2015 Marathon Season Begins!

As mentioned I have restarted my training and have set my goal to finish the Los Angeles Marathon. About nine days have past since I had my first run of what we will call the marathon season. It was a 5.3 mile run in the cool and empty streets of L.A. on the morning of Ciclavia. It was a good run to start off the season. Nothing much to say about this run, it was nice and fairly flat. Finished in 40:43 with a 7:42/mile pace.

The next run I planned was going to be the major, hard, welcome back to running session. I decided to really make make myself hurt by running in the hills of Griffith Park. I ran 5 mile again but this route always kicks my ass early and late as well. It starts off with a steep .25 mile followed by 2.25 miles of rolling hills. This is called the merry-go-round and old zoo trail. Finished at a time of 45:30, at a pace of 9:06/mile. Ya, like I said it kicks my ass..

After some days off to recover from that effort, while doing 30mins on a stair master to add to my fitness level, I ran another set of 5 miles. These will be called the Ranger Station loop which is from my house into the Griffith Park entrance and then the trails to the Ranger Station. This comes out to 5.25 miles and relatively flat with very short and tiny hills. For this purpose I will just call it a flat trail. The first effort I ran at 39:54 and then the second effort two days later at 39:19. I did a 8.25 mile bike ride one day between and a 30min stair master workout the other day between.

My focus for this season is adding lots of strength to my legs while limiting the impact to my knees. Also while still trying to keep some speed legs in the mean time. In order to achieve this I have decided to have 30min stair master workouts every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday and then have a 1hr biking sessoins on Tuesdays and Fridays. This is open to change depending on how my energy and body will react to this stress level as the season progresses. I will have a bi-monthly review on my plan as my training progresses and a weekly review of my week and a recap of certain quality workouts and some moments I felt great during my workouts of the week. Till next time, happy running!

2013: A Return to Speed

I forgot to mention that during 2013, and right after my first marathon in 2012 I decided I needed more speed training to help me get my time down. So I focused on my old friend the mile! Ya! I have always loved the mile. The idea of just going four laps around a track, keep a fast pace, and holding it for that long is just a true demonstration of running. For my early training I was doing fartlek type workouts and then finally felt comfortable enough to do a mile time trial on a trail which is pretty sandy and also almost all straight. I ran it and finished at 6:01 which was a lot harder than I remember a 6min mile feeling.

I knew I had to keep working on my speed and breathing so I worked on that and about a month after I tried again and ran 5:55 mins for the mile. It was not the progress I wanted but again this was on a sandy trail that was a straight and I had no real landmarks to help me pace the run.

 I would have my first real track race in over 7 years in three days. I was excited and nervous. But it was also a test to see what I can really do on a real track with fewer elements to deal with. Race day came and I lined up and my nervous and excitement def. got the better of me because I ran 1:15 first lap which I knew I was not ready to hold (5:00 pace! haha ya not now). I ran the next three last at 1:23 and finished with a 5:24 time. Now this is a much better time I can be happy about with the training I had.

Two weeks later, 5:10.

A week after that 5:07.

And two weeks after, I was able to break the 5 min barrier I had not done so since 2006. I ran 4:58 for the mile! Yes!

One week later I ran 4:59, breaking 5 yet again and after the long training my body was beginning to hurt so I needed to take a break.

 Breaking 5mins again, 7 years after I had done so last, was a great feeling and success for myself. And probably why I was able to have good quick running form for my second marathon which led to a new PR regardless of the training set back yet again.

A Long Awaited Comeback for a Major Goal

Before I reveal what I have planned for myself now, I want to say what has happened since last time I wrote here.

I ran my first official Half Marathon on Oct. 28th 2012. However, it was not an easy path. About two month before race day I was feeling major shin splints. So bad that before I hit mile two of my run, I slowed down to a major walk. It was the first time I actually fully stopped and had to walk my way back home from a run. It was a major eye opening scare and concern for me. I knew I had to take time off and I felt bad knowing how close my goal (race day) was from that point. So I took a week off and tried again. I knew almost right away, about a block and a half that I was not recovered yet. So I stopped and walked back home again. When I hit bumps in my training, whether it be missing a work out because family outings, or not hitting a time mark, I get angry with my self. And I was feeling pretty angry by this set back. However, the lazy relaxing days did feel nice and I hoped it would all be for the best. So I rested. Then it was one month before race day and I was getting worried I would not even be physically fit to even finish the race, so I toughed it out and just started running again. Here is my final 2 weeks of training days by miles. 4,4,4,4,6,4,4,10,3,5 rest,4,4,rest, half marathon!

