Garmin Forerunner305 Surgery

While on my long run last Saturday with @lingerboy, my Garmin 305 suddenly died. I couldn't press the up, down, and enter buttons after doing the recommended mode+lap reset that I saw over the Internet. It would power up for sometime (with no response from the buttons I mentioned above) and would die soon later. It was very frustrating as I had to ask @lingerboy what was our current distance and pace from time to time (although in retrospect I found it liberating not to depend on GPS and just run by feel ---something that I need to do to ease my dependency on GPS watches). I ended up with 14k that day and, with possibly a dead Garmin.

I scoured the 'net for 2 options: a possible repair solution and buying a new replacement. I was dead set on the Timex GPS watch or the GF405 since they were under my budget. If I sent the watch to the Garmin office for repair, it would be another PHP5,000.00 too. Tsk tsk, too much spending, I thought.

But then I saw this website. Being a techie, I just couldn't pass up the idea of opening my GF305 up. It's dead anyway, right?

After a few minutes, I was able to pull apart my Garmin with yes, just my fingernails.

What I found out confirmed my initial thoughts: there was sweat that built-up inside the Garmin causing some of the circuitry to short. This was due to the hole that was covered by the serial number sticker at the back that peeled off over continous use. That could've been the entry point for all my sweat to get into the watch. I got a cotton eartip and scraped away all the liquid residue that I could see. For insurance, I sprayed contact cleaner on both parts, cleaned the excess with another ear tip, and let it dry for 24 hours.

After both parts dried completely (24 hours at least), I hoped for the best, put together the two parts, and tried it again.

Lo and behold, it's FIXED!!! The up, down, and enter buttons are now responding.

WOOHOO!

That saved me at least PHP5,000.00 in repair or even more if I bought that Timex GPS.

Now I haven't sealed the two parts yet since I need to buy a rubber sealant (which could be my only cost for all this self repair). So I'll probably stick 'em tonight and let it stay for a few more days to make sure it's air, water AND sweat tight.

Relief!

Hybrid Marathon Training

Seeing that I'm not getting anywhere in my long runs for the past 3 weeks, after much self-debate I've decided to merge the FIRST training speedwork and tempo runs with the Hanson-Brooks' long run sked.

That is, my Saturdays and Sundays will now be packed with two medium-long runs instead of one day with one very long run.

Table below shows distance in kilometers.

Let's see if this works.

Let the weekend begin!!!

Halimaw!!!

A big congrats to my officemate @Dagulrunner (shown above), who finished yesterday's PAU T2N 50k Ultra in 8:03, beating the sub-9hr cutoff handily. Congrats pare!!!

He was able to email me a pic of another runner who participated the event.

The pic below shows Enrique "Bullverine" Sundiang (as per Baldrunner's list of finishers) taking the Tagaytay to Nasugbu 50km route.

He finished in 4:21:30 which was good enough for 3rd place.

That's a blistering 5:14/km pace!!! Halimaw, right?

But what was more interesting about Enrique was this:

He ran BAREFOOT!

It makes all of my long run attempts the past 3 weeks seem peanuts to him as he was able to run amidst the searing heat and longer distance.

You may not know me, Enrique, but my hats off to you for that great run!!!

50k barefoot.

Grabe, ang galing mo pre!!! Halimaw!!!

Long Run: Beaten Mentally

Last night I planned a 32k long run at the UP Oval. For the previous 2 weeks, I've failed to meet my long run distance goal.

Even with the ice chest on the ready with Gatorade and water, last night was no different.

The 32k plan shrunk to 15k. Time? A miserable 2:05.

As my officemate put it exactly, my will was beaten. As runners last night started to decrease since it was past 10pm, it got lonely. Then, I could feel my right foot arch aching again. Yup, the inevitable plantar fasciitis. I tried everything with my Brooks Pureflows: I removed the insole, I doubled my socks, I put back the insole. Damn, by the end of the run (or walk) I wanted to throw my Pureflows into the Sunken Garden.

By the last two 2.2km rounds, I just lost it and ended up walking.

I couldn't find the energy that made me finish 24 and 27k several weeks back when I started training for marathon #4. As of last night, my training logs seem to tell me that I won't be meeting sub-5 hours in my next marathon. I'm ok with the weekly speedwork and tempos. But the long run is really killing my progress.

Am I going thru a burn out phase?

I need something to perk me up on my long runs again. I'll probably tap my running buddy, @lingerboy, by next weekend (21k target as per my training plan).

If that doesn't go well, I will probably start thinking of postponing marathon #4 for now.

We'll see.

Whatever happened to....

....PHOTOVENDO?

When the RunRio races started it was almost automatic back then that Photovendo was part of the race package. Photovendo is a great service wherein you get to look at how good (or bad) you run in different parts of the race route thru pictures made by their professional photographers. At present, races rarely have such benefits for photos (except for that effort on clicking to the races' FB page and hoping to tag yourself among thousands of photos). Photovendo gave us a quick search by just entering your bib number and voila! your races photos are there!

