Pre-Run Calisthenics are Pretty Dynamic

Before I get into this post's follies extremely serious training update, I have something VERY IMPORTANT to discuss:

 I discovered that most of you do not see the replies I leave to all your wonderful comments.

So from now on I will respond in 2 ways.

Way Number One:
I will continue to reply in the comments section because I like the idea of keeping the conversation going.  If you want to see when I reply to your comment and see others' comments, you can hit the subscribe button when you submit your comment.

Way Numero Dos:
I will also email you my responses, to make sure that you actually see what I write to you!  So, if you have a Blogger account, make sure you have an email address in your profile.  You can also just leave your email address in your comment!  Otherwise, there is no way for me to respond.

Just thinking about all those replies going unread for the past 2 years...you thinking I didn't care...

Alright, time to move on to the meat of the post.

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Last weekend I joined Ann Marie and Dr. Tim on a nice 7 mile run.

When I left my house it was cold and raining.  When I got to Ann Marie's it was cold, but not that cold, and it was not raining.  I decided that my rain jacket would be too hot so I chose to just run in my long sleeve tech hoodie.  Oh, and my pants. I decided to keep those on too. Gone are the days of pants-optional workouts:

Commando no mo'.

Ann Marie let me know they had started doing "calisthenics" before their runs and asked if I wouldn't mind joining in on our way out the door.  I readily agreed since I've heard that dynamic stretching is important pre-run to avoid injuries.

We started down the hill with Frankenstein Walking.

People were looking at us.

Next, Ann Marie told me were going to look like robbers.  She demonstrated the over/unders.

This is when things started to fall apart.

Nevertheless, I partook, even with people watching us.

I think my form might have been a bit off.

Once the stretching was done I decided to pull up my hood, and just before we took off running, Dr. Tim had a question.

Finally, we started running.  We ran uphill.  For like, the first 2 miles.  Then we ran downhill about half a mile.  Then, it was uphill again.  Then it was reeeeaaalllllyyyy uphill.  Followed by a quick downhill.  Which was then followed by a sharp uphill. And then....well, you get the point.  The elevation chart looked something like this:

*Bonus points if you get the pun in the picture.

By mile 4 it had started raining.

By mile 5 it was Raining.

As usual, we sprinted at the end to the very last step of our run!  Dr. Tim won.  I then looked down at my watch and saw we were 0.4 miles short of our full 7 miles.

We couldn't leave that less-than-half-a-mile out there, so off we went around the block.  Yeah, maybe a little crazy, but those who run in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, right runners?

I'm linking up with Yeah Write again this week!  Go read some amazing blog posts!

UPCOMING POSTS: BIKING, YOGA (oy), AND I WILL BE SENDING YOU OVER TO READ A COUPLE OF GUEST POSTS I HAVE BEEN INVITED TO WRITE!

Kyle's Krusade Virtual 10k

Hey everyone!

I am still working away on the running post I told you about, but I want to let you know about the run I did last night with Ann Marie and Erika.

One of my fellow FitFluential ambassadors, Lisa, put together a virtual race to benefit her friend's 6 year old son Kyle, who is battling cancer.  Cancer sucks, and here in the US, health care costs become pretty prohibitive.

A virtual race is something you sign up for, and complete it in your own area (i.e. there is no race location.)  Typically there is a time frame in which you have to 'race'; in this case we can do it anytime between February 1st and February 16th.  You then submit your time to the race organizer.  Sometimes there are cool prizes up for grabs, such as in this race.  Personally, I'm gunning for the Starbucks card!!

All the race details can be found at Lisa's site, runwiki.org.

Ann Marie, Erika and I headed out last night to run our 10k along Greenlake.  It was beautiful and DARK!  Luckily, Ann Marie was wearing 2 flashing lights and Erika had super bright knuckle lights.  I had a flashing light with lousy batteries.

Regardless, we had a great time, and averaged 9:30 minute miles.  I hope that we can put a smile on Kyle's and his mom's face today!  They have some amazing support!

Proof of just how short I really am.

If you want to join, you can check out the website.  You have until February 16th to complete your race.  If you do it, please leave me a comment below.  I would love to know!