Stadiums are for Spectators

“Stadium are for spectators. We runners have Nature, and that is much better.” –Juha Vaatainen (Finnish 5000 and 10,000 meter star from the 1970s)

I’m not sure how many of you who read my page are actually in OKI but you might be interested to know that there is a trail running group of women here called “WOOT.” This stands for Women On Okinawa Trails. I have yet to do a trail run but more and more people I am meeting have been and say it is sooo much fun! SO the group has organized a “Pedicure Day” at Cocok’s this Saturday and I have signed up to go! I am very excited to meet these adventure-seeking ladies and pepper them with questions! The only thing that has really held me back from going was my nervousness of trying something new all by myself. So I figure this is a great way to get to know some of them first and then ease on into a Saturday morning run! Check them out on FaceBook!

Winter is almost over…and in Okinawa that only means one thing…the HEAT is coming! Even though it doesn’t really start getting really hot here until June it’s really the humidity that gets to you. That is something that comes and goes during spring but it has already started. By June it will be black flag PT conditions by 7am and that is when people are highly discouraged from physical activity outside.

For now though I will enjoy my mid morning runs while I can!

Training Updates:

This week has been extremely motivating and productive for me! I am getting my legs back in runner condition and am very excited. I am nervous though about getting back into speed and hill training too soon so I asked Jeanne if we could just do strength training and interval running for a few weeks to build my legs back up and then hit it hard again. She seems okay with this but warned that we don’t want to stray away from the hard work for too long… and I want a rematch with that menacing plaza hill!

Tuesday’s workout:

400 meter repeats remix. This was a tough but steady workout. I had to run 400meters at a 10min/mile pace then do 5 pushups, 10 sit-ups, 15 squats, and 20 jumping jacks then immediately take off for the next round – run 400m and 5, 10, 15, 20 again – I think we made it through 5 or 6 rounds. I lost count. Jeanne tracked my time as far as consistency was concerned and told me I did a good job of being able to maintain the running pace throughout. Needless to say I was really worn out after!!!

Wednesday was a rest day since I had been gaining mileage steadily since Saturday.

Thursday (today):

Jeanne took it easy on me today since I have a Functional Fitness 5K Saturday that I am hoping to be competitive in. Today I did a 800m run at a 10min/mile pace for a warm-up and then a progression of pushups, sit-ups, and squats for the main workout. The pushups really broke me off and really the whole workout did. By this afternoon my eyes were burning and heavy…I really could have used a nap!

Tomorrow: I will be running 2 miles at an easy pace – gotta save myself for Saturday’s race on Kinser. I’m really excited about this for several reasons but one important one is that my neighbor and friend, Liz (and her daughter), will be accompanying me! She will watch Nola and hopefully get some photos of my killing myself! I’m so glad that I don’t have to go alone. Competing alone is fine but driving all the way there and then having no one to cheer for you is a real buzz kill sometimes!

Upcoming Races:

“Lord of the Tengan” @ Camp Courtney, March 27th – 5K/10K Fun Run

Gunner’s Gym Fun Run 5K held April 2nd

T-shirts are provided for both.

I’m hoping to be able to be competitive in the 10K in late March but Jeanne is thinking this might have to be more of a training run and less of a “push hard – competitive run” for me. Darn that injury and getting sick setback (fists shacking in the air!)

Miles ran so far this week = 5.6