When I first signed up for the race months and months ago I had set a goal of 1hr 40ish mins. However I knew with my injury set back I aimed for at least breaking 2 hrs. So i set my self in the 1:50-2hr group. Race started and it was a fun course. I looked at my watch and it was a super slow and conservative 8:12 min first mile. Wow. I had not run a slow mile like that in what felt like years. Of course this was in the mix of tying to get by the huge crowd of runners so I just convinced my self it's no big deal. I told my self I will just pick it up a bit once the crowd clears up a bit. And wow...did I pick it up. I ran a 7:46 2nd mile. I was just all over the place. I was mad at my lack of pacing discipline but also glad that I still had at least some speed in me. Then the 4 mile marker came by. Before race started I had planned out that I wanted to break the half marathon into 3 sections of 4 miles each and then a finishing 1.1 mile stretch. I calculated that each 4 mile section should be run at around 35 or 36 mins. Well this 4 mile mark came around and I ran 31~ mins. I was very happy with that. Then the next one came by and it was 30~, and then 30~ and a finishing 8:03 1.1 mile. A total finishing 1/2 marathon time of 1:39:30.


I was very very pleased with this time after only having three weeks before race day to get back into it. I really surprised myself. I looked at next year already and set my self of having a goal of getting into the 1:20's finishing time range. and I would plan my training again.


Fast forward months. I was about 6 weeks into my training  for my 2nd 1/2 marathon and then I had a call that let me know I would be working a camp for two months of the summer. Yikes. This realllyyyy messed up my training. once I came back from that I started training again but guess what....respiratory infection. wow...really??  andddd to top it off again..it was 5 weeks before race day...that really sucked. I tried toughing it out this time..but my lungs where just not taking it. So I stuck to doing a stair master workout for 30 mins every other day and core workout in between those days. race day came...welp, here goes nothing...

First mile.. I knew I had to manouver around the crowd this time but I still told my self to hold back because I had no running for three weeks. The mile marker comes by and I look at my watch.. 6:29!!!! What!?  What is going on!?  I could not believe it. I knew I was going to be in trouble if I wasted that energy in the beginning so I told myself I need to hold it back right now. 2nd mile marker 6:44!  This is still not the range I wanted to hold it back to! But I felt great! I had no idea what was going on. I told myself okay, just hold it back even more but keep it comfortable also. I've done this course before so I know what is ahead of me. 3rd mile rolls by 6:51. wow. I felt comfortable with that pace and i had no idea how I was doing it. I just kept on rolling! the mile markers kept coming by and I glance at my watch and was still pretty good. 6:50 7:02, 7:03, 7:02, and then 6:46!!!  I was over half way done and still pulled out a sub 7 mile! at this point I just threw my race plan away and just rolled with what I was feeling. Still pushing my self no matter what. I knew what pace was at my limit and I was determined to hold it there. I usually run on my toes engaging my calves but because I had not been running my calves were the first to go at around the 6 mile mark so i started landing on my heels now just to save the calves for later if I could manage that.

Then mile 9 and 10 came. This was the first up hill section and a bridge. My time def came down here. 7:14 and then a reality check, 8:03 10 mile mark. This is when my lack of strength training was going to show. That up hill bridge really took a lot out of me. However the down hill u-turn was going to be a good recovering zone. mile 11 then came at 7:34. I felt good about that. But suddenly my body started cramping up. My calves were getting really tense and my quads were just not getting the left I wanted from them. I was in a constant fight with my body not to keep pushing. mile 12 marker hit and it was 8:02. oh no. Not now. I am sooo close to the finish. Please dont fail me now legs. Every step was becoming harder and harder. My body felt so heavy, I was cramping up trying to use my calves to give me some more muscle help but they were no good. Toeing off was hard with every step. I could see the finish line coming up. People were passing me this year where last year I came running by fast. I looked at the clock as I crossed the finish line... 1:35:15  I ran a new personal record and yet again I had an injury setback. That  1:20's mark was a not met but I am glad I got closer this year.

I did plan on running the half marathon again next year (2014), but I had just not been training. However, I have my eye on a larger goal now. My first full Marathon will be in March. And this past week is my first week at restarting my training for that. It will be tough and mind draining, but it is something I HAVE to do. I have been pushing it back far too long. But this coming March I WILL cross the finish line of the Los Angeles Marathon. My training blog will start next.

