water as you can. There are occasionally signs that say ‘no dogs in the creek’ but I don't think the same rules apply to humans, so you're probably safe. Is that discrimination?
13. Chase more squirrels in the bush.
14. Pee
15. Sniff
16. Run
17. Sprint
18. Pick up more sticks
19. Man…are we back at the car already?
    
20. Show your best puppy dog eyes for a really sweet post-run snack!
    

Now, that my human friends is trail running! Guaranteed much more fun than running on the beaten path.

Parking nowhere to be found...

Okay, perhaps I was not meant to snowshoe this winter! The Seymour parking lot was chalk full AGAIN and therefore no room for me. Why drive you ask, when I could just hike up the mountain and then go for a snow shoe run at the top? Well, I considered it but it has been years that I've considered myself any type of endurance junkie. I'd be lucky if I could make it 1/2 way up the mountain right now (even with Otis the sled dog pulling me) and besides, I wanted to get home before dark so I could tackle the 100 plus pages of reading I need to get done by tomorrow. Oh the joys of student life...

Anyway...all was not lost as Bob and Amanda and gang could not find parking at the bottom either - Otis and I met them at the bottom of the mountain and did a nice smooth run/hike through the lower Seymour trails. Unbelievably, the sun started to shine through the trees! What a relief from this unrelenting rain! Well, hopes for better weather and snow shoe runs this week.

Not a bad few days for getting my but in gear...

• Thursday - Hill Repeats
• Friday - Off unless you count reading journal articles while sitting on the bike trainer..not!
• Saturday - 1:45 trail run with Otis and Bob through UBC
• Sunday - 1:45 trail run/hike at Seymour with Otis and his pack....

This week will be the true test as I get right back into the swing of work and school...uggh!

On Procrastination

Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task. ~William James

Why drive to the top of the mountain to go for a snow shoe run in the rain when I can get just as wet and cold by stepping right outside my front door? Well, that’s my rationale for not heading up to Seymour for the planned snow shoe run this evening. With training plans gone awry, I’m struggling for motivation to head into this ugly Vancouver weather. My running partners (including my dog) have left me solo tonight so that gives me one more thing to whine about. Yes, it is only week 2 into 2008 and I have already found myself procrastinating.

So what do runners do when they enter this ever-dreaded avoidance type behaviour? Well, they make lists and develop training schedules and then read the latest training articles and redevelop their trainings plans. (And they blog...) Well, you might think us list makers are being smart by taking the tame to plan up front. After all, an effective training plan is required to ensure gradual builds in training intensity and duration and reduce injury risk, right? Well, some people believe that list makers spend more time managing their lists than they do carrying out what is on them – I wonder if the same holds true for developing training schedules?.

My name is Corrina – and I am a list maker.... I honestly can not function without lists. And without a training schedule, I'd probably have way more blog entries and be competing in dance dance revolution contests (sad, but true). I made my to do list this morning and crossed off nearly everything except for my daily workout. Does that make me a self-proclaimed procrastinator? Right now, I am in the middle of revising my training schedule and trying to find a way of fitting everything in among work, grad school, teaching spin classes, yoga and exercising the dog. Okay, enough already…. I’ve got to get out the door…...

Playing in the Snow

Day 3 into the New Year and I've quickly discovered my lung capacity is no where near where it should be. We celebrated New Year's Eve with a show shoe run to Dog Mountain from the Mount Seymour parking lot and each uphill had my lungs wheezing. Yet, the snow was awesome, the fresh air exhilarating and the downhills inspired me with the intangible spirit of Wahoo!

January 1st was bit lazier with a nice flat 50 minute run to the anchor and back along Spanish Banks. Otis's sliced paw is still healing so I opted to stay close to home so he didn't have to stay on his own for too long. Not to mention the sad but true fact that my legs were a bit sore from the snow shoe run the day before. I've definitely got my work cut out for me if I'm to tackle the KK this summer.

January 2nd we headed up to Cypress for some skate skiing. The Nordic trails were completely socked in with fog and only the lower trails were open and track set. The last couple of years, we've exchanged our skis for surfboards over the holiday season so this was the first time skiing in a long while. Despite suboptimal ski conditions and my waning fitness level, I quickly rediscovered my love for skate skiing.

Part of my plan over the winter is to snow shoe run or skate ski at least once a week. It's such a blessing to have the mountains only 40 minutes from home - I must enjoy more often! Having only trained for road marathons and triathlons before, I'm not entirely sure how to go about planning for a 30 mile trail race but I'm sure any mileage I can get in the hills is going to do me good. Here are a few events in the hills I plan to enter to keep me motivated throughout the winter and spring:

• Seymour Yeti Race Feb 2nd
• Grouse Yeti Race Feb 16th
• Cypress Yeti Race Mar 8th
• Burnaby Mountain Fat Ass Run April 5th
• Iron Knee May 31st

The trails are calling...

The year 2007 has come and gone and there are no tales of travel, adventure or athletic achievements to recount. This past year, my energies were spent primarily on work, school and taming my overexcited puppy to be more vigilant of his owner and oncoming mountain bikes during our trail runs. I also spent the first part of the year rehabbing a right knee injury back to health to be fit enough to run a few races in North Vancouver’s great trails (Squamish Thunder, Five Peaks Seymour Race, Iron Lung and Hallow’s Eve), however, the longer distances still remained out of reach. The last marathon I ran was in Boston in April 2006.

This year, there is no urge to set any road marathon aspirations but instead to explore the amazing trails in the North Shore Mountains. There is no better way to do this than by signing up for Knee Knacker. After a year of tender footed training runs and single leg squats, I think I am ready to step it up. Running the trails means that I can run with my dog and therefore I am absolved of any guilt I would face with leaving Otis behind for paved runs that make doggy paws go raw. The Knee Knacker race has always been something I have wanted to complete and with an impending move outside of BC in the next year, there is no time like the present. So, I’ve paid my money - the lottery will seal my fate.

I had signed up for Knee Knacker on one other occasion (in 2004) and I discovered that a daily Ashtanga yoga practice and long trail runs did not serve my knees all that well. I had to opt out of starting the race, scale back on my running and continue with my daily yoga practice. This was part of a yoga teacher training course that I had been studying for over the least year. I spent the last 5 weeks of this year long course in Thailand during which time, I was advised not to run at all. I wholeheartedly respected the advice but that was the longest time that I have gone without running. For me, running is part of my yoga practice.

I practice yoga almost daily even if it is only to do a few sun salutations. The second of Pantajali’s yoga sutras is “yogah cittavrtti norodhah.” Essentially, this means that yoga is about stopping the fluctuations of the mind. Of course, this is a simple translation for something that is much more complex but in this sense, running is my yoga – it quiets my mind and connects me with this greater world like nothing else. Perhaps my asana practice will one day become like running for me but for now, I choose to do both. I run and I do asana – both of these practices remind me of who I truly am.

This blog will be an account of my 2008 running adventures and aspirations with a few associated ramblings of yoga practice, the yoga of running and my perspectives on life as I balance work, grad school and all the other responsibilities of life.