The Zen of Ultra Running

Last run of the year with Indianhead Track Club before I leave for Thailand for winter break. It was sunny and super cold (9F, -4F with wind chill). The run started at the same place that we always meet on Saturday morning - Owen park. We had a great turnout this year and everyone's sweater was beyond my expectation. My ugly sweater was "too cute" compared to others'. Need to work harder next year!!! I got my ugly sweater from Savers and paid 3 dollars for it. Got to use it twice this year (once to the department party and another for the run). We ran the same loop (5 mile Carson park) and came back to drink hot chocolate and coffee with some treats. I brought the wrong pair of glove so my hands were freezing! urgh. After the drinks, we ran the loop for the second time. This time my hands were too cold and that made me miserable. So, I decided to did the short loop (only 4 miles). The total was 9 miles on that day. Indianhead Track Club people are sup

I originally signed up for Thermal 3 (3 miles) but switched to 8 miles on the race morning. The course was quite hilly (I was told there was ONLY one hill). It turned out that there were more than ONE and it's also windy. However, we were fortunate to have a nice weather on the race day (40F, sunny). I was glad to run 8 miles and get to spend more time on the road :) Final time was okay. My average pace was 9.19 min/mile (improved from last time) but I'm happy with it. Better yet, I felt involved in the community for the first time. So, I wrote a post on my FB page below. *Repost from my Facebook page* Six months ago at an ITC race, I walked into the registration area to pick up the race package by myself. I did not know anyone and most people were there with their friends or family. At that time, we had been in EC for almost 2 years and still did not know many people. I felt out of place. After the race, I sent an email to  Paul Wagner  asking why I should join ‪#‎

Headstand pose away from the wall has been something that I am very frightened to try. I can do the pose with the wall just fine but rarely do the pose without the wall. I guess the wall gives me support and safety. Then, my yoga teacher said in class one day (at the end of the class) that if we would like to try any pose after class, she was willing to help us. So, I told her that I would like to try tripod headstand starting from wide leg forward fold pose. My yoga teacher was AMAZING. She and the other yoga teacher helped guide me through the pose and at the end I was able to do it! Below is the picture that I took when I got home from that class. Still need to straighten the legs. Two weeks later I had another chance in another hot yoga class to try the supported headstand. The teacher only suggested that we did some kind of inversion but I took a chance and tried the supported headstand. My body was warm up by that time so the pose was not as difficult as it used to be. 

Fallen angel pose attempt (Dhevaduuta panna asana). The more I practice, the more I love yoga. The more I love yoga, the more I wanna know.  #yoga   #yogini #yogalove   #fallenangel   #yogachallenge   #yogapose #yogagirl   #yogapractice

Monster Dash race was advertised as the fast and fun race that you could get your PR because the course is flat and beautiful. I registered for the race early in August and only wanted to run 10 miles. I thought I would be too busy to train for the half marathon (13.1 miles). It turned out to be on the same day as Carson 5 & 10, the race organized by Indianhead track club. I spent about 2 months training for this race but my training was on and off because of a couple of injuries. This semester work had been crazy for me as well. Luckily, I started joining the ITC group runs, which made me commit to the long run on Saturdays. Monster Dash has 3 distances - 5K, 10 miles, and half marathon. This year it was the largest road race with approx. 18,000 people signed up for the race! It's on the halloween so people dressed up in costumes. The race also had prizes for winning costumes. This is my in my bumble bee costume that I got from Walmart the night before. Due to road

We saw an article from Volume One in the summer that Lucette Brewery in Menomonie opened a woodfire pizza restaurant in addition to the tap room. Because it's in Menomonie, we always forgot about this new place when we thought about restaurants. Last week we had a chance to visit this restaurant after work. We were really impressed with the decoration and ambience when we walked in. This restaurant only serves woodfire pizza and beer. It's simple and the ambience was inviting. The background music was not too loud so you could still get conversation going. In addition of their own beers, they also have other guest beers on tap and you can choose to order a pint or a flight of 4 7-oz glasses. The pizza came in a good size (one person size). The good thing was that the crust was thin (like a typical italian pizza, not Wisconsin pizza), which we really liked (and couldn't find that often in WI). In the picture, we ordered pesto pizza. They used pesto sauce ins

