Tweaked my left MCL last week (while lying down after a mild track workout!), so took a week off from running. Ran on Thursday, down by the river, run-commuted yesterday, will run down by the river again in a bit. 11 miles total. Hopefully next week back above 20mpw. Been enjoying pushing the pace a bit, still a long ways to go before I recover the running fitness I had last fall though.
Hit a new DL PR last week, and almost one on the squat. ST is going extremely well with my latest routine tweak. Really working on developing a strong back/posterior chain.
Great to see everyone doing so well!
Dutchie and I have also rediscovered the joy of running gadgetless. Kinda like doing strength training without a strict number of sets and reps in mind. It allows one to become more attuned with what one's mind/body is up for that day, which prevents overtraining but also allows one to take advantage of those days when everything is just right, and push it a bit. It's also great on those low energy days not to have a Garmin, when seeing one's pace can be discouraging.
I forgot to mention that I stayed with an Uncle in Corona and got to run some of the trails behind it, very close to your trails right? You're lucky to live in SoCal -- very barefoot friendly, although it's nice to have all the water we have up here in Minnesota . Here's some pages with some pics
http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/winter-challenge-2013.15041/page-14
http://www.thebarefootrunners.org/threads/mileage-reporting-3rd-week-2014.15479/page-2
For the squats, I would really encourage you to do full, "ass-to-the-grass" squats. I'm no expert, but from what I've read, the whole partial squat thing is bad for your knees and limits the benefits you'll get from the exercise. A lot of people also recommend against training to failure.
I agree though, that ST has really helped my running form. It feels pretty coordinated, smooth, relaxed and effortless now, even at slower paces. I have no idea how I look though, probably like a wounded water buffalo .
Hey Lee, yeah, those Corona trails are about 30 minutes drive to the ones I typically run on...next time you are in town drop me a line and we can go for a run if you have time ;-)
I typically run at Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park...SoCal has a lot of designated wildlife and wilderness areas, otherwise I think you would have unbroken subdivisions for hundreds of mile...the weather is great year round, though it can get really jot over by Corona in the summer.
They have micro-climates here that were really strange to me at first after moving from the mid-west.
Micro-climates are BIG changes in weather patterns within a relatively small geography. It can be up to 30 degrees hotter in Corona or Riverside than it is in Irvine or Laguna Beach, and they are all within about 20 or 30 miles as the crow flys.
Even Irvine to Laguna Beach, which is about ten miles apart have very different weather...Laguna can be 60 degrees and cloudy, while ten miles away in Irvine its near 80 degrees and sunny lol