The Long Run

Des Moines in review, with travel tips

Well, unfortunately my races weren't quite what I was expecting last week. I guess my strength and endurance training have left me a little less explosive than I thought. I learned some things about my current fitness and I am now looking forward to starting my 1500m training in preparation for the USATF Championships.

All that being said, one very positive thing about my week in Des Moines is that it gave me a chance to get to know the place. This was my second trip to the city and really my first chance to explore the area around where I was staying, which was the Downtown Marriott. I didn't really venture out of downtown, but that was fine because I found everything I needed right there.

Below is a list of some of my Des Moines highlights, for those of you who will be travelling there in the foreseeable future. Hopefully June. :)

Running: Gray's Lake and Bike Paths

Since running is the reason I go to Des Moines, running trails are top on my priority list. Fortunately it looks like Des Moines has really been focusing on improving it's trail system. I'm sad to say that all these paths are paved, but at least it's something. From downtown, you can access the trails from a variety of places, so I attached a link to help you find your best point of entry.

 

Groceries: Gateway Market

Downtown doesn't really offer much in terms of markets, but this grocery store just North-West of the city center had everything that I was looking for. It's packed with healthy foods and it has a nice little produce and prepared food section too. The prices seemed a little high, but I guess your paying for the convenience (I was able to walk there) and the healthy selection, which I was willing to do. There is also a cafe attached to the grocery, so you can always grab a meal before you start your shopping.

 

Dinner: Centro

There are actually a lot of good restaurants in the downtown area, but if I had to pick my favorite, it would be Centro. I have eaten at this restaurant a few times and I have always liked my meal. What have I tried, you might ask? This last trip I had salmon with potatoes and veggies one night and a veggie burger the other. Both with salads, and all with "Yum!"

 

Recommendations from you?

I'm still looking for a great breakfast/brunch place. Preferably one with yummy egg-white omelettes, pretty please. I would also love to find a coffee shop (that isn't Starbucks), that has delicious espresso. So...if YOU have any recommendations, let me know!

 

 

 

Plane Travel Protocol

I have written once before about ways to minimize the negative effects of travel. That post included tips about “Dealing with the Plane,” “Minimizing Jet Lag,” and “Finding a Track or Trails.” To see that post, check out the link from my blog: Travel Tips from the Road

Since I made that post almost 3 years ago now (yikes...where does time go!) and since I am currently en route to Mexico for 7 weeks of altitude training, I thought I would add some more tips from my time on the road. Well, more specifically, my time on the plane.

Last summer, as I was preparing to leave for London, I talked with my strength coach Colin Peuse (who coaches at my old high school SHCP), about what exercises I could do on the plane to reduce the stiffness and fatigue associated with a 11 hour flight and an 8 hour time change. I had been inspired in Daegu the previous summer when I heard Trey Hardee talking about the theraband routine he had done on the plane ride to the World Championships! So, after brainstorming a little and making a list off all the possible exercises that Colin recommended, I came up with the following “Plane Ride Protocol.” I suggest getting up, walking around, and doing the routine every 2 hours. That means any flight over that length is a candidate.  

What you need:
-Pillow
-Theraband Loop (I use the loop, but you can also just use a straight theraband and tie it)

Warning:
Walking around with a theraband or trying to lay down on a plane might be difficult. I was able to manage my exercises rather discreetly, although my seat partner gave me some sideways glances. But, if you hide in the back and warn the flight attendant, you might be able to get away with it. If not, then just skip exercises 6-9.

