Posts Tagged ‘pretraining’

Lace Up Those Shoes

So here I am, after my first week of accessing my ability to start running. The good news is that my previous injuries are gone. That bad news if that I somehow gained 20 lbs since then! So I will need to take ti easy so as to avoid any knee and foot problems until I can get the weight down.

Plus, it’s been a little hot and humid the last few weeks with the temperatures hovering around 95-100oF. But I decided to keep my startup runs outside, either at the beach or Yorba Linda park. To slowly build up to a 5k run with no injury, my plan is to do 3-4 interval runs a week with 5 min walk breaks in between as follows.

Week 1 – 4×5 min
Week 2 – 3×10 min
Week 3 – 2×20 min
Week 4 – 1×30 min

So no 1/2 marathon on my birthday this year. But as a short-term goal if I’m feeling good, I might sneak in a 5 k trail run in Olympic National Park after some Kayaking. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Newport Beach is a good start

Distance: 12.30km Time: 2:04 Pace: 10’05 kCal: 1072 Heart: N/A RPE: 4 Type: Pain Assessment


So I’ve got 3 months before the marathon and it’s time to start putting in the miles.

Today and tomorrow are 5-6k runs mixed in with 5-6k walks. Then next week it’s all running with some recovery walks outside my regular training.

I know I’m going to be about 3 weeks short on the rest of my training, but I will get all my long runs in before tapering the week before the marathon.

I’ll also have to wait and see what the doctor says about the knee mid-August, but for now I’m planning on going through my routine and build up my mileage. Today’s 5k was a breeze and no pain, so I’ll do a repeat tomorrow and see how it goes.

If all works out, week three will (re)start on Monday!

My 5 Miler and The Jelly Bean Race

Distance: 9.96km Time: 1:10 Pace: 7’21 kCal: 969 Heart: 143/162 RPE: 6 Type: 5 Miles


Yesterday was Saturday
and I did the first long run in my Marathon Training.

It was also Easter Saturday, which makes today Easter – a rainy quiet Easter Sunday morning where I am sitting on my balcony listening to the pitter-patter of rain drops and the sounds of doves and birds in the background, while everyone else is still sleeping before the rush of church goings and Easter egg hunts.

 

 

That’s one good thing about getting up in the morning to do my runs – even on my rest days I’m up early enough to enjoy the peace, quiet, and spiritual solitude that life and nature can offer.

So here I am, with my coffee, and thinking about the big Easter brunch that will be coming later in the day… and I don’t feel guilty!

Why? – Because yesterday I did the first long run in my marathon training.
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Starting Week – The Unexpected 1/2 Marathon


So last week was kind of a crazy week.
I’m in the middle of my first week of Marathon training now and today is a rest day. I know I was supposed to write this entry at the end of the week but the weekend really was crazy!

Let me tell you why…

The week itself went like clockwork. I was able to get out on my running days and did 5k for each run. Again, I’m in no rush to push the miles, so an extra week to get my body all set up was a good idea. Especially because of what happened on the weekend!

Saturday morning I was up and ready. But today was different, I was going to go golfing (back-nine), have some Pho (Vietnamese soup), and then do a nice 5k walk to digest before my 5k run along the Newport Beach boardwalk.

Well everything worked out great. Until… I went to get my car keys and found that they were no longer in my race pouch! The only place they could have fallen out was at the 5k turn-around, since that was where I put my tunes on to start my run.

Oh No!!!

Nothing I could do, but to go back to the 5k turn-around and look for them. By now I was a little tired after walking on the golf course and completing 10k! But then the post-depression kicked in!
No luck in finding them, which meant calling the AAA (luckily I keep a spare key in the car or it could have been a real disaster).

Of course on the return trip, I just wasn’t ready for all this distance-stuff and my knees started to hurt – they hurt when I walk but not when I run… go figure.

But nonetheless, I ended up doing a ½ marathon that day! Ha! I did it! What a surprise!
Of course about two-thrids of it was walking, but I’m not going to tell any one if you don’t!

I must say though, I did have a number of great workouts at the beginning of the week and 5k/3-milers are starting to be a lot of fun. Oh, and to top things off on Sunday, when I went back for my 10k recovery walk. There they were! My lonely little car keys, sitting nicely on someone’s fence, just waiting for me to pick ‘em up. Thank you to whoever found them.

Thank you – thank you – thank you!
What a great way to end the week and get mentally psyched for my first week of Marathon Training.

Week 8 PT – It’s Getting Easier

So I’ve finished all my pre-training and I think the runs are actually getting easier.
Even my wife came out to run with me a few times!

 

The key focus of the this last week was to keep conditioning my skeletal system for when I start the marathon training. So it was kind of a simple maintenance week trying to get myself into a regular routine. Even when I was dead tired, I still managed to get out and do my runs (and even fall a sleep, I might add).

