Rain Go Away

It doesn't look good for this Sunday. Unless you can do a rain go-away dance, it looks like i'll be running all 13.1 miles in pouring showers. I was going to do another 7 afterwards, but we'll see. I guess I should get use to running in the rain since i'm back with TNT for this Winter Season.

Meanwhile, tonight I met up with Amy for a swim. I did the same workout as last week. I finished 2100 yards and felt exactly the same as last week aka no improvement. I should probably do more drills because it feels like the form is slipping a bit. It would also help if I actually swam more than once a week.

Sometimes I think I should stop complaining:

Perfect Running Weather

Wow, the sun is setting a lot earlier now. I ran Alameda after work and the weather could not have been any better. The sun was setting and the winds picked up slightly. It felt so comfortable. I did the same 4 miles and felt great. The new shoes still feel stiff, but I can slowly feel them breaking in. Finished the 4 miles in 38:28 (9:37/mile). By the end of the run, it was pitch black. With daylight savings coming up this weekend, it's almost certain i'm running in the dark next Tuesday. Time to bust out the headlamp!

The Slacker

Another training season cannot come soon enough. I feel out of shape. Pretty ridiculous considering i'm in training for a marathon. After having gone through the religious TRI training in the summer, exercising 3 times a week doesn't seem good enough for what i'm consuming. I feel like i'm eating like a pig. I'm slacking and slipping. The only person holding me accountable is me and i'm not doing a good job. Hopefully this blog post will wake me up. I can't stop eating the way i've been eating. I need to get serious if I want to break 5 hours in CIM. Yes, pretty high goal for a guy who hasn't even broken 6 hours yet. Three marathons and I hit the wall all three times. That should be reason enough to get serious, yet I still haven't learned. I need to get more serious....starting today.

Rough Run Day

I ran on Friday. I did 10 miles since it was a taper week. Unfortunately, I had a rough running day. I never found a rhythm and it bothered the hell out of me the whole entire time. Nevertheless, I finished the entire 10 miles even though I wanted to go home after 5. The hamstring aggravation hasn't gone away and I think I need to seriously do something about it. I think I have developed a poor form as a result of my old shoes. I'm going to start wearing the new shoes and take it a step slower from now on.

I'm suppose to do a 20 miler next weekend, but I have the US Half on Sunday. Poor scheduling on my part. Saturday's schedule is packed. On Sunday, I don't want to wake up earlier to do 7 miles. Maybe i'll do 7 miles after.

First 5 miles: 50:18 (10:03/mile)
Last 5 miles: 52:05 (10:25/mile)

Right Around the Same, But Not the Same

I swam again after a 2 week absence from the pool. I chose to just do continuous swimming. Tonight's workout:

Main Set:
4 x 500 race pace (60" RI)

Cool Down:
100 LVL 3

Total distance = 2100 yards (1.19 miles)

Time-wise I finished near the same as Big K, but I felt so much more sluggish. Goes to show that swimming 3x a week is not the same as swimming once in 2 weeks.

New Shoes Suck!

On Sunday, I spun 60 minutes on the trainer. Tonight I did the typical Tuesday 4-miler. I decided to use tonight as a great opportunity to break in my new running shoes. I hate running in new shoes. They are as hard as a rock and have no flexibility whatsoever! This is my 5th pair of running shoes in the last 3 years. The plantar fascitis always acted up on my first runs with the previous four pairs. Strangely enough, no plantar action. However, I still felt like I ran with bricks. Anyways I finished the 4 miler in 37:24 (9:20/mile).

Another Marathon...what was I thinking?

I won't go into my usual long rambling posts, where I detail every second of my runs. Although I did have a mishap with a GU packet and it basically exploded all on me. The 18 miler went good the first 15 miles. Then things went south in a hurry. My left hamstring (back of my knee) was bothering the hell out of me. I couldn't figure out if it was an IT issue or just hamstring. I couldn't run more than 0.2 miles before it made me stop. How to describe the feeling? It's a dull pain at first, but if you don't stop it felt like a tendon or something could snap. It felt like the hamstring wanted to detach the rest of my leg from my knee.

It sucked because mentally I was still sane and physically I wasn't tired at all. So I basically ran/walk the last 3 miles. I'm a bit disappointed. Not so much by the time. I felt that was still satisfactory. I was more disappointed that I began to question myself if I was in over my head doing another marathon. Negative thoughts crept into my head....doubts that I couldn't even possibly do the 20 miler in 2 weeks. I started to convince myself that I will never have a good marathon ever. I'm trying to stay positive, but this last run left a bad taste in my mouth.