Finally, I could do the Eight Angle pose - Astavakrasana! even though I still need more practice to perfect the pose. This is one of the poses that I'd always wanted to do (besides headstand away from the wall and handstand). Thanks to Wenday Oberg yoga at Dragonfly for introducing this pose to me! Love power yoga :)

This weekend other runners are in Ashland, WI for Whistlestop marathon. So, I have to do my long run by myself (and it's homecoming weekend). Since last week I did 8 miles, I decided to run 9 miles this week because why not? ;) Someone has talked about running the bridges in EC and I think that idea is fantastic. So, I mapped my route around bridges in EC. Managed to run through 3 today. At mile 7, my left knee started to hurt so had to walk for about .5 mile. Think I'm gonna take it easy next week. Eau Claire in fall is very beautiful with fall foliage colors. The temperature was also perfect for a run (about high 50s).

I'd always run by myself for a long time - either at the gym or outside. Why? I thought that I needed time for myself to relax and to hide from other people. It's also convenient. I could run anytime I wanted anywhere I wanted. Recently, I started going to a group run (pub run), which we start at a brewery, run 3-4 miles, and come back to drink beer ;) I realized the benefits of group run. With the right people, it's fun and it's a social activity. Everyone talks about running, their races, and gives me very helpful tips. Running has become another social activity that I enjoy. We get together, run AND chat (at the same time). I still need to work toward running and talking simultaneously because it's HARD! Long runs seem shorter with a group run. Yesterday I wanted to go only 6 miles but ended doing 8 miles because the group talked me into it ;) 

Finally!!! I was able to do the lotus (and elevated lotus) pose! Recently, I've been practicing yoga regularly and am able to work on more difficult poses like the bird of paradise, and some other arm balance poses (but not the headstand away from the wall). Yesterday I went to the class on Monday night and the instructor made us do the lotus pose. After stretching and doing other poses to prepare us for Lotus, I was able to do the pose but only on one side of the leg. So happy. Another pose that I need to work toward mastering is the headstand away from the wall. I feel that I am scared of falling so much that I don't want to practice it. Need to figure out how to conquer the fear and be able to master the headstand :) Sydney

There was a new yoga studio that recently just opened in town. The studio is a hot yoga studio. They have all kinds of hot yoga including vinyasa, power, yin-yasa, etc. As a promotion, they offer a 14-day pass to unlimited yoga classes at the studio. So, I thought I would give it a try as I've never done hot yoga before but heard some people like it, and some don't. The first 20 minutes into the class I thought I was going to pass out. I'd never sweated that much before in my life. Every time I did the standing forward fold, I could see a stream of my sweat pouring down on the floor. The class was a heated power yoga and it was very fast with non-stop moving from one pose to another. It was like that for 60 minutes. I was not sure if it was my first time doing hot yoga or the class was too advanced for me. I could barely keep up with the pace (plus the non-stop sweating). Already bought the yoga towel and will give it another try before my pass expires.

I would say yesterday weather was 'perfect' for the run. It was sunny and cool. The run was organized by Indianhead Track Club. To enter, you only need to bring a can of beer and a bag of M&Ms. The bus dropped runners off in Meridean, WI and the runners were supposed to find the way back to Eau Claire. The whole distance was 17.5 miles, which finished at Ray's on Water street. However, the runners can choose to stop at either 7th or 12th mile mark, where there would be water, beer, and M&Ms provided. For more information, see: Beer and M&Ms page I did not feel well during the first couple of miles. Maybe it was because I was too tired from traveling and not enough sleep for a couple of days prior to the run. However, I started to feel better after the first 3 miles and was able to pick up the speed until the rest stop no. 1 (at mile 7). Overall, it was a nice, fun run where you went at your own pace. The trail was spectacular. It runs along the chippewa