Plane Ride Protocol (every 2 hours):
1) Grab knee for ankle rotation: Clockwise, Counterclockwise, Point & Flex x10  
2) Standing Elbow clamshell x15
3) Pillow squeeze w/ knees 2x15
4) Standing arm circles x15
5) 3 way ankle mobility --If you don’t know, watch this video. It’s hard to tell, but he is moving his knee 3 ways, over his big toe, down the center, and over his pinky toe.
Link: http://youtu.be/FLNDZ2FcMes
6) Lunge stretch, to open up the hip flexors. Reach up towards the ceiling to also stretch the abdominal area.
7) Glute bridges x15 --This requires you to lay down, but if you can’t just squeeze your butt cheeks :)
8) Blue Band: elbows at side, pinch shoulders together & move hands out to stretch the band
9) Blue Band: Put band around knees and move knees outward
Blue Band Walks: Forward, Backward, Lateral (lt & rt)

Safe travels!

Family camping trip in Yosemite

This past weekend, I had the joy of spending a few days in Yosemite with my family. Since it looked like rain, my parents rented an RV and took Pablo and me on a long overdue camping adventure. Listening to Johnny Cash on Pandora, we took Interstate 580 and headed towards Yosemite National Park. If you like to camp, climb, run, hike or bike you have to go to this place, it is simply beautiful and perfect for any outdoor activity. 

Although we camped for only 3 days and it was raining for most of the trip, the moment we returned to San Francisco we wished we were back in Yosemite. It was just that fun!

Below are some from the pictures from the trip:

Nice colors across the valley to Bridalveil Falls.

We made some friends on the run.

Can you ask for more? Runner’s World cover picture… maybe?

During our long run around Mirror Lake.

Lower Yosemite Falls.

How convenient, prefect ice bath after my tempo run. Brrrrr


Pablo was trying to make an earthquake in Mexico.

Pablo would not leave his new bike alone.

Filling my Hammer water bottles from lower Yosemite Falls. Must stay hydrated. :)

On our last day we biked for almost 3 hours. It was really fun!

Reflections on London

I have been meaning to write a blog post about my Olympic experience for, well...months. But then I had the lucky opportunity to meet Heena Modi while attending a Tea Tasting with Samovar Tea Lounge owner Jesse Jacobs. Heena lives in London and her husband worked with Heathrow to prepare it for the Olympics. She was interested in hearing my perspective on how the city performed during the Olympic Games. Attached is a link to my thoughts via her blog.

Shannon Rowbury on how London did during the Olympics! :)

Read away and send me your questions. The Olympics was such a huge expereince and as an athlete, you become so immersed in the moment that it's easy to lose track of what is cool and relevant. So, let me know what you're curious about and I'll answer your questions here.

 

Living Abroad: San Luis Potosi, Mexico

This past Wednesday I returned home from an altitude training stint in San Luis Potosi (SLP), Mexico. I guess I should say I returned home from my second home, because I actually had been living and training in SLP for 3 months, and this trip marks my 5th year training there.

I keep going back again and again because the winter weather in SLP is 70 degrees and sunny, the training facilities at La Loma and ITESM Campus San Luis Potosi are top notch, and I never seem to tire of the trails. It looks like more and more runner are starting to catch onto this good thing, because while I was in San Luis Potosi this winter, Running Times Magazine named the city as one of the top seven altitude training locations in the world. Read January 2012: Altitude Training Supplemental by Ysbrand Visser for more details.

Back in 2009, I wrote a blog post entitled Centro Historico and Restaurante El Mexico de Frida, about San Luis Potosi. In it I mentioned some of my favorite things to do when I’m not running. While those places still rank as my favorites, I thought it was time to post some updates.

On the map below I have marked a mixture of trails, training places, restaurants, and hangouts. Click on each icon for further details. Or, for a larger version of the map with a list of all the locations, click San Luis Potosi Points of Interest. I hope it’s helpful. If you have anything else to add, be sure to comment below.

View San Luis Potosi Points of Interest in a larger map

Living Abroad: Cologne, Germany

Throughout the span of my pro-running career, I have experienced living in many different locales. I am a creature of habit, so my goal has always been to find a spot and stick with it, but until now I haven't quite found the perfect fit.

