Future races: MM4K, Bay to Breakers (?), Muddy Buddy

Oh I added a new category to the blog called “Race report” for things like this.

P.S. I guess I should update from the last post which was a few months ago. I did the half marathon successfully (San Jose Rock n Roll) with Erica, my time was 2:43 something. It was pretty fun but after mile 10 I started hurtin. I did stop to pee once but I made sure I went to a portapotty with no lines. I saw people waiting in lines to use the restrooms on the course! I wonder how much time they lost doing that. The highlights were: seeing a little boy and girl outside their house with their mini band set playing for everyone, and running down Santa Clara towards HP Pavilion and seeing the first few elite runners coming back the other way. Everyone was cheering for them. The bands along the course were just okay and some of them were on break when we got there so they weren’t playing. Oh well…I got my first real race medal and it’s hanging in my office.

I have noticed an overall improvement.. I am slightly faster, I’ve lost weight (down to about 163 now), and stronger…

What’s next? I don’t know… but I gotta keep up the working out through the winter because it’s good for me both physically and mentally…

Monday – Yoga during lunch (stretch & strengthen). It was hot today… I felt a tad lightheaded from time to time so I made it a point to drink hella water during the day. After lunch (I ate subway) I had a slight headache. Not sure what brought that on… Maybe I got too much sun yesterday during Muddy Buddy (I should write a report on that later). I did wear 50 SPF sunscreen at least, so the sunburn is minimal. Anyways the yoga was good esp since my legs were sore from Muddy Buddy.

[ 09/23/09: OK.. Started this on 6/9/08 and never finished ]

The only exercising I did was on Sunday… I went to the trail with my running buddy… ran a couple miles.. walked most of the way back.. it was probably about 4 miles total. Nike+ said 4.65 mi // 1:01:27 // 13:11 min/mile. I got really hungry in the middle… we made BLT’s after and they were sooooo good.

I’m looking at doing the 1/2 marathon in SJ in October… which is way more than 12 weeks away.. so I have time.. and I could still probably do SF if I wanted to.. since I’m already running 5-6 miles as a long run and the training starts out at 4…

Tues – 3 mile run – so the calibration on the treadmill made my Nike+ measure me going faster than I actually was while running outside.. I guess it wasn’t that much.. it said 3.15 miles when I think I went about 3 or possibly less.. I have to map it to be sure. It reported it as: 3.15 mi // 38:14 // 12:07 min/mile. and I walked quite a bit, well maybe not that much. It’s been getting warmer, I took my water bottle holder thing today..

Wed – 2 mile run or cross – I decided to do some sort of interval training today.. so I did it on the treadmill a) because it’s like 80 degrees out and b) I don’t want to go to the track. Nike+ was dead on for most of it.. at the end it reported 2.04 miles and the treadmill said 2. So I did intervals of walking and running switching off every .25 miles.. I started walking at 4.0 then I would run at 6.0… the last 2 intervals of running I did 6.5 and 6.7. but the last 2 intervals of walking I went down to between 3.5-3.8. Nike+ reports: 2.04 mi // 25:54 // 12:35 min/mile

Wednesday night Erica and I decided to do Bay to Breakers this coming Sunday. Registration was going to close on Weds night at 11:59pm and we registered a couple hours before that.

Thu – I didn’t remember what I did this day..checked the Nike+ website and apparently I ran 2.77 miles // 30:02 // 10:48 average pace (way overestimated.. I think it was about 2.4 miles) I remember now… I did this on the treadmill.. and I only had 30 minutes bc I had plans…

Fri – Rest day.. Stayed late at work, had dinner out.

Sat - Rest day.. B2B tomorrow. Went to SF to pick up packets for the race. Got a tshirt and a collectible chip… too bad we didn’t do it last year because this chip was 2 out of 5 leading up to the 100th anniversary of the race.

Sun – Bay to Breakers!! It was so much fun. The energy, the people, the craziness was amazing. This was the largest race I had ever done, not to mention the longest… it’s a 12K, with about 22000 registered runners and who knows how many non-registered people/spectators/drunk costumed fools. The course itself was nice… the infamous Hayes St. Hill was hard but I ran most of it and this nice lady was cheering me on from the sidelines when I wanted to quit and she got me to keep running a little bit further.. After the hill it was a nice gradual downhill through the park to the ocean, so that was cake but the pounding on my feet I guess screwed me over because I seemed to have hurt the same muscle in my foot that I did when I ran that first 10k. Oh well…… we stayed together and finished at the same time, chip time was 1:24:31 // 11:18 average pace. Nike+ said something different but I started it late anyways.

