Taking it Easy & Slow: 1st Year of Running

April 19, 2009 - Greenfield City Run, Sta. Rosa, Laguna
A 'struggling' 5K in 53:38

April 18, 2010 - Earth Run, Fort Bonifacio
A painful 21K in 2:04

I've logged a total of 1,631km from exactly 1 year ago when my eyes, and feet, were opened to running. That includes easy runs, LSDs, races, trails, and a number of tempos/speedwork intervals. PRs that would show how I've learned a little already with much more room for improvement.

My last run at the Earth Run was supposed to be a 23km long run at 5:54/km based on my training, so I registered for the 21K and planned on going for an additional 2K right after the race.

I wore the Greenfield City Run singlet just to commemorate my running anniversary on my own with the run.

With Takbo.ph peeps. Thanks to Carlo for the pic.

However, just before 3km, my left knee started to act up. It was a nagging pain on the outer side (ITBS?) and it would be more painful in uphills. I was ready to face DNF at that moment, but I tried. I tried my best. A few Takbo.ph peeps saw me stop at different portions of the Kalayaan flyover and I was really touched when even Pat Concepcion (one of my running idols), showed his concern when he saw me stretching my knee. I carried on and followed him, getting more inspiration. I caught up with Sam and found out that even he had a problem with his ITB. I still managed to finish the race, but didn't run the additional 2km anymore because of the pain.

Two lessons I got from this experience:

1) Take it Easy...with my physical activities. Running & Ultimate isn't a good combination, so I'd rather take it easy with the latter. Play less, and just be happy with throws & drills for now.

2) Take it Slow. I still have the rest of my life to run, so I don't have to rush into training too much to make & break PRs. This is just 1 year out of much more to come. I'll be more patient.

Torn between Running & Ultimate?

Source: http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=dpvard&s=3

This long weekend's about to become a hectic one for me. I signed up for the QC Heads Up Ultimate Open and will be starting with the clinic this afternoon at the Ateneo HS field, 2-6pm.

On the other hand, I have a big race tomorrow with the Mizuno Infinity Run where I'll be aiming for 1:15 in 15K.

Source: http://running.rso.wisc.edu/Valentines5k/

Running will always be my first love (in sports, I mean). What I can say is that "walang tsamba sa running" since you can't improve your game without putting any sacrifice in hard work through regular training. I confess I shifted from being a recreational runner to a serious/competitive one, and it really motivates me to run more frequently.

Ultimate for me would be a cross-training, pseudo-speedwork activity that I plan to continue--with utmost care--until I decide one day that I should let the young boys get all the fun. To have a good or winning team, it take a lot of players with skill and, of course, teamwork.

I'm still focused on my goal for the Milo Marathon on July 4, weight loss and progressive training included.

Good luck to everyone training for their own goals. Ika nga sa Mizuno, "Never Settle!"

Run, chillax, & StumbleUpon

Home body me.

StumbleUpon kept me company during the long holiday. It was a semi-productive weekend as I got a few tips on how to wake up early to run and had a geeky song playing in my mind during my thoughtless moments...about robot pirates. "Shake it like a sword with a dead guy on it!" :P

Lastly, a way to organize my cluttered desktop using this as my new wallpaper...

Never missed a training run from Tuesday to Friday...15K Easter Sunday...tomorrow...MORNING, not evening. :)

Happy Easter!

Jon's Prescribed 2-Week Taper Program for Condura

With the Condura Skyway Marathon less than 2 weeks away, I couldn't really decide how to taper...or if I really wanted to. I recalled that 2 days before the 30K Rizal Day Run, I did a 10km tempo run but in the race, I managed to hit my target finish time. I wonder if my finish there would've been better if I took a taper program seriously.

So I sent a note to Jon last night, who's now known in Takbo.ph threads for giving advice on how to run faster and I chanced upon a particular thread. I first met him during our 2nd LSD run at Cardiac Hill where I believe the peeps were pressured to finish faster than usual because of him. I admit, I do admire his accomplishments in terms of finishing times, especially for 5K. 5K in 17 minutes!!!! :P

Jon with Gegie happy (and not tired) after finishing the 'easy' 19.5km Cardiac Hill LSD with us

This morning, I got a reply from him prescribing to me a taper program for my first marathon in Condura. I believe this is based on both my 2:51 finish time in Rizal Day and my 4:30 target in the marathon. Here it is:

   THURSDAY - 5K Tempo @ 5:30 pace with 2km WU & 2km CD

   FRIDAY - 8K Easy

   SUNDAY - 15K  Long Run @ 5:41 pace

   TUESDAY - 8K with varying distance accelerations at marathon pace

   WEDNESDAY - 6K Easy

   THURSDAY - 5K Easy

   FRIDAY or SATURDAY - 3K Easy

   SUNDAY - 42K Race Day!

He even sent me a link to a cool pace calculator...one that I've been trying to find in the Net for a long time. Click this one...pace calculator.

----

I did the first prescribed exercise today instead of tomorrow at Ultra as soon as I left the office. Since I was there already, I also did the Dailymile 1-mile challenge and finished in 7 minutes flat!!! :) It should've been 2-3 seconds faster since I didn't place my Garmin in autolap, did it manually but I'm happy with my time already.

Here's my 1st exercise in the taper program as prescribed above (the THURSDAY):

   2km warmup @ 7:00 pace
   1.6km @ 4:20 pace
   3.4km @ 5:50 pace
   2km cooldown @ 5:54 pace
   TOTAL = 9km

I'll do the 8K easy tomorrow so I can relax on Friday for the Saturday SWAC 4. :)

I'll try to follow Jon's recommendation and, with the proper carbo loading & a little weight loss, I'll see if I can do a sub-4:30 in my first marathon.

Good luck to everyone running in Condura! :)