Posted on Jun 21, 2011 under Running Tips |
I was recently interviewed about trail running and featured on the RunningShoes.com Blog. Hopefully, it comes in handy for anyone interested in trail running.
Running on a path carved out by Mother Nature can prove to be much more of a challenge than that man-made track at the gym. Prepping for such a run requires additional planning and equipment.
Experienced trail runner Phong Chieng, who blogs about his outdoor excursions at Trail Running Blog, joins us this week to answer those questions. After running cross country for three years in high school as a way to stay out of trouble after school, Chieng has continued to train and blog. He shares tips on trail running, blogging and gear. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Jun 10, 2011 under Race |
Quick Summary: 13.23 miles, 1:31:09 (6:53 min/mile). Splits: 5K: 21:41, 10K: 43:25, 8.1 miles: 56:25, 10 miles: 1:09:37. Age Group: 31/930, Overall: 162/17,152. Like always, I wanted to keep myself from starting off too fast and even decided to run with a slower pacer (1:35) for most of the race and then pick up the pace later on. I ended up running on my own for most of the race, but fortunately didn’t start off too fast which allowed me to run at a fairly comfortable/even pace throughout the race. There were very little uphills but a few downhills which I used to my advantage. This was my second fastest half performance, which I’m super proud about. I said in a previous post, this race is more like a training race for my next big race, the San Francisco Half Marathon at the end of July where I’ll actually be racing my brother and his friends! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 29, 2011 under running |
I was hoping to find at least one other race to run after my trail half in April and before the SD Rock ‘n Roll Half coming up next week. But things kept coming up and I couldn’t find one that I really wanted to run. So I just kept running as much as possible with some biking in between.
Some recent notable runs I can think of off the top of my head was an 8-miler (1:04, 8:09 min/mile), 11-miler (1:32, 8:05 min/mile) & 9-miler (1:13, 7:54 min/mile)..today! I haven’t been putting as many miles as I would have liked, but I’m hoping those long runs and whatever runs I can get in between (as well as my rides to work) will pay off. I say this each time, but I really want to try and hold back in the beginning to have enough energy to maintain or even pick up the pace later on. When I ran the SD RnR Marathon last year, we actually ran with the half-marathoners for a part of the race. I remember thinking, ‘man I could almost be done, but instead I’m only half-way there!’
In other news, I officially signed up for the San Francisco Half for July 31. I will be racing my brother and his friends for the first time (in that distance). This will be my first race outside of SD and LA, still not out of state, but getting closer. I’ve been there for business, so I’ll try to make it a mini vacation as well. I want to use the SD RnR Half as a training run for the ‘real’ race in July. Of course, I’ll continue to run and train before that race, hopefully it’ll push me to train even hard than before!
Posted on Apr 18, 2011 under Race |
I have completed trail races between 5K and 15K before and now I can add half marathon to the list. To be more precise, the Painted Rocks trail half marathon was actually like 13.62 miles (more than the 13.3 the website stated). Initially, I had hoped to run anywhere between 1:30 and 1:35, which like always is aggressive, but I assumed if I could endure the LA Marathon, this shouldn’t be too bad. Not quite: 1:46:28. Placed well though: 5/33 AG, 18/212 overall. I was told that the course was not that tough, so I wasn’t too worried about it the week leading up to the race. I also messed things up for myself by starting a little too fast, which made it for a tough 13+ mile run. Overall, it was a nice, scenic course, which hopefully will help improve on whatever I decide to run next. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Apr 07, 2011 under Race |
I’ve said this before, but I don’t usually post race photos for a couple of reasons. 1. it seems repetitive to show pictures of you running in a race (unless you can get in front of a scenic/notable background) 2. I usually look like I’m going to die..literally & figuratively (I’m all business: no smiles, thumbs ups, peace signs etc.)
