Running Log: Dec26 - Jan1

"Need a little patience, yeah..." ---Guns N' Roses

Dec26:
7km. 54:56mins. 7:51/km average. Bikilas.
Ave HR 130. Max 142. Didn't walk at all.

Dec28:
8km. 1:05. 8:07/km ave. Green Silence.
Ave HR 134. Mac 150. Walked the uphills.

Dec31:
18.44. 2:37. 8:30/km ave. Green Silence.
Ave HR 140. Max 152. Required a lot of patience to keep HR below 142, especially during climbs. Green silence. Gatorade/water alternate every 2k. Peanuts at 1hr mark. Banana at km13. No GU needed.




TOTAL KMS: 33km

Patience is the theme of this base-building phase as I'm still holding on to Maffetone-paced training after almost 2 weeks. I keep reminding myself to slow down when my HR exceeds 142. About 10 more weeks before I put back speedwork and tempo runs. REALLY hoping this type of slow-run training pays off dividends for 2012.

Happy New Year everyone!

Running Log: Dec19-25

Dec21:
7km. 55mins. 7:38/km average. Green Silence.
Attempted a 5k mock race with a target time of sub-28mins. Crashed, ran out of gas at km3. Settled for a 17:52 for 3km. Added extra kms during the cooldown to make up for the short "race."

Dec22:
5.2km. 40:10. 7:43/km average. Bikilas.
First Maffetone run. Target HR <142. Ave HR 135. Max HR 146. Walked the uphills whenever HR exceeded 142.

Dec24:
17.06km. 2:18:26. 8:07/km average. Green Silence.
Long run. 10k with an officemate around Ghills to Ortigas Business District and back. Pitstop at km14 for a choco drink. Had fun, as usual. GU at km9. Gatorade all the way.

TOTAL KMS: 29km

10% weekly mileage increase met. Hope the trend continues in the following weeks. The race ads all over the local running blogs are very tempting but Maffetone training limits running pace not to exceed a target HR (in my case, 142). Still feel slow at the 135-142 HR range but I'm looking forward to the results after 6 weeks, entrusting myself to the science of this type of training (Mark Allen better be right about this).

I've signed up to myfitnesspal.com, a free online service that requires you to log in ALL food that you've eaten for the day and then shows the corresponding calories. Finding it tough to resist food, which I believe should be lessened since the lbs I've lost to exercise solely have been maxed out.

Yup, Christmas weekend feasting didn't help my cause, but in a jolly way. Hehehe.

Iten

Kenyans have been topping most of the local races since the running boom started. It has its pros and cons towards our Filipino runners. On one hand, it puts the level of racing into new heights as local runners need to up their game whenever they toe the line with these Kenyans.

On the other hand, prize money has been dominated by Kenyans as well much to the chagrin of local runners who are not well to do and use racing as their source of income.

How come these Kenyans are so darn fast at running?

The movie "Iten - The Town of Red Dust" might be able to answer this question.

ITEN - The Town of RED Dust Teaser Trailer from Erik O'Neill on Vimeo.

Running Log: Dec 12-18

Dec15:
6km. 50:14. 8:22/km average. Bikilas.
First run in 11 days (after QCIM3). Sluggish, but great to be running again.

Dec17:
14.8km. 1:56. 7:50/km average. Green Silence. GU at km3.
Had fun since officemate joined me in the middle 7.6km at chillax pace. The choco drink and fried lumpia pitstop at Greenhills weekend market was energizing.

Dec18:
5km. 36:51. 7:22/km average. Bikilas.
Ran in BGC on a drizzling day. Ran easy then tried the Hadd method HRmax test (800m sprint, 2mins rest, 400m sprint). Max HR recorded at 171.

TOTAL KMS: 26km


I found it weird to have logged only 171 HRmax on that last run since last year I remember having logged a 181HR at the end of a 15k race. I'll try to test it again but this time I'll run a mock 5k race around the neighborhood (on a 1.7km loop that I've mapped out). Hope to log a higher HRmax then.

Hadd training begins this week, assuming I get a more "preferred" HRmax.

Gettin' Better

Out of curiosity I came up with the table below which averages my race times across different distances from 2009 to 2011.



This is encouraging since it seems that, on average, my race times are getting better each year. My race times in 2012 is definitely something to look forward to (provided that I put in the miles).

Oh, and yes, I started running again yesterday.

Yup, finally. :)

Tomorrow, promise!

QCIM3 42km: Post-Mortem

Let us strive to improve ourselves, for we cannot remain stationary; one either progresses or retrogrades. ---Mme. Du Deffand




Last Sunday's marathon was a humbling experience. It just shows that I have a LOT to work on in terms of getting ready not only physically but mentally for a 42km race.

