Run A Marathon Before You Die

Today, I decided to wear my new Saucony shirt that I found at TJ Maxx for like $7. I’m more of a Puma guy but hey, $7? You can’t beat that. Anyway, I had a strong 4-miler (4.2 to be exact) today. It probably was the fastest run I’ve done since I started running again. My time for today’s run was 38:34 (9:14 pace) and felt like I could have pushed it some more for a sub 9:00 pace. I also had enough reserves to sprint at the end and still felt strong.

Riverside-Downtown Bridges 4 mile

I’ve not done any hill workout last week, so I was itching for some hills. I decided to hit the bridges today to get some hill workout in and extended it so I can get my scheduled 4 miles. Yesterday’s flat, easy run even felt tougher than today so that was weird. The weather’s started to cool down as well so I’m sure that helped a lot today as well.

Hopefully, this is just the beginning. I’m hoping to improve my pace some more as I continue my training. But then again, I always have to remember my top 3 goals for this marathon: Survive, Get Lean & Have Fun. It’s not about pace or whatever. Those will be just counted as bonuses for now.

Today’s weather was b-e-a-utiful! The wind felt cooler for the first time. I’ve been waiting for this type of weather. It definitely made my run a lot easier today. I even saw a dolphin today in the river near the Berkman plaza. I didn’t bring my camera phone today so i wasn’t able to take a picture of it. But it was awesome. It was one of those priceless moments you’ll encounter when running. No one was there except me so I think I was the only person who noticed the it. I did a 5min run / 1 min. walk interval today for today’s easy run. I finished the run at 32:51. I even stopped for a bit to watch the dolphin.

Tomorrow’s run will be 4 miles. I’ve been thinking about doing the 4 mile on the bridges route so I can do a hill workout at the same time. The last couple days were a bit busy. I was signed up for a training class at work from 8-5 since yesterday so I had to change my schedule up a bit. I missed strength training yesterday because I decided to do it after work at home, but then I just found out that I had to meet with a website client (sideline work) instead and I didn’t get home untill 9:00 in the evening.

I decided to hit the local track at the community college campus for my 5 miler today. For some reason I wasn’t feeling it today. I felt weak so I just decided not to push it. I guess this had something to do with all the busy activity we had the past few days. Trying to close a deal on a new car and attending birthday parties took most of our Saturday yesterday. I didn’t get to bed until 1:00 a.m. so that probably had something to do with me being out of it today. I finished the 20 laps at exactly 51:00 minutes. Next week will be tough.

I stumbled upon this Youtube video. Talk about effortless! Her running form looks very efficient. Check it out:

Ever since I started training for my marathon, I’ve been working hard on my running form. Looking back when I first started running, I remember I used to always complain about knee pains after the run. I was a heel striker back then. But now, ever since I started learning POSE, running seemed a lot easier. I don’t think I got the technique at a 100% yet, but I already noticed huge improvement. My knee pains are gone and my calves feel stronger.

My Easy 3-miler (3.2 to be exact) today was fun. I ran with a couple of guys and we had a little bit of a friendly competition going. The temperature was in the high 80s so it was hot but a lot better than yesterday’s run. I was leading pretty much for most of the way, but at the last mile, I fell back to 2nd. I even fell back to 3rd for a few seconds. But in the last .5 or .4 mile, I switched gear and started chasing. I still finished 1st by about 10, 15 seconds. One of the things I am learning from this marathon training is how to conserve my energy and making sure I have enough reserves for the finish. Today I was able to tap into those reserves. I forgot my watch so I didn’t get an accurate finish time. Only one of us had the watch so I had to guesstimate my time from there which is about 32:20 (Just below 10 mpm pace). I can’t wait for the cooler weather to come.

Yay! Today’s officially the first day of autumn. It marks the beginning of the running season. A time when most of the runners wake up from hibernation and step out of their caves. When we got out of the house this morning, the setting was perfectly Fall-like; dark and foggy up until 11:00ish. By then the sky started to clear up and showed some sun, by the time I got out for my 4 miler today, the sun was out on full blast and it felt as if the sun was running right behind me cracking a whip on my back. Humidity didn’t helped either. Today was so humid it felt like I was running inside a sauna. When I got back I looked at the weather report and found out that it was already 92 degrees outside and the humidity was right around 61%.

