Easy Running Is Easy

February 4, 2009


Today, I was still a bit sore from the spinning class on Monday, and did yoga in the morning with Louis Jackson, one of the yoga instructors at Reach. The emphasis on the training this morning was well a full body loosening. Right after the hour of yoga I began working, which almost seemed difficult because I was in such a state of peace. Many times during the course of the four hours at work I felt as though I had slipped into a state of inner and higher consciousness. Just generally happy, fulfilled, and awaiting anything that might happen during the course of the day.


I continued reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, which I will continue referring to until I finish, and even then will probably continue to mention it. It’s literally changing my life everyday that I read it. Today I met a new employee at Reach, who happens to be a Vegan/Vegetarian, which now I have the utmost respect for, and have found myself leaning in this direction over the last 2 weeks. She hadn’t read the book, but had heard about it numerous times being raved about and cited by many well-known researchers and doctors.


So the title of today’s journal is Easy running is easy because it dawned on me that many times when I begin running for the night I will start slow and then quickly reach about 85%, which after many years of sports is by no means slow. Tonight I decided to really slow it down and go about 25% of the typical effort for the entirety of the workout. Just running around Palo Alto between 6:15 and 7:09 was an incredibly soothing experience. I wasn’t worried about getting anyplace or having to reach a certain maximum heart rate(I’ll get back to heart rate in one of the following paragraphs). During the course of the run, I stopped by my friends house for a few minutes and talked to him about some nutritional products, and how his mom had run the Hawaii marathon. I told him about one of my semi-long term goals of running the Boston Marathon. If you’re not familiar, runners must qualify with certain times to run Boston. I think it’s an average of 7:26 minute miles for the entirety.


Another major observation tonight was the fact that it is MUCH easier to run with a little bit less weight. I think I’m down to about 163, which ends up being overweight in the BMI scale(it’s a complete crock for athletes), and even just 2-3 pounds fewer during long runs makes a huge difference. My body is just more efficient now than when I was training during November/December.


Part of the ease of running tonight may have come from the slower pace, or that I had taken a Rev3 drink which is a healthy energy drink, which definitely didn’t make running slow any easier, but certainly tested my will power to maintain a steady pace.


I mentioned earlier about heart rate and I really want to emphasize the importance of this overlooked aspect of training. I also mentioned Louis Jackson, whose brother happens to be an elite athlete(triathlons, marathons, and trains both of these events). When I mentioned to Louis that a marathon was in the midst he told me that his brother(the elite athlete) only dealt with nutrition and his heart rate, and now he’s running faster and has quicker recovery times than he’s ever had.


With this information and one of my outlooks on life that if you really want things, they will fall in place accordingly. I am reading a nutrition book about how a plant and whole food based diet is synonymous with good health, and have gotten information from credible sources about nutrition and training. I happened to speak with my cousin back in November about his Team in Training experience, and had wanted a long term goal that could be obtained with serious training and a regimen. Also having recently joined a nutrition company whose main goal is to create the lives of everybody better, it seems that all of these could be coincidence, or the fact that I actively pursued some of those conversations, and a general interest in being healthier, and having an efficient body. I don’t really have an answer, just that each day my body is healthier than the previous.


Anyhow, I also found that I can stretch while I’m writing these journals, so my time is being spent efficiently.


If anybody is looking for advice on how to start running or getting back in shape here are a few thoughts to keep in mind.


• Start slow, and stay slow until you determine what exactly you’re trying to accomplish. And if you can’t determine you’re main goal, stay slow, injuries suck.
• Keep a record of all your training and diet
• Eat healthy food to maximize efficiency of the program, make sure you know what’s in your food. If the ingredients list is longer than one of your finger nails, please don’t eat it.
• STAY HYDRATED
• Don’t skip breakfast, lunch or dinner, each of them should be weighted the same. It’s ludicrous to assume that breakfast is the most important. Who comes up with these ideas?
• Heart rate is your gauge of how long you’ll be able to train
• Come up with some long-term and obtainable goal, keyword obtainable.
• Don’t rush to lose weight, or else it’s going to come back, and it will be harder because you’re now discouraged that it doesn’t work.
• Start doing yoga tomorrow, or sometime this week. It’s incredible and helps your inner strength recover and grow



If I think of some other stuff I’ll put it on another journal. Pass these on to people who you think might benefit. Most of them should at least include some sort of beneficial information.


Have a great night or day, basically whenever you read this,


Ryan