My office work occassionally works on stats. To go over exactly where I went wrong in QCIM3, I had to go not on what happened last December 4 but, rather, I had to go back to the past 16 weeks of training for this race. Below is a table that I've summarized:




T = tempo runs
MP = Marathon-Pace runs

It would be good to have another race to compare this with. Fortunately, I ran the Condura 42km last February wherein I finished my still-standing 5:23 PR. Below was my training summary for that race:



Comparing the weekly long run average distance, my Condura training fared just a bit better, about 2km more on average versus QCIM3 training.

I had more tempo run workouts in Condura (10) versus QCIM3 (6). If I had run more 6:30-ish/km pace during that 16-week span then maybe running 7:00/km on race day would have felt more comfortable.

But the stat that was very telling on both tables was the average weekly total km. QCIM3 training totaled 529km while Condura training was 120km more(640km)!

More miles equals better marathon performance. A very obvious wake-up call for me. Averaging 33km (or even 40km) per week for a marathon will not be enough if I want to finish 42km below 5 hours. I may need to up the miles per week for my next marathon.


MAFFETONE OR HADD?

That next marathon, marathon #4, might have to be delayed even though I'm itching to redeem myself for a sub-5 PR. I have a lot to work on my aerobic capacity, which, according to references I've read, is the force needed 99% of the time when running a marathon. Looking back at my past 3 marathons wherein, at the 2nd half of the race, I was walking like I was tied to a bulldozer behind my back, my aerobic capacity needs work ---a LOT of work.

So, probably for the next 3 months, I will try to improve on it by going back to Maffetone-paced training which I only did for 3 weeks (or even trying out the Hadd method). Both approaches are focused on improving aerobic capacity by doing all/most runs at a comfortable HR/pace.

I'll keep you posted once I resume running next week. Let's see how this'll all go.

In the meantime, I still have Sat and Sun for rest and recovery. Enjoying the week off after a year of training and racing has been grand.



But, I'd rather be running.

QCIM3 42km: Respect The Distance

I started the race comfortably, at around 7:30/km. As this race included pacers, I slowly increased my pace to try to look for the 5:00 pacer.

The 5:00 pacer (Jonel Mendoza) may have started late as he whizzed by me at around km5. As I was dreaming of a sub-5 finish, I decided to stick with him as much as I can logging 6:50-ish per km pace.

THAT was not my planned pace for this race. I was supposed to try the first half at 7:10/km and try to win back the 2nd half at 7:00/km. Realizing that I'm not able to cope, by km13 I drifted back at around 7:15/km to recover.

As this was my first time to enter La Mesa, I found the area quite nice. It was a beautiful respite from my usual BGC races.

The 21km turnaround point was a few kms away so I decided to pick up the pace, suffering a side stitch in the process. I reached the turnaround point at 2:29. At that point, I forced myself to gulp 2 cups of Gatorade offered by the aid station. That proved to be too much as I felt bloated around 200 meters later. I wanted to throw up but nothing came out. I plodded on.

The side stitch, the bloatedness, and the hilly course within La Mesa overwhelmed me that I started to slow down after km22. I've hit the wall very early.

I felt a short relief when I landed Commonwealth avenue again but it was short lived. By km26 I was mentally defeated, with the pouring rain literally on my parade. I wanted to up the pace but my mind was forcing me to walk.

I reached km32 near 4:10 race time. Sub-5 was definitely out. I was forcing myself to get back in the groove, even playing Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" in my head. It was only when I entered the UP campus with 8km to go that I started hitting sub-7:00/km pace again but only for about 500 meters max. It was overlapped with walk breaks.

With 5km left the 5:45 pacers passed me just before reaching the UP Oblation statue. Was my finish time for this race gonna be worse than my 5:53 first marathon? I just let everything go and chose to overtake the 5:45 pacers. I was still walking but the run sections of those last painful kilometers were, at best, 7-7:30/km.

In the end, I was able to escape the 5:45 pacers as I crossed the finish arc at 5:35:20 (Garmin time).

I've learned quite a lot on my race performance here (which deserves an entirely separate post). The 5:35 finish time was just reflective of the lackluster training that I prepared for this race. Poor training = poor race performance.

I need another marathon.

Brooks Green Silence: After 505kms

I've been alternating this shoe with my Vibram Bikilas since March this year. I've adjusted to it fairly well. Two weeks ago I noticed the upper, where the pinky toe stays, has worn down.




This could've been caused by the roomy toebox that the shoe is known for. I'm not complaining of the generous toebox, mind you, since my feet are not narrow. It fits nicely but I think it just got worn down due to regular use.

The solution? I brought it over to the local shoe repair store (Mr. Quickie) and, after 120 pesos, it's fixed!




They've covered the hole with a thin leather on both shoes. The sewn part is only noticeable when you look at the shoe up close.

The ride has been ok again, i.e. no more part of the sock trying to get out of that hole, especially when wearing Injinji socks.

Yup, I'll wear 'em this Sunday on Marathon #3 (QCIM). Hopefully, a sub-5 finish this time.