18 miler By the Numbers:

First 5 miles = 51:45 (10:20/mile)
Next 5 miles = 51:46 (10:21/mile)
Next 4 miles = 41:06 (10:16/mile)
Last 4 miles = 50:37 (12:39/mile)

It's a Family Affair

In my mind, I knew it was too soon to run. Sunday was not a normal 13 mile training run. I put all I had out on the course and as a result was beaten up. The hamstrings and calves still have not fully recovered. However, because today was Tuesday my stubborn self said it was time run again

After the first 1/2 mile, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to convince myself to just go 3 miles, but it didn't work. My ego overruled good judgment. I ended up going the typical 4 miles and that was one mile too long. By the fourth mile, I had to stop and walk a few times. I finished in 38:04 (9:31/mile). The bottom of both feet felt like they were bruising. My guess is that my shoes have lost it's bounce. Fortunately, I just got my new pair of Brooks Addiction. However, I haven't had the time to lace them up yet. It looks like i'll need to break them in soon. I have the big 18 miler this Friday. What's worse? Running in shoes that has lost it's bounce or running in shoes that have not been broken into yet?

Well..Nike Women's Marathon and Half Marathon is this Sunday. I've participated in the last 3, but this year i'll be spectating. In fact the whole family will be out there cheering on my cousin Terri, who will be donning the TNT purple and will be running her first half marathon ever. I'm so excited for her. And of course i'll be cheering all my friends who will be tackling the sick SF hills.

It'll be fun to see the sea of purple from the sidelines. It definitely put a smile on her face in 2006 and I know it will put one on me as well. GO TEAM!

Brenda in Golden Gate Park - Nike '06

Long Beach Half Recap

The Long Beach half marathon was overall good. The weather on Sunday was ideal for running. I think the highest temp was in the low 70's. The course itself was flat as advertised except for a few inclines up 2 overpasses. Approximately 18,000 runners/walkers participated. It felt like it as marathoners and half marathoners were all lumped together (much like Nike) before the start. I was placed in Corral B since I guessed I would finish the half between 2 to 2.5 hours.

As you probably saw in my previous post, my fastest mile was my first mile. That was not good, but it was hard to keep a slow pace as runners near my pace were passing me up. I was letting ego overrule good judgment. After that I realized I could not keep up that pace if I wanted to survive. Miles 1-4 was all on the freeway and it brought back horrific flashbacks of RNR San Diego. The freeway was slanted and after feeling like like one leg was half the length of the other, I just stayed to the right where it was the highest peak.

Miles 5-10 was all on a concrete path that split the sandy beach where it was probably the most scenic of the run. It kind of reminded me of running in Santa Cruz. While this was the most scenic, it was not all that picture perfect. First the sun was glaring right in my face for most of this part. Second it was such a lengthy stretch, I didn't think we were ever getting off the path. It felt like an eternity and it got boring fast. Third because the path was pretty narrow, we didn't have any breathing room. It's good if you are a people person. In fact the pack didn't really disperse until after mile 10, where we were back on the streets.

Meanwhile I was hauling ass and couldn't believe I was running sub 10's for most of the miles especially during the second half of the run. The only time I walked was through each water stop and I don't think I walked more than 30 seconds. By mile 8, I felt hints of my calves cramping. I knew me pushing the pace earlier would eventually catch up to me. The calves really didn't bother me until mile 10 and that's when I took a salt tablet. It really didn't do much for me this time.

By mile 11, I was ready for the run to finish. My calves were slowly cramping and I couldn't go as fast as I wanted. As much as I wanted to stop and walk, I just told myself to "shut up" and just kept going. At this point I knew if I kept the same pace, I was going to PR. However, by mile 12, both calves were cramping. I was still running, but again not as fast as I wanted. I knew if I fell back to an 11 minute mile, I was not going to make 2:10 and I knew at that point I had a legitimate shot of going under 2:10. Then my right calf tugged and I stopped for a split second. I said, "C'mon? Not Now!". I picked it up and started running again.

I made the last turn and looked at my watch 2:07 going to 2:08. I could see the finish line which was about 0.2 miles away. I then turned it on because I really wanted under 2:10. I was passing runners left and right, but it didn't feel or look pretty. Looking back, it seemed like I was speed jogging. Not quite running, but not quite walking....but I felt like I was moving fast. I looked at the gun time clock at it said 2:10. I looked at my watch and it read 2:09. I PR'ed like I didn't think I could. I was very happy. Of course now I want to break 2:00, but that'll require a perfect 9 minute/mile. Seems impossible, but so did sub-10's at one point.

