Team Cross Runs

Foto Friday

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Minneapolis: Best in the World

Yes, I am a little biased, but I do think that Minneapolis is one of the greatest places in the United States.  I would say it ranks pretty high on the world stage too, but there might be some other places I’d rather live.   Nonetheless Travel and Leisure Magazine recently named Minneapolis one of the best biking cities in the world.

Minneapolis actually ranks number 2 in the US falling behind Portland as far as bike commuting goes.  One of the reasons Minneapolis was ranked so high is the

infrastructure that promotes bicycling on many fronts. From bike lockers and designated street lanes to recreational trails and snowplows dedicated to clearing off-street paths, a system exists to make transportation on a bike efficient, safe, and hassle-free.

This same infrastructure makes Minneapolis a great place to run.  Many of my runs use existing bike infrastructure.  The Midtown Greenway is a biking thorough-fare.  Running on downtown’s Riverfront uses part of the Grand Rounds Trail.  Of course all of the lakes have bike and running trails.

Minneapolis has a ton of paved trails, I wish it had more dirt trails within the city that I could easily use from my house.  But I will take the ease of off-road running and the mostly suburb job of plowing that occurs in winter.

HT Mayor’s Blog

Technorati Tags: Minneapolis, Biking, Trails, Travel

TCM Training Week 4

Hopefully the last week of zero miles.

Two years ago I ran the Buzzards Roost 10k, which is an evening race and usually pretty hot.  One of my all-time favorite places to run, even to this day, is Mounds State Park in Anderson, IN.  Last year I was tagged in a meme. I don’t usually participate in them, but it was a good chance to talk about some of my past running experiences.  Last year I dedicated my first marathon to Team World Vision and helping raise money to end poverty around the world.  How do medical professionals recover after a run? See my analysis of a medical journal article discussing that issue. In honor of the Olympic Trials last year I posted a Foto Friday with my 1996 Olympic Trials number.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 29.5 Miles
Bike: 58.0 Miles
Swim: 350 Yards

I kind of slacked off this week.  I only swam and lifted once on Monday for 500 yards.  I did increase the number of reps in my lifting from 10 to 12 for each set of 3.  But then I wasn’t motivated enough to go back again!  And I drove my car to work a few days…

Weekly Mileage

Bike: 21.3 Miles
Swim: 500 Yards

Foto Friday

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TCM Training Week 3

For the past two years  I’ve raced on this weekend, in 2007 at Jennifer’s Run in Hartford City, IN and last year at the Karate Kickin’ Cancer 5k in North St Paul.  Both of those races raised money for excellent causes, domestic violence prevention and cancer research respectively. That is part of why I think runners might be some of the most charitable people around.  My featured number was from my New Jersey days.  Running shoe companies are slowing making shoes more environmentally friendly.  Brooks was the first major company to do so.  Foto Friday was from last year’s Nature Valley Grand Prix Criterium, which I had to miss this year.

Last Year’s Mileage

Run: 26.0 Miles
Bike: 45.0 Miles
Swim: 300 Yards

Monday I rode to the YWCA and then swam 450 yards before lifting weights.  I did lunges, bench, curls, crunches, and overhead triceps.  I also enjoyed the hot tub a little bit!

On Wednesday I went to the Uptown YWCA after a meeting and swam 400 meters after doing my weight lifting workout.  It was pretty tough to swim after having already lifted.  The Uptown pool is in meters and is shallower so it is a different experience than swimming at the Midtown YWCA.

I did a couple of my Wii Fit Yoga and Balance “workouts” during the week.  My foot hurt off and on throughout the week.  Summer seems to be busy even though I’m not working full-time.  All of the biking miles are commuting or running errands.  Over the weekend we traveled to Wisconsin to visit our CSA and had a good time.  It would have been a great place to run.  Hopefully soon!

Weekly Mileage

Bike: 43.0 Miles
Swim: 887 Yards
Weights: 2 times

Foto Friday

This is Week 7 of our CSA from Harmony Valley Farm (blog).

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Got IT Pain?

A tight IT Band is not a good sign.  It needs to be stretched out and loosened up or it could turn into the dreaded IT Band Syndrome.

I was told my a massuse last year that my IT Band was extremely tight.  So I started stretching it on a regular basis.  I did some research and found this excellent information sheet about the IT Band.  By a trained physical therapist it lists some of the who, what, when, where, why, and how questions of the IT Band.

I think most of us are most concerned about not having problems with it and could care less about some of the anatomy that surrounds it.  She lists five keys to preventing ITBS – but they are actually almost identical steps to preventing any injury!

The list is:

- Changing running shoes every 300-400 miles and alternating between shoes with every run.  I’ve occasionally talked about my shoes and shoe preferences.

- Slowly increasing mileage (no more than 10% a week or on any run), including adding hill workouts gradually.  Downhills can add a lot of strain to the ITB.

- Avoid uneven surfaces.  More likely always running on the same side of a cambered or cantered surface like a road.  One leg can become predisposed to ITB because of the extra pressure placed on it.

- Keep the knees warm. Seems like if you are predisposed this might be helpful.  She said below 60 – but above 40 I’m wanting to wear shorts.

- Cool down and stretch after a run.  Ice if needed.

The article continues on and offers some stretches and strength training ideas specific to the ITB.  For now you’ll just have to go read up on it.

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