Posted on Jun 06, 2010 under Race |
After all of the talk, preparation and training, I finally completed my first marathon. And what better race to make my marathon debut than my local San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon? I had the opportunity to run the LA Marathon back in March with my brother, but I only had 2 half marathons under my belt and I knew I would not have been prepared to run it very well if I did do it. Also, the registration fee for that race is pretty ridiculous (although I may consider doing 2011). But I’ve heard great things about the SD RnR and people seem to really enjoy it (I think the Rock ‘n’ Roll series in general is fun). Although I did not run quite as fast as I was hoping/planning, I am still satisfied considering it was my first attempt at it. Results: 3:47:59; 61/357 AG; 1,043/10,625 overall. You’d think I gained enough race experience by now, but I ran the same way I ran my first half marathon (pace too fast to start, couldn’t hang and slowed at the end). But I think the biggest issues I had during the race was the weather and just not preparing my body to run such a great distance. So as long as I take something away from this race, it is definitely worth it, and I did.. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 19, 2010 under Trail |
Happy to say that I survived my first trip to Midwest 🙂 There was some dead time after arriving in Des Moines and dinner with my colleagues, so I thought I’d check out the local trail about a mile away from our hotel. Although it is called Des Moines Trails and runs along this winding river surrounded by forests, it actually is more or less a narrow bike path made for walkers, runners and cyclists alike. However, running in a new environment was definitely exciting and I couldn’t wait to see what I would find during this 9-mile stroll (actually hit 1:10, 7:49 min/mile..not too bad).
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Posted on May 04, 2010 under running |
This is a recap post of what I did for the month of April; there is a lot of data to look at 🙂 Although I missed a couple of key workouts throughout the month, I was still able to run the most miles I’ve ran since I started running again back in early 2009. I also squeezed in 2 races, which was nice. I think May will even top April in terms of mileage, but we’ll see what happens. I have a trip to Des Moines, Iowa in a couple of weeks. It’s gonna be tough, but I really want to try and get a run over there, just to see what it’s like and get a change of scenery.
Love looking at these cool graphs from DailyMile!
April
Total Miles: 154.46
Time Spent Running: ~20:18:00
Average Pace: 7:53
Total Calories: 18,510
Average HR: 152
Avg Max HR: 172
Total Pushups: 1,791
Total Races: 2 (Carlsbad 5000 5K, La Jolla Half Marathon)
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Posted on Apr 27, 2010 under Race |
For some reason, I thought I would be able to run as fast or close to the time I ran in my last half marathon, even though the La Jolla Half Marathon is much more difficult with quite a few tough hills. I did my best to read past race reports and even ran into a runner on my way to the expo the day before and got some really helpful advice. He was a 44-year-old who’s been running for years, and he’s actually faster than me! I’m hoping I can grow up to be like him 🙂 Anyways, here are the official results: 1:33:45, 9/162 (AG), 102/5839 (Overall). Given the difficulty of the course, this is probably a decent time, but I’m sure I could have done better and I’ll make sure I do for next year’s 30th Anniversary. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Apr 13, 2010 under Race |
The Carlsbad 5000, the “World’s Fastest 5K”, celebrated its 25th anniversary this past weekend. This fast and scenic course was the perfect place to PR for my 5K. And what better place to PR in the 5K than the same city I PR’ed in the half marathon? Official results: 18:58, 6:06 min/mile; 122/1250 overall; 95th male. As happy as I was to break 19 and PR, I was not too pleased with the way I paced myself for this race: 5:47, 6:13, 6:29, :27. But overall, it was a fun experience. It was a really big turnout and some elite world class athletes running too. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Apr 10, 2010 under Training |
This is the first (of 3) weeks where I have to modify my Sunday long run and run during my off days to make up for it. I have a 5K tomorrow, which I’m definitely underestimating. Ever since I ran the half marathon, I feel like any race shorter than that distance is easy, which is totally not the case. Shorter races involve a lot more speed and you have to strategize about how much speed to use at what time. For all of my past 5Ks, I have started off too fast, which just tired me out for the rest of the race (you’d think I learned after the first time..). What I liked about the half marathon is that running that fast so soon at the beginning of a 13.1 mile race is literally suicide. So when I held back the first couple of miles of my half, I was surprised (and happy) to see how much more energy I still had even after running so many miles already. I finally got the concept of pacing, too bad it took me over a year of racing to finally understand.. 🙂 Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Apr 04, 2010 under Training |
I am happy to be able to say that I have the first week of my first marathon training in the books. I have been anticipating this for quite some time now. I never thought I would doing something like this when I started running again a little over a year ago. I randomly signed up for a local 5K and realized how long it’s been since I’ve experienced a race. I worked my way up to running a half marathon (and fast), which I have to say is pretty tough. But now I’m going to try and double that with a full marathon? What am I thinking? We’ll see how it goes. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Mar 30, 2010 under running |
It seems like a lot has been going on these days, none of it is necessarily bad news, which is always good. Just..busy. There are a couple of things I want to update on though, running-wise.
