Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 9

Well, today is going to be one of those gross Washington days: 100 degrees and tropical humidity. Just thinking about the run schedule for this evening is making me reach for a glass of water. I may just head off to the nice, cool gym and use their lovely treadmill to put in my time. Yeah, yeah, I'm a wimp.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we're following the gradual running program outlined in the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program *. Here's the schedule for this week and next.


Week 9

Day 1: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk1 minute, run 20 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 10 minutes. 5-minute cool-down

Day 2: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 3: 8-minute warm-up, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Do this 3 times. 5-minute cool-down


Week 10

Day 1: 8-minute warm-up, run 30 minutes, walk1 minute, run 30 minutes, 5-minute cool-down

Day 2: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 3: 8-minute warm-up, run 20 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 10 minutes. 5-minute cool-down


*A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

And The Winner Is....

The winner of the brand-spanking new copy of Thomas Greanias' soon-to-be-released novel, The Atlantis Revelation, is Rita!

Congratulations! Your book will be in the mail shortly.




Image courtesy of ThomasGreanias.com

Fun New Site for Adventurous Women

Beth "Ava Aviatrix" Walz of Roseberg, Oregon, has launched a new site called, Adventure Woman. Ava's outpost let's you meet and nominate real Adventure Women, share stories, get tips, voice an opinion, plan an adventure and, well so much more that you'll really just have to visit and see for yourselves.

Check out Adventure Woman here.

Dragon Boats

A couple of years ago my adventure group was on a bike trip when we stumbled across the DC Dragon Boat Festival. The large canoe-like boats decorated with scales and dragon heads were crewed by teams of 20 paddlers, a drummer and someone to navigate. The festival drew teams from around the region, and a few international participants, to compete in races on the Potomac river.

This past weekend, five of us had a last-minute opportunity to participate in a Dragon Boat/Outrigger Canoe clinic sponsored by Washington Women Outdoors and the National Capital Area Women's Paddling Association (NCAWPA). I'll write about the Outriggers later and focus on the Dragon Boats today. I didn't manage to get any pictures of the festival or the clinic so click here to see NCAWPA's photo gallery.

History of Dragon Boats

According to the American Dragon Boat Association, the history of Dragon Boats begins with The legend of Chu Yuan:

Over 2000 years ago Chu Yuan, poet, warrior and loyal aide to the emperor, fell victim to plots and deception and found himself out of favor at court. When the old emperor died, Chu Yuan was unjustly banished and wandered the countryside composing poems he hoped would be heard and heeded by the new emperor. His inconsolable desolation grew until one day he threw himself into the Mi Lo River. His devoted followers, learning of his death, rushed to search for his body. Fearing the fish might devour the body; they beat their paddles on the water and banged drums and gongs to frighten the fish. Today, athletes from around the world meet to commemorate Yuan's sacrifice for honor and justice in the form of Dragon Boat Racing.

It's a full body workout

A Dragon Boat race is essentially a sprint. The courses tend to be shorter than those for Outrigger Canoe races and the key to the speed of the boat is for each member of the team to paddle in unison. The more perfect the synchronization the better. The goal: a team that acts like a strong well-oiled machine.

Before climbing into the boat, we practiced our paddling technique on dry land. The boat has 10 double seats to accommodate the 20 paddlers, so we stood in two lines to simulate the boat. Each person dedicated her paddling to only one side. Paddling itself isn't a test of arm strength. It's a full body workout.

I was on the left side of the boat so I started by grasping the top of my paddle with my right hand; the left was positioned just above the blade. To begin the stroke, I raised my right arm until my elbow was next to my right ear. The left arm was extended straight in front. To get the most out of a stroke, I was told to rotate my torso slightly toward the inside of the boat, extend the paddle forward, bend at the hip, put the blade into the water so that is was completely submerged, then counter rotate-- turning my torso toward the outside of the boat while sitting up, pulling the blade back and pushing off with my legs to get added power. Raise the blade and repeat. Yep, a full body workout.

We had a wonderful time at the clinic and agreed that our Adventure Club will be entering a team in the DC Dragon Boat Festival next May. Festival teams only have three practices before the big weekend so it's fun without being a huge time commitment. I enjoyed the clinic so much, I may sign on for a longer stint.