3 mile Time Trial #2

So yesterday (Wednesday) I had my other 3 mile time trial and I was yet again a little nervous for it. This time I studied the trail/course a little more on google maps pedometer. I saw where the 1 mile mark and 2 mile mark where exactly so I could take my splits this time around. As usual I had a 1.6 mile warm up where I stretched a little longer then usual to get nice and loose as well as try and get rid of the nervous I had.

Finally after all the stretching I started my 2nd 3 mile time trial hoping for a better time. As before I felt the early pace was very unfamiliar and began monitoring my pace at least until I got to the mile mark. I passed the mini hill and sandy horse trail not knowing what pace I was going at. For some reason I felt more sluggish than last time and still very nervous for how long I could keep this pace. Finally I got to the 1 mile mark and clocked it in at around 6:54 perhaps taking a couple seconds away for inaccuracy. Once I saw this I felt both relieved and pressure to push harder the last two miles if I plan to beat my previous time which was a 6:48/mile pace. I was relieved because although I felt very sluggish I was only 6 seconds off of my previous per mile pace. However, this only put pressure on the next two miles to go even faster than 6:48 per mile pace.

At this point I focused on keeping the same pace until I got to the straight along the road which would lead to the 2 mile mark. Once I was on the trail along the road I picked up my pace and concentrated on toeing off and keeping my form sharp. When the 2 mile mark came along I clocked it at 6:45 which was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't pick the pace up by too much but also managed to get right below the 6:48 per mile pace I needed to beat to run faster this time around. I had about 200 meters of the straight along the road before I made a right turn going along the end of the golf course. I used this short distance to recharge mentally while maintaining the same pace. I knew I had to have a strong final mile effort to beat my previous time of 20:25 so once I made the right turn into the back end of the golf course I was ready to start pushing just a little bit more. I knew once I finished this back end of the golf course I would only have a half mile left until the finish point. So although I was still pushing I wanted to control my breathing and make sure I wouldn't be out of breath when I decided to go into my final two pushes. I was doing some math in my head and realized if I made it to the half mile left mark at 16:58 and held on to a 6:48 pace I would be able to tie my previous time trial. However, I came around at 17:02 and I knew I had to make this last half mile really count. I refocused on toeing off and keeping my form in check. I made it to the final bend and started a hard finish but couldn't hold it to the very end but managed to keep a good fast pace and ended at 20:19 for 3.01 miles. Although it is a faster time than my previous effort I am still no where near how fast I know I could go or how hard I feel my training has prepared me. Yes, my training has only been to build strength for the half-marathon and marathon I plan on running, but I would still like to know my training can produce some speed for my legs if I ever choose to call on it.

13.1 mile Long Run

Today is Saturday and that means LONG RUN. And boy was it a long one today. The previous four weeks I had done 10 miles each day but this week I upped my milage and although I should have only gone up to12 miles I made the decision to just make it a half-marathon distance. After all, I am going to run a  half marathon on my birthday, October 28th. So I need to make sure I can actually run the distance during a long run effort. So although it was freaking long I am glad to have put this distance under my belt.

Today was a very hot and humid day. Around 84* degrees with 20% humidity which is quite a lot for southern California. But I made sure to hydrate plenty before my run. Plus I pushed my race time to 5:20 p.m. so the Sun would be going down and the cool winds would start as I would be coming back from the 13 miler.

Like any other day I warmed up to my usual spot 1.6 miles from home start. I felt some rumbling in my stomach so I made sure to go to the bathroom before this extra long run for me. So after that I started off and once I hit the 2 mile total mark I went into 6x5min hard effort (taking into account the distance) with 1 min breaks in between. Once that was over at around the 50 min mark which happen to be a couple of meters before my half way turn around point, I went into Easy pace for the rest of the run. Also just to add to this epic long run I had a white fluffy dog run straight at my ankles barking its head off. I flinched just a little bit because it caught me off guard but screw that pup, I kept on running. Another surprise was that there was about 8 people horse back riding taking up the entire trail so I had to jump the trail fence and pass them. Luckily it was during one of the 5 min hard efforts. Once I passed them I jumped back over the trail fence and went into the 1 min recovery. However, I had to deal with horses two more times after this first encounter at around the 4.5 mile mark. The next encounter came right in the last 20 seconds of my final 5 min hard effort. It was right before I would enter a small tunnel so I had to completely stop and wait for the rider to pass through and then continue after them. This then led me to my half way point where I clocked in at 51:29 minutes for 6.55 miles. It was really sandy through miles 5-8 because of the constant horse riders, so that only added to the fun... Anyways I had to deal with the group of 8 riders again in this area on the way back. After that though I was all alone in fatigue. But I knew this was part of the run so I just pushed through it and focused on each coming land mark; the park rangers parking lot, the golf course, ranger station, 2 miles left bush, and then the first stop light I would have to deal with.