Week 7

Mon – I went to the gym during my lunch. The gym that I hate. I have no idea what I did there

Tues – 3 mile run – Nike+ says I did this at 5:53 pm. 2.64 mi // 32:36 // 12:20 min/mile

Wed – 45 min cross – probably elliptical at work

Thu – 2 mile run + strength – Nike+ reports: 4:52pm // 2.01 mi // 24:50 // 12:20 min/mile

Fri – Rest

Sat - 5.5 miles (switched with XT like the last 2 weeks) – did this with Erica at the Los Gatos Creek Trail. Went around 10am… it was the first time there for both of us, it was cool. They were having some kind of fishing contest at the lake for kids, we stood there and watched for a minute. Nike+ reports: 5.69 mi // 1:11:19 // 12:31 min/mile

Sun – 60 minutes cross (switched with long run) – Woke up early for golfing which was fun. Came back and took a nap…. debated on going to the gym but totally didn’t feel like it but since I had Mer’s bike that I borrowed for Muddy Buddy I decided to go for a ride. I rode for an hour, did about 8 miles or so. I locked it up at the store and bought dinner stuff and took it over to my friend’s house and hung out there… rode the mile or so back home at around 10pm all in all it was a good time.

Week 8 Last week!

I switched this week up because the program assumes ur doing the 10K on a Sunday and gives you 2 days of rest beforehand but since it’s a Saturday I had to push everything back a day. Instead of stretch & strengthen on Monday I was going to do the 3 miles and combine stretching with 30 minutes of cross training on Tuesday and then another 3 miles on Weds and then 2 rest days. But actually on Thursday I went to Pilates and Monday I only went like 2 miles cuz I got mad at my Nike+ for not working right on the treadmill.

Mon – Supposed to be 3 miles. I went hella late at night like 11:30pm in the gym at my apartment. I got frustrated with my Nike+ because it’s not calibrated for the treadmill so even though I was going at 5.5mph (~11 min/mile pace) it only said I was going 13 something. So I ended up turning it off at around 1.6 miles and walking until the treadmill said 2 miles then I went home. Nike+ reports: 1.4 mi // 19:12 // 13:35 min/mile

Tues – 30 min cross / stretch & strengthen – I didn’t do the latter but I did 30 minutes XT I rode the bike again on a nearby trail, my first time there, it was tons of fun.

Wed – 3 miles – Nike+ says 2.93 mi // 42:32 // 14:29 min/mile oh yeah I remember this… I waited too long to go and I went at like 1pm and I was kind of hungry and I ended up just running 1.5 miles and walking back. and then I got a subway sandwich and the biggest diet coke you can get and it was sooo delicious!

Thu - Rest day – but I did pilates

Fri – Rest day – drove to sister’s, ate pasta for dinner.

Sat - The moment we’ve all been waiting for… 10K day has arrived. Miracle Miles 4 Kids in Morro Bay. I woke up at 6am on an air mattress in my sister’s kitchen. I didn’t sleep very well because I was cold and it wasn’t that comfortable. But nonetheless I had a good run…… It was soo much better than my last (which was my first) 10K, the one last August that I wasn’t prepared for at all and I came in like 2nd to last place haha. This one was cool because a) it was a 10K walk too so the odds of me being in last place again were slim to none and b) it was straight out and not out and back which to me makes it mentally easier for me. It was along the beach from Morro Rock to Cayucos Pier. My Nike+ was pretty accurate but it was about .3 miles off, but whatever. I finished in 1:09:31 officially which is 11:23 min/mile. Nike+ reported: 5.92 miles // 1:09:24 // 11:43 min/mile. This is the first race I’ve been to that used chip timing. I walked some especially at the part where you cross over this rocky path around mile 2 and a little more walking at miles 4 & 5. Overall I felt good….my next plan is to start the half marathon training program.. I haven’t actually committed to one yet.. but need something to keep me focused and I’m going to try to incorporate some speed training in there as well to help my slow ass out

Tue – 3 mi // 36:29 // 12:06 min/mile. Before the pizza lunch at work…. on the trail but I went a different way to get there so I ran on half streets half trail and I had to run over an overpass and that hill was killer for me especially on the way back. I ate like ish today too… pizza and then Panera Bread for dinner.

Wed – 40 min cross training – repeat of last week.. I look forward to Wednesdays. I ate pretty good today, oatmeal breakfast, sushi for lunch and whole wheat pasta and tuna I made for dinner and some fruit in between.

Thu - 2 mile run around the streets by my work. I mapped a 2 mile run on mapmyrun.com but Nike+ begged to differ. Who to trust? Nike+ took me further and I mapped that and mapmyrun.com said I went 2.2 miles. Anyways it was a pretty good run. 2 miles // 23:06 // 11:29 min /mile (according to Nike+)

Fri – Rest day. Saw a movie (Baby Mama) hella funny! I was starting to feel a little under the weather.

Sat – Even though I was feeling kind of crappy I went running anyways. Supposed to do 5 miles… Erica and I did 6 miles at the coyote creek trail. It was hot and I was tired and we walked a lot, but whatever I covered the mileage.. took us about an hour and 18 minutes… about a 13:00 min/mile pace. I forgot my Nike+ receiver so we took note of the mile markers and she timed it on her stopwatch.