In 2008, my first European summer, I stayed in Cologne, Germany, but wasn't a big fan. I came over by myself, didn't bring my computer (seemed like a good idea at the time...until I got to Europe), stayed in the Sports University dorms, and overall just felt homesick.

The next year (2009), Leo Manzano and I stayed in Teddington, England, just outside of London, and while I absolutely LOVED it there, my blood-pressure rose every time I went through customs (and our coach one time got detained), so we decided that we better find someplace else.

Last year (2010) was a case of musical rooms. We went first to Egmund Aan Zee, about 45 minutes outside of Amsterdam, and though the training was great, we had to take a bus to a train to get to every plane, and the commute became too much. I did some mid-summer altitude training in Font Romeu, France and then settled into Leuven, Belgium. Things were pretty good there, but I still hadn't found my perfect fit.

So now, summer of 2011, I have to laugh at the fact that I have come full circle back to Cologne, Germany (called Koln in Germany), and I couldn't be happier!

This year, I am in a serviced apartment located equidistant from the track and downtown, and otherwise in the center of my little universe of needs. Within 400m in any direction I have access to the tram, the park, grocery stores, cafes, a Deutche Bank (no BofA fees!), and many cafes. When it's time for practice, a 5 min train ride takes me to the track, unless I decide to run there through the park, which takes about 15 min. When it's time for dinner, if I don't feel like cooking then a 5 min tram ride takes me to a huge array of restaurants.

I owe this ideal situation to Steffen Keil, one of my agents at Peter Stubbs Management. He lives in Cologne and is the one who setup everything for me and my teammates.

Below is a map I created, showing some of my favorite spots. Click on it for further details about running, food & shopping in Cologne.

View Cologne Points of Interest in a larger map

Last week, we had the pleasure of hosting Alex from FloTrack for a couple nights. He made a Euro Shack Video of my teammate (not boyfriend :P) Leo Manzano's room. Since we're nextdoor neighbors, I am there hanging out as well. Check the video below to see our accomodations.

Watch more video of FloEuro Adventures 2011 on flotrack.org

Alex also captured the workout of two of my other teammates, Treniere Moser and David Torrence. To see the track we use, check out this video.

Watch more video of FloEuro Adventures 2011 on flotrack.org

As of today I am actually off to London for one more 1500m race. After that I am heading to St. Moritz for some altitude training before heading off to Daegu, South Korea for the World Championships near the end of the month. I have never been to St. Moritz before, but I am hoping that training and living will be great there as well! As for Daegu...fingers and toes crossed. :)

Back to the Bay - Weekly Update

After a little over 4 weeks of altitude training in Albuquerque, I am back in the Bay Area for a few days. Things are quite different here, compared to Albuquerque...the air is so much thicker, the scenery is so different, but I do have to admit that the people are great in both.

My favorite thing about being home is getting to see my family and friends. I had a nice chance to catch up with my parents on the trip back from Occidental College, where we spent many hours discussing house plans and dream vacations. At the moment, I am in Berkeley, where I am about to spend a friend night with Alysia and Louis Montano. I'm not sure what exactly is on the agenda, but I think it will involve yummy home cooking and possibly a movie. Fun! But before that starts, I'll give a quick review of my last week. 

After 31 days of relative inactivy (outside of practice time), this past week brought lots of movement. On Thursday the entire team flew to Los Angeles for the Occidental High Performance meet. We had a lengthy wait for baggage and then a major mix up with rooms, but at the end of the day we all bunked up together and finally got some good, oxygen rich sleep.

We passed the time before our race with some epic Uno games and a visit to the movie theater. Leo, Pablo, and I saw the matinee of Pirates of the Caribbean at one of those fancy theaters where you have to reserve your seats...except that there were only 3 other people in the place, so we purposely disregared our seat assignments and sat wherever we wanted.

