sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy

Even though I really dislike most of John Denver’s music that song always comes to mind on sunny days. And, boy, was this weekend packed full of gorgeous days! It was basically between 50 and 60 F every afternoon from Friday to today (Sunday).

Due to some unfortunate planning on Friday, I ended up running in the afternoons for the last couple of days, so I got to enjoy the sunshine while runnin’ around town! This weekend also marked my first run with shorts (in lieu of tights) of the year! That alone was fantastic.

So, I’ve been thinking about my technique a lot lately – specifically about my technique for descents. Previously, I had been of the ‘lean back and take long, slow strides’ technique when running downhill. It seemed like less work to basically fall down the hill, occasionally throwing a foot out there to keep the ground at bay. After a bit of reading (just Google “running downhill” for examples), it appears that leaning forward, and picking up your turnover is better for your legs. For the past week or so, I’ve been practicing this technique. So far, I have to say I’m pleased. It feels great to pick up the cadence on a long run – shake the legs out of their rhythm for a little bit. It also does seem to cause less strain on the knees, which is always good! I’m going to keep practicing this, and we’ll see what happens over the next few weeks…

Anyway, today’s “long run” was definitely not. It was a pleasantly short six miler, that I still ran too fast on. I want my Sunday runs to be around 8-9 min/mile, but I keep coming in around 7-7:30. Short of keeping track of each mile split, I’m going to have to try extra hard to slow it down some more. We’ll see. And you’ll certainly hear what comes of it.