Marathon Training
My first full marathon training program has been ironed out (technically, today was day 1: rest/cross-train: run for 20 min, basketball for the evening). This came directly from my internet-running-coach and fellow runner, Caleb Masland [Twitter, DailyMile, Blog]. I hope he doesn’t mind, but if you ever need running tips or advice, he’s definitely the one to go to. I have provided a screenshot of the program below. The weekly miles are going to be more than I have run consistently for quite some time. And assuming I still run on the days I have for rest/cross-training, then it will a lot more! I still have a 5K and half marathon planned for next month, so I’ll do my best to make sure I can still get an equivalent workout in for the day.
Run on the Trail
I came back from a weekend in LA and hit up the local high school trail that I ran when I was in cross country. It was roughly an 8 mile run and hit just over an hour. Although I wasn’t able to measure the mile markers accurately, I did keep track of the splits for each checkpoint and was pleased to run negative splits. As to not confuse you with actual street names, I’ve labeled them with just letters. One thing I noticed was that after the run, my body felt very drained. It was probably a combination of the heat (Spring has arrived!) and the distance. I had to drop my sister off at the airport which was only a 30 minute drive, but I was still nervous about falling asleep at the wheel. I survived that trip, but was definitely dreading the 2 hour drive back to San Diego. Fortunately, I was able to get a power nap (although not very successful) and had an energy drink to help keep me up.
Splits:
A-B: 8:22
B-C: 7:55
C-D: 9:21
D-E-D: 5:10
D-C: 9:00
C-B: 7:06
B-A: 6:39
100 Pushups Program
I completed the first week of the 100 pushups program. Technically it was the 3rd week since the program tells you to move ahead if you can do more than a certain amount during the initial test. It’s only 3 times a week, but pretty tough none-the-less. The first day was harder than I expected, but by the 3rd day, I was surprised at how much more pushups I was able to do. Only 3 more weeks and I’m supposed to be able to do 100 straight pushups, sounds hard right? I think the same thing. What you’re supposed to do after the 6th week is do the final 100 pushups test. But if you’re not able to do it, it tells you to go back a week or two and try again. I have a feeling that is going to happen for a couple of weeks, but who knows. I definitely feel stronger after each day and I’m hoping that it’ll pay off come race day!
Posted on Mar 30, 2010 under Race |
Found some cool race pictures from the Black Mountain Summit 7K. There were definitely some nice views, too bad there was no time to enjoy it during the race! I’m going to have to come here on my own one day and hike (not run!) this very scenic trail. Like always, comparing my race pictures from the beginning of the race to the end is like day and night. But of course, it’s always better that I look like that at the end rather than the beginning!
Posted on Mar 21, 2010 under Race |
In only my second trail race in less than one year back from running, I ran the Black Mountain Summit 7K. And it is also only the 2nd time in my ‘running career’, that I won my age group! Results: 31:08, 1st in AG, 7th overall (only 159 runners..) The splits make sense knowing that it’s an out and back course: 18:19 uphill, 12:47 downhill. It was definitely a surprise win for me considering I was not all that prepared to run such a tough course. But I did have the opportunity to get a few hill workouts in a couple of weeks before and I got some inside information about the course, so I was not too surprised on race day. But going into the race, I did start doubting myself thinking, ‘how am I going to run uphill continuously for over 2 miles?!’ Fortunately there were a few downhills and some flat trails on the way up, which allowed me to rest my legs as they were shot soon just after going up the first few hills. Read the rest of this entry »