New Half PR!

I shot for 2:15, but was really hoping for 2:11. I ended up finishing with 2:09:13 and averaged sub-10 minute miles. Brand new spakin' half PR, beating my old time (set earlier this year) by about 8 minutes. Will write a race report later. Meanwhile, here are my mile splits:

Mile 01: 9:19
Mile 02: 9:51
Mile 03: 9:45
Mile 04: 10:04
Mile 05: 9:56
Mile 06: 9:51
Mile 07: 9:35
Mile 08: 10:01
Mile 09: 9:45
Mile 10: 9:42
Mile 11: 10:36
Mile 12: 10:19
Mile 13.1: 10:26

Total: 2:09:13 (9:52/mile)

The PR

Last Half (not including the half I did as part of Big K) I did was Kaiser back in Feb. With the help of one whole cycle season, I obliterated my previous half PR by 17 minutes. Now that I got one whole triathlon season under my belt, i'm anticipating another PR this Sunday. I'll be honest, if I don't PR I will be severely disappointed.

The way I see it...goals are good. It keeps things fresh. I know. I know. If you've followed my blog for awhile, you know i've mentioned on numerous occasions that sometimes it's not about time....yada, yada, yada. It's true...sometimes it's not about time. It's about the moment. But sometimes it is about the time and this time it is! Nothing like self-inflicted pressure, right? Ok time to pack!

Swimming Continues

I started following the print out of today's workout, but after about 30 minutes of just warm ups I had enough. Even though the workout was 2250 yards, it was one of those workouts that was going to take 1.5 hours to do with all these drills incorporated. I revised the workout to make it more swim friendly.

Tonight's workout:

Warm Up:
200 LVL 2, 200 Kick, 200 LVL 2 (20" RI)
150 LVL2, 150 Kick, 100 LVL2

Main Set:
500 race pace (20" RI)
500 race pace (20" RI)
100 race pace

Cool Down:
100 LVL 1

Total distance = 2,200 total yards

Tune Up Run

Tonight was the last tune-up run before this weekend's race. I was shooting for half marathon pace (10:18/mile), but again I went faster than that. I finished the 4 mile run in 37:12 (9:18/mile). Psychologically, if my mind knows i'm only going for a short run, I will somehow push myself a little harder no matter how much I try to make myself go slower. It's a bit frustrating that I can't control my own tempo. Fortunately my mind is not completely stupid and knows that if i'm doing a long run, I typically slow it down to a comfortable pace.

Going the Distance

I first started out with "Phil's Marathon Training Blog", but then I started cycling and so I changed it to "Phil's Endurance Training Blog." I finally couldn't take how bland my titles have been and so today I changed it to the new title you read above. I'm still not entirely sold on it, so don't be surprised if I change it again before the end of the week. I was going to open it up for all of you to submit some clever suggestions, but then realized how dangerous that could be...hehe.

I was going to let the weekend go by without a ride. I didn't have time to go out and ride so instead I used the trainer and did the same 'ol 15 minutes warm up/ 5 x (4 minutes hard/2 minutes easy) /10 minutes cool interval training for 55 minutes. It's boring, but it's a great workout.

Half Marathon #6 is one week away. I think i'm ready for Long Beach. I'm in the best shape of my life and have had the luxury to over-train for this race since my ultimate goal is Cal International. I've set a PR goal time of 2:15, which is a pace of 10:18/mile. I think I have a shot since I did Kaiser Half in 2:17:50. If things go really well and I can maintain 10:00/mile that would be a 2:11 finish time. It's definitely a possibility as the website advertises Long Beach as flat and fast.

That Feeling

If you've trained for a marathon, you know "that feeling". That feeling is something you get after running more than 13.1 miles. That feeling makes you go..."this sucks!", "why am I doing this?", "i'm in way over my head", "I have to do another 13.1 miles?", "Why didn't I just stick with the half?", and "No wonder half marathons are half the work and twice the fun."

Yeah, I got that feeling today. It's that feeling that has gotten me to say after each marathon "I will never do another marathon again!" But you know, that feeling goes away and a few months later, you go..."a marathon isn't that bad" and "I can do another one."

This morning was the big 16 miler. I got to Danville by 7:30 am. The plan was to run the same route as last week 2.5 miles out and 2.5 miles back, but do it 3 times. I would then go out a fourth time and go 0.5 miles out and 0.5 miles back to get the full 16 miles. Talk about mental challenge.