But since LA was so ridiculous (found another post with videos) and I got some nice footage from Carlsbad, I thought I’d post..Enjoy 🙂
Found these hi-res images from an LA Times post. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Apr 03, 2011 under Race |
The Carlsbad 5000 is my follow-up race to the LA Marathon and running a 5K in cool temperatures by the beach is a walk in the park compared to the pouring rain that we had to endure at the marathon. So there was very little pressure (if any) coming into the race (although I did spend the whole night tossing and turning for some reason..) Results: 19:08 (6:04, 6:17, 6:15, :30); AG: 38/645; OA: 114/1242. It’s not that much off of last year’s PR performance (18:58). But even better is the way I was able to hold back at the beginning to make sure I wasn’t burnt out toward the end of the race. Compare last year’s splits: 5:47, 6:13, 6:29, :27. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Mar 22, 2011 under Race |
I wanted to run this race last year, mainly because it was the 25th anniversary, but I had just started running half marathons, so I knew I wouldn’t have been prepared to run it. This year was really no different, but I had run my first marathon back in June, so I knew I was capable of running 26.2 miles. My cousin, who never competed in any race before, decided to run it and asked me to join him, so I felt I needed to support him. I’ll get into details about training, the actual race and logistics, but first, overall results: 3:40:43, AG: 213/1,419; 1,455/23,417 overall. This is about an 8-minute improvement over my last (first) marathon, which is amazing considering my training/race conditions. I’m super thankful about the results as well as the support during and after the race. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Feb 14, 2011 under Race |
It’s actually been a while (almost 3 months!) since I ran a race/wrote a race report. And it’s been even longer since I’ve run a smart race and paced myself properly. Sunday was the LA Chinatown Firecracker 10K, a race that I decided to run on Saturday, September 4, 2010. Why do I remember that exact date? Well, my brother had just bought a house and was throwing a house warming party for some friends and family. While I was waiting for my brother to heat up a hot dog, one of his friends came over and we all start to talk. Apparently, a few of my brother’s friends started running and actually ran a few marathons already, which was pretty impressive (I had barely run my first one 3 months ago!). Anyways, we were talking about upcoming races and they mentioned the Firecracker 10K, one that they have been running for a few years now. So they told me I should run it too and then we started talking about who would beat each other. I left that party stuffed with food, but also determined to compete come race day. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Jan 30, 2011 under Random |
I’ve been pretty AWOL on the blog lately, something I’m not too proud of. I took about a week off after my last half marathon in mid-November and then Thanksgiving came around and I ran a local turkey trot, which went OK (just not race report-worthy). But things went downhill after that. Holidays were coming, so I stopped running everyday because I wanted to make sure I got all my work done before taking some time off around Christmas and New Year’s. But because I didn’t run as consistently in December, I actually sold my race bib for my next race: my 2nd marathon at the end of January. I knew I wouldn’t have been prepared to run a full marathon (half, maybe..) January was pretty much the same story. The good news is that I’ve been biking to work at least once or twice a week in addition to my rare runs. And I just got over a cold/flu but finally got in two consecutive runs in a row, which was quite a feat.
As far as races go, I’m still scheduled to run a 10K in the middle of February. I actually signed up for that race because my brother had been running it for the past couple of years and this will be the first time I ever run in the same race as him (we both ran in high school, but he graduated right after I joined and he was always faster than me). There are a bunch of old high school alumni that will be running it, so it’s a pretty big race. It’s sad because when I registered for this race, I was still in pretty good shape so I felt confident I would run well. Now, I don’t even know if I’ll be able to compete, let alone finish!
My cousin also decided to run his first marathon, so we both signed up for the LA Marathon last week. The day we both registered, there was only about 53 days left until race day. That’s definitely pushing it as far as training time goes, but I think I should be able to at least get into semi-marathon condition. My cousin, who has never even raced a 5K before, will be in for some hurtin’, I just hope he finishes it (which is his goal).
Hopefully, I’ll go back to a more consistent running schedule, get back into the blog again and maybe even start following the other blogs I used to read before too. We’ll see what happens!
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Posted on Nov 15, 2010 under Race |
The Silver Strand Half Marathon was my first ever half marathon that I ran last year. After running a few 5Ks and a 10K, I decided to give the half a try. I went the whole nine yards by creating a training program and followed each workout to the letter. However, come race day (mile 7-8 to be exact), I realized I had not built a big enough base and the distance got the best of me, although 1:38:20 isn’t too bad if you ask me. Since then, I’ve ran 4 more half marathons as well as my first full marathon, although the training for those races have been very limited. And because of that last point, I only goal I had for this race was to at least improve over last year, which I did: 1:36:50, 15/83 AG, 111/~5000 Overall. Read the rest of this entry »
