Ch,Ch, Ch, Chi Running

But chia pets are much cuter...

Yes I know, long time, no post. Before we start talking about running, here's the skinny: UPS was correct with their estimated delivery date, the package did arrive on Tuesday, 4/29. I think Tammy talked to her bro and made this happen, or maybe it was on a truck heading straight from TN to the west coast. More about that later.

On to running, or on to Chi Running to be more specific.

Wednesday was track training with the TriDivas and I was really excited. One of the lady's is being trained by Master ChiRunning Coach Kathy and Coach Martha invited Kathy to our running session, to give us a mini lecture on ChiRunning and how to apply the basics.

I had bought this book last year, before I got hit with my IT band issues and stopped running for ~2 months. It looked really interesting, but I couldn't tell if I was doing it right, and eventually, whilst injured, lent the book a friend and I haven't asked for it back yet. So I was excited to see if I could take what I read in the book, with some show and tell from Kathy and start practicing this concept.

It's deceptively easy sounding. Lean forward, pick up your feet behind you, use your core to power yourself. It's a lot to think about when you run.

On to our track workout. Like on Sunday, we did intervals. Run 2 minutes (maybe it was 1 minute?), strides (sprints almost) 30 sec, recover (walk) 30 sec, repeat. I didn't count how many of these we did. We took a break then did a bit longer intervals. Run 3 minutes, strides 30 sec, recover 30 sec, repeat a total of 4 times. I did note my HR after each stride and noticed my max HR reached went down by 10 BPM. I don't know if it was do to the ChiRunning techniques I was trying to implement or the fact that we weren't running up and down hills in 90+ degree weather.

I tried it again on my 5 miler yesterday. Ran the same route I always do, with a little detour as I was warned about a big rattle snake on the trail, so I ran the streets of the neighborhood instead. I ran about the same pace I usually do, 11-11:30/mile. My HR was still lower than it usual. Maybe it is easier on my body. I may call up this lady, with a few other TriDivas, and get a running session from her.

My review of the sportband so far: meh but fun.

I tried it out Tuesday when I got it and it needed calibration, badly. It was about 1/2 a mile off after running 2 miles as indicated by my garmin. I, however, was sportband loadingtarded and wasn't able to calibrate it. Ran with it yesterday, 5 miles, it was over 1 mile off my garmin. Was able to calibrate it this time, but not before it uploaded my run. I figured it was okay for the WeWa challenge as I had deleted my 2 mile run from Tuesday. You can't reload those runs after you delete them, you know. When you read the FAQ about deleting your runs, it says nothing about not being able to reload them. So the meh is more about using the software than the system itself. I will report back on what happens Saturday with my 9 mile run and the calibration.

One thing about the calibration, it mentions to run a known distance with a relatively steady pace. My pace did vary from a bit faster than 11:30/mile to a bit slower than 11:30/mile. This could have factored into the distance error.