I am glad I planned for a 6 min run / 1 min walk interval for today’s run except for the last 8 minutes. I tried to beat the 40 minute time but ran out of gas near near the end. I finished the run at 41:55 (10:29 pace). I just took the same route that I’ve been taking on my Easy 3 milers and extended it with 1 more mile. Even though I been using this route for my easy runs, this route has a couple of steep climbs (a foot bridge that I hit twice because of the return trip). After the run, I did some stretching and some ab workout in the gym before hitting the shower. Click here to view the complete training log for today.

Photo Courtesy of: metrojacksonville.com

The past few days, I’ve missed posting daily updates because of a busy schedule. Asided from work, my wife and I have been busy looking for a new car. I end up spending most of the time researching vehicles when I sit on my computer at home. But who cares, no one reads this blog anyway but me. I’ve also been reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. I borrowed the book from the library this past weekend and every time I start reading it, I find it hard to put the book down. I highly recommend the book especially for those runners out there looking for a little bit of inspiration.

So here’s the quick update on my training. Despite the busy schedule, I’m still able to keep up with my training. This week is a recovery week which means I will be running only 5 miles this weekend. But I will be running 4 miles tomorrow. Yesterday, I did strength training session with some of my buddies here at work. Today, I ran a not so easy 3 miler. The temperature today was hot (around 88 F) and that made the run a bit challenging. I still finished the run today at 31:06 (9:41 min/mile pace).

I got up before 6 today to get my 7 mile done early. I have not run this early for so long that I forgot how peaceful it is in the morning. I was surprised to see a handful of people already running and walking at that time. I finished at a 10:25 min/mile pace today, completing the run at 1:16. When I finished, I still had a lot of energy left over. I wish I pushed more but again, I focused more on conserving my energy for the last mile.

My wife and I spent most of the day yesterday getting a car loan and looking for a new car. We were out for all day that by the time I got home I was so exhausted that I decided to skip my strength training. I was glad to be able to go out and run today because having no reliable transportation was starting to stress me out. Hopefully, we will be able to find a replacement vehicle by next weekend.

I survived Week 2!

Photo Courtesy of metrojacksonville.com

I finished my Easy run today at 32:05 minutes. I took my usual Fidelity-Berkman route for this one (3.2 miles out and back with only 1 steep climb or hill). I ran with my friend and co-worker Will today. I think I ran pretty relaxed because we were able to carry conversation for most of the way which is good. We just kicked it up a notch in the last mile and I finished strong, but was gasping for air near the end because it was so humid today.

I also used my Alstens today because the Salohs gave me a blister so I’m letting my blister heal up before I will use them again. I’m thinking about using the Salohs for this weekend’s 7-miler.

I know it’s still too early to tell but I definitely noticed some signs of improvement in my last 3 runs. I was more relaxed from the start and got a better control of when I can really push. It’s like all of a sudden, I now have this inner transmission system or gears that I can switch in my mind if I want to. Having no heart monitor or a pace indicator I guess made me do that because I can’t tell what pace I’m running. I’m just relying on my comfort level. Right now, I think I only have 1,2 and 3 gears. With 1 being like almost a jog, 2 = moderate, and 3 = faster which is a little uncomfortable.

Tomorrow is another rest day but I plan to do Yoga. I’m a little bit worried because I’ve been having this dry cough especially at night when my throat gets dry. I hope it will not get worse.

The Main Street Bridge – Photo Courtesy of: MetroJacksonville.com

Well not quite…I still think I have more room for improvement. Despite not being able to run yesterday, I’m just happy because today’s pace was the fastest I ran the bridges since I started training again. I used to be able to run those bridges under 30:00 minutes but at least today was a huge improvement from my previous times. I also ran strong and finished strong today. Maybe not running yesterday had something to do with that too because I got an extra day to recover. I finished the run with a 9:22 min/mile pace and still felt strong. After the run, I also did some ab exercises at the gym before hitting the shower.

I’m also sporting my new Puma Salohs today. They just arrived today and I immediately took it out for a test drive. They’re more comfortable than the Alstens but I had the laces too tight on one of them that I now have a blister on the inside of my right foot near the ball. Tomorrow’s run will be interesting but I might just switch back to my Alsten for tomorrow’s easy run.