If Dragon Boats sound interesting to you, check out a festival in your area. There are organizations and events all around the globe. Here are some links to get you started:

American Dragon Boat Association

Boston

Denver

International Dragon Boat Federation, List of international affiliates

Los Angeles

NCAWPA

Nova Scotia

Philadelphia

Texas

Worldwide Dragon Boat Calendar






Photo credit: Abbie Mulvihill



updated 2/19/11

Free! Win a Copy of "The Atlantis Revelation"

I'm giving away a copy of Thomas Greanias' newest (not yet in bookstores) novel, The Atlantis Revelation. If you'd like a shot at being the first person you know to read this fun summer thriller, leave a comment on the July 31 contest announcement post (click here). The winner will be selected in a random drawing on Friday.

Thanks Simon and Schuster!


Image courtesy of ThomasGreanias.com

Learning to Run in 13 Weeks: Week 8

A couple of people in my group have been fighting those nasty side stitches; that pain that grabs you in the waist and makes you pray for the walk break. So, I turned to my trusty handbook and here's what it had to say about avoiding the stitch: alter your breathing pattern, exhale forcefully (grunt on exhalation), belly breath (breathe mainly with the diaphragm), increase your abdominal strength through exercises.

It makes sense to me that breathing is related to side stitches because I've noticed that they seem to strike the people who talk the least. For example, when other kids join us and Liz is chatting while running, she does well. When she's stuck with a bunch of boring adults and doesn't join the conversation, the side stitch attacks. So I'm going to add one more thing to the list of ways to avoid the stitch: talk! It seems to help regulate your breathing by forcing you to breath out adequately (which also keeps you from feeling like you can't catch your breath). I told Liz to start singing while she runs, she thought it was dumb until it started helping.

As mentioned in earlier posts, we're following the gradual running program outlined in the The Beginning Runners Handbook: The Proven 13-Week Walk-Run Program *. Here's the schedule for this week and next.


Week 8 (easy recovery week)

Day 1: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk1 minute. Do this 4 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 2: 8-minute warm-up, run 3 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 8 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 3: 8-minute warm-up, run 5 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Do this 7 times. 5-minute cool-down


Week 9

Day 1: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk1 minute, run 20 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minute, run 10 minutes. 5-minute cool-down

Day 2: 8-minute warm-up, run 10 minutes, walk 1 minute. Do this 4 times. 5-minute cool-down

Day 3: 8-minute warm-up, run 15 minutes, walk 1 minutes. Do this 3 times. 5-minute cool-down


*A few words about The Beginning Runner's Handbook. The 13-week program doesn't appear until page 151 because the authors (Ian MacNeill and the Sport Medicine Council of British Columbia) thought it was important to start with topics like moderation, choosing good shoes, training mind & body, pregnancy, cross-training, technique, diet, injuries and stretching. It is probably wise to do some reading of your own before you launch into this new exercise program. Please make sure you're healthy and ready for action and then join us!

Aviation Pioneers Are Recognized: WASPs get Congressional Gold Medal

The San Francisco Chronicle has a nice story this morning about Margaret Phelan Taylor who, as a too-short youth, stretched her way into history as a WASP -- a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots.

Margaret and the other WASPs were aviation pioneers who dedicated themselves to the war effort in a time when the US needed pilots. Although a number of them lost their lives, the WASPs contribution wasn't appropriately appreciated: when the war ended, they were just sent home. Women weren't supposed to do that sort of thing in those days. Happily (though belatedly) the surviving WASPs are now receiving the Congressional Gold Medal--the highest and most distinguished award Congress can award to a civilian.

Even before President Obama made the Gold Medal official, Margaret's activities didn't go unnoticed. Her exploits during WWII inspired her niece, Sandra, to pursue her own flying career. Sandra credits her aunt's riveting stories for her current profession as a pilot and captain with United Airlines.

Naturally, I love Margaret's final quote in the SFC article, "... I have to say, I did this for the adventure and it was quite an adventure."

To read the full article, click here.

To read more about the Women Airforce Service Pilots, click here.