Sun - Still wasn’t feeling 100% but well enough to work out lightly. Did my 60 minute cross training today at the gym with Mer… did some resistance training, legs and abs, and then 20 minutes on the elliptical, intervals at an easy effort then stretched a bit.

Tues – 3 miles. This was a pretty good run. I was debating on going in the morning before lunch because we had lunch provided for us today and usually when that happens it’s never something healthy so I figured I better get my running out of the way since I would probably be hella lazy afterwards. And by the time I left I only had like 35 minutes until lunch time so that kind of inspired me to keep on running so I wouldn’t be super late. I only walked at one point on the way back, halfway down the downhill part of the walking bridge because I huffed and puffed on the upside determined not to stop. Then I jogged the rest of the way back. Nike+ says 3.02 miles // 35:44 // 11:50 min/mile

Weds – 40 minutes cross training, elliptical and Friends again after work

Thurs – 2 miles + strength – on the treadmill at work. I did pretty good I ran fast in some places when I felt like it and at the very end I went up to 7 mph for like 10 seconds lol. Nike+ 2 miles // 22:17 // 11:04 min/mile

Fri - Rest day… Had dinner with my friend at the mall on her lunch break and went to my best friend’s house after.

Sat – I decided to do my long run (4.5 miles) today instead of Sunday because I knew I’d probably be going out tonight and didn’t know how was I going to feel on Sunday. So I got up and went, around 11:30 am thinking it would take me about an hour…. well.. the run itself was amazing. I felt great and I felt like I could have gone further. The weather was PERFECT… in the mid-60′s and a slight breeze. I did the same route I’ve been doing on Sundays except went a little further and when I got to the main street and I had planned to turn around at, I still had 0.15 miles before turnaround time so I cut left and planned to find my way back to the other street I had come down on, but I got lost and ended up making a big loop and by the time I found a street I was familiar with I was way further than I expected to be. So I head back home and I’m about a mile away and the 4.5 miles is up! Woohoo. So I start walking and call my sister, and then I realize I dropped my keys somewhere. OMG! So I’m thinking what do I do……. well nothing to do but look for them so I start jogging back the way I came (this HAD to be the day I did a loop and not an out and back) so I had 4.5 miles of ground to cover, at least! I walked most of it and I ended up being outside for like 3 hours and walking like 5.5 miles (and I never found them)! Nike+ (the running part): 4.5 miles // 54:32 // 12:05 min/mile

Sun – Self-proclaimed rest day.. I was hungover and my legs hurt. Besides I walked for at least 90 minutes after running on Saturday… there’s my cross training. lol

This morning I was 167.8 or so.

I drank 2 beers Monday night and ate takeout thai food…

Tuesday – 3 miles. I did not want to do this today. I was pretty busy at work all morning and didn’t end up going until 2:30 and it was cold, cloudy and kinda windy. Not very spring-like at all… I didn’t have my Nike+ sensor so I had to estimate based on the last time I ran ~3 miles. Mapmyrun.com says 3.39 miles but who knows. It’s hard to map a trail. It took me ~40 minutes, approximately a 11:48 min/mile pace for 3.39 miles.

Wednesday – 35 minutes cross. Elliptical at work at a moderate/hard effort, did some sort of hill interval program.

Thursday – 2 miles + strength. This sucked. I went at lunch… The weather was nicer than Tuesday. I walked way too much and officially gave up after 1.3 miles and walked the rest of the way back. Before I gave up I went to change the music on my iPod and accidentally ended the workout. I was feeling hungry and kind of weak and hot… even though I ate oatmeal, a banana, and a special K protein meal bar this morning. I don’t know if it’s because it’s almost that time of the month or what. Maybe I should have rested today and done it tomorrow but whatever. Nike+ 1.45 miles // 19:10 // 13:08 min/mi. Definitely nothing I would normally want to admit but this blog is uncensored so there ya go.

Friday – Rest day

Saturday – 50 minutes cross training, I did this on the bike in my apartment gym, on the trailblazer program. It was hot, and I was the only sucker in the gym while everyone else was laying out by the pool and having barbecues LOL. I wrote the time in my phone – 14.8 miles 510 calories.

Sunday - 4 miles. I had planned to go early like 8am but sleep took over and I didn’t leave until about 10:30 am. It had been hot all weekend and when I checked the weather at 10am it was about 75 but when I checked again (via the magic of having internet on cell phones) about halfway through my run it was 85. The first 2 miles were alright but the last 2 were tougher and I was thirsty and getting sunburned and I ended up walking like the last half a mile. Nike+ reports: 3.57 miles // 50:06 // 13:58 min /mile… blah. In my defense I waited at a light for like 3 minutes at one point.