Posted on May 30, 2009 under Random |
Running in the Rain
I just got back from a run this morning and I’m hoping this will be my first post right after a run. I’ve always been a fan of running in the rain and feel that there are many positive benefits for many reasons. Now don’t get me wrong, it is never safe to be running in the rain when it is pouring outside. Even though today was just drizzling, my New Balance 768’s weren’t gripping to the road as well as I would have wanted them to. In fact, there were sharp turns on the road where I felt like I was going to slip a little. So you definitely need running shoes that will be able to grip the slippery roads. And you need to know when it is raining too hard to run because running with soaked clothes and shoes is just like running with added weights. But other than that, I think that the benefits of running in the run outweigh the disadvantages.
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Posted on May 30, 2009 under Reviews |
I was sent a heart rate monitor watch to review from Timex, called the Ironman Road Trainer. It was pretty exciting to get since I didn’t know when it was going to arrive, if at all and when did get something in the mail, I actually thought it was another package that I ordered. The only reason why I realized that it wasn’t something I ordered was because it was sent via overnight shipping, and I never order anything overnight shipping. So I got the watch while at work and really wanted to start using it right away, but decided to wait to enjoy it from the comfort of my own home. When I finally started using it, it actually didn’t take that long to set up and worked right away.
Timex Ironman Road Trainer Heart Rate Monitor Watch
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Posted on May 27, 2009 under Race |
Race Report: UCSD Grove Run 5K
Course: 5K with hills during mile 2 & 3
Time: 20:19
Splits: Mile 1: 6:06 HR: 179; Mile 2: 7:13 HR: 192; Mile 3: 6:17 HR:193
Total Calories Burned: 446
The last time I competed in an official race was during the Track & Field season of my senior year in high school…2003! That is a very long hiatus from racing if you ask me. After that last race, I ran on and off the first and second year of college, but not very often and definitely not training for any competitive races. Working out at the gym helped keep me from gaining that infamous freshman 15.
I finally started running again a couple of months ago and to keep myself from being bored running the same distance every day and alone, I decided to also compete in a race, so that I was actually training for something. So I heard about a race at UCSD, called the UCSD Grove Run 5K, which is “Socal’s First Sustainable Race”. They were trying to run the greenest race ever: by not having race bibs (just writing your race # on your hand), having appropriate recycling receptacles, and even organic fruit picked straight from local farms. They also had something called the “Greenest Athlete Award” where you get a certain number of points for doing things to help reduce your carbon footprint. For example, if you biked to the race, you would get some points. Or if you carpooled or brought your own water bottle or donated any type of running gear too. That was a pretty cool idea, too bad I did almost nothing that was green. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 16, 2009 under Training |
Since I knew that I was going to run Lake Miramar today, I planned to have an easy run on Friday. But I wasn’t anticipating running as slow as I did. It might have also been that I decided to run an extra lap too. Either way, that just meant that I had no excuses for not running fast today. And after running the Lake Miramar loop today and seeing my time (36:00), it definitely looks like that easy run helped.
As I arrived at the lake, I noticed that there were significantly more cars today. I didn’t have the prime parking space like I did last time I ran at Lake Miramar. I noticed that there were two tents by the start of the loop. Apparently there was an event that was happening this morning called, “Ray of Sunshine Miramar Lake Walk”. The walk was going to start at 8, so I had more than enough time to finish before it started. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on May 09, 2009 under Training |
I’m a little late with this post, but better late than never. I have to say, people who do post the same day they run or workout must be very diligent bloggers. I probably should post right away though because it’s like a dream to me: I’ll forget all details of a run by the next day. Hopefully I can at least post a few days after a run. So last week, I ran this 5 mile loop around the nearby lake. Most of my runs have been just doing laps around these one mile loops by my place. It was very convenient because I would walk out the door and just cross the street to the loop. But the lake was a nice change of scenery though. The drive there wasn’t too bad, only like 5 minutes. I’ve joined the San Diego Running Meetup Group to see if there are any meetups that I’d be interested in doing. However, most of the runs are either early in the morning or early evening right after work but it’s just too out of the way to do. They actually have meetups on that same lake, but I get out of work too late to do it.
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Posted on May 03, 2009 under Reviews |
When I started running again about a year ago, I needed a pair of running shoes, but didn’t want to buy new shoes just for casual running. So I just asked an old runner friend if I could have one of his old pairs, which any runner knows is not a good idea. I was fortunate enough to get a pair of running shoes that was still in decent condition and didn’t give me any injuries (it probably helped that I only ran a couple times a week). I should have learned from that past to choose the right pair of running shoes. But I finally got a new pair this last week and took it for a run right out of the box the same day I got them in the mail. I think I’ve ran in every major brand of running shoes available, but got a pair of New Balance running shoes from New Balance Harrisburg. Here is my take on the shoes..