Overall, I think this was a great first 13 mile long run experience. Sure I had some obstacles to deal with but that only made it more memorable. I am definitely taking into account the un scheduled breaks I benefited from but other then that I think I could have gone a little faster. I ended at 1:45:20 for 13.109 miles. That is 25 minutes longer then I had ever run before this past year. So here is to a great land mark I have added to my training and hoping it only makes me stronger for the actual race.

3 mile time trial 7/11/12

So I had been getting really bored of not knowing exactly what I am capable of now. I usually like running an all out mile to know where my fitness level is at but my scheduled work outs had not given me that opportunity. However, I found that I could sneak in a 3 mile time trial and count it as a tempo run instead of a broken down tempo run of 4x5min intervals. So I planned this starting Monday and saved my efforts for a good hard time trial on Wednesday. When the day finally came I did my usual 1.6 mile warm up and stretched, extra long stretching this time. I was feeling a little nervous having not even raced or done a time trial this long in over three years. I had done an all out mile on a track but even that is much shorter and I knew exactly how much I have done and have left.

I planned this new 3 mile time trial on a course I had not run before so that only added to my nerves. I started off and I immediately felt like I had no idea what pace I should be shooting for. I pictured optimistically I could run around 18:50s, but to how I have been feeling lately as slow as 21 min flat. I had run 4 miles at night on a track at 6:55 pace but lately I had been feeling that I have had no speed control what so ever. So the trial began and I was rolling what I feel was around 6:30ish pace. I kept my self in check still fighting fatigue every now and then but nothing I would yield to. I knew from mapping out the course that once I hit a corner and made a right I had almost exactly half a mile left to finish. I pushed just a little harder maybe lasted for about a minute before slowing down just a bit. Finally I came to a spot where I knew there was a quarter mile left and I just pushed again but with about 200 meters left I was loosing steam. I made the last bend and saw my finish point and went a little hard to finish as if I was trying. I ended with a 20:25 3.02mile time trial. I was very disappointed. As I made the half way point I realized 18:50s was much to fast and aimed for 19:30s. That would have been exactly 6:30 per mile pace and I would have been pretty happy with that. I had not ran a distance that long that fast in a long time, however the 20:25 was too slow for how hard I have been working.

Although it was slow, I am glad I finally ran a time trial to see where I am at. I have been training for 14 weeks without any significant mark that would let me understand where my training is at. I will definitely use this time trial to help gauge where my tempo runs should be at and work at calibrating my inner speedometer and pedometer. I have already planned to do another 3 mile time trial next Wednesday so I can run it knowing the course as well as focusing on how fast I should be going and hopefully improve the time. This first time trial was a completely blind experience in regards to what pace I am capable of, what the distance covered feels and is like, and what my training has helped and lacks in speed. So in conclusion this is finding a victory within what I would consider a downer.

Reflections of a Runner

I have finally decided to start a blog about my running experience. I am in no way an accomplished runner. I have not ran any particularly fast times, nor have I been running for very long. I only ran one year in high school, one quarter in college, and then on and off several times the last five years. The most I am proud of is my love and passion for the sport. It has stuck with me since my senior year in high school and although I did not run consistently the last six years, I have followed the sport online, attended several track meets as a spectator, encouraged runners at my high school, and read several books and articles about training philosophies and the mechanics of running. Certainly nothing more then the average running enthusiast has done. But at this point in my running journey I feel I could benefit from further reflection of my own training, my philosophy of training, my feelings while enduring injury and set backs, and staying motivated through preparation for racing dates. One of the many reasons I ran on and off after my single quarter in college was due to injury and lack of motivation. It is very tough to run and train alone without having a partner to push and motivate you weekly, monthly, and yearly. I hope to use this blog as additional motivation to keep training and running throughout the rest of my life. I love how healthy it makes me feel but I think most of all, I love being part of the strong and passionate community of runners that share their stories and training with each other.

This blog will be mostly filled with my day to day reflections while training; What I felt like during my run, what I wanted to accomplish, what I was focused on, if there were any difficulties I noted, any pain or injuries that I felt starting, what the day was like, random thoughts I had during my run, what I feel I need to work on, what training I should add and look forward to, and finally what personal goals I hope to accomplish for future races and training.