I’ve also started to loose more weight, but it’s hard to tell how much, because I think my body never really gains back all the water I loose from the runs. However, I do know that my body is now shifting to the next weight range for my level of activity. It is the runs, is it a change in diet, is it my post-running freshly squeezed juice recipes, or is it combination of all three? The reason is not that important. I’m not looking to loose weight, since my goal is to run a marathon, but it certainly is a nice by-product of the training!

Week 7 PT – I’m a Runner Now

Distance: 6.76km Time: 0:50 Pace: 7’24 kCal: 704 Heart: 130/157 RPE: 5 Type: 1x30min (2xLake)


Yahoo! Two months completed and pre-training is at an end!
With the 5k coaster run two weekend’s ago and then last week’s running,
I think I’m actually a runner now. That’s amazing!
How do I know?

Well, I actually like getting up in the morning and going for a run. I also feel good when I run and feel GREAT after my run. This morning I did 5.5k (two times around the lake) and tomorrow morning I’m looking forward to getting out and do it again.

It’s truely amazing – just to look back a few months ago and to see how I struggled with running just five minutes at a shot. Now five minutes goes by in a blink of an eye. I’m hoping that a month (or two) from now I’ll think the same thing on my long runs. After all, that 18 miler in my training looks pretty scary right now. But to think, just a few months ago, I was huffing and puffing just after two minutes. Now when running 3 miles at a shot, I can maintain a good pace and talk away… I’m looking forward to the next few months when I’ll be able to go even longer or faster!

The thing is that I’m ahead of my marathon training.
So the the next 2 weeks I’m going to run 6k runs (twice around the reservoir) 4-5 times a week.
Then come Mother’s day, I plan to run a 10k race.

I’ll keep you posted!

Week 6 PT – A new notch in my belt

Yeah.
Another week under my belt. And I might add that I’m using a new notch in my belt too; one that I hadn’t used for quite some time! I must admit though, that this last week was a bit of a challenge for me. Because I was out of town on business, it was a little difficult for me to get my runs in.

A new town, hotter, more humid, a 3 hour time change to boot, and the jet lag!
I’m glad there was a gym where I was staying so I could use the treadmill. That helped a lot. As for the motivation to keep up my routine, it’s still touch and go – I need to keeping working on this. But on a positive note, it still feels great after I get my run in. Just thinking of that feeling when I wake up is enough to get me out of bed early and go do it!

Treadmill Running and the Hilton Orlando

Distance: 6.06km Time: 0:46 Pace: 7’36 kCal: 528 Heart: 143/155 RPE: 5 Type: 1×30+8min (5k)
After days of insane schedules, meetings and seminars, it was finally time to sit back, take a breather, and de-stress. And what better way to do it, than by using the fitness center of the hotel to take a run and do some light cross training with weights.

When coming to the CTIA Wireless show in Orlando, Florida, I envisioned myself getting up early every morning, going down to the gym, and methodically doing my runs. Afterwards, I would hit the shower, have a light breakfast (with lots of fruit), and be ready in plenty of time for the 9:30 am opening Keynote speakers. Besides, when you plan what hotel your staying based on the type of equipment they have in the fitness center, you know you’re an exercise freak and will be using all the equipment everyday during your stay, right?!?… WRONG!

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Week 5 PT – I did more than a week’s worth

Week 5 of pre-training is over and it actually went pretty good. It ended up being a little longer than one week though, since I went on vacation and had too much fun doing other things besides running. So as to not feel too guilty I still did my 4 runs for the week, only that the week ended up being 10 days (or was it really 12 days, or maybe 13?). Well, that’s okay. I still have a long way to go for this marathon and I plan on getting through it injury and stress free.

Now it’s time to add another 5 minutes to my runs in week 6 of my pre-training. After my vacation and Saint Patrick’s day, I’m looking forward to getting into it.

Post Run Heavenly Bliss & Strawberry Season

Distance: 6.01km Time: 0:46 Pace: 7’40 kCal: 604 Heart: 132/151 RPE: 5 Type: 1x25min
Today I went out for my first day of week 5 pre-training. I knew it was going to be an easy run because I only need to expand my time by 5 minutes, not do a second set, and I had my haircut to knock off a few pounds! Okay, may be not that much in weight reduction, but less hair means it’s easier for me to sweat into my hat and to stay cooler longer. So the immediate result was – it felt great to run today.

And boy, did the run go fast! By the time I do my warm up, run, and cool down, the total time is only 45 minutes. I wanted to go longer, but… Blaine, stick to the plan. Normally I wouldn’t be so diligent and sneak in a few extra miles walking and cooling down. But there was another reason to get back after the run; bright red, plumb, yummy strawberries! It’s strawberry season and yesterday I stopped at Grower’s Direct and got some of the best I’ve ever seen. I really tried to wait until today to have any, but the temptation was too great and I snitch a few before going to bed.

So at the end of today’s training, I did a little bit a stretching and headed straight back home for my prize:

Yum-yum-yum…

  • One orange
  • Half a grapefruit
  • Six strawberries and
  • 5 ounces of blueberries
  • Mixed together and squeezed together into heavenly bliss!

I can’t wait for tomorrow’s run where I can indulge in another shot of bliss!