Yoga Veto & That Darn Cat!!!

Yoga = No Good
This makes the third time in my life that I've attempted to commit to regular yoga routines (via DVD, not classes-- friendlier on a student budget) and while the qwest begins enjoyably, I always end up with a back injury. Even modifying the routines to avoid the 'twisty' moves doesn't seem to help. So I am officially giving up on yoga. Oh well-- I'll look into something new for cross training days.

That DARN Cat
Many of my runs are done on Katy Trail near my house. Paticularly during peak hours, Katy trail can resemble rush hour traffic with masses of runners, bikers, walkers, roller bladers, etc. heading in a variety of directions at varying speeds. You would think that small, furry animals would be wise to avoid the trail during these times- and generally, they do. However, there is one cat who seems to think he can take it all on. This cat will lay spread out on his side right in the middle of the trail while runners jump over him, kids swerve to miss him on their bikes...and he seems completely unconcerned about the whole thing. I see him nearly every run on the trail, always in the same spot. To be honest I'm not sure whether to be annoyed or impressed by his bravery.

Night Runs?
For the first time I changed up my long-run schedule and did my 14 miles on a Friday night after work. This was actually pretty enjoyable, the only problem being that it's starting to get dark earlier. For the last 3 miles I ran circles around my apartment complex because it was getting too dark and deserted to feel safe on Katy Trail alone. The run felt pretty good and I definitely slept well that night. What was really appealing is that I had an entire weekend to do something other than a long run or recovering from a long run. I'll admit, that was fun. :) I may do it again in the future.

New Month = New Schedule
October brings the fun of deciding how to change up my running schedule. This month, I think I'll focus on the fun of the 1 mile 'sprint' in addition to my regular training miles. (I put sprint in quotes because I'm certain that my mile times would not qualify as a sprint-- although it is as fast as I can go, so I don't know how else to describe it). :-) When I was working on 1 mile runs before (sometime last year) the fastest I ever got was 8:13. (Stop laughing-- I worked hard for that mile!!) lol. So...maybe with a little practice I can set a personal 1 mile PR by Halloween. We shall see.....

This week:
Monday- Morning 5k/3 miles
Tuesday- Low Back Strengthening/Stretching/5 miles
Wednesday- Morning 5k/REST
Thursday- 1 mile/3 miles
Friday- 1 mile/REST
Saturday- 14 miles (partly via the DRC Loop 15k race)