Robyn and Rachel Run: Let's Go to San Diego - Hey, where's Ron Burgundy?

I wrote this post while sitting on an airplane on route back to Baltimore from the wonderful city of San Diego, but was too lazy to transfer pictures to my computer until now (procrastination isn't just for college kids). Over the past week I met my yearly quota for geekdom at the Annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience. Imagine 30,000 people like me who want to be able to read your mind. OK, enough with my misrepresentation of what neuroscientists do. I won’t bore you with the exciting things I learned this week (including that the same brain area controls both aggressive and mounting behaviors), as this is a running blog. So instead I’ll share some of the incredible pictures I captured on my runs and my thoughts that were most relevant while juggling training in an abnormal week.

Tip: if you aren’t interested in reading my ramblings and just want the goods, pictures are at the bottom of the post J

I happened to leave my trusty iPod shuffle at home, so instead of listening to the bustling sounds of a city I took along my cell and wasted some Gb’s on Pandora. As a rule, I never run with my phone (anything that I have to hold in my hands will inevitably get dropped, so I tend to bring a clip-on shuffle or nothing at all). It ended up being a happy accident that I brought my phone along because I got in a lot more sightseeing than my fellow neuroscientists. Not only did I get a bunch of great pics, but I made the clutch discovery of a Ben & Jerry’s stand right near our hotel, picked out our dinner destinations, and saw some street performers.

The main running issue I thought about this past week was the tremendous difference you feel when you have to walk everywhere. There’s something you take for granted – how walking can affect your training. Well given that I barely walk anywhere anymore in Baltimore, my legs and feet were feeling a bit shell-shocked this week. You don’t notice it at the time but walking takes a toll on your body and for those of us who are frustratingly delicate and injury-prone, it’s something you don’t ignore. My advice is this, if you’re feeling the effects of being on your legs all day but don’t want to change your running plans – consider my opinion on the matter. Do you need those additional miles for training or is it that you aren't (mentally) flexible enough to alter your training plan to accommodate the unusual fatigue in your legs? Not everyone shares my philosophy about training – that training smart can trump training hard. Kid gloves aren’t shameful when it comes to preventing injury. So I'm arguing that you knock a mile or two off your intended run. You could change your route to a hilly course so that you get more bang for your buck. Hills slow you down but (should) keep you at the same effort level, meaning that for the same time on your legs you’re getting less impact. Lower impact = avoid overuse injuries! Sometimes it’s not all about the numbers. In this instance, I’d argue that there is equal gain in fitness to do a really challenging hilly or trail 6mi run than a 7-8mi run on flat pavement/concrete where your legs are already tired and likely to add on to an impending injury.