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 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 11, 2010 under running, Trail |
I have been hoping to finally run on some trails for the past couple of months, but things kept getting in the way. First, it was training for my first half marathon and my incessant need to stick to the schedule. Then, it was a matter of actually finding good trails to run on, which is a task in itself. Once I finally figured out worthy trails to run on, out of nowhere, it rained every weekend for at least 3 weeks straight. And this is in San Diego, where it never rains! I finally found a weekend where rain was not forecasted. Actually, it rained later that afternoon, but I had finished just before it started. It may have been perfect timing since it is just a few weeks before only the 2nd trail race I’ve ever ran, the Black Mountain Summit 7K. What I’m hoping is that combining these trail runs before and after racing the 7K, I will be more than prepared for my next half marathon, the La Jolla Half Marathon (2nd half of the Half Marathon Triple Crown). This half, I heard, has a few daunting hills within this scenic 13.1 mile course.
So the trail I found is called the Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, which has (at least) two main entrances to the trail. You actually have to pay ($3) to park at the lot by the entrances, but there is a park just down the road that is free to park in. I didn’t want to pull a muscle while running the trails, so…I chose to park down the road and ‘warm up’ to the entrance (good excuse, right?). What I learned at the end of the run is that there is actually a path to get to the same point from the park! Anyways, once I got to started, I noticed that the trail is very wide, which accommodates walkers/runners, bikers as well as equestrians. Because of the rains, there were not many people on the trails that morning, which was OK since there weren’t really any forks in the main road that would potentially get me lost all alone. There were a lot of side trails that led to to what looked like steeper, funner, hilly trails. But again, the rain had caused these paths to temporarily close; definitely piqued my interest though. The only problem with veering off to these trails is I have NO idea where it’ll lead me. The main path is supposed to be about 5 miles East to West and about 3 miles West is supposed to be a fun stop at a waterfall.
It was nice being able to run to a destination as opposed to just doing one big loop. However, when I got to said destination, I was a little disappointed (only a little because I read other people’s account of this majestic waterfall and they were not too impressed either). It looked more like a rapid flowing river with lots of rocks surrounding than a Niagara Falls-esque waterfall. What was cool was if you wanted to cross the ‘river’ to get to the trail on the other end, you had to very carefully walk across the rocks that were laid across. That would have been quite an adventure (if I did it)! Check out the photos below as well as the secret bridge/path to the park that I took back to my car. I’m hoping to take another stab at this trail in the future, and if I’m daring enough to follow “the road less traveled” 🙂
Posted on Feb 17, 2010 under running |
Why you should join DailyMile 🙂
It has been a while since I wrote a running update. The reason for that is because I haven’t had any breakthrough runs since my race over 3 weeks ago. My typical routine after a race is to take a couple of days off to rest and recover, then just continue running so that I don’t get too out of shape when it comes time to start a new training program. It’s strange because weeks prior to my half marathon, I was not really running very fast times, but I ended up running my fastest half ever. That trend has continued after my half, and I’m pretty sure it’s because I’m running in the mornings. It has become apparent that I am not a morning person. I never want to get out of bed in the mornings and am tired throughout most of the run. I don’t eat breakfast before my runs, so I think if I woke up a little bit earlier, the time I spent eating breakfast would help me wake up. But waking up earlier would involve sleeping less (technically), which I hate. I know people who wake up at 4 AM to run or have to endure ridiculously horrible running conditions (i.e. snow), so I don’t really have much to complain about. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Sep 14, 2009 under running |
After all of that waiting and anticipation, I finally got my half marathon training started. Even though it was just the first week, I wanted to make sure I got it started on the right track. What is pretty cool about this half marathon training program is that there are only 3 real workouts that I need to focus on each week: Tuesday speed intervals, Thursday/Friday tempo runs, and Saturday/Sunday long runs. Every other day is either off, cross training or an easy run. I’ve ran recent workouts at or faster than the paces that I plan to run these workouts, so I should be able to do each workout. I just have to tell myself before each hard workout that I can do it because I HAVE done it before. The weekend long run seems like a pretty important workout since that is the day where I’ll be running more and more miles until that peak weekend when I run just a little more than a half marathon, which if completed, will guarantee that I COULD finish a half marathon. However, pacing will definitely be an issue come race day since I have a tendency to start off too fast within that first mile and if that happens in a half marathon race, it is going to be a long 12.1 miles. I’m hoping the interval workouts, tempo runs as well as long runs will help me learn the correct pace to start at and keep during the half marathon. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Sep 10, 2009 under running, Trail |
Here are a few pictures taken from the University of San Diego (UCSD) trails that I ran on a couple of weeks ago testing out my new Saucony ProGrid Xodus Trail Running Shoes. This is also the trail where I ran my first 5K race back in May.
This is a really fun trail to run on with many different paths to choose from. There aren’t too many hills, but a few here and there.. Read the rest of this entry »
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 »
Posted on Mar 05, 2009 under Trail |
Sunday, February 10, 2002
Workout: Easy to Camino
Time: 14:05 up, 13:00 back Weather: hot/sunny
I didn’t really feel like going easy today because of the terrible workout I ran yesterday. So comng up, I went a little harder, but not too hard like yesterday and many other Saturday workouts that I’ve ran in the past. I needed to be able to control how fast I ran in the beginning of the run to be able to keep up a (relatively) fast pace for the rest of the run. I was at about 7:00 pace coming up, so I tried to keep it at that pace and I guess I did because I stopped and saw my time at Camino and it was a little past 14:00. I planned to rest for 3:00 (the same amount of rest we get during our mile repeats interval workouts) but I think I only rested for two minutes and then decided to head back.
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Posted on Feb 23, 2009 under Trail |
Saturday, February 9, 2002
Workout: Warm-up to Live Oak, Hard to The End & Back to Live Oak, Cooldown Live Oak
Time: 51:41 (Mile 1: 6:00, Rest avg: 7:37) Weather: Sunny
Today’s trail run to the End and Back was handicapped! So whoever had the slowest time last time we ran to the End began first and the other runners would follow according to how much faster they ran it the last time. To my disappointment, I had to start the run, so I had to run with the fear of everyone else catching up to me. As usual, I started off too fast and after mile one, my legs felt really tired. I don’t know what from since the last time I had a hard run was on Wednesday. I guess I just started way too fast, which hurt me for the rest of the run. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted on Jan 08, 2009 under Trail |
Saturday, February 2, 2002 (02-02-02)
Workout: Hard (pace) to Railroad
Time: 44:40 Weather: nice
Well I would have ran the real workout this morning (6 laps around Arcadia Park and finish at the top of the hill) if not for the alarm clock glitching or me not getting up from it. I’m pretty sure it is the latter, but who knows? So I decided to run on my own on the trail to the Railroad. When I first started running, I wanted it to be a hard workout since that was the type of run we were supposed to have today and I made it just that (but in the wrong way).
My first mile was 6:30 and that was what Fernando said we should run for the workouts. He wanted us to be able to run 6:30 for six miles, comfortable. But I was dying, so that wasn’t good. I was tired and was running all alone, two very bad combinations. I ran the last two miles coming up at 8:00 pace, which is pretty slow. It seriously felt like I was just jogging, even though I was trying to run faster.
I rested for a little bit at the Railroad and just wanted to get the workout done with. Coming back was the same as when I was running up: really bad. The last mile, I wanted to kind of pick it up and I did, sort of. The pace coming back was about 7:23 average which I think is alright. I was just glad I finished the run and went home without stretching or doing any strides.
