Sea Rim Striders Summer Series Run #4

Sea Rim Striders Summer Series Run #4 at the Gulf Terrace Hike & Bike Trail. Huge turnout of local runners, had to be well over 250.  Hot running-- still 90F plus at 7 PM, but it's nice to run with all the local runners.  I figure if I don't push the pace too much, I can't get too overheated in a half-hour. Time: 31:09 by the clock, 31:12 by Garmin.  Mile splits: 8:57, 8:56, 8:52, 0.5 mile @8:54.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/95368869

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/.

Healthy News:
10 Exercize Myths that Won't Go Away
[CNN]

300 Days of Yoga

I marked a 300th consecutive day of yoga practice with a symbolic 30 minute practice, using the same video I used on Day 1, "The Primary Series - Express" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP9IFX-Agt4. The video actually runs 28½ minutes, but a little extra savasana made it an even 30.  Hamstrings are still a little sore from 108 Sun Salutations on the 21st; almost changed my mind because this video starts with 3 Sun Salutation A's  and 2 Sun Salutation B's, but after running and then re-stretching , much of the soreness is gone. ॐ

Solstice Aftermath

One day after the 108 Sun Salutations, my observation is that it was an uplifting experience, and also QUITE a workout!  By yesterday evening, I could really feel it in my shoulders and hamstrings.  By this morning, my shoulders felt normal, but my hamstrings were quite sore.  I guess that's the big surprise from the event.  I realize that there are 216 standing forward bends in 108 salutations, and each one is a good hamstring stretch.  Just a little surprised to find that there's anything I can do to my legs to generate more than just a little soreness.  I've run two marathons in the last two years.  I run 30 to 50 miles per week, year around.  That works the hamstrings hard.  I do sun salutations (although way fewer) every week, and additional forward bends (standing and seated) as part of other yoga sequences.  I make sure I do at least a few forward bends after almost every run, just because it's a great hamstring stretch after running.  I guess I just underestimated the effect of 216!

Photo credit: http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/478

Yoga Mala - 108 Sun Salutations at the Solstice

Photo credit: http://www.spiritofchange.org/community/circling-for-the-solstice

Today's home yoga practice was 108 sun salutations at sunrise on the solstice, 4 rounds of 27. Started at 5:10 AM and finished at 7:30 AM.  Kept count with 27 beans in a bowl; transfered one to an empty bowl with each salutation. It was not an easy session, left me pretty well soaked with sweat by the end.  I was prepared to make modifications as I tired, but was able to hold upward dog through 108, instead of going to cobra.  I did go to bent leg chaturanga toward the end.  Set a relaxed spiritual atmosphere with the "Devotion" CD by Rasa (info at http://www.rasa-music.com/). Nice. Feels great afterwards; hope I can bask in the aura the rest of the day.

The event brought to mind this passage, written by the great Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh in his amazing book "Peace Is Every Step."

"The Sun My Heart"
"We all know that if our heart stops beating, the flow of our life will stop, and so we cherish our heart very much. Yet we do not often take the time to notice that other things, outside of our bodies, are also necessary for our survival. Look at the immense light we call the sun. If it were to stop shining, the flow of our life would also stop, and so the sun is our second heart, a heart outside of our body. This immense 'heart' gives all life on Earth the warmth necessary for existence. Plants live, thanks to the sun. Their leaves absorb the sun's energy, along with carbon dioxide from the air, to produce food for the tree, the flower, the plankton. And thanks to plants, we and other animals can live. All of us-- people, animals, and plants-- consume the sun directly and indirectly. We cannot begin to describe all the effects of the sun, that great heart outside our body.

Our body is not limited by the boundary of what is inside our skin. It is much more immense. It contains even the layer of air around the Earth, for if the atmosphere were to disappear for even an instant, our life would end. There is no phenomenon in the universe that does not intimately concern us, from a pebble resting at the bottom of the ocean, to the movement of a galaxy, millions of light-years away. Walt Whitman said, 'I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars....' These words are not philosophy. They come from the depths of his soul. He said, 'I am large, I contain multitudes."

Namaste

Om shanti shanti shanti

Sea Rim Striders Summer Series Run #3

Sea Rim Striders Summer Series Run #3-- a nice 5K course in Claiborne Park. My legs were a little tired, this was a sixth consecutive day of running, and I also ran 5 miles in the early morning.    A brief rain on an already hot, humid afternoon left it feeling really steamy.  I ran the previous week's 2 miler at race pace, but took this one easier,  pushed it a little for the conditions, but held back from race pace. Basically, a 5K tempo run: 8:47, 8:42, 8:41, 0.12 mile @8:37. Nice to visit with local runners again this week.

Green Choices: Green Mowing

I retired the gasoline mower this week-- no more feeling guilty about lawn care.

I know that small engines pollute even worse than motor vehicles, and have been looking into alternatives.  I chose the Neuton mower, electric powered, with rechargeable battery.

• 270 million tons of pollutants per year are emitted by lawn/garden equipment.  After mowing with a gasoline mower, my clothes and body are saturated with hydrocarbon smell. That means I'm breathing toxins.  Neuton emits no fumes.
• 800 million gallons of gasoline per year are used mowing lawns in the U.S.  Neuton recharges with 10 cents worth of electricity.
• 17 million gallons of gasoline per year are spilled refueling lawn mowers in the U.S.  Neuton uses no gas or oil.
• Gasoline mowers are noisy.  Neuton produces one-fourth of the noise of a gas mower.

Abundance!

Posted 3 ½ weeks ago about the celebratory first tiny ripe tomato of the season... 
Now picking this much almost every day! :)

Vegetarian Adventures - Fresh Garden Goodness

This was really good.  Last night's dinner, grilled veggies, fresh out of the garden. OK, we didn't actually grow the mushrooms or the onions, but you get the idea...

Meatless Monday

Running Green supports Meatless Monday, an initiative associated with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The goal of Meatless Monday is to help reduce meat consumption in order to improve public health and the health of the planet.


These delicious-looking recipes are published by the Meatless Monday initiative, and may be found at http://www.meatlessmonday.com/category/this-mondays-menu/.

Healthy News:
Will Broccoli Boost your Lifespan?
[Yahoo! News]

Sea Rim Striders Summer Series Run #2

The local running club, the Sea Rim Striders has a series of weekly summer runs at 7 PM on Monday evenings.  They rotate between area parks, and are all short distances appropriate to the warm weather, between 2 and 3.5 miles.  These are fun runs, but some run them pretty competitively, just like an official race.  Clock timing, no chip timing; there's a big digital timer at the finish line.  I missed the first of the runs, but this was the second.

A nice short run at Tyrell Park. Just a 2 miler, second of the SRS Summer Series. Splits: 8:26, 8:04. Always good to be able to visit with a lot of local runners that I know.  Pretty hot running, still near 90 degrees at 7 PM, but a good breeze helped, and humidity was only about 50%. Good attendance-- 227 turned out!
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/92282736

Where Does the Time Go!?

Ironic coincidence-- this afternoon, I popped this old classic into my CD player on the way home from work.  I hadn't listened to it for a while...


When I got home, I saw this posted on the Grateful Dead Facebook page:


"‎41 years ago today, Grateful Dead released Workingman's Dead! Where does the time go!?"

Grateful Dead - Uncle John's Band by gratefuldead