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31 Jan 2016

This year it’s the Honolulu Marathon

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A few days ago I talked with my friend Rose in Japan. She asked me about which marathon would be better to sign up for – Disney or Honolulu.

I did the Disney Coast-to-Coast challenge a few years ago and while I found the East Coast part of the event well organized, it wasn’t the best experience for me due to the shear number of people and being placed in the middle of the pack at 4am. Plus, I quickly realized that traveling from the West Coast to the East Coast for an early 1/2 marathon start is a grueling experience.

However, my closest experience with the Honolulu Marathon is from talking to a Japanese person living in Oahu. He told me that he does it every year and his love and passion for this particular marathon sold me on the fact that one day I was going to come back to Hawaii and do it.

Well, time went by and I completely forgot about it until Rose mentioned it. And now with a few days behind me looking at the logistics of doing this event (airfare, temperature, humidity, places to stay, timing, etc), I realize that it can be the perfect marathon goal for this year. So starting in March, I’m going to put together a training schedule and follow it until Dec. 11th – ‘run day’. I hope some of you will be able to use it for your own training and motivation as well.

Plus, if you’re thinking of doing the Honolulu Marathon, I’ve made a team (101Marathoners) that you are more than welcome to join when you sign up here. Heck, I might even make a training t-shirt for everyone that does! So let me know if you do!

So come join me and 101Marathoners in Hawaii on Dec 16, 2016 for the Honolulu Marathon.

17 Aug 2011

Don’t you just hate it when…

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Distance: 6.00km Time: 0:49 Pace: 8’17 kCal: 579 Heart: 133/157 RPE: 4 Type: 343-10

Wow. What a beautiful morning. I woke up a little after 5am and the fog was so thick it reminded me of a perfect Halloween. Or in this case, a perfect morning for a run!

The temperature was in the low 60s and the sprinkling of moisture was perfect so I couldn’t tell if it was the weather or me sweating!

So off I went. A mile and a bit to the reservoir and then a nice run two times around the lake.

 

I could only see 50 feet in front of me and that was great ‘cuz I didn’t have to think about how far I had to go. Just keep going and enjoying.

My breathing was good and I felt that I could run for hours. Then all of a sudden it hit me.
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12 Aug 2011

And the Doctor Said…

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Posted in Blaine's Running Journal, Various Posts | 3 Comments


It took me a while to make this post because I wasn’t too sure of what to think and what to say about my experience.

First he was very good and the people at the clinic were in a good mood. Of course being the first there at 8am did have its advantages.

They took some extra X-rays and the knee specialists did a lot (and I mean a lot) of bending on my left knee.

He asked me what was wrong and I felt a little sheepish. After all, after waiting a whole month to see him, there was no swelling and hardly any pain. He then looked at me right knee to get a comparison and ended up telling me that my right leg as worse than my left. Huh? Go figure.
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14 Jun 2011

Fartlek and Speed Training is not for me… yet!

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Posted in Blaine's Running Journal, Various Posts | 7 Comments

Today I was reading up on Fartlek training. It basically allows you to go from a lazy jogger to a racer. Well, I was thinking that could have been me, because I’m a very slow runner… er jogger with a 10k at just over an hour and a 5k always over 30 minutes.

But, I failed to mention that I’m currently writing this post from bed. Why? Well, 2 days ago I did an equivalent of a Fartlek training session and ended up pulling my knee out (I have an ACL tear straight though on my left knee). The reason is that I didn’t run with proper mechanics and with an already bad knee, the speed work only made it worse.

I think tomorrow I’ll be able to get out and do (at least) a 5 or 10k walk. Then it’s back to jogging (easy) and get my chi running working to rebuild my breathing and VO2 max (aka – get back in shape).

There will be time enough for me do speed training in the future, but for now I plan on running regularly and improving my technique at a speed that doesn’t make me sloppy and push my body to injury.

Wish me luck – and we’ll see how it goes. After all, it did do 4 10k races last month with no problem!

06 May 2011

Yikes! Tomorrow’s 10K – is it too soon?

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Posted in Blaine's Running Journal, Various Posts | 2 Comments

Distance: 8.13km Time: 1:00 Pace: 7’34 kCal: 971 Heart: 138/154 RPE: 6/7 Type: 4 Miles


Yike’s, I’m getting cold feet. Not good for a runner – get it…? Cold f-e-e-t…?
Okay, enough with the jokes, but I must admit that I am getting nervous.

Tomorrow is my Temecula Run Through the Vineyard’s 10k race. Last week was the 10k in Irvine and that was HOT! Tomorrow’s going to be even hotter. Plus, there are hills. Lots ‘n lots of them.

This will be my first 10k race outside my comfort zone. But that’s positive stress, right?

