Menaka | February 9, 2010
I finally read a book highly recommended to me called Born to Run1 by Christopher McDougall. In this bestseller, the author documents his travels to Mexico to learn about the Tarahumara Indians who run ultramarathon distances in sandals on death-defying terrain as a normal way of life. McDougall’s writing style is unique and exciting. I [...]
Menaka | January 28, 2010
When it snows in Western Washington, city dwellers are simultaneously awed and apprehensive about the snow conditions. We are fearful because we don’t have consistent practice traveling on it whether we are on foot or driving. We are awed because it is a relatively rare event so we revere in the beauty and texture unlike other [...]
Menaka | January 23, 2010
Four or five years ago, after returning home from work, I decided to squeeze in a two-mile run before heading off to my spiritual center for an evening class. I would run on a residential route that had a few inclines and uphills, turn around at the one-mile mark and then coast home. About twenty [...]
Menaka | January 22, 2010
I left home by car extra early to avoid traffic, to find excellent parking and to leave some cushion for any unanticipated events along the way. This strategy paid off as I made good time as thousands of people were converging upon Seattle for the half and full marathons. I found parking easily, as I [...]
Menaka | December 23, 2009
Rate of perceived exertion is defined as “how hard you feel your body is working”. It is based on your subjective perception of how hard YOU feel you are working (breathing, fatigue, sweating). The subjective score has been found to correlate with heart rate. The most popular scale is known as The Borg scale which rates exertion from 6-20. [...]
Menaka | November 27, 2009
Usually people associate gravity with holding them back and working against them. In truth, we can actually cooperate with this natural force to our advantage. The techniques used in ChiWalking and ChiRunning teach us to lean slightly in specific ways and allow gravity to pull us forward. This decreases the effort required to propel ourselves forward [...]