Thursday, September 16, 2010

The Cross Country Kid

Today's workout (elliptical): 25 minutes - high resistance

My daughter has joined her middle school cross country team and yesterday they had their first practice. The coach had them run laps around a field that I know from personal experience is plenty big. My daughter and I had discussed running strategy in the past and she put it to use at the practice. While the others (especially the boys - it's co-ed) took off fast she stayed at the back of the pack to conserve energy for the duration of the run. Due to her smart running, she ended up finishing with the front of the pack and she's excited to get back out there again today. I honestly wouldn't care if she ended up last as long as she enjoys the experience. Cross country training will get those kids into great shape. How long will it be before she can outrun me?

Speaking of training, I focused this morning's workout on a high resistance elliptical session. I more than doubled my usual resistance level and tried to stay within sight of my usual pace rate. At the 10 minute mark I was soaked with sweat but I knew this low impact workout was exactly what I needed. I ended up going for 25 minutes and I'm sure I did more work than I have on any 25 minute run of late. I'm really looking forward to my long runs this weekend. Maybe I'll do a speed run tomorrow morning. Either that or rest. I'm beginning to believe strategic rest is the best way to hold the gains.

There is an article in today's Wall Street Journal about running in Central Park at night. Some of what's said reminds me of my own 4:00 AM running experiences. As much as I like Central Park, I don't think I'd be willing to run there at midnight. Safety first!

5 comments:

  1. So excited to hear that she joined the team!! My bet is it takes her a month to get speedy. Ahhh, youth! ; )

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  2. Congrats!

    I think they call that a PPM...."Proud Parent Moment".

    Live it up!

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  3. I didn't think she's do it but she did!

    Yes, I am certainly a PP...

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  4. Such a great blog you've got here. The night of the BK tornado I got stuck in the office with my running stuff and was considering a late night CP run, looked around on line to see if this was as nuts as it sounded, wish I'd seen this then. I think I'm going to give an after dark run a go this fall.

    Congrats on your daughter and the CC team, mine is still too young for that but I'm hoping some of my mania will rub off too (in a positive way)

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  5. Thanks Run. I've found the Petzl Tikka Plus to be a nice running headlamp. Light and compact, I often forget I have it on. I use a Nathan reflective vest as well.

    You'll enjoy running with your daughter when she's ready. It's one of my favorite things to do with mine.

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