On Saturday, I opened my season with a 1500m race, which I dedicated to my teammate Sally Meyerhoff. I wish I could have gotten a better time (or a win) for her, but my performance was decent. I was 9th in 4:11. I was in good position until about 200m to go, but then it was clear that there is still a good deal of rust in the legs because I didn't have any turnover on the finishing stretch. Let's hope that this next month of training/racing will help me clear that out. The race is below.

 

Watch more video of Occidental Oxy High Performance Meet 2011 on flotrack.org

Well, that brings me up to speed and also to my computer time limit. Time for some fun with friends. :)

Altitude Training - Week 4

Week 4 of altitude training is officially over, which means I only have a few more days left of thin air before I head down to Occidental College to open up my racing season. The time seems to have flown by and it’s hard for me to believe May is nearing an end. While I am excited to get home to see my family and friends, it will be sad to say goodbye to my coach, my teammates, and to the great set up that we have enjoyed here in Albuquerque. Fortunately, it’s sounding like I will get to enjoy all of the above again very soon.

This week was a good one. Al Berrin, my on site coach in SF, and Nick Alvarado, my training partner, both came to visit, which meant that we had a full house again. It was really nice to see their smiling faces and to get updates from home. They definitely added some great energy to the group. Together we discovered my favorite food place in Albuquerque, La Montanita Co-op, which in addition to having great groceries, also serves delicious sandwiches, smoothies, and extremely yummy gluten free muffins (my favorite is the Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip, although everything I have tried has been good).

Grabbing Lunch with Nick & Al at La Montanita Co-op.

In driving through Albuquerque, we also came across Manzano High School. It would have been cool just to see a school featuring my teammate’s last name. But then we saw their crown-toting lion mascot. I just had to take a picture in honor of Leo Manzano.

The Manzano Monarchs.

This week also included some fun team activities. For the past month, every time I drove down Tramway Blvd, I would the Hinkle Family Fun Center (which I call Fun Land), and talk about how I wanted to go. Yesterday, I finally did! Fun Land has everything...Laser Tag, Mini Golf, Paintball, Bumper Boats, Go Karts, and Arcade Games. I only did the last two, but I had a blast. It’s fun to feel like a kid again.

Go Karts! Feeling fast. Unfortunately I got the slow car.

We also took the tram up to Sandia Peak again (this time with the whole team), to celebrate our teammate Kyle Miller’s Birthday and to bid farewell to Coach Cook. I had fun the first time when I went with just the coaches, but getting to go up with the whole team was really great. We watched the sunset as we enjoyed a tasty dinner at the High Finance Restaurant, reminisced about the past 4 weeks, and looked forward to the races to come.

Me & Pablo on the tram up to Sandia Peak.

With Coach Cook on Sandia Peak.

As for Athlete’s Honey Milk, we’ve all been drinking it daily. In fact, after our last hard workout on Saturday, I’m pretty sure I saw one of my teammates down three bottles of Vanilla AHM. I continue to experiment with smoothie combinations in the blender. Recently I bought some fresh ginger and today I had a very taste smoothie for lunch. The recipe and some pictures are below.

The Ingredients.

Shannon’s Recovery Smoothie
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 bottle Honey Flavored Athletes Honey Milk
1/2 tsp fresh ginger

-Blend and serve. It it’s too thick, either eat with a spoon or add more AHM.

Yummy!

Altitude Training - Week 3

My most recent AHM Post/Altitude Training Update just went up. A copy is pasted below. 

Man, it’s hard to believe that I’ve already been in Albuquerque for 3 weeks now. I think they say that time moves faster as you get older, but since I don’t like feeling old, I will instead opt with the saying that time flies when you’re having fun.

The view from our apartment.

This week was a good one. Everyone came back from their respective races and since Oxy (May 21) is still a little ways away, we were able to get in a hard training week.

This weeks training featured a variety of locations. We explored the Sandia Foothills a bit more, got in some good tempo work along the river trail, used the UNM track, and since UNM was closed Fri/Sat for the New Mexico High School State Meet, we also worked out at Albuquerque High School (which is quite nice I might add). I continue to be impressed with the training options here.