The first trip out went well. Again, I knew I was going at a way faster pace than I wanted. I tried pulling myself back. I was able to do it the last few miles. In the end, I finished the first 5 miles in 50:20 (10:03/mile). I went back to the car to refill my water bottles.

For the second trip, I made a cautious effort to slow it down and this was probably the most comfortable pace of the day. I finished the next 5 miles in 51:05 (10:13/mile). Again, I went back to the car and refilled my water bottles.

I really didn't want to go out for a third trip, but I did. As soon as I got out, I made the decision to run out 3 miles because I knew I didn't want to make a 4th trip out. From what I have seen there were some left over TNT mileage markings, so I anticipated there would be a 3 mile mark on the ground. Amazingly I felt great the first few miles. However, I was getting sick of the same scenery.

At this point the sun was finally out, but it was still cool in the mid 60's. I finally reached the 3 mile marker (13 miles total thus far) and then my mind began to feed lies to my body and I got "that feeling." My body wanted to walk. Inside I didn't want to. I ran and then I gave in and walked a bit. Then I told myself to shut up and I ran until I hit a cross street. That was my comprised with myself... to walk whenever I saw a stop sign. I did that.

I really didn't get fatigued until mile 14. I was fatigued, but I could still keep running. Nothing was aching. My quads and my calves were all fine. No sign of cramping. However, my mind was telling my body to walk. I then forced myself to run the last 2 miles all the while telling myself if I ever wanted to be an Ironman in the future, I can't wimp out on just a 16 mile run. So I finished the last 6 miles in 1:01:54 (10:18/mile). Not bad since I was on the brink of walking the last 2 miles.

The aftermath was just some hamstrings that were tight as hell and the beginnings of a blister on my left foot. I had no ice, so I took a cold bath. Which I think was good enough since my legs were not really on fire. It's going to be a mental game from here on out. I just have to convince myself to ignore "that feeling."

Winter Training Anyone?

You know you want to! It's time to join the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Team in Training (TNT), the world's largest endurance sports training program! You'll accomplish something truly amazing while helping hundreds of thousands of Americans suffering from blood cancers.

Find out more and sign up at an information meeting where you'll meet TNT staff, our professional coaches, past participants and honored patients. Join me on the marathon team! Yeah, the other teams are cool too. Raise funds. Get fit. It'll be fun!

Lots of events to choose from this Winter 2009 season:

Cross-Country Ski
Tour of Anchorage (25 km, 40 km, or 50 km) > Mar 8

Cycle
Solvang Century (104 miles) > Mar 14

Run, Walk, or Run/Walk
> P.F. Chang's Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Half Marathon (13.1 miles) > Jan 18
> Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon (13.1 miles) > Feb 1
> Los Angeles Marathon (26.2 miles) > Feb 16
> Maritona di Roma: Rome Marathon (26.2 miles) > Mar 22

Olympic-distance Triathlon
Lavaman Triathlon [Kona, HI] (0.93 mile swim, 24.8 mile bike, 6.2 mile run) > Mar 29

Ironman-distance Triathlon
> Full Vineman (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) > Aug 1
> Ironman Louisville (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) > Aug 30

The fun starts Nov. 8!

Swimming in the Dark

It's good to know that 3 months of swimming does not go away during a 3 week break. Tonight Amy and I headed back to the pool for the first time since our respective triathlon events. It felt kind of weird as if we were still training for the triathlon, but at the same time I had this trepidation of whether I could still swim or not.

Sounds ridiculous, but after swimming 3 times a week for 3 months and then not swimming for 3 weeks really felt like an eternity. The other question I asked myself was why was I even out here? I wasn't training for anything that required a freestyle stroke. However, we had decided awhile ago that it would be good to keep up with the swimming at least once a week. Also works as good cross training.

Amy did the awesome work to find a workout from this past season that was near 2000 yards. The workout was great. I didn't feel fatigued at all. Felt like old times except for the whole swimming in the dark thing.

Tonight's workout:

Warm Up:

200 LVL 2
2 x (50 LVL 2, 50 Kick, 50 LVL 2, 50 Finger Tip Drill) 20" RI

Main Set:

300 LVL 5 (20"RI)
300 LVL 3 (20" RI)
200 LVL 5 (20" RI)
200 LVL 7 (25" RI)
100 LVL 5 (20" RI)
100 LVL 3

Cool Down:

100 Form

Total = 1900 yds (1.08 miles)