Half-Handstand Yoga Pose

Half-Handstand Yoga Pose

Getting Faster - Cadence Drill

This is from one of my favorite runners Jeff Galloway! I was able to run with him and thousands of other people in the Virginia Wine Country Half Marathon this year!!

Cadence or Turnover Drill   This is an easy drill that improves the efficiency of running, making running easier. This drill helps to pull all the elements of good running form together at the same time. Over the weeks and months, if you do this drill once every week, you will find that your normal cadence slowly increases, naturally.
* Warm up by walking for 5 minutes, and running and walking very gently for 10 minutes.
* Start jogging slowly for 1-2 minutes, and then time yourself for 30 seconds. During this half-minute, count the number of times your left foot touches.
* Walk around for a minute or so.
* On the second 30 second drill, increase the count by 1 or 2
* Repeat this 3-7 more times. Each time trying to increase by 1-2 additional counts.
* If you reach a count that you can't exceed-just try to maintain.
* In the process of improving turnover, the body's internal monitoring system coordinates a series of adaptations which makes the feet, legs, nervous system and timing mechanism work together as an efficient team:

-Your foot touches more gently--light touch
-Extra, inefficient motions of the foot and leg are reduced or eliminated
-Less effort is spent on pushing up or moving forward
-You stay lower to the ground
-The ankle becomes more efficient
-Ache and pain areas are not overused

Taken from Galloway Training Programs by Jeff Gallowa

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Sorry about the lax in blogging, it has been quite busy since the kids got out of school:

On Saturday June 2nd I ran/walked my second 1/2 marathon, the Virginia Wine Country 1/2 Marrathon. The day started out a bit chillier than expected but it was perfect weather for a long run. I ran the 1/2 with my friend and mentor Caroline. She was dealing with minor Tendonosis in her ankle and I was fighting a bad cold, we were quite a pair!! We started off running 2 minutes and walking 1 minute which in the beginning I was struggling because I was having a hard time catching my breath. Sucking on cough drops doesn't really help you run any faster or more efficiently! Needless to say the further I went the better I felt. I still was coughing and with the majority of the race net-uphill I was having issues catching my breath but I was feeling good. The scenery was absolutely beautiful and the small cup of wine at the half-way point helped put a bigger spring in our steps!!

Then at around mile 7 I felt the weirdest twinge in my lower leg around my lower calf and achilles. It felt like a tug then went away. It was enough of a feeling though that I did make a noise and Caroline was concerned. The thing was it only hurt when I was running and not when I was walking so we continued on walking more that running for another mile or so. Caroline asked if I wanted to try running again and I said yes so we kicked up our step and dang-it, the twinge came back! At that point Caroline pulled me off the road and had me lean on a tree while she massaged my lower leg, man did we look like two fools!! It did help a bit with the pain but I really couldn't run any further so we ended up walking the rest of the race. Let me tell you, I really didn't want to walk but I really couldn't run and it wasn't because I was looking for a specific time to finish, I was so bored just walking!!! I felt so good to run but I didn't want to injure myself any further so we walked the rest of the race and danced across the finish line!!

It was a great day for a race but if that was my first 1/2 marathon I definitely would have been reconsidering running the full marathon that I am scheduled for in September!! I shouldn't think that way because every race is different. There were many factors that made that a very hard race but all in all it was a great day and the wine tasting and massage after the race made it even better!!

I am getting very close to having to change my Karhu's, I am not totally sure what the exact mileage is on these kicks but it is getting close to 500!!! I have one more race and I think my girls will be retired and I will be purchasing myself a new pair!! Whooo hooo! I truly love Karhu running shoes!!

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RUNNING SHOES: Stable Fulcrum_Ride
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