We also had some visitors this week. Three, in fact, so we had a pretty full house. My chiropractor, Leonard Stein, had a rare free weekend now that the Warriors are out of season, so he came out to ABQ for a few days to work on the team. Mark Scappaticci (better known as Scap), a chiro from Canada and a good friend of Coach Cook, also came to ABQ to give us treatment and to teach us how to use the new fascial release tools that he created. Last, but most definitely not least, Mr. Paul Moser (husband of Treniere), came out to visit. Of course, Cook put him to work too, and on Saturday morning bright and early he could be found rabbiting the ladies track session. Maybe not the nicest welcome to altitude, but a great help for us.

Lastly, my experiments with AHM have led me to discover my new favorite “dessert.” When I was a little kid, I had a pineapple frozen yogurt thing outside the Disneyland Tiki Room and I fell in love. I had long forgotten about this, until now. By using a some frozen fruit and Vanilla AHM, I was able to make an healthy yet still tasty equivalent that works as a post-workout recovery smoothie or an ice cream-esque after dinner treat.

The ingredients.

Shannon’s Tropical Frozen Yogurt  -  Serves 2

1 bottle of chilled Vanilla AHM (11.5 fl oz)

1 cup frozen pineapple

1 cup frozen mango

1/2 cup frozen bananas

--Blend ingredients together. If your blender is a little weak, try adding fruits one at a time to the blender. The finished product will be thick and is best served with a spoon.

Enjoy!

 

Altitude Training - Week 2

Week 2 of altitude training complete.

I’ve heard that it takes about 10 days to feel normal at altitude, and I would definitely say that has been the case for me. My first few runs were pretty pathetic, as I huffed and puffed running 7:30 pace. Now, fortunately, I seem to be functioning rather normally again. That is, until I have to do 1000m or longer intervals...then of course I feel like I am breathing through a straw.

 
Athletes Honey Milk is HERE!

This week began with a delivery of 3 cases of Athlete’s Honey Milk: 1 of Vanilla; 1 of Honey, and 1 of Coffee. My favorite flavors are actually the two we didn’t get, Strawberry-Banana and Chocolate, so I was a little disappointed at first. That is, until I starting realizing all that yummy things I could do with the other flavors. I decided to make my Muesli recipe using Vanilla AHM instead of milk, and it tasted quite yummy. I love this recipe because it is super easy to make and from it I have many days worth of quick, delicious, and nutritious breakfasts.

Everything you need to make Shannon’s Simple Muesli.

Shannon’s Simple Muesli Recipe:
2 cups oats
1/3 cup flaxseed
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup honey
2 cups Honey or Vanilla Athletes Honey Milk
1 cup yogurt

Let sit overnight in fridge.

Serve: 1/2 - 1 cup Muesli topped w/ fresh blueberries & yogurt


This past weekend, all of my teammates raced in either the Drake Relays or the Penn Relays. A couple highlights: Kyle won the Olympic Development Mile at Penn and David ran 2:48 for for a major PR in the 1200m leg of the Penn DMR.

Coach Cook, Me & Coach Ryan Ponsonby

I stayed behind to keep training, which meant it was just me and the coaches from Friday to Sunday. It wasn’t all bad though. On Saturday, after my track session, we took the 2.7 mile tram ride up to Sandia Peak. The ride itself was beautiful and from the top (which is 10,378 feet), you could see for miles. After dinner at the mountaintop restaurant, High Finance, we got to enjoy the added benefit of watching the sunset and we came back down to earth.

Sunset seen from Sandia Peak

The week ended with some freakish weather. Although we are now into the month of May, as I drove my boyfriend back from the airport, it started to snow.

The 1st day of May brought snow flurries to Albuquerque.

Let’s hope that things warm up again this week. We’ve got some training to do!