Motivation for Run the Night 5k

I finally sat down and registered for the Run the Night 5k happening here in São Paulo at the end of May. I waited to register because my boyfriend said that he wanted to run it too, but I wasn't sure about his/our commitment levels.

Uhm well now that it's purchased, we don't really have a choice to not commit. This is only my second registered race, but I learned a lesson just now: MONEY MAKES ME EXERCISE.

I'm not a gym person. I don't want to have an ongoing commitment with a trainer or coach. But a fun road race where my mantras will once again be DON'T STOP RUNNING and YOU PAID FOR THIS...That'll motivate me to workout today.

I will surely be much slower than I was in October/November last year when I was regularly running, and running at a fast clip. And my running partner has much shorter legs than I do.

But it's okay. This looks like it will be a really fun race.

And, I've got my sights set on a 15k in September...

Hiking Pedra Grande in São Paulo

I used to live in Tucson, Arizona, which is completely surrounded by mountains and trails and wilderness parks and NATURE. It's very easy to escape the demands of civilization and renew your perspective on all of life's worries. Some people feel this with the ocean... I'm definitely a mountain gal.

Now I live in one of the world's biggest urban centers, and I don't have a car. I really crave escaping the city on a nearly daily basis, so I decided to see what I can do using the methods (and budget) I have available.

There are wilderness areas sprinkled around the outside of São Paulo, but there is a lack of accurate information available about them online. No surprise there, if you've ever been outside North America or Western Europe. The best you can do in this situation is to start the journey without having all of the answers. Adventure!

In the Parque Estadual da Cantareira, there is a small mountain called Pedra Grande. This is NOT the Pedra Grande in Atibaia. This is much closer to São Paulo and much less remote.



I searched for directions on how to get there using the public transport options on Google Maps. As of April 2015, Google is incorrect. It lists several bus lines that simply do not exist and/or do not go anywhere near the park. My boyfriend and I spent a very frustrating half-hour grilling bus station attendants about this before we decided to take a taxi. We figured out how to take a bus back, and now we know for next time.

DIRECTIONS
Go to Metro Parada Inglesa (blue line) and take bus 2020-10 to the very last stop on Rua do Horto. It stops right in front of a city park, and then it turns around to go back to the metro station. Continue walking north, uphill, on Rua do Horto until you reach the entrance to Parque Estadual da Cantareira. It's 10-15 minutes of walking from the bust stop, and it's in a nice neighborhood.

HOURS
Open weekends and holidays, 8am-5pm
We got there around 9:30am on a holiday, and it was busy!

PRICE
R$14 for most people, R$7 for students and seniors.

After we got in the park, Silas and I decided to go straight for the Pedra Grande. The trail there is paved or semi-paved the whole way. There were lots of trail runners, but we just power walked. I can't even call it hiking really, because the hills in my neighborhood are much steeper.

We couldn't hear the city. It was awesome.

Here's looking south from the tallest point in the park, on top of Pedra Grande.

There are several side trails that are not paved, including one that leads to a monkey colony (supposedly). Here's a nice topographical map of the whole park which shows the main trail but not the side ones. We stuck to the clearly marked and giant-spider-free trail and continued further north into the park. At the end of this main trail is a pond and picnic area.

We fed the fish and then headed back to the entrance. 

From the entrance to the top of Pedra Grande and back is 9.6km. The lake is about 3 more kilometers added on to the total hike, so a total of 13km, give or take. Getting to the metro and back, and wandering around looking for the bus gave us 7+km. Our morning outing was over 20km.

It felt awesome to get into the jungle and out of the cementscape that is São Paulo. Deff going back here again.

Workout Report

This week in running brought...

1. I tried out running in the business district after morning classes. It started pouring down rain just as I started running, but I didn't mind that. I did mind jammed sidewalks full of pokey umbrellas. I felt awkward going in and out of the building in my running clothes all dripping wet. But it's better than not running at all, right? Also, I ran my planned circuit in a clockwise direction, whereas the flow of foot traffic is in a counterclockwise direction. I'm going to try it again on Friday, but smarter this time.

Kind of where I run... except the river path is inaccessible from anywhere close by. 

I ran about 3km, which was a little disappointing. My legs felt strong but my cardio sucks. I decided to stick with skipping rope on days I don't run.

2. I did another jump rope circuit, but this time I counted my jumps instead of my time. I like counting things, because it helps me not get bored, it keeps me motivated, and it puts me in a zen-like attitude. When I am in a lot of pain (period cramps, or vaccinations, for example), I count to keep my mind off of the pain. There's probably something in psychology textbooks about this.

Drylands

From middle school through high school I swam every day except Sundays. Two or three times a week after practice we would have additional "drylands" workouts. To a swimmer, this means any physical thing that isn't swimming. 

I like to call my non-running workouts drylands workouts as well. Usually I don't like drylands. I'm not a fan of gyms or weight rooms, cardio stuff is my weakness right now, my arms have always been shrimpy, and who likes planks (not me).

I didn't work this morning, and I didn't feel like running hills, but I really need to whip my cardio into shape. Here's what I did:

1:00 jump rope

15 wall pushups

20 lunges

(repeat all 5x)

This, plus a little stretching, took less than 30 minutes. 

Now, I've seen fancy weighted jump ropes, all different types of cords, wooden handles, foam handles, molded grip handles. I've tried lots of them because I was curious. Is my lack of appearing to jump rope like Hilary Swank in Million Dollar Baby simply because I had the wrong jump rope?

Deff don't look like that when I skip rope

That question was rhetorical. Obviously it comes down to getting in shape regardless of the tools you have at your disposal. I just happen to have a jump rope that I got from a free event that is the best jump rope I have ever used. 

My high-tech jump rope

The handles are slim and plastic. The cord is a translucent hardish plastic that really stings if you hit yourself with it (ahem). And the handles rotate around the cord without making it all twisted up when you're jumping (that's the most important quality for a jump rope to possess IMO). 

Jump roping kicked my butt today, cardio-wise. I think I have a good amount of muscle because I have to climb a mountain just to get to the metro station, but my cardio and active recovery is pitiful. Here's my resolution to add this into my workouts three times a week!

Do you use jump ropes? Do you like the rope you have?