Man On A Mission

I was able to get this link via runningtimes.com. It tries to answer the question that we weekend runner-warriors usually ask when the podium race winners are announced:

Why are these Kenyans so damn fast?

Grab a popcorn, put on your earphones, relax, and click play below.

Man On A Mission from jamieleedalton on Vimeo.

RAR: Signed up!

I've just signed up for Race Against Rage, an upcoming race to be held in BGC on March 18. I'll be running the 16k event so I'm excited to be racing again after a long while.

The race will kick-off my training for marathon #4: Milo Manila Elims. I think this'll be scheduled on the first week of July so the 16-week program will fit in nicely.

See you on March 18!

Feb13-19 Recap

Last week I ended up with 47km total ---the longest that I've had since QCIM3 race-week. The runs were as follows:

Tue - 7km easy
Thu - 8km easy
Sat - 20km easy
Sun - 12km medium effort

I'm now comfortable with my runs, including the long runs which are either 18 or 20k, although last Sat my planned 25k was cut short since I bonked at the latter part. I then "punished" myself by increasing the supposedly 7k recovery run into a 12k medium effort on Sunday morning.



That 12k Sunday run around BGC was epic in the sense that, between km2-10, I consistently logged 6:50-ish per km laps which was something that I've never done since my last race (QCIM3). The result was sort of gratifying and worrying at the same time since I've never forced the pace for quite a while now. I was worried to reinjure my left knee (thankfully it held up nicely).

My right foot has been suffering from plantar fascia (PF) for several weeks now which I assume to be caused by my new shoes, the Brooks PureFlow. It's either the thick socks (I bought a new set of Brooks) or this shoe does not allow you to walk (which causes heel strike). The 12k run last Sunday didn't cause any PF issues since I wore a thinner pair (a pair of Nike Running socks that my sister gave as a Christmas gift last December). Right now, I'm almost inclined to cut the NAV-Band on the Pureflow to see if it'll help. Probably I'll give it another few weeks before I decide to grab the scissors. ;-)

I'll probably skip the aquathlon on early March since I haven't had any pool time last week. I might just hold off the swimming lanes with my persisent standing breaks, hehe. The RU1 event is inviting except that the event is at MOA, a little far from where I stay. Come to think of it, why are the BGC races seem to be less this 1st quarter of the year?

This week is a down week, meaning decreasing the mileage to 30k. I'm glad to have planned a 3 week mileage plan since down weeks like this help my body recover and get out of the obligation to meet high weekly-mileage targets.

And yes, so far this Maf training made me not want to chug a pack of GU during my long runs.

Easy does it.

The long road to a sub-5

MAF

Running has been pretty consistent the past few weeks, logging between 35-42km per week. I'm currently employing a 3-week cycle wherein 2 weeks are at high mileage (42km) while the 3rd week is a down week which is around 30km/week. Saturday long runs have been between 18-20km. After the down week I increase the weekly target by 10% for 2 weeks.

I'm finding it difficult to run regularly at Maffetone pace since I run with office colleagues about twice per week (blame it on the office's Biggest Loser contest so everyone's running to lose the weight). Of course, this 38 year old needs to keep up with his running buddies, whether it's hilly Meralco, Green Meadows, or Little Baguio. As per my GF305 stats, my average HR is still at or below 142 for those runs, which is good.

I haven't employed any speedwork/tempo runs yet since I want to see how much I can improve my aerobic capacity by running at Maf pace alone. Really have to control my pace (and HR) when with my running buddies. I'll probably start incorporating non-easy-paced workouts by March.

Overall, I feel that my easy-pace (and effort level) is improving thanks to Maffetone training. I'm already excited as to how much my race-pace could *possibly* improve once I start my speedwork, tempo run workouts, and finally, races.


WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

Thanks to a nifty app called myfitnesspal, I've been seeing considerable weight loss since the beginning of the year. So far I've lost 5lbs, and I hope to lose more in time for my racing season to start. The tool is simple really, as it aids you in calorie-counting your daily food-intake. Once the habit is ingrained, you learn to control the calories and eventually lose the weight. myfitnesspal is free btw.


RACES RACES RACES

Aside from the regular road races on the takbo.PH calendar (RU1, Yakult 10-miler, to name a few), I'm seriously thinking about signing up for my first ever aquathlon by way of the Ateneo Aquathlon on March 4. I started swimming once a week to help alleviate my still recurring left knee pain. I'm looking at the Lite event (400m swim, 3k run) which I aim to simply finish. My longest swim so far has been a 200m "chillax" swim (including 1-minute pitstops at the end of a 20m lap) which I need to improve on. If I get an opportunity to swim again this week, I'll assess my readiness and sign-up (or not) for the aquathlon. Otherwise, I will probably sign up for the RU1 half-marathon which coincidentally falls on March 04.

This year I'm dead-set on running a sub-5 full marathon. I'm looking at joining 3 marathons in 2012: Milo Manila Elims (July), RunRio Marathon (Oct), and QCIM4 (Dec). I'll try to stay injury-free as much as I can, moreover now that I've learned how to control my pace especially on easy days.

It's gonna be a busy 2nd half of the year.

SKECHERS 1, NIKE 0

Right after Meb’s win at last month’s US Olympic Trials in Houston, the web was overwhelmed with articles on his famous win. Meb, winner of the 2009 NYC Marathon, raced two 42k races in a span of 60 days ---PR’ed in both races to boot.

One article that I loved was this one from AthletesInCourt in which SKECHERS scored one over NIKE big time.

I guess endorsements are profitable not only for the shoe company but for the runner as well. Both achieve a name-recall, including myself who’s a follower of @runmeb. In fact, since my Vibram Bikilas are nearing its end (533km so far) and about to end my base-training as well, I’m now thinking of buying the SKECHERS GORun as my speedwork/tempo shoe to complement my Brooks Pureflow.

Mr. Quiggly agrees.