New Balance 768 Running Shoes
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Posted on Apr 27, 2009 under Random |
UCSD Campus Loop: 4.01 Miles: 32:08 (8:02 min/mile)
The other night I was watching According to Jim on TV and his sister-in-law bet him that he could not beat her in the marathon, let alone finish. So what his plan was to start off ridiculously slow and trail off and hide somewhere while everyone else was running the race. He would then re-emerge back into the race and finish just ahead of his sister-in-law. Well, he dozed off during his pedicure (lol) and thought he wasn’t going to make it, so he started running to the finish. As he approached the finish line, he noticed the tape hadn’t been broken through; he was leading the race! The “real” first place runner was right behind him, obviously a lot more tired, so they battled it out and Jim won!
I recently experienced a situation very similar to that, but unintentionally, of course. I was running the campus loop (route that the shuttle takes) and noticed that there were people standing around the trail where local cross country races take place. So I assumed they were having a race on the trail, but I noticed chalk arrows on the cement on the route I was running. Then I noticed a couple of other runners ahead of me and people standing at the corners wearing some type of volunteer t-shirts. I accidentally jumped into a race and were passing people ahead of me and having the volunteers cheer for me!! Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Apr 13, 2009 under Random |
Workout: 2 lap warm-up, 1 mile “Race”, 2 lap cool-down
Time: 6:02 Weather/Condition: Windy on the last 100 meters of the track
Best Week Ever!
I’m going to make a live post today, rather than going to my journal. The only reason for doing so is because I actually had a race-like run the other day and I really wanted to say something about the current events that are going on. Feel free to read the first part and ignore the rest, which is my little rant. 🙂
So this past week was the first time I ran 3 days in a row, which is quite an accomplishment for me, considering how I used to run so many miles 6-7 times a week back in high school. The first run wasn’t that special, I didn’t even time it because I wasn’t try to break any records or anything, just put in some miles and break a sweat and get used to waking up in the morning. During the 2nd day though, I ran the fastest time (only three laps around the block which is the only place I can run considering the time constraints) since I started doing this route. WalkJogRun says it’s a little under 3 miles, but I have a feeling it’s not, looking back at the times. The final time was about 9 seconds faster than my previous best. Why did I run so fast on this particular day?
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Posted on Apr 10, 2009 under Training |
Wednesday, February 13, 2002
Workout: 1 mile warm-up, 2-200 meter strides, 6 1-mile repeats at 6:32 pace, 1 mile cooldown
Time: 6:28, 6:25, 6:24, 6:33, 6:25, 6:26; total: 38:41 (avg: 6:27) Weather: sunny/windy
Today was the second day of track and field practice, so it’s understandable that the coaches sent all the new runners on a run on the trail, rather than running mile repeats on the track. I don’t know why, but when Fernando told us that we were still doing intervals like usual, I was still kind of shocked. Sergio didn’t really tell us how fast to go on the run yesterday, so I went kind of hard (well, harder than one should go the day before intervals). Even after running kind of hard yesterday, I still ran the mile repeats pretty well, either right at or below the pace I was supposed to run them at. Today was the first time we ran our mile repeat intervals with so many other people out on the track. Since the track season officially started yesterday, there were a lot of other people training for their own individual track and field event. The experience running these mile repeats were both positive and negative. Some people were very considerate and would actually say “good job” to us and move out of the way as we ran toward them (I think it’s because most of them were former cross country runners). But everyone else didn’t bother to move or were really slow about it.
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Posted on Mar 27, 2009 under Trail |
Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Workout: Medium/comfortable to Duarte
Time: Avg/pretty good weather: sunny/hot
Today was officially the first day of Track and Field (finally!). The months in between cross country and track and field were pretty hard because it was only a small group of people running together (if any). And because it was not mandatory practice, it was hard to feel motivated to show up everyday. But I guess because there was a fair amount of dedicated runners meeting everyday, it helped me continue to show up and run. What I also like about having the track and field season finally start is that it’s nice to have the support of your teammates, which help push you to run harder and get faster. Having those ‘cheerleaders’ on the side of the track while you’re running your intervals help tremendously. It felt pretty good seeing all the runners coming out and stretching together on the track. I felt really at ease because it was my second year running track and field and I knew a lot more runners than I did last year. And I guess I was one of the more experienced, veteran runners and there will be a lot of new runners that will be looking up to us for advice. Read the rest of this entry »