This week I had to be in Minneapolis for work. Stayed at Westin Minneapolis, which is located in downtown minneapolis not far from the river. Westin offers a program that helps their guests stay active and healthy while staying at the hotel. They lend workout clothes and shoes for their guests so you don't need to pack your workout clothes and shoes when travel.  Another program that they offer is the RunWestin. The hotel cooperates with New Balance to map out a 3 and 5 mile running path near the hotel.  I got up and ran the 5 mile loop by following the map before the seminar started in the morning. It was beautiful and the weather was perfect. The night before it was raining real hard in Minneapolis so I was afraid that it was going to rain this morning.  The path took me on the trail by the river. What could be better than an early morning run by the river?

Since I started running, I'd been too scared to run in a group because I thought I had to be very fast to run with the seasoned runners. One thing I did not think about - runners are the best group of people to hang out with. The local running club in my town started a pub run on Thursday night that made me want to run in a group (and yes, I run for alcohol). What would be a better combination between running and beer? ;) (isn't it the reason why people run?). I've started to go to the Thursday night pub run (see the last post) and really enjoyed the people and the conversation. It's hard for me to find runners anywhere else (especially at work). Let alone the conversation about running!!! I learned a lot from other runners who have run several marathons including Boston. This morning (Saturday) was my first time joining the Saturday training group to prepare for my Monster Dash 10 miles in the cities. Others were training for other marathons but they always

My second Thursday night pub run. Today we went only 3 miles but we went through a part of the EC marathon route, which was awesome. We started at Lazy monk brewery and went on a 3 mile loop and came back to have a beer (yay). The purpose of the pub run is to get all beer and running lovers together for a casual run and have some beer at the end. I really enjoyed this group of ladies. The group changes every week depending on everyone's availability but it's a fine group of people :) 

After the first triathlon, I knew that I already caught the triathlon bug. It's such a fun sport combining swimming, biking, and running together.  Then, I bought the wetsuit (TYR) and a new bike. Found a good deal online for Specialized Ruba 2013 model. The bike has carbon body and I got a really good deal on it. It's really light but I still have to practice riding it. I also ordered the shoes and had new pedals (clip on). I am going to get more serious about the triathlon after all these investments!!! 

Officially became a triathlete!!! Yay... This triathlon race was specifically toward first timers. So, it was not too intimidating - swim 400 m, bike 10 miles, and run 2 miles. We stayed overnight in Woodbury because we needed to pick up the race package on Friday night and did not want to drive from Eau Claire in the morning. We arrived at the race location around 7 to set up the transition area and get body marked. This is what my transition area looked like. The race was time trial so everyone started at 5 seconds apart, which made it nice for first timers (less stress). The water was cold (for me) so I was glad that I rent a wetsuit. Swimming was okay and I was confident because I practiced in rough water two days ago. Even though I was not fast, I slowly progressed forward :) Then, the biking was 10 miles through a flat terrain (better than last time). Then, I finished with 2 mile run, which I could keep the pace at 6.2 mph. The first mile was horrible. My

Day 6 of 30 days of yoga with Adriene featured "6 pack abs". The poses today focused on core and strength. I did yoga bicycle (see the picture) and other abs work.  The session was only 16+ minutes. It's not too long or too short so I just did it during lunch break from work. Some yoga teachers like to do abs/core exercise at the beginning or the end of class but I also met some teachers that don't like those exercises (they claimed it's not "yoga"). Personally, I like it as I like to sync these workouts with my breath. Maybe it's time to give Pilates another try? 