I read somewhere that this was owned by Ben Chan. Is he the same guy who created Bench, the clothing company?



....RUNRADIO?

Jaymie and Jay, bloggers of The Bullrunner and Prometheus Cometh, respectively, were the hosts for the first and only Season of Run Radio. The show used to be on the rock-established NU107 radio station, which has been, sadly, closed for quite some time now. Along with it, the RunRadio program.

The show was interesting since it had interviews with people who have expertise in the different aspects of running (type of shoes, injury handling, etc.) and reviews of races that they've been to.

There was a buzz of a 2nd season looming last year but I guess it never materialized. It would be good if someone can setup a similar program/podcast like that of RunRadio that is catered to the Filipino running community.

It shouldn't be that hard right? Hmmmm......

Light bulb!!!

I Run For Integrity 15k: It's All Mental

Good:

1. Accurate distance. A good mix of the usual BGC-Buendia route wherein the race traversed thru Buendia Flyover and Avenue first before going around BGC for the last 5k.
2. Enough ice-cold water stations and race marshals.
3. The girl who provided the warm-up exercise (from Gold's Gym?) was making us do exercises that were more for aerobic dance lessons as she literally rocked the satellite stage (the stage seemed to be rocked by her earthquake performance). I would've put this in the Bad list but she made us all warmed up with laughter.
4. Nice finisher medal for the 15k runners.
5. Fairly-priced reg fee compared to other major races.

For improvement:

1. 15k start time delayed (approximately by 15mins).
2. No chip time on the race results.
3. Would've been better if energy drinks were available in the water stations.

MY RACE

My target time for this race was 1:33 which would give me a 2 min PR. I settled in nicely from the gun start as we made our way to Buendia. I told myself to limit my pace in this part since I still have a lot to go heading back to hilly BGC. Unfortunately, I gave in to the descent of Buendia Avenue towards the railroad crossing as I logged in about 6:00-ish/km laps.

I still felt ok as I made the Buendia turnaround. Took my GU inside km8 which digested just in time for the challenging incline of the Buendia flyover back route. I was able to run this part but pace slowed down. Still, it was a feat (or was it a relief?) for not having to walk this part of the race.

My K-Swiss K-Ruuz performed well especially when I doused myself with the ice-cold water as it was able to drain away the water through its outsole holes. However, I lost about 30 seconds when one of my shoe laces got loose (argghhh!!!). The other problem was that my left sock felt loose when it became wet, with a 1cm sized blister under my foot as a reminder. I'll probably go sockless with these shoes (and secure the laces) next time.

I could say that the hardest part of the race route was the long climb of the Buendia flyover up to BGC and the whole climb along 26th street. This was where I fought all the urge to walk and tried to keep myself in control. "Mental folders," as 2010 Kona Ironman champ @Maccanow said it in his book. Yup, I'm glad I read that part.

By the last 2km I calculated that I have a very tight window of beating 1:35. I gave it my all up to the finish but I was only able to manage 1:35:46 (Garmin time). I missed my PR by a mere 19secs! Much of the blame I think could be on that part where I had to tie my shoelaces (sigh).

But I was glad to nearly replicate my 15k PR. It was still a good race. I learned from this one that I can still maintain a good pace if I have my mind (and shoelaces, hehehe) set on it.

Back to training...

Training Week 3 of 16 (Apr23-29)

Monday - 8.33km. Warmup. Intervals: 1200-1000-800-600-400-200 with 200m rest. Cooldown. "Embrace the suck" was an understatement if I would describe this workout.

Thursday - 10km. Warmup. 8k at 6:21/km tempo target pace (actual was 6:24/km ave). Cooldown. Found myself walking by the cooldown leg because of the fatigue and unbearable heat.

Saturday - 27km long run. Several loops in the 2.2km UP Oval from 6am onwards, I was delighted to have conquered my long run for the week. The average pace was at par with my 24km long run the previous week so it was a big confidence booster at this phase of my training (even if the 7:13/km target pace wasn't met).

TOTAL km for the week = 45km

Last Sunday I played football once again (my first love) after a long hiatus. It was in my alma mater with my old high school buddies. Unlike running, football is more anaerobic (sprinting after the ball and the opponent) so I was left gasping most of the time. Good thing the game was 7-a-side so I get to ask for substitutions whenever I felt the need for a breather. Apart from the 2 penalty kicks I scored on the 1-day league (blush!), at least I got an additional fartlek workout for the week. :-)

This week I'm scheduled to do my first (of five!) 32km long runs but I'll probably make this week a down week, especially since I've a 15km race on Sunday. I'm being more prudent by not getting myself burned out from the ever increasing long run requirement per week. Anyway, although I'm foregoing the 32km this week, my long run next week is 29km (gulp!).

My weight has been stagnant at 156lbs for quite some time now. I think it's time to bring back my back to back weekend runs, even if one of which is a short recovery run. This is so that I've some burned calories as a buffer for Mom's Sunday lunch feasts.

See you at BGC this Sunday morning for the I Run For Integrity race!