 

To top it off, I did my 4 mile run in the evening yesterday – just before sunset.
I felt as though I was breathing harder and moving slower. But at the end of the run, when I looked at my splits, I saw that everything was where is should be. 5k in 33 min and 4 miles under 7 min/km. But the cool-down after was very welcomed!

Hmmm… I think my mind is playing tricks on me again.

Then again, my butt is sore (I sprinted up the hills) and my knee is not too happy with me right now. I know that once I get into the groove (or is that grove – as in wine grove?), I’ll start getting warmed up and the knee will be happy again.

But for now, I’m still stressing out about tomorrow’s run. Maybe I should do some wine tasting before the race? Yikes, here I go again! Is it too soon? I know I’m committed, but if I can just get my brain to focus on the good…

Hmmm…  let’s see, time for a table to collect my thoughts…

Bad Good
too hot and sunny a nice country atmosphere with lots of cool people
tripping on a vine trail running between the vineyards
limping to the finish line getting a great photo (like the one from last week down below)
a long way to travel for a race it’s really not that far – only an hour drive, besides…
wine tasting after the event and a casino nearby
I could become a millionaire! 

There we go, positive thinking…
Now I’m focusing on the good – right?

Well, we’ll see how it goes.

For now, it’s time to immerse my thoughts into my bowl of pasta!

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10 Apr 2011

My First 10k

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Posted in Blaine's Running Journal, Various Posts | 2 Comments

Distance: 11.25km Time: 1:21 Pace: 7’17 kCal: 1,172 Heart: 139/152 RPE: 5 Type: 10k

So I did it again!
Sunday was supposed to be a rest day since I did 6k the day before, but it was so nice out and my wife came with me, that I decided to run just a little more than 40 minutes. How much more?
Well… enough to do 10k!

Pretty silly, but since I’m going to be doing a 10k race in a few weeks, I wanted to see if I could do it. Thinking back at it, I was a bit crazy to do it (my butt is still sore!). However, I must admit that I didn’t push myself.

For me, 10k in an hour is pushing it… but in 1hour 10min?
That’s a good training pace to start at – no?

Besides, my heart rate was in zone III and I felt pretty good while running along the boardwalk watching at all the amazing volleyball players!

So for the rest of this coming week I’ll keep things steady (4×40 minute runs) and just try to increase my pace a bit. I’ve got 2 weeks to go and then let’s see how I do at the Cinco De Mayo race on May 1st and to help out in Reaching for the Cure.

20 Mar 2011

A Nike Challenge to Help Japan Quake & Tsunami Victims

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While on our vacation in Turks and Caicos we heard about the Mag 9 earthquake and Tsunami around Sendai. Since my wife’s family is from Sendai, the latter part of our vacation was extremely stressful… just not knowing if her family and friends were okay. Thankfully everyone she knows is safe, but some families were not as lucky and the devastation is immense.

Being far away and NOT being there to help directly is frustrating.
But many people and nations from the across the world have been helping out and for this I am very grateful. I’m happy that the human race – although far from perfect (like my running) does help those in need!

So, for my small part, I’ve set up a Nike Plus Challenge were runners are donating both miles and money to help support the relief efforts for those affected in the Pacific. For each mile (kilometer) that the challengers run a number of companies a individuals will also donate funds to various support foundations in Japan and the American Red Cross.

If you are a Nike Plus member I urge you to join the challenge.
If not and you have a few extra dollars to help a worthy cause for those in need please contribute. I know many of you have already helped out and from the bottom of my heart, thank you so much!

10 Mar 2011

Coaster Run 2011 – Let’s help these kids

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Posted in Blaine's Running Journal, Exercise and Fitness, Various Posts | 2 Comments

On March 27 I’ll be running a 5k event that goes through Knots Berry Farm in Southern California.

It’s called the Coaster Run and at the same time I’ve set up a fundraising page where people can go and donate a dollar here and there. The proceeds will go to the Speech and Language Development Center which is a non-profit school and therapy center that helps challenged children live a more healthier and happy lifestyle.

The children have a variety of inhibiting conditions such as Autism and Down’s Syndrome or have severe trouble speaking, seeing, and hearing.

So while I’m one track to run my marathon, it’s even more fullfilling to know that when you do run, you can run for a worthy cause.

By the time March 27th comes around, I’ll be finished with my pre-training and a 5k run should fit in nicely with my schedule as well. With this charity event coming up, I’m even more motivated that before!

 

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19 Feb 2011

Thanks for visting – ideas?

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Hi everyone and thanks for visiting my new site.
I’m just getting started and I’m new to bogging, so if you have any ideas, suggestions, or comments on the layout or anything you’d like to see in my posts, please let me know.

In the meantime, happy running!