Two more days to go until My First Tri. It will be my first "real" triathlon (swim/bike/run). Because I was not sure if I would like triathlon or not, I decided to rent a triathlon wetsuit online from www.triwetsuitrentals.com. They claim to have the longest rental period (2 weeks). The cost to rent a wetsuit is 65 dollars and they sent me Zoot Force 1.0. I got the wetsuit about 10 days before the race and that's enough time to practice swimming in it. So, today we went back to Lake Wissota after work. Swimming in wetsuit was easier and less tiring than without. So, I was able to swim faster and longer even the water was rough. Swam one mile today. Then, came home and practiced transitions (T1/T2). I think I'm ready for this saturday!!!

Today yoga with Yoga with Adriene was a short session (about 16 minutes) but the poses were more flowing and energizing. Starting with a couple of rounds of half sun salutation and the warrior poses. Then, we came to the pose that I like the most - Triangle. Lately, my shoulder has been very tight so this pose created more space in my body.  I never thought I would feel energetic after a short yoga session but this one really brightened my day (well, I've had a series of bad days). Thanks, yoga!! and thanks, Adriene!!

I feel good... I feel better... I feel best... After stop doing yoga for one week because I hurt my left wrist, I felt good to be able to be able to practice yoga again. Today was Day 4 of 30 days of yoga with Adriene. My body craved yoga, especially after the triathlon on Saturday. The "best" pose of this session was the Thread the Needle pose. I've had pain in the shoulder and upper back because I guess I did not stretch enough before paddling. So, this pose was the savior. I can't wait for Day 5!!!

"Tri" Eau Claire Run Row Ride is a fun event to raise money for youth recreation scholarships organized by the city county. The event was non-timed and very relaxing. The biking leg was 10 miles, running 3 miles, and paddling (kayaking) 2 miles. I happened to have all the equipment needed for the race. First, I thought I was not going to do this race because it would be too close to the other one that I signed up. However, the price to join was only 25 dollars (for triathlon!?!?!). So, I thought I would use this as a "practice" race before My First Tri. I woke up at 6 am to load the equipments and ate breakfast. Luckily, the race was in town so we did not have to drive too far. We dropped off the kayak at Phoenix park around 7.30 and went to Hobb Ice Arena to get the package. There were probably only 40 to 50 people in the race, which made it relaxing and fun. I love small races. This is how our car looked like when everything was loaded. The race started wi

Indianhead Track Club, a local running club that I recently joined, just started a Thursday pub run this week. The first day we started at The Plus, a restaurant in downtown Eau Claire. Today we ran 4 miles and it was the first time I ran in a group. I'd heard so many good things about the group run, that you would push the limit( in a good way), that you make new friends, etc. it was SO much fun when you run with other people. We chatted all the way (well, they chatted while I was busy trying to keep up with them).  We ran 4 miles today (in the rain). Then, stayed at the restaurant for some beer (isn't that the reason why we run?). The thing I like about runners is that we share the same interest. We talked about running, races, training, etc. I hope I can make it to the group run as much as possible. Such a great experience :) 

Yesterday, in the Power Yoga class, I learned a new pose that is the "Bird of Paradise" pose. This is a more difficult pose that I'm still struggling with because I have to keep both the balance and flexibility. After a couple times (and failed), I could stand still and lift the leg. Still wobbling.  Finally, I was able to stand still and straighten the lifted leg. However, I need to work on the flexibility to be able to make a "perfect" pose (because my hamstring is so tight). This is the best I could do for now. Will keep on practicing :)

This weekend is Eau Claire Summer Festival. One of the activities that they organized was "yoga on the bridge", which is free to anyone. This class was offered by Amy from Latitude Yoga because she wanted to promote her new studio in town. This studio will also have hot yoga (finally!!!). I'm so looking forward to try the hot yoga. This is how it was set up. Because it's a foot bridge, we could lay our mats on one side of the bridge and people could still walk on the other side. The class was at 11am so it was super hot and sunny. I had to close my eyes while doing poses on my back.  Then, we strolled along Barstow street checking out the summerfest. There were many vendors from Eau Claire and Chippewa falls areas. After having lunch at the summerfest, I came home and took a nap before heading out to Lake Wissota to practice open water swimming.  I heard that open water swimming can be dangerous especially when there are motor boats i